A Journey to Love

Dear Benjamin, I waited my whole life to be a mother. After so many years of caring for other people's children, I thought I knew what it would feel like to finally hold my own baby in my arms. But then you were born and all my preconceived notions of what I would feel for my child went out the window. You see, I greatly underestimated the love that would engulf me as I stared at your beautiful face for the first time. I marveled at what your daddy and I had created. After nurturing you for nine months in my womb, I finally was able to look at the features that so clearly told us that you were ours. It was instantly obvious that you had my nose and that your gorgeous blue eyes and long dark eyelashes came from your father. You had a headful of blond hair and to us, you were 7 lbs, 9 ounces of absolute perfection. The first year of your life passed too quickly. We loved every minute of watching you grow. Everywhere we went people would stop to tell us what a beautifu...

Whew! We made it through the holiday without delivering a baby, which was the number one item on my Christmas list. Benjamin's top wish was Thomas-the-Train, which Santa happily obliged him with. The morning started with opening stockings in Mom & Dad's bed and followed with presents out by the tree. Benjamin was thrilled to see that Santa ate the cookies and milk he left out for him and happily tore into the gifts that were tagged with his name. He received a huge lot of steam engines, track destinations, and accessories, all from the jolly old elf himself, Nathan and I, and grandparents. Aunts and uncles got him clothes, balls, sporting equipment, and his very own tool box complete with his first set of Craftsman tools. Benjamin quickly understood his role on Christmas morning...unwrap gifts and eat yummy cinnamon rolls! That is what Christmas is about, right? :) All dressed up for Christmas Eve dinner Giving Gramma Barbi her stepping stone he made just for her Pla...

Christmas is less than 24 hours away and our home is filled with the anticipation of the holiday. The gifts are wrapped and perfectly placed under the tree, the stockings are hung and already full (Santa came a bit early to our house to save time) and the cinnamon rolls are rising as I type. Christmas songs are playing on the radio and it's almost time to get ready for the annual Christmas Eve dinner in the Fisher household. After we get home tonight and put Benjamin to bed in his brand new Christmas pajamas (a tradition in our household), Nathan and I will assemble his gift so it will be the first thing he sees when he wakes up in the morning. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realizes what "Santa" has brought him. Oh, yes, Christmas is going to be so much fun with him this year. Then, once the holiday is over and the decorations are stored away for another year, we can focus on the next wonderful gift we all  will be receiving...a pr...

A special gift, just waiting to reveal himself...

Yesterday marked my 37th week of pregnancy, which means the baby is considered full term. If it were comfortable to jump up and down right now to express my excitement over this fact, I would! Since I could feasibly go into labor anytime now (tomorrow would be good, I think!) I thought I should share the tale of Benjamin's birth, for posterity reasons. Since the time span from which I started contractions to the moment he entered the world lasted 55 hours, I will give the condensed version. You can thank me later. Benjamin was due on August 6, 2008. We were in the middle of a sizable remodel (think major renovations to the kitchen, dining, and living room, as well as a nursery of course) and both Nathan and I were anxious to get the house back to usable condition before the baby arrived. The floor started getting layed down about 10 days before my due date and the counter tops were almost ready to be installed, which wou...

Growing up, I remember the thrill of decorating gingerbread houses at Christmas time. There was just something magical about creating a miniature house out of nothing but edible items. It reminded me of the classic story of Hansel & Gretel, which was always a favorite of mine (though I always have thought the part where the witch eats the little children was a bit creepy). Anyway , having a little boy of my own now gave me the chance to re-live my childhood by pulling out the candy and frosting and going to town on a tiny house made of flour, sugar, and molasses. What can be sweeter than that? Oh, and Benjamin decorated some sugar cookies made by his Aunt Laura since it turns out he is actually still a bit young to do a full gingerbread house. There is always next year...and the year after that...and the year after that ... My gingerbread house, front view  My gingerbread house, ariel view  Laura's self-named gingerbread "cottage"  ...

Our seasons have arrived a bit late this year. The months of July and August were relatively cool, while October and early November were blazing hot. These last few weeks have brought rain and cooler temperatures, and finally in December the leaves started falling off the trees. Of course, that means only one thing...time to play in the leaf piles!

Last month Nathan and I took Benjamin to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Though we had taken him as a baby a handful of times, it was his first chance to really explore and verbalize what he was seeing. We loved watching the excitement on Ben's face as he checked out the sea turtles, penguins, and sea otters. Touching a bat ray was especially thrilling, as was the toddler "Splash Zone" where he climbed a play structure, played with boats, and "controlled" the tides. It was a fun day, one of the last ones we will have together as a family of three. :)