Thankful

I am finally doing a recap of Thanksgiving.  Where has the time gone?    

We had our annual large family gathering for Thanksgiving lunch.  Beau and Palmer really enjoyed being with their cousins. 

Apparently the boys were ready to be on the move! 

Beau really enjoyed spending some time at the train table. 

Angie and Beau!

My mom thought Palmer was getting too hot, so she decided to let him cool off! Ha! I had bought him an adorable outfit, but it was like a one piece sweater.  I guess he was a little toasty in it.  

After enjoying a wonderful lunch, we headed to a cabin in Blue Ridge.  My sister Angie graciously rented it for the weekend.  

This is the previously mentioned one piece sweater. :)

Christmas Cheer {Pajama Blooper Reel}

On my mind...

I just hit publish on a little update about Palmer.  And it got me thinking.

I NEVER ever want to publish an update that might make it seem like our life or our children are perfect.  I want my words and actions to build others up and never leave anyone feeling discouraged.  This blog is mostly my family "scrapbook" but I hope it is an encouragement to anyone who might stop by for a visit.

I praise the Lord because both Beau and Palmer are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of Christ.  They are uniquely made and add such joy to our lives!

I can't seem to articulate this the way that I am trying.

Let me put it bluntly with a random example.  Just because I said that Palmer is a great eater, doesn't mean that you should be discouraged if your child isn't a great eater.  Do you get what I am trying to say?   Just like adults, all children are individuals that develop on their own timelines!

Hmmm....let me see if I can give another example.

This weekend, we wanted to do a fun Christmas activity.  So I thought of lots of options around town...the Pink Pig, the Botanical Gardens, Stone Mountain, etc.  All of these attractions are well known around Atlanta for their fun holiday activities.  However, as Raleigh and I thought through each one, we realized that little Beau would not really enjoy them.  He does not care for Santa.  As in he will not get within 100 yards of him!  So we decided that our holiday activity would be to stay home and make Christmas cookies together.  And it was perfect!

I am still not really explaining myself well, but I just want to say that each child is a gift...just as they are.  Each child is born with their own set of likes and dislikes.  Their own set of strengths and areas where they can grow.  Sweet Beau is 3 1/2 and knows all of his letters and sounds but I have hit a wall trying to teach him his colors.  His directional memory is better than mine (he knows if we have made a wrong turn, when we are going to pass water on a certain route, etc) but he can't always get his words out like he might want.  He has strengths and areas where he can grow, just like all children.

But, here is the amazing part!  We are reminded in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that God's grace is sufficient! But wait, it gets better!  His power is made perfect in weakness!  When we are weak, HE IS STRONG!  Our areas of weakness can become the areas where God is most magnified and glorified!  Imagine that!

I obviously have no idea what God has in store for Beau and Palmer, but sometimes I wonder if God will use Beau's speech delay and turn it around to be the thing that God uses to bring himself the most glory.  Beau's foster mom mentioned that she thought Beau was going to be pastor.  Wouldn't it be so amazing if Beau's weakness, expressive language, turned out to be the thing God used to bring himself the most glory.  I mean a pastor's main tool is speech.  

So...all this to say.  If you have a child who meets and exceeds worldly expectations, praise God! God is good in that! If you have a child who needs an extra boost, praise God! God is good in that! If you have a child that excels in sports, praise God! If you have a child that excels in music, praise God! If you have a child with a huge capacity to love, praise God! God is good and worthy to be praised.  He designs his children in unique ways, all for his glory!

I hope whenever you stop by this blog you feel encouraged, and never discouraged.  Each child is a treasure!

Palmer {at 7 months}

Palmer turned 8 months old yesterday, so I want to take a minute and recap all about him at seven months!

I have to say that he is at such a fun age to enjoy his first Christmas!  Obviously he doesn't really know what is going on, but he does love looking at the presents and lights!

He is really quite the scooter these days!  He can easily get from one side of the room to the other by scooting/army crawling.  His favorite motivators are shoelaces, anything that belongs to Beau, and recently the Christmas tree.  Oh and cords! This boy loves some cords! Isn't it crazy how kids are attracted to the most dangerous things?  Definitely keeps me on my toes!  Just in the last few days, Palmer has started really getting up on all fours with his belly off the ground and rocking back and forth.

Palmer continues to be a good eater.  He is nursing 3-4 times a day and has formula bottles a couple of times a day.  On Beau's speech therapy days or days with lots of errands, he might have an extra bottle or two. On days when we are home the whole day, he might not have any bottles.  He is pretty flexible and easy to please.  As far as solids, he really will eat pretty much anything and he hasn't had any reactions to certain foods.  He has developed a bit of personality during meals if he doesn't think he is getting bites of food fast enough.  He will squeal/scream if he wants more.

He really enjoys the independence that the mesh feeder provides, so we use that a lot too.  We typically give him the mesh feeder while we are eating because it occupies him for a while.  He really likes frozen purees in the feeder such as black beans, sweet potatoes, etc.  He also likes fresh fruit such as bananas and oranges.

Palmer is now wearing size 3 diapers and size 9 month clothes.  It is quite amazing to watch him grow and change everyday.  He still has 2 teeth on the bottom and we haven't noticed any more coming in quite yet.

