How we've decked our halls

'Tis the season to decorate!
Let's start outside...

Thanks to mother and grandparents who didn't want these lights anymore! Keeping it classy with only white lights. Maybe someday I'll live a little and add some color. Probably not though :)

We swagged lights on just the front portion of our picket fence and did the bushes on the side.  New this year was lining the front door pillars.  It'd look better if there were lights on the bushes on the front of the house... but those have some major thorns and the pain wouldn't be worth it.  

One nice thing about a smaller house is that there's less to decorate... and clean! :)  Seriously, like 7 minutes to vacuum all the carpet in our house. 

So, this wine rack is what gets changed up the most in this house. It actually doesn't look like this now, I've already moved it around.  Also, we've got a lot more Christmas cards now! 

The "JOY" letters are a new addition this year.  $3 at craft store and spray painted. Christmas Carols book is vintage from a consignment store.  Glitter trees and red sparkle burlap on the shelves.  Also means I can dust less, so that worked out well. 

Splurged on the baby boots for Obi's Christmas present.... had a coupon but also justified it to Ben as "all our babies will wear these..."   Keeping them here looks cute and it's handy when running out the door.  Turns out Obi is an expert at kicking off all boots or shoes while in his car seat, but they are adorable. 

And the stockings were hung on the window with care. (working with what we've got, people!)  Searching for a larger green coordinating knit stocking for Obi....  his mini one will do for now. Monogram ornaments from Target this year.  

And here's how I decorate my child :) He went to his first Christmas party, so this was necessary. 

Apparently it costs $25 to get a picture with Santa anywhere around here... and no luck in my search for a local free Santa yet. So we'll just make him Santa. (outfit borrowed from my aunts, apparently it's 20 years old!) 

Finally, the tree.  It's may be cheating and on a stand.  Same decor as last year- sparkly ornaments and ribbon.  Going to search some after Christmas sales this year to get something different for next year. 

And just for fun.... this was me at Christmas last year!!  This was only a few days before we found out baby was a boy! 

This last pic was taken this morning... cold weather and snow days means more crocheting for me.  And this rolling (not quite crawling) child somehow always finds it when I turn around. He got this one in such a mess!  Pretty cute to see how fun he has with it! 

((Not pictured, but want to record here for my memory's sake.... Snowman wreath (thank you, Pinterest) and Dory's little cat stocking hanging by her food bowl.)

getting stuck

what's up- my name is obi and i've learned how to scoot backwards this week.  it's super frustrating and i keep getting stuck under things.  dad laughs at me and mom grabs the camera. whatever, learned to smile and then they eventually rescue me.  they keep talking about this thing "crawl" and i don't even know.  it's feels cool to get my stomach off the ground but that usually ends in getting stuck under something. gotta go-- my toys are bored without me.  ...baby out.

notice my striped blue sock... hate those things-- love to pull them off and eat them.

here, i was escaping from getting pj's on, so i think i meant to do this. i was hiding. they don't let me wear just my skin enough.

notice the red "dirt devil" in the background. also hate that thing. it's been sitting there all weekend just ready to roar at me. dad took me downstairs to play and when i come back up it was gone. mysterious. 

i just burped and next thing i knew there was this super cool squishy stuff that was awesome to smoosh around.

when an infant becomes a baby

Infants grow into babies and they get easier. I promise you, infant mothers, it does get easier.  I didn't notice it was easier because I'm with this infant/baby everyday.
But reflecting on the newborn/infant days has helped me get a lot of perspective on this thing called parenthood.  (not the show, Parenthood, though it is my current fave) Things change SO fast. Actually, we were able to leave Obi with the grandmas for a weekend while we went to a friend's wedding and shopping (of course).  This was the longest I've been away from him and not having my baby around brought a taste of what life was like before him. I almost forgot what life was like.  But I wouldn't trade what I have now for anything!

I'm glad I recently remembered this... Infant-Obi had his version of a Google calendar for a while. I was concerned he wasn't sleeping enough so I started to chart it out on Google calendar so I could visually see and add up the hours.  It was also to see if there were any patterns starting.  Well, there wasn't and his sleep was probably fine.

I think that Obi has slept the same amount of time during a 24 period from when he was a newborn to now.  So back then, it was on the low end.  Now, it is on the high end. Whatever.

It was fun to think about what Obi was doing 5 months ago... and what he's doing now.  I think I remember going for 3 different walks on June 5th. It brought both me and Obi some needed fresh air.  Thankful for a walk-able neighborhood!!

