Thanks.

We have very much to be thankful for this year.

We are thankful for our little Olive--a true blessing. She is a wonderful, inquisitive little girl. We sometimes find ourselves marveling at our fortune in her arrival.

We are thankful for all of the lessons we have learned in becoming parents - and for the many more that are sure to come. The lesson isn't always fun in the middle - but the results are priceless!

We are thankful for all of our wonderful family and friends. You are an amazing support network for us - whether you are near or far you are much appreciated.

We are thankful to sometimes see life through our puppy's eyes. She is eager to wag her tail and lick our faces. Her joy is contagious and reminds us to wag our own tails too.

We are thankful to sometimes see life through the eyes of our cats - hiding under the bed for a bit, but venturing out when the 'danger' is gone.

We are thankful to be working and thinking and playing and praying and cleaning and cooking and living.

We are thankful to see a rainbow form, to watch the leaves turn colors and to wait for the first snowfall with anticipation and a bit of sadness.

We are thankful also to see the sun after many grey days and to know that tulips and daffodils will decorate the city after the winter is past.

We are thankful.

H

A week of Olive

Last week Olive and I were on our own. Kyle was in Tennessee with his building (impressing people right and left), and Zoe spent a week at doggie sleep away camp (to preserve my sanity). My cold held on with both hands, making daily tasks even more of a challenge.

BUT - we survived our brief foray into single parenthood - or life without a helpful husband like Kyle. We are both very happy to have him back home. Life is much sweeter with him around!

Because we were on our own, Olive and I had a very busy - but relatively boring - week. We made it to work or daycare every day and then made it home safe and sound. Bottles and diapers were washed - although Olive went without a bath for several days in a row. Wrestling a slippery baby single handed seemed a bit dangerous ...

Each day, I snapped a photo of our little one and sent it out to my sweetie. They aren't fancy, but here are few of them:









Post publish edit - OK, she looks very serious in all of these photos. She can smile, but she currently looks intently at my iphone/camera when I hold it in front of her. And - without Kyle - there is no one to distract her from this gaze while I snap the photos! So, it is kind of fun to know that she is concentrating on the strange mechanical device dangled above her, but also it is kind of sad not to catch so many of her smiles!

- H

Olive and the Butterfly

Olive seems to change every time we blink! She has recently started showing much more interest in toys (or any brightly colored object, really). You can see her fascination (ok, fascination might be strong, but she IS interested) with the butterfly on her play mat in the video. And it is really fun see her reach for and bat at toys. Another new skill!

Today in church she was fascinated by a rattle. This was distracting to us, but also helpful--we spent significantly less time walking with her in the foyer during the service and more time in our seats! (I think we will still choose aisle seats near the back for awhile yet.)

This week we noticed a negative impact of daycare. Olive and I both fought colds! (Booo!) And, suspiciously, many of the other small people in her class were also very snotty. I am hopeful that we are both on the mending side of it, but only time will tell. For a little thing, Olive sure does make a lot of snot! And, oh my, has the drool begun! Our stash of drool bibs is coming in very handy.

That is it for now. All in all, we are getting along quite well. We hope that things are going well with all of you too!

- H