One cute thing that Palmer has started doing is making a little squishy face.  It is kind of like his new smile I guess.  It is super cute.  I love hearing Palmer "talk" and explore sounds.  He has been adding in more consonants and more syllables in his babbling.  I know he was just babbling, but he said "mama" on November 30.  

One of the best aspects of parenting right now is watching the relationship between Beau and Palmer grow.  They love each other so much and enjoy being together.  The only time that Beau gets frustrated with Palmer is when Palmer tries to play with teddy and puppy (Beau's beloved stuffed animals).  Beau will say, "Mine, mine, mine!"  I was actually totally thrilled the first time I heard him say it because we've been working on personal pronouns for several weeks in speech.  Ha!  Beau loves to match Palmer and I am totally taking advantage of that because I know it won't last forever.  I try to buy them all matching pajamas and it is so cute!

Oh...this is funny.  Beau has heard us telling Palmer "no" when he tries to play with cords.  Sometimes if I turn my back for a minute or walk away to do something, I will hear Beau telling Palmer no.  Nine times out of ten when I come to see what is going on, Palmer is near a cord or something he is not allowed to have.  So Beau is like our little policeman! Ha ha ha! Also, if Palmer gets fussy in a store, Beau will tell him, "Almost done Palmer."  If Palmer gets fussy in the car, Beau will say, "Almost home Palmer."  It is beyond precious.  Beau pronounces Palmer like paw-taw... so cute.

Palmer sleeps in his crib and in his sleep sack.  We are using a fleece sleep sack for winter to make sure he is nice and warm.  He is definitely a tummy sleeper.  I always put him to sleep on his back, but he immediately rolls to his tummy.

We love you more and more each day baby Palmer!! In a year that could have been completely dark with grief, God graciously gave us YOU!  What a gift you are, in so many ways!  Even though he is not here to tell you, your Pipi loves you very much, just like your Nana, Mimi, and Grandpa do!  You and your big brother Beau are loved more than you could ever possibly imagine!

Happy 8 Months

Happy 8 months baby Palmer! You fit right into our family just perfectly!  Watching you and your brother grow makes my heart swell everyday!  I'm a day late writing an update on your 7th month, but it is coming!

Happy Birthday Mimi

Happy birthday Mimi! from Raleigh Gresham on Vimeo.

Giggles

Fake sneezing from Raleigh Gresham on Vimeo.
Fake Sneezing and laughter from Raleigh Gresham on Vimeo.

Christmas Cheer {Ho! Ho! Ho!}

The Little Things

It is always the little things that take my breath away.

Earlier tonight, we were all squealing in delight and cheering for cute baby Palmer as he scooted/army crawled all around the floor.  It takes my breath away to see him grow and develop.

Then I crawled into bed with Beau to tuck him in.  He said, "Tell me home story."  He is in a phase of wanting to hear his homecoming story every single night at bedtime.  Takes my breath away to hear the sweetest little voice that I've ever heard.

Then as I was cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, the lighting of Christmas tree special at Rockefeller Center came on tv.  It took my breath away, but in a different way.  My dad and I used to love watching things like that together.  Even if we weren't physically together, we would call and text each other throughout the show to discuss great performances, bad outfits, etc.  Last night was the CMA Country Music special on tv, but I couldn't watch it.  It was just too much, especially on his birthday.

So much joy experiencing Palmer's first Christmas and the first Christmas where Beau is really getting into all the excitement.  But so much sadness experiencing the holidays without my dad.  As much as I grieve for my own loss of my dad, I grieve even more for what it means for Beau and Palmer.  I want them to have a lifetime of memories with my dad.  Luckily, Beau has a lot of videos with my dad that he can watch and Palmer's birth story is an amazing story of God's lavish grace.

Even in the sadness, there is much joy.  God is good.

Scoot Scoot Scoot

Palmer wanting to crawl from Raleigh Gresham on Vimeo.

Joy

Thank you Jesus for filling our hearts and our home with joy! 

Celebrating

My dad loved ice cream, particularly Mayfield brand ice cream.  In fact when he was a teenager and had his first job, he would always buy a 1/2 gallon of ice cream on pay day.  Some of the fun memories I have with my dad involve making homemade ice cream.  We made it all time...my mom would mix all the ingredients in the kitchen and then my dad would take it from there.  He was really good at using just the right amount of rock salt and ice in the ice cream machine.  In the later years, my dad ate a lot of  milkshakes.  They provided a lot of extra calories, were easy to eat, and hey, who doesn't love a good chocolate milkshake?! 

Tonight, in memory of my dad and in honor of his birthday, we had late night ice cream! 

Happy Birthday Dad! 

Cheers!  

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday Dad! Can't think of the right words to say.

Wish you were here.  You would LOVE Palmer so much! He has your sweet spirt and is bringing us so much joy in the midst of our grief.  Beau is thriving.  We talk about you everyday.  Beau loves to watch the videos of the two of you together.  He watches them over and over.   

Not sure if birthdays are celebrated in Heaven.  If they are, hope it is an amazing one! 

You are the best dad ever.  

