Oh 2012

What a year it has been...

In January we drove down a quiet street in East Raleigh to look at small, cozy home.  Four days later we were under contract.

We closed on that little home in February.

And moved in March.  We celebrated Ben's birthday and took a small babymoon trip.

In April we started our childbirth classes.

After nearly six years, I left my job at the library in May.  Ben graduated!  We celebrated our baby bee at the most beautiful baby shower.

We soaked up every second of together time in June.

July brought us Elijah Benjamin, our greatest joy and gift.

August took us back and forth to the midwives and all over town to visit with lactation consultants.  And finally to Asheville, away from it all.

Sweet September was spent at the beach.

Ben started work in October and Eli and I began our staying home together routine.

We celebrated my birthday in November and traveled to spend Thanksgiving with my family.

And December.  We had the joy of celebrating the birth of our King with both of our families.  Eli's first Christmas was such a fun and beautiful time.  We also managed to buy a new (to us) car in there somewhere.

Oh 2012.  You have been a big year.  I had no idea we would here, in this space that we love with new neighbors and friends.  I had no idea that we would have a son.  I had no idea that my heart was capable of this kind of love.  Thank you, God for this year.  We're excited to see what you have for us in 2013, believing that whatever comes our way comes through Your hands and will be ultimately for our good.

{this moment}

{Clapping for the first time!}

A Friday ritual started by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Please...just go look

Our dear friends visited us the week before Christmas.  What a joy it was to have them here.  Their sweet Canaan and our Elijah Benjamin got such a kick out of each other.  It blows my mind that we have KIDS that can play (to a certain extent) with one another.  I'm so grateful for their visit and so thankful that they are in our lives.

L*Joy captured some great pics of our little ones together.  Please, please go take a look!!

A Very Merry Christmas

From our family to yours!

Thanks for joining me in this space.  Wishing you peace and joy during beautiful season.
xo.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

 Happy Christmas Eve!  We are making, creating and enjoying each other!  Just a few pictures as evidence...

{this moment}

A Friday ritual started by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

An Update on Goals...Finally

Way back in November I set a handful of goals for myself.  Pretty ambitious goals, says she looking back on them.  For accountability's sake, here's how I fared.

1.  I want to be the best wife and mama I can be.

• I will find my mama mantra.
• I'm not sure that I officially found my mama mantra, but I spent much of the month finding myself coming again and again and again to the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  I want my every action as a mama to be marked with the fruit of the Spirit.  Some days I focused on one or two words (often gentleness and self-control) and other days I needed to hear the whole thing over and over and over.
• I will schedule play dates so that Elijah and I can get out of the house and meet new friends.
• We play dated!  Success!  Play dates are an interesting thing, probably something I could write an entire post on if I had the time.  I'm learning that the flexible, "my kid is awake and in a good mood, how about your kid?" kind works best for us in this completely unpredictable season.
• I will plan 2 at-home date nights for us.
• Fail.  Complete and utter failure.  But we've been already had two at-home date nights in December.

2.  I want to invest in this space.

• I will post consistently throughout the month of November.
• Ha.  I think this one needs no further comment.  Obviously I did not meet this goal.
• I will watch the instructional DVDs that came with my new camera.
• Or this one.
• I will read at least three of the photography tutorials I have pinned.
• Or this one!  I just didn't prioritize this goal throughout the month.  Maybe next time?

3.  I want to create.

• I will make good progress on a secret, special knitting project.
• I did not make any progress!  Can you believe it!?
• I will complete 10 repeats on Elijah's baby blanket.
• I did make progress on Elijah's blanket, though I certainly did not knit 10 repeats.  I did manage to knit a couple of repeats before falling asleep while watching "ELF."  I fall asleep at the same part - decorating the Christmas tree illegally procured from Central Park - every single year!
• I will compile a list of Christmas gifts we will give.
• Done and dusted.
• I will design our Christmas card AND prepare the list of receipents.  
• MmHm.  Well, we're working on it now.  And that's what counts, right?
• I will make an Advent calender.
• Sort of.  I pulled out an old advent calendar that I'd made several years ago and repurposed it.  And that was perfect.  Every day I get a little bit better at figuring out what I can and can't tackle and how to make do with what we've got.  

