The Christmas Season

I've pretty much conceded the fact that I'm not going to be regularly blogging any more.  There are a few different reasons for that, some of which I discussed in a post a few months ago.  

However, I still plan to update pictures occasionally, and I just may write a few things here and there if the mood strikes me. :)

These are some pictures from December.  Hope you enjoy them!

 We visited Santa at Bass Pro in Grapevine. Denver had a similar experience last year. He's not into the whole Santa thing. :)

 Denver and KK on Christmas Eve

 waking up Christmas morning

 opening presents

 playing with his new Thomas the Train set

 It snowed ON Christmas Day in Ft. Worth... so beautiful and perfect.

 Fable was made for the snow

 my boys

 wearing his KK's gloves  :)

rolling down the hill in our front yard

A Few Spring Pictures

 

Tormenting the Dog (and other fun things...)

Our little Denver Man has gone from this...

to this...

in thirteen short months.  We are so blown away by how quickly he changes. Not only physical changes, but he is becoming less of a baby, and more of a little kid every day.  A few of Denver's favorite ways to pass the day away are...

• taking things from one place, and very carefully and methodically bringing them to another place. example: taking clean clothes out of the dryer and putting them in the trash can. another example? taking puzzle pieces and placing them in the toilet.
• he LOVES to ride around in his backpack.

yeah, he looks sort of miserable here. I guess you'll have to trust me that he actually enjoys this.

• he takes his toys and drives them full-speed into Fable's body. Then Fable scampers away, and Denver falls over laughing.  Nothing makes him laugh harder than tormenting his pobrecito puppy Fable.
• he now brushes his own hair. He gets lots of compliments on his stylish do.  I think it's beginning to look mullet-y, but we don't have the heart to cut it.
• favorite food? chicken sausage. favorite drink? mommy's milk. favorite toy: anything that makes loud noise and music and can be used as a weapon against Fable.

Our little stud muffin keeps us pretty busy, but he's also pretty cute and does pretty amazing things. So we kinda like him. :)

Daredevil Denver

Hello world!

Things I've been thinking about lately...

keeping Denver alive as he runs through the house, tumbling all over everything, trying to dive into toilets, sneaking out the doggie door, banging his head on every corner he can find, putting his hands in Fable's mouth and taking chomps out of toilet paper rolls

Things I've NOT been thinking about lately...

this blog

Can you forgive me? I'll try to post more videos and pictures in the coming months. :)

In the meantime, please check out our high-flying son!!*

*no babies or animals were harmed in the making of this photo :)

Seasons

About a year ago, when I was still newly pregnant with Denver, I remember thinking, "I can't wait until I get a baby bump. Then everyone will know I'm pregnant, and I'll feel justified for having all these crummy feelings." A few short months later, I got what I asked for:

At about that time, I thought, "I can't wait until this baby is born. My feet and back ache, my belly itches, and I'd like to enjoy a glass of wine over dinner with my husband."

Then Denver was born.

I had a beautiful son, and I quickly began to think, "I can't wait until this child sleeps through the night. I can't wait until my body gets used to breastfeeeding...this hurts! I can't wait until my body recovers from birth so that I can exercise again."

Well, I got all those wishes.

And now I admit that I'm thinking, "I can't wait until Denver gets through this spit-up phase... I am constantly covered in spit-up. I can't wait until he's old enough to take a sippy-cup, because he WON'T take a bottle, so I give him EVERY feeding, which greatly limits my freedom."

Then I hear a quiet voice whisper, "Caitlin, cherish these moments. You won't always be covered in spit-up. You won't always nurse your son every time he's hungry. This is a season, just like pregnancy was a season, just like having a newborn was a season."

So tonight, when Denver starts crying for his mommy to hold him (because he has gotten quite picky about who is holding him past 8pm), I will choose to cherish that time with my son. I will choose joy in this season because I know that this is just a short season, and before I know it, my sweet boy will be in another season that brings its own challenges, but also its own tender moments. Like this one...

and this one...

Reflecting

Our little man is 3 1/2 months old right now. He (usually) sleeps through the night, he just started laughing out loud, and has also started reaching for things (a very exciting thing for mommies, probably pretty lame to most others).

