A Rudolph Run and Weekend Fun

After the craziness of last weekend, this weekend was nice and quiet.  No parties, no big plans, and we just got to spend time with our little family.  The only thing I had on the agenda was a race that didn't start till 10:00 on Saturday morning.  I slept in till 8:00, and by I slept in, I mean that's how late Jonah slept in.  Once he got up, I nursed him and then got myself ready to head to the race.

It was the Rudolph Run 6K (first time I've ever raced this distance) and I had convinced a friend to run with me.  I left Luke with the littles and headed out to meet my friend.  The race was at a high school in Howard County, and there happened to be a pee-wee football tournament going on at the school so it was a little crazy, but we eventually found each other and headed to the start of the race. We had red blinking Rudolph noses on, which we decided we would get a picture of us wearing them, and then take them off for the race.  But we did get a few compliments before taking them off.

The race ended up being two loops around the same course and partially on grass, which I didn't love. I did, however, love that there were no hills!  My toes never warmed up until after I finished, but I somehow managed to average a 7:30 pace.  Surprise to me! My friend and I hung out for a bit and then decided to go chat over coffee before we headed home to our families.  It was so nice being out for a bit and relaxing!

not happy about trying to crawl

When I got home we got ourselves ready for the day and headed out to do some last minute Christmas shopping.  Target was super crazy and we ended up just leaving.  But we found some fun white elephant gifts at the mall, and bought the few gift cards we needed for people.  Our evening was nice and quiet- bathtime and bedtime routines for the kids (and me since I still go to bed when Noelle goes to bed!)

I want to remember these little quiet evenings that we have as a family of four.  They aren't always easy, especially when Jonah has a short nap or an earlier nap, and it's a struggle to keep him awake until at least 7.  But there are fun moments too.  Turning on Christmas music and dancing around. Doing "Ring Around the Rosie" with Noelle and Care Bear.  Trying to get Jonah to crawl instead of just sprawl his legs out behind him.  Laughing at the funny things that come out of Noelle's mouth. Reading books and watching Christmas movies together.

Christmas Sunday clothes

I can only imagine what next Christmas will look like with two very mobile children, but in the meantime, I'm loving how much fun the toddler and baby stages are.  And if this is it in terms of how many kids God wants to bless us with, I want to enjoy the last "first" Christmas we will have with our Jonah boy.

December Last Year

It was a year ago on December 7 that we found out Jonah was a boy!  With Noelle, we found out during the anatomy scan that we were having a girl.  And with her, I really had no feelings one way or another about what the gender could be.  Jonah, on the other hand, I had a feeling from the moment I found out that I was pregnant that he was a boy.

Heather Boockholdt maternity picture

I believe that every single baby is a gift and wonderful blessing, and our prayers were always that God would keep our baby safe and healthy.  But for some reason, as soon as Noelle was born, I pictured having two little girls someday and so wanted a sister for Noelle.  When we got pregnant again, I was convinced it was a boy since in my head I would have two little girls, and I thought that God would give us the opposite of what my plan was.  And that's exactly what He did- but He of course knows best!

We decided to do something a little different for finding out the gender with baby #2.  During the anatomy scan we had the sonographer write the gender down and put it in an envelope, which I then took to a bakery.  The bakery made cupcakes and filled the inside with blue or pink based on what was in the envelope.  We invited our parents and siblings over for our little "gender reveal" party the next day, and after a quick lunch, it was time for us to bite into the cupcakes.

As the mommy-to-be I wanted to be the first to see, so I got a head start on biting into my cupcake. As soon as I took a bite, I saw the blue and yelled "it's a boy!"  We were all excited, and I think I had convinced most of my family that it was a boy, so no one was too surprised.  I hung out with everyone for a little while, and then went up to our room to let it soak in and have a few minutes to myself.  And I started bawling.

I did not NOT want a boy, but I had so wanted a sister for Noelle.  And I think it was partially hormones, because I felt like I had no control over my crying self.  I hate that I was such a mess, and I love Jonah so much it hurts and would not trade him for a girl for anything!  It did take me a few weeks, but I started to really get on board with having a boy (even though that was what I was so sure he was from the time I got pregnant!)

Heather Boockholdt Photography

Plus now I can say I have a favorite girl and favorite boy.  Until we have a third someday (should God bless us with another), then someone will have to share.  And we will love each one so much!

Christmas Filled Weekend

It's been a busy month, as usual during the holiday season, but oh so fun to celebrate Jesus' birth and all the joy that goes with it!