4.  I want to develop an exercise rountine.

• I will move for at least 20 minutes at least 5 times a week.
• I nailed this goal.  After complaining about my lack of motivation to get moving, I developed and proposed a workout challenge to a very good friend.  She took me up on it and I am thrilled to tell you that today is the very last day.  We challenged ourselves to run three times a week (a goal I'm happy to tell you that I met) and to a 30 day ab challenge (I hit this one at about 95%).  I also set a goal of trying to walk with Eli at least once a day.  We didn't make it every day, but all told I think there have probably only been one or two days in the last month that I didn't move and that has felt great.
• I will try at least 2 of the post-baby workouts I have pinned.
• Yep.  Our ab challenge came straight from good old Pinterest.
• I will do yoga at least once a week.
• Sort of.  I found a post-run yoga routine that I've followed, but haven't yet developed a stand alone practice.  

5.  I want to study Scripture.

• I will continue my study of Philippians.
• Yes and no.  I'm still plodding along through Philippians, but ended up pausing on that study so that I could take part in another study with a few neighborhood women.  
• I will continue my study of Ephesians with Ben.
• Yes!  We are still at it and loving it.  I am so impressed by Ben's diligence in preparing for the study and that has inspired me to dig deeper into the Word.  Our time together to discuss what we're learning and to talk through the passage is quickly becoming one of my favorite times of the week.  

So there you have it.  Some successes and some failures.  I think that this goal setting was an interesting exercise for me.  I set way too many goals, but I liked having a goal for most areas of my life.  It did help me to figure out how to best prioritize my time (read: Eli's nap times).  It's definitely something I would consider doing again.

What about you?  Did you accomplish any big goals this month or last?  Fail completely?

Hope in the Midst of Sorrow

Last week I was feeling a little sorry for myself but that is nothing compared to the sorrow that I feel for the families touched by the trauma of the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings.  Of course, there are no words that could possibly express the grief that those parents must be experiencing as they watch their lives unraveling before them.

I have been encouraged, as so often is the case, by words published over at Desiring God.  This, in particular, is a wonderful post that points to Jesus in the midst of sorrow.

We are five months into parenthood and there is a great part of me that wants to lock our doors and never leave the house, hoping that will keep us safe.  But it won't.  In fact, it would be most unsafe as we would most likely contract scurvy and in the end succumb to death by bickering and boredom.  So instead, we threw open our lives this weekend and spent time loving our neighbors and cherishing our friends.  We held one another close and our sweet boy even closer.  And we rejoiced.  We rejoice that we serve a God who is big enough for our sorrow.  So big, in fact, that He sent His only Son - a fact that resonates ever deeper now that I have my own son - to bear our sorrow and our grief.  We rejoice in this season that celebrates the gift of His Son, exactly what our hearts needed.  We rejoice that we have this life to use to love others and to point them to Him.  We have so much to be grateful for.

Wishing you peace in this chaotic time, hope in this time of sorrow.

And now December

Whew.  December.  Can you believe it?

I've felt quiet, as I'm sure is obvious from my lack of presence in this space, these last few weeks.  I have goals to update you on, Advent traditions to share, and Christmas crafting to celebrate (though I suppose those handmade happys will have to wait until they've been unwrapped).

I've been listening to this song quite a bit.  It is one of my all time favorites.



It seems fitting for this season.  I feel like our life is quieting, building, readying for the birth of our King.  There is sorrow in this season for me and while there is great, great, great joy, there is a small part of me that does wish for a river to skate away on.  Instead, I will dig into this place, rejoice in my role as mama, wife, daughter, friend; prepare my heart for the coming of Christ; believe that we have joy which no one can take away.

²⁰ Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.²¹ A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.²² So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.  (John 16:20-22)