Fa la la la la

Soooo.... that cute little boy in those sonogram pictures is now a smiley, adorable 4 1/2 month old named (as Stephen puts it) "Happy Joe."   Joseph is such a gift to our family with his sweet eyes and crazy hair, and his personality is starting to blossom.  He adores his mommy, loves his brother, and there's the beginnings of hero-worship in his eyes as he looks at his dad.

And now it's Advent!  Time for some Christmas pics, I do think:

Whoops:  I forgot I wanted to add this picture of Jessie and Joseph.  Isn't it the cutest?
Ok, onto our Christmas tree set-up day! Joseph spent most of it in his Exersaucer.   He's a big fan of the carousel toy.

Stephen LOVED the gloves.  I asked him to say "cheese" and this is what he gave me!

 Handsome guy.:)

Another handsome guy!

I think Steve deserves an award for doing most of the tree set-up and lights with a toddler on his back.

 I'll try and get a pic of the finished tree up soon!

Love to all family and friends stopping by the blog!  You are in our hearts this Advent!

Ultrasound Pics

We had our 20-week ultrasound today--praised be to God for a healthy and beautiful baby boy!!  Steve and I feel so very blessed.  We get to raise brothers!  :)

Baby feet!!

The 4-D was not quite as picturesque as Stephen's was.... partially because the baby kept swiping his hands in front of his face.  But here's the best one:

He's a cutie!!!  Can't wait to meet you in July, little one!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

** Capturing the contentment in everyday life**

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter.

No words today (no time, haha), but wanted to share our little piece of contentment:

{pretty}

Fall is just... wonderful. 

{happy}

A boy and his bucket swing.

{funny}

A penguin for Halloween...if we can get him to keep the hat on. 

{real}.... ly love this 1 year old so much.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

*Capturing the contentment in everyday life*

Hosted by: Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

Fall has fallen!  Out on a walk with little guy, I found myself picking up leaf after beautiful leaf.  Just another thing to love about this time of year. 

{happy}

Stephen is always a happy boy when we have something involving tomato sauce for dinner.   Clean-up?  Perhaps not so happy.... but it is still a joy to watch him relish his dinner so much.

{funny}

In my previous post about Stephen's birthday party, I forgot to include a picture of one of his "gifts" from some good friends.  (Those of you who know us know who these two are.)   What made it even funnier is that Stephen had cut a new tooth, literally, that very morning.  Disclaimer:  We did not use the "Tooth Reliever" quite as directed.  ;)

{real}

Again, my 'real' turns out to be a choir song.  Just yesterday we started rehearsing Faure's Requiem in preparation for the All Saint's Day Liturgy.  Every year I am reminded of how much I love this piece.  Listen to the "Sanctus" movement.  I truly think that, upstairs in heaven, the angel choir director managed to get his hands on this piece and now the heavenly hosts use this particular Sanctus to praise God.  Maybe.  In any case, if you give it a listen, PLEASE don't stop until you hear the unbelievable transformation that happens after minute 2:30.   Enjoy. 

A Birthday Bash

Yesterday was the coldest, dreariest day of the year thus far.   A chill air,  numbing rain, and grey skies dominated from morning to nightfall.

Not so in our household.  :)

What a blessed, warm, happy day we had... full of loving friends and family, delicious fall food (complete with mulled cider), laughter and kids running amok, and a very happy birthday boy.

Today my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude for all that we have--both in the blessing of our dear son, and in the blessing of our life here.  I am so, so very content.

In the busy-ness of providing for 30+ people, we really didn't take too many pictures.  But here are a few:

My mother's heart had been looking forward the entire year to giving Stephen a piece of birthday cake to smash.  He certainly did it justice--ate most of an enormous piece, and then proceeded to walk around the house with his little walker for the next couple of hours with impressive amounts of sugar energy.   Followed by a really bad night's sleep.  Oh well.  :)

A Happy 1st Birthday to you, my sweet boy.
Love, your Mommy.

Boy in a Basket

I think that the caption says it all.   :)

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

** ~ Capturing the contentment in everyday life ~ **

LOVE this concept from Like Mother, Like Daughter, and I think I'm going to try it out for a few weeks.

{pretty}

I am not a gardener by nature, but I do appreciate lovely plants when I see them.  This Monday, I got it in my head that I wanted to have mums in our front yard.  Over the summer, I planted a few marigolds by the front walk.  They brought me so much pleasure in the summer months that I wanted the same burst of color for fall.  I marched into Home Depot with my stroller and diaper bag and asked a poor, random worker to help me with mulch and plants and shifting hiking backpacks around in my trunk to make room.  Poor guy. It all was worth it though, and I now look out our front door many times a day to see my cheerful, yellow flowers.

{happy}

The simple joys.  

{funny}

While I do think the part where Stephen falls over is funny, my husband's commentary at the end really gets me.  "Don't look!  It's a bloodbath!"

{real}

My choir is singing Palestrina's "Super Flumina Babylonis" this Sunday for Mass.  Some pieces send chills down my back as we sing them in church--somehow the composer manages to capture the mystery and beauty of the Real Presence.    If you are not familiar with Palestrina's haunting, drifting harmonics, please listen.  This is as real as music gets.