This past weekend, we had Luke's work Christmas party, as well as a cookies and cocktails party with some new neighborhood friends.  Luke's work party was on Friday evening, and I almost bailed at the last minute.  It had been a rough day with the kids and my sister was coming to watch the both of them- I wasn't worried about the kids, but I felt bad for my sister! Noelle had been super whiny all day, and Jonah had only had one nap and I figured he would lose it any minute.  But I threw on a nice sweater and away we went.

the whiny girl took an hour long nap on me

Thankfully it was only about 20 minutes away in Clarksville, so I figured we could rush home if Heather sent out an SOS.  Luke's company did a game this year where each employee bought a toy that represented them in some way, and as they were unwrapped, the employees had to guess who had brought it.  And then after the party, all the toys were donated to Toys for Tots- fun for us and fun for the kids!  The food was of course yummy and it was fun to catch up with some of his co-workers.

On Saturday I dropped the kids off at my parents and Luke and I headed to a cookies and cocktails party at a new friend's house in our neighborhood.  We brought cookies to exchange and I tried some yummy apple cider sangria.  It was great being able to meet a couple of other neighbors with little kids, and I got to hear more about the pre-school where we are potentially sending Noelle in the fall. I hope we can continue new friendships!

Then on Sunday we had our "baby Bible study" Christmas party (I call it that because everyone in that group has kids), which included a lot of delicious food and a white elephant gift exchange.  For this exchange, the plan was for each family to bring something that was laying around the house that you didn't want anymore.  We brought a tortilla maker and ended up coming home with an ammo box with some stuff in it.  There was definitely some re-gifting from the year before, as well as from the gift exchange we had been a part of with our other Bible study the week before.  Luke and I had a lot of fun, and Noelle always has a blast being surrounded by kids her age.   We are certainly blessed by each person in the group and we really enjoy seeing how our friendships have grown!

It was a busy, but fun-filled weekend.  And now only one more weekend before Christmas is here!

O Christmas Tree 2014

I had grand ideas of going out to a tree farm to cut down our own Christmas tree in honor of Jonah's first Christmas, but that definitely didn't happen.  I think with Thanksgiving being later in November and there being less time till Christmas, our weekends filled up quickly with various parties and celebrations.  I wanted to have the tree up for as long as possible, so we did the next best thing- went to Home Depot on a rainy weekday evening to pick one out!

2013 tree

Last year we took almost 18 month old Noelle out to a tree farm with our friends Megan and Joe to cut down a tree, and it was a lot of fun!  The farm was close by, and it was fun to wander around amongst the trees to find the one.  [Sidenote: last year we went tree hunting on the day we had our little family gender reveal party and found out we were having a boy!] We've almost always had a Douglas fir, which we affectionately call Douglas throughout the time it stands in our house.  Last year we ended up putting most of the ornaments on the upper half of the tree to keep out of reach of little hands, and we also had a significant amount of snow the day after we got the tree, which of course made tree decorating feel even more festive.

 me and the littles with some Home Depot trees

When we ran out to Home Depot this year, we debated about whether we should even go since it was raining and we'd be putting a wet tree into the back of the van, but I really didn't want to wait any longer to bring home our tree!  We bundled up the kids, made the five minute drive up to Home Depot, and quickly selected a tree.  Since we were literally the only people out in the little outdoor section of Home Depot, I went and hung out inside with the kids while Luke tracked someone down to help him get the tree ready to go.

Ellie the elf!

Noelle, Jonah, and I mostly wandered around the Christmas section looking at the different lawn ornaments, lights, and other Christmasy things.  Noelle liked picking up the toys, and of course, attempted to ride the child-size Rudolph toy.  Even if it wasn't a classic Christmas tree hunt, it is still a good memory of Jonah's FIRST tree!

a boy and his tree

Weekend of Christmas Fun

This past weekend was full of Christmas festivities with family and friends.  I started Saturday with a 7 mile run (2nd longest run since Jonah was born!) in preparation for a day of cookie baking.  I definitely wanted to burn as many extra calories as I could with plans to eat cookie dough and sample the different cookies that we were all making!

 "helping" Aunt Becky mix her dough

For at least the last four years, my mom has hosted a day of cookie baking and a cookie exchange at her house.  This year included my mom and two sisters, as well as my mom's best friend and her daughter-in-law and the girlfriend of her other son.  With seven of us making at least two types of cookies, we had a very full kitchen!  We were also trying to figure out how many sticks of butter we had used between all of us, but we stopped counting when my youngest sister said she would be using 15 sticks for her 2 recipes!  I had baked my brown sugar and toffee cookies the day before and pre-made the dough for my pretzel monster cookies knowing that I would probably be preoccupied with kids for a good bit of time.

we like cookies!

