Christmas brought.....

A wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with the cousins that made it feel like a holiday (and it's important that Christmas feel special).


Leo's first pair of jeans. He looks like a little man in his new denim, and of course the Christmas sweater.
A Christmas Sacrament Meeting. I almost wish we went to church every Christmas day. It really set the tone for the celebration of our Savior's Birth.

A visit from "Santa." Yes, I still have Santa visit to lay out the presents. It makes for a magical Christmas season.

Toys. Which is good, we needed some toys around here.


new woodworking tool for Heber. I'm imagining there will be many more evenings spent in the garage.

A pencil sharpener and pencils (just what I requested from Santa. Sometimes I just really like writing with a good sharp pencil). Can you see that there are boxes of both glitter and furry animal print. Man, that Santa is good.

Grandparents from far away to visit. We're so happy they could come hang out with Leo.

The joys of skyping with my family so far away. Leo finally got to meet Aunt Loni, Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Dave.

Our Leo's sounds. He has recently started making noises - especially when he doesn't like something. Oh how we like to hear his little voice.


We hope Christmas brought many joys to your life as well. Happy Holidays!

Full?

How can you tell that Leo is full?

He looks just like this. All stretched out. We call it milk coma.

Here's hoping there's a milk coma in your future.

Merry Christmas Darling

Christmas is here again. Tomorrow we will be celebrating with family and friends the birth of our Savior. I'm excited for it, but that shouldn't come as a big shock to anyone. I love Christmas!

Our stockings are hung and ready for santa to visit. Leo's is ready too.
The trees are all lit up. I'm not sure what we'll do without them. Leo loves to look up at the trees and the lights, even from right after his birth. My guess it that it's because his little eyes could actually see the Christmas lights. He often sits and stares at the trees.
Heber and I have never been able to agree on real versus fake trees. I believe in the fake, he in the real. We compromised and have two trees. I can't complain, I like decorating both.
My favorite thing this year has been the Christmas cards. My heart warms at the sight of them. With many of our family and friends so far away this year, I have really enjoyed getting cards in the mail. Secretly, I love to receive mail - Christmas or otherwise, except bills of course. I understand the benefits of email and facebook, but there is nothing like opening a paper card. I'm one of those that likes to write and to receive a letter. It's your year in a nutshell and I enjoy getting that glimpse into people's lives.

It's our first Christmas away from home. We are thinking about home and all the good memories. To all of you who are so far away, Merry Christmas!

Smile

Leo smiled today. For real. One of those big, open mouthed grin smiles. I loved it.

We were getting ready to head to church this morning. We dressed him up in his Christmas sweater and had to snap a shot with dad. As I was taking the picture, he looked up at Heber and smiled really big. Can you believe I had the camera ready? Who has that kind of luck?

Visiting Dad at Work

Last week Heb asked me to drive into his office. This has never happened before. He works on a military base that is usually closed to the public. As you know, he's not in the military but is a contractor. Anyway, last week they had a family day at his work. I braved the traffic (and I mean braved. Have you heard that they ranked the DC area's traffic the worst in the nation?) and took our little one in to see his office.

He said that he wanted me to be able to see where he works but I think it was to show off Leo. You should have seen Heber with him. He was the proud father. He carried Leo around to all of their offices to introduce them to his son. I think he is so proud of his little boy.

Bundled up and ready to go.

Month

It's been a month since Leo was born. It's pretty much all I've thought about. How can I write on the blog about anything else?

This month has been so good. He is a sweet little guy. At this moment, I can't help but peek in the nursery at his sleeping face. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't all be easy but I wouldn't go back. There have, of course been poopy diapers, crying and breakdowns (not all of which done by Leo). But it has been so joyful too.

With a newborn, I've had to make some adjustments. The magical Christmas I'd been imagining may have to be more simple. We may not go out and participate in all the activities just yet but there will be a time for that. Now, I get to enjoy holding our little one. Oh, and prepare for the guests coming next week...we can't wait!
A sleepy smile. I wonder what it will look like when he finally smiles while awake.

The Nursery

When I thought about putting together the nursery, I had some themes in mind but none really came together in the final room. I selected things I liked or that reminded me of happy memories.