But now fast forward to the no-longer-infant-Obi... Here's a picture I took this morning.   I put Obi on the white carpet and he wiggled and rolled his way under his dresser.  He doesn't crawl yet, but he's a good scooter.  Also, notice a pile of his spit up and him smearing it on the hardwood.  I was in the room the whole time putting his clothes away... but somehow I missed how he got underneath the dresser. I heard him spit up and that's when I looked down.

Only a few short months from working hard to soothe this baby to sleep... to working hard to keep this baby entertained when he's awake!  

Obi's laugh does exist

Wow- 6 months is SO fun!!  I love it.  I'm sure I probably said that about 3 months, and 4 months... maybe, just maybe, I even said it about 3 weeks. But I was probably still speaking out of delirium or something then.   I hope each new phase will be my new favorite :)

Did you know that I was voted "Best Laugh" in high school?  I had a loud laugh and I probably laughed in the cafeteria the instant people were voting. Because it's really not that weird- but I suppose I've probably toned down a little since my younger years.

Here's the real news.  My child does laugh.  It is a crazy inhale-laugh that is unique to only him and who knows if it will stick. So I had to record it.

(Bear with me and my unkempt hair and self recording skills)

Isn't is hilarious?  How about he part where he chokes on his own laugh.  He'll figure it out one of these days.

His sense of humor is starting to come out when he laughs at random things while not being tickled.  He's laughed at me a couple times from his high chair when walk to open the fridge and once when I shut the car door after getting him in.  You know, like really funny stuff. 

This one is at Ben trying to juggle little rattle ping-pong balls.(....which are actually cat toys that I got free when I bought cat food- but cat could care less and Obi is thrilled with anything) 

Bieber baby

Our Halloween approach this year was to keep it simple and use what you got.  And we've got a baby with Bieber hair.  Then I just fashioned some dog-tag necklace out of tin foil and put it on one of my necklaces.

 He's not going trick-or-treating anyways, as if he could stay up that long anyways.  In fact, yesterday he fell asleep for the night at 5:30!! Which is 4:30 after the time change this weekend...  I've never thought about and anticipated daylight savings time as much as I have this year!  We'll have to rework some things to make sure his night doesn't start in the afternoon.  I knew he was tired and figured it'd just be a quick snooze before bedtime-- but he stayed asleep for the next 7 hours. He had a long few days so he needed some extra sleep. And he still slept till 7:30am. I swear every week brings about a new "thing" concerning Obi that keeps me on my toes!  

 How do you think we did??  

Sister bride

What a FUN weekend!!  My sister's wedding was great and I'm excited to have a new brother-in-law! 

Post-wedding recovery this week includes lots of sleeping, house cleaning, and work to get over stuffy noses (all three of us!) and sore throats.

when it gets cold...

When it gets cold here, a few things happen...
... taco soup festers in the crock pot all day.
... candles smell like cinnamon.
... yarn and crochet hooks make their appearance after a long summer.


When it gets cold here, pumpkins get placed on the porch...

... I finally get to use that end-of-season clearanced heated blanket...

...and have a cat steal that blanket.

When it's cold here, slippers frequent our floors...

... and babies get stuffed in hooded sweater onesies.  

When it gets cold here... everyone gets a little more snuggly. 

... even the cat puts up with baby snuggles. 

(he likes putting soft things on his face :) 

When it gets cold around here... babies put up with frequent mommy snuggles.  

 It might be a long season for Obi.  :)

Fall fun

This weekend we took advantage of some amazing weather, and some local free fun at an orchard. Seems funny to do these family outings with just one child who could probably care less... but it was partly for me because I wanted to get pumpkins.  Turns out, I'm a pumpkin snob and did not want the lumpy bumpy odd shaped pumpkins there.  My proportional and beautifully colored pumpkins will be found soon...  Nevertheless, memories were made and I'm sure we'll go again!

Between being sleepy and sunny, Obi was clearly thrilled to be wedged between two pumpkins on prickly straw. 

Obi was kinda sleepy and loopy-- but he would not miss out on the tractor ride.  He loved it-- as much as a baby can love something :) 

Bad year for apple picking... spring frost and summer drought.  But the apple treats didn't disappoint.  Apple cider slushy, apple turnover, and caramel apples. 

I don't think I can snuggle him enough.  By the way-- he's 5 months old today!!!!

... And being 5 months old apparently means the perfect "tossing age" for dad. 

I think Obi likes it too!