I brought the littles with me since I'm pretty sure my sisters look forward to seeing the two of them more than me, and I knew Noelle would have fun "helping" and getting lots of attention.  My dad held Jonah for a little while, and then Jonah took a nice nap in the pack'n'play while I was able to get some of my cookies baked.  It was definitely a fun day, and I came home with a whole lot of cookies, most of which have been distributed to neighbors and Luke's family.

On Sunday, our one Bible study group got together for our annual Christmas party.  We love the fellowship that we have with this group and the relationships that have come out of it.  For a few years after college I really struggled with feeling like I had close relationships outside of my relationship with Luke, but no more!  God has really provided some amazing friends who love Him and have pushed me to grow in my relationship with the Lord.

thank you for the picture, Kristina!

We ate lots of yummy food and did a white elephant gift exchange, which was hilarious as usual.  We ended up with some practical things- a ledge shelf that our friends have had since they got married six years ago and never took out of the box, as well as a box of band-aids with quotes from Shakespeare on them.  Someone also ended up with the signed picture of our friend Johnny (who has since moved away) for the third year in a row.

Kristina got them at least both looking towards the camera

Jonah was kept out way too late that night, and cried the whole drive home and then slept horribly and napped horribly the next day.  But I think we're slowly getting him back on track.  We love that little munchkin, but he does not leave room for a whole lot of flexibility.  BUT I know this little stage will only last for so long and the sacrifice is worth it (or the sleeplessness that results when we keep him awake!)

Countdown to Christmas

The Christmas season is my absolute favorite time of the year.  As I've grown in my faith, I've come to love that we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  The other stuff- presents, Santa, time with family- is all fun too, but everything is underscored by Jesus!  Especially in 2011 and 2013 when I was pregnant, I felt a tiny bit like I could understand Mary and the joy and expectancy of pregnancy.  And of course, having babies makes me understand even more just how much Christ humbled Himself to be born a helpless babe.

And having a baby and toddler at Christmas makes everything seem new and even more exciting. We bought Noelle a car she could ride in last year and I remember how much fun Luke and I had putting it together the night before, and then watching her get excited about it when she saw it on Christmas morning.  This year I didn't get anything big for Noelle, but I'm pretty sure based on her obsession with Care Bear, that she'll be super excited about the Care Bear sheets I picked up at a Tot Swap, as well as the puzzles we got for her.

Christmas 2013

I also think traditions are really important and since we've been married we've been starting some of our own.  Eating cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, watching the movie Stardust, and spending Christmas morning with just us are a few.  For our kids, I wanted to give them a special keepsake gift on their first Christmas.  For Noelle we got her a locket engraved with her name, and for Jonah we got a pocketknife engraved with his name.  I hope that these are things they can keep, and maybe even pass down to their kids.

Another tradition I started this year was a countdown to Christmas with 25 books about the holiday.  I purchased most of the books at Goodwill and yard sales, and then wrapped all of them.  Each night starting on December 1st, Noelle picks out one of the books and opens it for us to read.  I have to say I've enjoyed it because it gives us new reading material, even if she does request that I read the book to her three times in a row before bed.

reading Christmas books with Daddy

She's liked all the books, except last night after she opened the book "Here Comes Santa Claus", she kept saying "not dis one" and wanted to open another one.  Luke gave her the option of reading it or going to bed, which she reluctantly agreed to reading the book.  And on the third time through, she had fallen fast asleep. Gotta love toddlers!

I love this girl and starting new traditions with my kids.  I can only imagine how much fun it will be when Jonah is old enough to fight over whose turn it is to open a book.  And of course coming up with fun new traditions as they get older!

November in Pictures

Aside from our Thanksgiving fun, our November looked like a pretty typical month around here. Play dates, speech therapy, small group get togethers, and time with our families.

Noelle and Zoe take a nap together.

 Jonah mastering the whole sitting up on his own thing.

Forced hugs and selfies with mommy.

Wrapping up baby Jonah.

A failed attempt at taking pictures of the littles in their Christmas clothes.

Thanksgiving and getting to see lots of family!

A much happier Jonah!

Play group and Noelle having her first date with Anderson. (Thanks for the picture, Beverly!)  And Anderson is 1/4 Chinese and Noelle is 1/8 Chinese, but neither one looks a bit like it.

Overall, a very fun month, and now onto my favorite season of all- celebrating Christ's birth!