Thanksgiving Reflections

We hosted Thanksgiving at hour house this year, and enjoyed a wonderful time together with my family. Over the summer, Tim and I celebrated our 9th anniversary with the purchase of a new kitchen table . (We had been using a "family heirloom" table that was my grandparents back when my Mom was born! That one has since relocated to the basement.) We were looking forward to putting the leaves in and being able to sit everyone around it for a meal and Thanksgiving was the perfect opportunity to do just that. With Nathan being too little to sit at the table, we tried to include him by just sitting him right on the counter! :) Family gatherings are quite busy these days with all of the kiddos! It's always fun to watch the kids playing together! I love the pajama pictures we get right before everyone heads home too! Here are some photos to remember the day by...

At Thanksgiving time, I always enjoy reflecting on the things I can thank God for, and there are so many. It's hard to choose! This fall, I am especially thankful for our FAMILY and FRIENDS! I honestly don't know how I would've gotten through the first few weeks of Nathan's life without the extra help I received. Tim's mom came and stayed with us for a week, my mom came over for a day, Dave & Callie took Matthew out for a number of fun daytrips, many people brought us meals and gifts. I also was able to spend time asking questions, crying and confiding in many family members and friends by phone, email, or during visits. As amazing, miraculous, and wonderful as newborns are, it is still so hard to come home and figure out how life works now. I remember those first 3 or 4 weeks being so overwhelming, wondering how I'd ever meet Matthew's needs along with giving the attention that a new baby demands. Without friends and family, I don't know how we would have survived! I'm so grateful for the people God has brought into our lives. It is a joy to share both the smiles and the tears as we journey through this life. Thank you, God, for the people in our lives!! We are so very blessed!

Tim's Mini-me??

It's always fun to look at babies and try to figure out who they look like. Of course, time will tell, but from Nathan's first day, I've been saying that he looks just like Tim. I remember being in awe by the miracle of birth, by this precious little baby. At one point I was looking at Nathan in pure amazement and I said, "Tim, he looks just like you!! He has your mouth, your eyes, your nose, hands, feet, and hopefully your personality!" Tim wasn't so sure, but by the 3rd or 4th day, Tim was finally starting to admit that he did see similarities. I think people wonder if I feel disappointed that Nathan bears little resemblance to me, but I don't care a bit. To the contrary, I think the world could use a whole lot more Tim Lehr. The more this little guy is like his daddy, the better in my book!

Here are a few December photos of Nathan, the last of which was taken this morning at 9 weeks of age. In that photo you can see that the hair he lost at 4 weeks is growing back in quite blonde, oh and I just love that smile!

Here are a few of Tim's baby pictures. To give you a little history, Tim was born 2 weeks overdue at a mere 10 lbs and 4 ounces. He was smiling by the time he was 3 weeks old, and Mom Lehr tells us all the time that he was such a good baby - easy going and content even in uncomfortable situations. ...sounds a bit like Tim today!

And then there was me... born early (probably the first and last time I was early for anything, sad to say!) at 5 pounds, 9 ounces. My parents said they couldn't find diapers small enough to fit me, and, although I'm quite average in height today, the doctor predicted I be tall when I grew up. (He must've been looking at my big feet - kinda like they do with puppies!) Anyway, when my mom dug out these photos, I was a little suprised to see that I think I do see some of me in Nathan. And then again, perhaps all babies look somewhat alike. Time will tell, but it's just fine with me however Nathan looks, we'll love him and our sweet Matthew just the same! Anyway, here are some photos of baby Kim...

First Smiles

What is it about watching your kids do something for the first time that brings so much joy? Of course we had seen Nathan's "gassy" smiles since birth, but it was somewhere in his 5th week that we began to see real smiles. After our trip to Michigan for hunting weekend, I stopped in at my parents house while Matthew was at preschool. During that visit we got our first photo of him smiling! (3rd photo down) Unfortunately, he has been very camera shy when it comes to sharing this precious smile with the world. His smile stops dead and he just stares at that strange black thing we're holding up. Perhaps worse yet, he starts getting real smiley at the most unsightly moments - like when I'm in the middle of changing him and his bedding so I just tuck a blanked around him, etc. So please disregard the background and enjoy some of these cute early smiles.

At 2 months of age, he smiles all the time now. In addition to smiling at Tim, Matthew, & I, he also flashes those gummy smiles at his mobiles and the ceiling fan with regularity. :) He's not yet smiling at Beau ... that may take awhile.

Hunting Weekend 2009

Every year Tim heads north for November 15th - opening day of gun season in his home state. So we all loaded up the truck and took Nathan on his first (of many) long car-ride(s) to Michigan! Tim so looks forward to this time with his dad & brothers as well as time out in nature. But before Tim left for his buck quest, Mom and Dad Lehr watched our 2 little guys (and gave Nathan his very first bottle!) so that we could go out for lunch at "The Italian Oven" (yum!). It was our first "date" since Nathan was born and it was SO wonderful to have that time together!

And while the guys have their fun out at "Buck Camp" the girls and kids usually get to spend quality time together as well. However, due to illness, all of us girls and kids never got together! Michelle and the twins had the H1N1 virus so they stayed home the entire weekend. Ruth & Beth turned out to have just colds but Karen wanted to play it safe with Nathan being so young so they stopped by for some quick visits. To avoid possible flu exposure, we introduced Nathan to Michelle, Anna, & Alexa through the windows of their house! It was definitely another memorable first introduction to cousins! And one of my favorite memories of the weekend was when Matthew saw Bethany - he got down out of his chair with arms out wide exclaiming, "Bethany!!" (like they were long lost best of friends). He ran to her and they gave each other the sweetest hug. Those two can be a couple of little hams, so they gladly reproduced this for a photo! :)

All in all Matthew, Nathan, & I enjoyed a wonderful visit with Mom ("nana"), and although the number of families with H1N1 at their church kept us home on Sunday, we still were able to introduce Nathan to a few close family friends. Mrs. Herman made Nathan an adorable quilt and brought over some great gifts for Matthew, the big brother too! We are so thankful and so blessed by our family and friends in Michigan!

And in case you didn't notice, there are no photos of deer in this "hunting weekend 2009" post ... sadly Tim didn't get a deer this year. He plans to still do some hunting in our area, so he's not giving up yet!