Right now, life is good. I love being a mom. I mean, who could complain when you get to spend all day every day with a face like this one?

I feel like I can honestly and vulnerably admit that things haven't always been so rosy. The first few weeks of Denver's life were probably the hardest weeks of my life. I had heard of postpartum depression, but didn't know much about it. Looking back, I probably didn't officially have postpartum depression, but I think I had what people call the "baby blues," a less severe moodiness that lasts only a few weeks instead of a few months.

Keep in mind, I have always wanted to be a mom. I remember in 8th grade we all wrote what we wanted to be when we grew up. I still have that piece of paper. It says, "Caitlin Shaughnessy wants to be a housewife and a mom." I never made a very good feminist.

But I somehow missed the boat on how difficult it is to have a newborn baby. Not many people talk about what can happen to your psyche when you're extremely sleep deprived. Waking up in the middle of the night at 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30 is exhausting. My entire body ached from the birth experience and learning to breastfeed. All the images I had of parenthood included parents feeling an overwhelming love for their children. However, when Denver was about a week old, I tearfully admitted to Austin that I thought I didn't love Denver enough. He just demanded so much, I was so hormonal, and I didn't have all those ooey-gooey feelings that people seem to get for their babies.

Austin looked at me and reminded me that love isn't based in feelings. Love is a choice. Love is an action. By waking up at all hours of the night, working through the pain of early breastfeeding, sacrificing my time and energy for my son, I was loving him.

During this Christmas season, I am reflecting on God's love for his children in a new way. He loves us with a self sacrificing love. He sent his Son to earth so that we might live life to the fullest. I assume He didn't always have ooey-gooey feelings for his children. People have been rebelling against their Creator since the beginning of time. Yet he chose to love us anyway.

So to wrap up a lengthy post... I learned more about true love in Denver's first few weeks of life than I had in years. Each day that goes by, motherhood gets better. His little personality is starting to show through and we have lots of fun together. Those ooey-gooey feelings are growing daily, and the way he smiles at me melts this mommy's heart.

So this Christmas, as the band Relient K puts it, "I celebrate the day, that you were born to die, so I could one day pray for you to save my life."

proof that Denver reaches for things...

thank you Jesus for our patient dog

Our Model Dog

Our handsome dog was in a photo shoot. What a ladies' man!

Family

Denver is blessed to have two families that love him very very much.

His Dad's side of the family (picture taken when Denver was about two weeks old)...

And his Mom's side of the family (picture taken on Thanksgiving, Denver is about 2.5 months)...

We love you all!

An Evening Stroll

We got a new camera! So we took it with us this evening as we went for a walk. The baby is now eight days past his/her due date and Fable is getting pretty excited to be a big brother.

Surprise Camping Trip

It was the first afternoon of my spring break. I came home from school, Austin looked at me and said, "Hey, you ready to go camping?"

He had spent all day gathering our tent, sleeping bag, food, and supplies

for a one-night campout. He even remembered to pack my prenatal vitamins.

So Austin, Fable and I set out on the road. Austin's dad has some good friends with property just west of us. Acres upon acres of open fields as well as forests. As we arrived at our site, a herd of cattle was running through. Then, as we sat by the fire later that evening, we heard coyotes howling. Austin said they were far away, but they certainly sounded like they were pretty darn close.

It got down to about 40 degrees in the middle of the night, but thanks to our arctic weather sleeping bags, we survived.

Even with the coyotes and the chilly weather, it was a WONDERFUL way to start my spring break. :)

A Day in the Snow

Record snowfall in Ft. Worth means a day of fun for the Hines Clan.

We built some snow people and watched Fable enjoy the magic. He discovered that snow is edible. So we've got that going for us.

Prince Fable

We're having a baby!

On New Year's Eve, Austin and I found out that we are having our first baby. What a way to ring in the new year! We hope that this blog can be a fun way for everyone to keep up with us as we journey through this pregnancy and having our first child.

This is us telling Fable that he is going to be a big brother. We were 5 minutes away from heading out the door to celebrate New Year's with friends. Fable isn't sure how to take the news.