I miss you!

Happy Birthday!

Shoelaces, Strings, and a Puppy

Palmer seems to have a thing right now for shoestrings.  He especially loves the ties on Raleigh's house shoes, but I haven't gotten a picture of it.

This morning, I was getting the boys packed up to head to Beau's speech class, and I found this....

He rolled himself right over to my tennis shoes! Ha! 

Well, fast forward to speech class.  Palmer and I were in the waiting area. (which is a HUGE PRAISE that Beau stays in speech without me)  There are lots of toys in the waiting area for all different ages, and Palmer found this..

and he loved it! We played with it for about 30 minutes! He would play with the string and he would stay engaged when I pulled it around and he watched the puppy "walk." 

Once we got home, I immediately searched online to buy this because I thought it would be a perfect Christmas present for Palmer.  However, it looks like Playskool no longer makes it.  Bummer! 

I did find this though.... 

It is made by Fisher Price and seems really similar.  I think this just might be under the tree for Palmer's first Christmas! 

Favorite Songs

As Beau's speech is developing, he is learning to sing songs and it is so cute.  He has always LOVED music, but he would just hum along or dance.  Now he actually mimics the words and sings along.

Right now he has three favorite songs and I wanted to make note of it so that I don't forget.

1) the ABC's: This is probably what I consider to be Beau's first song.  He has really mastered singing his ABCs and he sings them loudly and proudly.  He is really into letters right now and knows all of the uppercase and lowercase letter names and sounds.  He cannot produce /k/ and /g/  properly but you can still understand what he is singing. (says /ch/ or /t/ instead of /k/ and /d/ instead of /g/) (His speech teacher thinks she could get him to produce the sounds correctly, but she would need to use a tongue depressor or lollipop to show him proper tongue placement, and he is just not quite ready for that.)

2)  10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman: This song, based on Psalm 103, is really special to our family because it was part of my dad's memorial service.  We sing it a lot in our house, in our car, while we are playing, etc.  Beau knows almost every word and requests to sing it often.  His ultimate favorite is when Raleigh plays along on guitar.

3) Turkey Dinner: This is just a little Thanksgiving song that I always taught my kindergarteners every year.  It is a simple song with lyrics that repeat.  Beau has really connected this song to Thanksgiving and he asks to sing it whenever he hears us talking about Thanksgiving. (lyrics: Turkey dinner, turkey dinner, gather 'round, gather 'round, who will get the drumstick, yummy yummy yumstick, all sit down, all sit down.)

Teeth!

I've discovered that it is really hard to get a picture of baby teeth. :) This is the first one I've been able to capture that shows a little sneak peek of Palmer's teeth.  It is blurry, but I still love it!   

Multiplying the Loaves and Fish {or OCC Shoeboxes}

{Karen and her mom}

 My friend Karen honored her mother on what would have been her mom's 70th birthday last week.  Her sweet mom, Clara Mae Pierce, passed away in May 2012.  To honor her mother's life and legacy, Karen set a goal to pack 70 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child this year.  Karen previously worked for Samaritan's purse and is a shoebox enthusiast because of the hope it provides the children receiving the boxes.  She is so great at finding bargains all year long and stocking up on shoebox items.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she has already found some great items for next year! :)

We were so blessed to be able to pack a few boxes with Karen at her packing party.  

Although Karen set out to pack 70 boxes in honor of what would have been her mom's 70th birthday, she was able pack 140 boxes!  To God be all the Glory for doubling the number of shoeboxes she was able to pack!  Just like God multiplied the loaves and fish so that thousands could eat, He blessed Karen's efforts and she was able to pack more boxes than she had anticipated! You can read about some of her amazing finds HERE!  Her shoebox packing party was so fun and such a neat way to include others in honoring the memory of her mom.

Samaritan's Purse asked Karen to write an article about her packing party and I highly encourage you to read it HERE! You will be blessed to read it and Karen's words tell the story of her heart much better than I can! Really, go read it! 

My Main Men

Thankful for these three!

Thankful

Today I am thankful for this photo and what it represents.  

My friend Karen snapped this photo at Beau's 2nd birthday party in July 2012.  Karen's mother had passed away in May of 2012 and she found it to be an extra special moment when my dad was saying the prayer at the party and she captured the moment.  I am so very thankful to have this photo.  What a beautiful legacy of love and faith for Beau.  I of course remind him daily how much all four of his grandparents love him, but this photo will serve as a reminder of how he was not only loved, but also prayed for and prayed over.

If you know my friend Karen, you know that she always has her camera and is always capturing special moments.  Now that I can no longer take pictures with my dad, every single picture I have of him is an absolute treasure! 

Here is a partial group shot during the prayer.  You can see my parents in the back.

Here is picture of my dad on the morning of the party. :) He helped me get all of the balloons staked in the yard.   

I love this picture of my dad and Beau playing on the swingset that my parents gave him.

This picture I really love too.  My dad lovingly walked up and down the street with Beau for almost an hour in the Atlanta heat when he did not feel well at all.  Although he would have never said a word, I'm sure he was so sore after such a long walk.  But he would have done anything Beau wanted.  

I miss you dad.