Clean Slate: Pondering the New Year

As we've rounded the corner into 2014, I've been thinking about what I want to do with the New Year. What changes do I want to make? What things to I want to keep the same? How to I want to approach the blank canvas of the next 365 days? How will I make the most of this 'clean slate' that we've come upon?

While we were driving to meet with friends on New Year's Day, I joked with Lennie that Matthew's goals were pretty clear:

1. Widen his vocabulary -- soaking in all of the new words, sounds, and communication skills that lay before him -- and help us to better get to know his personality, wants, and needs.
2. Widen his food palette -- experience new foods and tastes, and broaden the list of 'acceptable' foods that we can put on the menu in a regular rotation. (This mom can only make so many chicken nugget dinners without feeling guilty!) 

My goals don't seem as cut-and-dried. I'm still pondering what I want to do with this clean slate, but the old standards are echoing in my brain: 

1. Move more; get more active, get out and about, see more of the beautiful area that we live in!
2. Drink more water. Water's good for you, so why not be mindful of what I take in and how hydrated I am? Added bonus: this is the first step to making better nutritional choices, etc.

We'll see what comes of this "clean slate" that's before us in 2014. So far, I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year, full of potential and exciting opportunities. 

What are your plans for your "clean slate" in 2014?

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from our household to yours! We've had a busy holiday season, enjoying time with family and some quiet time as "just" the three of us. The holidays have taken on a new energy as we experience the wonder and delight of Christmas with a young child.

It strikes me how confusing it must be to see the world transformed with Christmas lights and decorations virtually over night. For example, we put up our Christmas decor -- including our tree -- while Matthew was down for his nap. As he walked out groggily from his nap, he got a look on his face like "why is there a tree where my toys should be?" But then the confusion turned into wonder as he pondered what was under the tree:

If I get on my tippy-toes, will I be able to reach that package?

This is so pretty and colorful, I wonder why it's here!?

To celebrate Christmas, the family got dressed up and went to Christmas Eve services together. This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas, taking the time to sing carols and praise God. There is just something about slowing down and remembering why we celebrate.

Looking dapper for church! 

"Why yes, I AM pretty cute!"

"C'mon Grammy & Papa, let's go to the church service!"

Christmas Day was relaxed at our house. At first Matthew wasn't sure about the cheerily wrapped boxes. But once he understood how to open a present, he had a great time!

"Here Dad, a gift for you!"

"Do you need some help with that, Papa?"

"Yeah, but Papa, what about THIS package?"

"Here Grammy, this is how you do it!"

New toys are FUN!

My hope for you this holiday season is that you experienced joy and wonder, and that you are richly blessed in 2014!

Santa Photo 2013

We took Matthew today for his second visit with Santa. Last year's visit went pretty well, with Matthew tugging at Santa's beard and then smiling for the camera.

This year was a little bit of a different story. What you don't see in our Santa photo is the back story -- the skilled photographer caught Matthew just before he started crying because he wanted to be with Daddy (and not this jolly stranger):

Santa recovered (unfortunately after the crying stint and the photo was taken), offering Matthew a candy cane before we left. Matthew got a huge smile on his face and was excited to carry his gift around proudly. He cried again as we tried to put his mittens on, to Lennie smartly tucked the candy cane into his mitten, and he was a happy camper for the rest of the day (despite not knowing what a candy cane is, mind you!).

I'm working on getting Matthew to say "Ho! Ho! Ho!" but we'll see if that comes to fruition this Christmas season. In the meantime, the Christmas spirit is in the air at our house:

Halloween 2013

Today Matthew experienced trick-or-treating for the first time. He dressed up in his Mickey Mouse costume -- perfect for the crisp, damp Fall day. After celebrating the holiday at daycare, we took him to enjoy the festivities downtown. Once again, the streets were packed, but we had a great time stopping by favorite shops, getting Matthew's photo taken at a local photography studio, and visiting the town's children's events.

We then headed home and trick-or-treated at a few of our neighbor's houses. While Matthew didn't necessarily know what was going on, he certainly made the neighbors smile as he knocked on doors and tried to invite himself in to their homes! Towards the end of the night, Matthew even helped hand out candy to other trick-or-treaters. What a fun way to mark the holiday!

