Eleanor Ann

Born February 16. 7 lbs, 4 1/2 oz, 19 1/2 inches.

We are so blessed.

Christmas!

Christmas at our house was pretty exciting this year. Henry has no concept of Santa or Baby Jesus or anything else related to Christmas, but he certainly knew something special was in the air.

We had lots of time with both families, we had a great Christmas breakfast and dinner, lots of roaring fires, games of Yahtzee and SNOW! It was Henry's first white Christmas and mama's, too!

And now we are blessed to have Barry home all week...I certainly wouldn't mind living like this all year long!

Merry Christmas!

Welcome, Fall!

Today we kicked off our Fall family festivities by visiting Gentry's Farm in Franklin, along with our good friends, Puck and Melanie and their beautiful children, Calvin and Evelyn.

It was a picture-perfect Fall day.

Henry's pretty mobile and antsy these days, so this is as close as we ever get lately to a family picture:

He had a great time with the pumpkins....he kept poking at them, and I think he was expecting them to sing and light up like most of his toys do.

I'm not sure if Evelyn let out a burp or a curse, but whatever it was seems to have really offended Henry!

We had a fabulous time--Henry is at an age where he really enjoys outings like this. We finished up the day at Pie in the Sky pizza where Henry promptly ate part of his paper straw wrapper. He wouldn't touch his food, but he ate that. Kids are strange.

I'm not ready yet!!

This week I've been researching and visiting Mother's Day Out programs with the intention of enrolling Henry somewhere in the fall. It will only be a day or two a week, and I know it's will be good both for him and for me....but I'm not ready yet!

I visited a program yesterday and found out that the first day of their fall term is August 30. Henry's first birthday! The idea of facing the fact that my baby is a whole year old AND sending him of to "school" for the first time is enough to send me over the emotional edge! I think if we choose that program he'll be skipping the first day.

But he loves being around other children and Lucy's just not cutting it. I know he will love, love, love MDO, and I also know that I'll eventually love having time to myself.

One of my neighbors told me a story about a friend of hers who enrolled her baby in a MDO program for one day a week, because she just couldn't bear the thought of sending him "away" for two whole days. About a month into the term she walked into the office and said, "Can I sign up for that other day now?"

Ha! I'm sure the extra time will be nice, but I have a feeling I'll be spending it folding laundry.

And, he's off!

Henry is crawling! I have a feelng a mobile baby means life in the Lancaster household has changed forever. Especially Lucy's life.

9 MONTHS OLD!

Dear Henry,

Last Sunday you turned nine months old! You are still our baby, but the time is slipping by fast and I know your first birthday will be here before we know it.

Here are some of the things your Dad ane I would like to remember about you at this age:

• You recently learned to "pattycake."
• You are sleeping so well at night, about 11 hours straight, but you like to wake with the sun at 5:30am (OY!).
• Your naps are still iffy, but we usually get three or four days of good naps every week.
• You went on your first real family vacation this month, and we took along both your grannies and Aunt Lisa. We all had a great time in Seagrove Bch...it was your first time to stick your feet in the Gulf and also your first time in the pool. You loved the beach sand, but weren't too sure about the waves and water. You LOVED the pool! You instinctively started to paddle with your little feet...I think we may have a little water lover on our hands!
• You are still not crawling but you are oh-so-mobile and by rolling can get anywhere in any room in a flash. We cannot turn our backs on you for a second.
• You started throwing temper trantrums when you get frustrated. You are one strong-willed little boy!
• You still love your jumperoo. You will play for a bit on your own in your playpen. We had to pack up the bouncy seat as you've completely outgrown it.
• We don't let you watch much television, but you are entertained by it for a few minutes if we need it to occupy you from time to time. You like anything on Sprout.
• You are turning out to be a very, very good eater and will eat just about anything we give you. You started to self-feed very well this month and prefer this to our feeding you.
• You learned to use the sippy cup on your own.
  

Our little bitty baby is still changing at a breakneck speed. Every day is something new and you are getting more and more independent. We know this coming month is going to be one of big changes, since you seem to be just on the cusp of so many new developments.

We can't wait to see what the next few weeks brings!

All our love,
Mom & Dad

The Happiness Project

I was inspired by an old high school classmate to run out and pick up the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I should point out that I am NOT normally a fan of self-help books at all, but given that many reviewers classified this more as a memoir I decided to give it a try. There is no genre I love more than a good biography or memoir.

So far, it's a hit. This woman could not be more like me if she tried. We have a lot of the same personality traits and characteristics, including the ugly ones. I think there was a bit of Providence in my deciding to read this book, and hopefully there is something for me to learn in those pages.

Two of my favorite sayings about happiness:

"If you really want to be happy, no one can stop you."

"The days are long, but the years are short."

Note: I have tried to attribute these two quotes, but can't seem to find their source. Anyone have a clue?