Sleep Peacfully, my son

Sunday morning, I couldn't help but slip into Andrew's room as he slept and snap a shot. He was too cute! Dinosaur jammies and all. Why is it that babies are just adorable when they are sleeping? I could just stare at him the whole time he sleeps. *sigh*

Daddy is funny...

Caught daddy and son smiling at each other! Joe must have been pretty funny looking this time :) We can't wait until he starts to giggle, now!!! How sweet this moment was. Many more to come....

My sweet Valentine

Joe surprised me with a beautiful necklace for Valentine's Day this year! It is also celebrating Andrew's birth. The heart was hand crafted at our friend Brittany's dad's shop (whew!), making it all the more special. There is a diamond, as well as garnet stone set in the side of the heart. Garnet, as it is Andrew's birth stone. And the diamond was just for me :) I cried when I saw it and heard all of the thought joe had put into it. He explained that this was a piece of jewelry that I could cherish now, and when Andrew is grown and finds a wife (ahh! he is so little...it is hard to believe that day will come!), it is something we can pass along to him to give to her! I haven't taken it off since he gave it to me (which was last friday, b/c he couldn't wait until valentines day). I love you, Joseph. Your thoughtfulness and love melts my heart. I look forward to many more Valentine's with you!

Just Because

Oh Sam, how you are so interested in this new little boy we have brought home! If only you would stop sleeping in his crib! haha:) Andrew looks a bit bewildered this evening as we used the cat as his pillow. I hope they become good friends some day (and hopefully Andrew doesn't get any ideas like putting tape on his paws, or dressing him up in a cape and taping his ears back. Not that we have any experience in doing those things to a cat...)
My good friend Rosemary lent me her baby sling to try out a bit, and the first time I put Andrew in it, he fell fast asleep, as you can see! It is a nice way to keep him close, yet have my hands free to do a bit of work. It must feel as if he is back in my belly, b/c I was jostling him all over the place that afternoon in the sling, and was certain it would wake him. However, sweet Andrew slept on, probably comforted by the movement and my heartbeat :)

I was trying to get him to smile for the camera here...hmmmm. Oh well, we had fun trying :) He loves to lay on a blanket on the floor and just take in the world around him. This morning I set up a few stuffed animals for him to look at...I wonder if he knows what they are??

5 weeks and changing....

Here is Andrew sportin' his ND wear at a few days old....
And here he is this morning, at 5 weeks old!!! My how he has changed. I figured I ought to put the sweater on him one more time, seeing that he has grown quite a bit and its a good thing i did! It is quite snug now...but he still looks adorable :) Will you love Notre Dame as much as your daddy when you grow older, Andrew?? Will you sit and watch football games with him? And throw the ball in the back yard. Oh, I hope so!!

SMILE

Ta-daaaa!!!! Look at this little man! On saturday, we were all sitting around after breakfast, and Gabe made some silly faces at Andrew...and he blessed us with his first, full-on SMILE! This is what my heart has been waiting for :) Andrew didn't smile for Joe until Sunday, and then for me Monday morning...but thats ok. It just melts my heart to see him do that! He is focusing in on our faces more and more, and wiggling his arms and legs as he gets excited. So fun! One more step towards growing bigger. Here we go!
I just love this peaceful shot of him...I often find him sleeping with his arms up like this. We tried swaddling in the first few weeks, but he eventually let us know that he didn't really prefer to have his hands tied down :) So we semi-swaddle his legs and then just let his upper body kinda do whatever. It seems to work for now, but I know things could change!

Auntie Libby and Uncle Gabe come to visit!

Mr. Intelligent! We had so much fun with Libby and Gabe when they visited us this weekend! We wished that we all lived closer to each other :) They loved on Andrew for 24 hours, and it was wonderful! I think they had a good time, too. We put lib's glasses on Andrew and starting snapping away. Oh boy, this little man is in for a ride with the Brown sisters :)
I don't know if Andrew thinks this is too funny.....
Both libby and gabe did so well with Andrew. Libby helped me change him, dress him, and even give him a bath. She is going to be an amazing mother someday!!! What an amazing thing to watch my sister with my son....she loves him so much already!
Extra attention was not going unnoticed by Andrew...he got to fall asleep in many arms these last few days! Ahh, the life of a baby. So nice :)

Here is Uncle Gabe, calming Andrew like a pro! Any time he held Andrew, he was calm..it was great! He is going to be a great papa someday, too. Thanks for coming to see all of us here in snowy Ohio. We had a blast :)

books and buntings..