Remember the post about Heber building the changing table. Well, here's the final product. The beautiful piece has been just the right height and size. I look forward to using this piece for many years to come.






Heber's dad was so kind as to build this crib for us. Over the course of the pregnancy, we worked together to design a crib. He carefully crafted this in his wood shop. We love it. It is exactly what we were hoping it would be like.
This is what Leo has been doing in the mornings for the past week. He always looks over at the pictures when he's in his crib.
I especially loved the print on this nightstand.


This is a grouping of embroidery hoops. I like the colorful patterns that this brings to the room.

I ran onto this giraffe in Ross for $3.00. I think it's charming.
When Heber and I were dating, he had a shirt with a figure like the pictures above. The brand is called Life is Good. I found a picture book and selected some of our favorites to make this display. I wanted to bring things in that held personal meaning to us. We want to teach our little one to take time to enjoy life.

It's been a very comfortable place to hang out with our little guy. Even in the middle of the night, it's not too bad.

Art in the Afternoon

Back when I lived in DC before, there were two places that I fell in love with - the botanical gardens and the art gallery. I would take myself down to visit whenever I needed a boost. Surrounded by incredibly beautiful things, I would always come away uplifted. I think we all need to recognize those places in our lives.

Last week all of us ventured out to the art gallery for a couple of hours. The gallery here is in such a grand building, and the art...don't get me started. I always feel in awe standing close to great works by Monet or Degas.

Whenever I visit a museum, it makes me think of traveling. Mostly I think of Europe.
We spent days wandering through museums with artwork hung floor to ceiling. None of this one painting per wall business.

It was Leo's first museum. He was bundled up and covered the whole time so I think he missed it all. That's ok, there's plenty of time for him to enjoy the work of the great masters.

Thanksgiving

It's the day of giving thanks. Definitely one of my favorite holidays. It ranks right under Christmas and the 4th of July (but only when celebrated in Grantsville. Their parade has quite the display of heavy artillary because they're right by an army base and it just isn't a holiday without a parade like that.)

Last year we spent Thanksgiving in Turkey. Now, it was awesome being in Turkey but I think I'm a traditionalist at heart and want to have a nice big meal and spend it with family. We wanted to mark the day with some American food. The best we could do was french fries at KFC. Just not quite the traditional meal - still good though, I mean, we were in Istanbul for crying out loud.

For years and years, we would spend Thanksgiving at one of the grandparents. There was big long tables filled with good food and family. And of course, the most important part, the pies. We would cook so many kinds - I'm talking 12 kinds or more. That's just how we roll.

This year, we're in the VA and spending it with the cousins. Have I said how thankful I am to have them around? It's just not a holiday without family to spend it with. They'll all get to meet little Leo. I can't wait to see how all the Scharman girls react when they finally meet him. And to top it off, Mom L is still in town to celebrate. How lucky are we?

Because it's thanksgiving, I feel the need to share what I'm thankful for. For work, for home, for family and friends. For Heber and especially little Leo.

Life with Leo

It's only Saturday. We were at the doctor yesterday and I wrote the date on the paperwork. I had to double check a calendar because I couldn't believe that it was only the 18th yesterday. Has it only been that few of days since our Leo came?

(This one's for the Palmer boys. Love you!)

We are so happy to be home from the hospital and recovering. They made us watch a movie to discharge us from the hospital and there were all these couples saying, "I just never want to leave, everyone has been so nice." "How am I ever going to do this without them?" Were they crazy? Who really wants to be woken up every half hour and poked and prodded. Not me.

I just don't even know what to do with myself. All I want to do is stare at that little face all day long. I want him to snuggle up to my shoulder forever, to hold his hand and to listen to him breathe in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I really have done nothing but that the past several days.

(In the nursery)

Yesterday Heber said to me, "I just can't stop smiling." I sent him to the store to buy something somewhat embarrassing for a man to buy (no, I'm not divulging on the blog). He said that he wanted everyone to see that he was buying that item so they would know that he had a new baby at home.

So, we are starting our simple life together with our Leo. We couldn't be more thrilled.

(Can you see that he's holding my hand?)