Cruising around town in style!

Trick or Treat Miss Shelly! (Isn't this the part where you give me something?)

Enough pictures Mom! Let's go!

Hey! You forgot this candy!

We hope that you had a great Halloween too!

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we carved our pumpkins in preparation for Halloween. This was the first year that Matthew was able to participate, and he certainly enjoyed working with the pumpkin "guts."

The finished products:

We're all set for Halloween -- bring on the trick-or-treating fun!

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a nice quiet day as a family. The Internet repairman finally came out and fixed our connection (after a lot of phone calls and a harrowing week without connectivity), and then we made our way down to Carnation for their annual Fourth of July celebration. Here are a few of the photos that were taken by Photo Orchard to mark the occasion:

We returned home tired but happy from our time in Carnation. We grilled up some hot dogs, spent some time with Matthew, and then after Matthew went down for the night, we went outside to enjoy some of the neighborhood fireworks displays. Our neighbors really know how to put on a show too! What fun! I hope that you had a great Fourth of July, and that your summer is off to a great start!

Christmas 2012

It was our first Christmas as a bustling little family. Matthew began crawling even more -- and his mobility got him to the tree, but thankfully he wasn't very interested in pulling at ornaments or any of our decorations. He was fascinated, however with our rocking reindeer that sings "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."

The wrapping paper and his new 3-in-1 Zebra scooter/walker toy were an absolute hit. We enjoyed spending time with my parents and relaxing in the quiet moments of the holidays. Here are a few photo highlights:

We're so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family in our lives! Happy holidays everyone -- here's to a great New Year ahead!

Visiting with Santa

On Sunday, we took Matthew to see Santa, and he did amazingly well for his first Santa trip. (Especially since he didn't have much of a nap, and woke up just before we walked into the mall!) He did give Santa's beard a little tug (or two or three), but Santa simply chuckled and wished him well. All in all, it was a positive experience, and we look forward to more milestones this first Christmas season with Matthew.

"What's this on your face, Santa?"

Smiling for the camera with Santa.

We've decked the halls for the season -- maybe we went a little too far with dressing Matthew up as a Christmas tree too? Nah...

Our little elf is ready for the season!

Thanksgiving 2012

We have had the opportunity to share Thanksgiving dinner with family friends, which means that we don't have to do much cooking at our house, and we get to enjoy a quiet day at home decorating for the holidays and enjoying some down time. This year was no different.

Matthew's first Thanksgiving dinner in pictures:

Like I said: we decorated the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving day... and we couldn't resist dressing up our little present for the holidays too!

Matthew with two of his adoring fans. :)

Matthew fell asleep during the salad course of our meal. We couldn't resist putting a plate in front of him for this photo opportunity!

This Thanksgiving, we have many things to be thankful for -- friends, family, love, our health, happiness, and the promise of experiences to come. We are grateful for everyone that we have in our lives, and we hope that you find yourself richly blessed this holiday season.

First Halloween

Fall seems to have flown by -- the leaves have all turned and are falling off, the pumpkin patches are bare, and the trick-or-treaters have almost all gone in for the night. We had a great time with our little dragon this year. He got to spend the day with Lennie, and then we went down as a family to enjoy the downtown Duvall trick-or-treating event.

Downtown Duvall was packed! We thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the kids and parents dressed up while walking around town. It was fun to stop at our daycare's booth and help hand out candy, and then we went over to Serendipity Photography for a free photo of Matthew. (What a great way to engage with the community!)

While Matthew may not yet know the meaning of Halloween, we certainly had fun with him this season:

"Raiding" the candy bowl.

Happy Halloween from our house to yours!

Pumpkin Patch

While we were out and about this past weekend, we got to take advantage of a rare break in the weather to enjoy a trip to the pumpkin patch. On our way home from our errands, we stopped at Fall City Farms. The experience was fantastic -- the farm is well run, and had a band playing music while kids could go through a hay maze and watch small pumpkins get launched across the field. We had a great time!