One of my favorite books! The illustrations are so cute and the story line is adorable. I found this book a few years ago, and gave it to my niece Johanna. She loved it! So I have begun a collection of several other books by Olivier Dunrea, and hope that Andrew loves them someday, as well. It is so relaxing to sit in the rocking chair in his room and pick up a book from the little book shelf. And I know he can't necessarily understand the exact words, nor focus on the pictures yet. But I hope I am transferring my love of reading through my voice, and expressions. One of my favorite childhood memories is of my mom reading to us kids, snuggled up on the couch. I want to do the same with my kiddos!
Even though the days are chilly, we bundle up and go for walks. I think Andrew might think I am a little crazy :) But it feels so good to get out...and he gets a nice nap in the jogger stroller, so its a win-win situation. This little snowsuit is a bit big for Mr. A yet, but he stays nice and warm in it! Plus I have like 3 blankets on him and over the stroller. Usually I enjoy winter, and do so many things out in the weather. But this winter is a bit different, and I find myself wishing for spring ever so much! Then we can go outside and just sit in the sunshine together, walk around the yard, work in the flowerbeds. Soon, very soon, spring will come. And Andrew will get a taste of fresh air and hear the birds singing!

Bathtime!

We gave Andrew his first bath last Saturday night...what a hoot! Up until now, we had been doing sponge baths, but this was the first time in his baby bath! He did so well, although a bit squirmy at times :) It seems that he likes the water, a good thing! I am trying to give him a bath every couple of days, to begin getting him used to a routine, and just for relaxation and wear him out at night. He can be a bit fussy during the evening hours, so taking a bath can help with that.

Sweet Andrew, you will grow so fast...we try and savor these moments. Wrapped up in your fuzzy towel, warm and clean. Smelling like baby lotion. *sigh* You are so sweet.

Andrew Thomas Hughes is here!!!

Here we are as a happy family, just a few days home from the hospital! Molly looks thrilled :)
What a good babysitter! Right after this shot, molly licked him square in the face! haha :) They are bonding already.
Proud mamma holding her son! He is one amazing little boy and each day with him is an adventure. I am learning so much about how to be a parent, and what it means to trust in the Lord even more!
And here is dad, holding the little peanut man. I love the bear on his bottom! Joe is such a great dad and helps out so much! He is not afraid to change diapers, either. Yessss!
We love you Andrew, and are so excited to have you as a part of our family. We look forward to raising you in God's love, and have so many hopes and dreams for you!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

For our Heartland Christmas party this year, the theme was Charlie Brown, and it was so much fun! We had little christmas trees at each table that looked just like Charlie's tree. And everyone was supposed to wear ugly sweaters...so this is a pic of joe and I in our best ugly sweaters. We picked them up at goodwill a few weeks ago. Isn't Joe's just amazing? haha. He had me accessorize mine with some gaudy jewelry, i felt like i came straight out of the 80's. It was a fun night spent celebrating our Savior's birth and the goofy people we love to work with!

The Crib!

We finally purchased our crib for the nursery, and here is my amazing husband hard at work putting all the pieces together. I helped a little bit, too, because 4 hands are more helpful than just 2 at times!
He just loves it when I take all these pictures...almost done now!
Tadaa!! Here is the finished crib, mattress, bedding and all! We picked a "Woodland Animals" theme from Woolrich bedding. How fitting, right? Now, we just need a little bundle of joy to place in here! Thanks mom and dad for getting us our nursery furniture and bedding...what a blessing! This grandbaby will be well taken care of, we know it!! :)

Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Joe and I were able to go out and cut down this beautiful Frasier Fir tree and decorate it with ornaments both new and old! We have both agreed this is one of our best trees so far :) I love to sit on the couch at night, sipping hot cocoa, and just stare at the lights...it is just wonderful!
When mom came to stay with me in early december, we decided to decorate the house a bit (what else were we to do, as that morning our furnace quit working and it was a wonderful 18 degrees outside. We kept warm moving around the house!) Joe had gathered up some extra greenery from when we cut our tree, and mom went to town putting it all over the house! It smelled wonderful, looked so nice, and we didn't have to spend a cent!
Just using things i had around the house, mom helped me make things look a bit more festive! The fabric on the table was in my sewing box, the blanket on the back of the couch in the linen closet, and scotty dog pillow downstairs on another couch. Tadaa!
Joe claims he feels like we are living in a forest, as there is greenery everywhere! Mom and I even cut honeysuckly berries and placed them here and there throughout the decorations. The only downside to the trimmings is that come January, I am going to have one big needle mess to clean up! :) its worth it!
Mom thought up this cute little arrangement outside on the deck...again, using all things I already had. We certainly had a fun time! I think I am going to have my mom come and stay with me every early december...hehe.

Little shoes for little feet...

During the end of October and beginning of November, both of our families threw wonderful baby showers for us. Here is a pic of mom, lib, and I at Mom's house for the shower. It was so much fun!
The CUTE center piece mom put together, on the counter where all the delicious food was! I read through each of the books (loved the owl baby book :) and can't wait to share them with baby hughes...one of my most dear memories of childhood is sitting down on the couch and listening to mom read us stories. I hope we can do the same for this new little one (and ones to come!)
Here is Kate, Pam, Anna and I at the Hughes shower together. Again, a wonderful time spent with friends and family!
The diaper cake!!! Doesn't Joe just look thrilled? :) I made him pose for me, haha. Anna created this for my shower, and had cute winnie the pooh aninmals on it. What a useful decoration, huh???
Well, here is the belly at 31 weeks. I have been feeling really good so far. Not too much swelling, small aches in the feet at times, and a whole lot of kickin' by baby H!!! We are going back and forth as to wether this is a girl or a boy...how exciting that we won't find out until the birthday!

13.1

Joe, our friend Jackie, and brother in law Dave all ran together in the Columbus 1/2 Marathon this past weekend. They all did so well! There was about 15,000 people there, a record attendance! And just as the sun was rising, the race began and they were off!
I headed over to mile 8 and waited until they ran by. Here they are, doing great!
Joe finished the race in 2 hours 1 minute and 40 seconds! Just over his goal time. Way to go!!! He had a great time, and agreed that he would do it again! So our goal is to train together after the baby is born, and we hope to run one sometime next year! My man, the runner!

26 weeks!

Here's another shot of me, growing belly and all! The baby is really moving around alot now, which is an amazing feeling! (except when I am trying to fall asleep!) We are getting the nursery ready, registering for showers, trying to find names (hard!) and just asking the Lord to prepare our hearts for parenthood one day at at time. :)

Apples to Apple cider...

Last weekend we went over our friend Gabe's house and picked 11 bushes of apples from his trees. We then took them over to an amish neighbor who runs a cider mill on saturdays. Dumped the apples into the mill, and out came 42 gallons of fresh cider! We couldn't believe it! What a fun and quintessential fall day. And needless to say, friends, family and we ourselves will be enjoying cider for quite a while this fall. That is o.k. by me!

Here they are, all 11 bushels. It only took us about 2.5 hours to pick 'em all. Not bad!

Girls day!

Mom, Dad and Libby came out to Ohio a few weekends ago to visit, and so that us girls could have a bit-o-fun at the Country Living Fair in Columbus. (Dad and Joe hung out at the house, working on siding, visiting an auction, and watching football while we perused the fair!). It was held at the Ohio Historical Village, a perfect venue for the artsy/crafty/"antiquie" event! We had so much fun together, the weather was beautiful, too! And the whole atmosphere just emitted the feeling of all. Mums, pumpkins, apples, and straw bales. We even got to meet a few famous people :) Well, famous to us, I guess. David T. Smith, the woodworker (dad has his book, and has made several pieces of furniture after his design, including a shelf in our house!) and then we saw Will Moses, signing paintings and such. And finally, the editor of Country living herself! We even got inspired for a bit of decorating in the babies room....pictures of that project to come. All in all, it was a great weekend, and we are so thankful they came out to visit!!!!!

The BEST cobbler in the world...worth waiting a 1/2 hour for ;) haha. We enjoyed every bite!
Sisters!!! Love it...