Curran's First Christmas.

What a special Christmas we had this year! 

Our first Christmas as a married couple we drove 2,000 miles in 10 days to see both families, and last year Joey was working---and since we had spent the whole summer traveling, we decided not to really do Christmas. So not only was this our first official Christmas at home as the Joseph Fleshman family, it was also our first Christmas with our sweet, seven month old Curran. 

Since the little guy has been waking up early after getting over a cold, we got a pretty good start on presents on Christmas morning. Curran was very interested in pulling off the wrapping paper....annnnd putting it straight in to his mouth. But once we were able to pry the soggy paper from his drool-covered hands he was quite attracted to his new toys his grandparents, aunties, and uncles sent him (thank you!).

[Watching him sit up on his own is the cutest. And Remy was such a help (hardy-har-har) with presents]

[This is Joey's attempt at his favorite Megan Conrad face. If you're not familiar, see here again]

[And yet even with his new toys he still wants his trusty Sophie]

For the past several months we've trying to come up with what our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals will be as we create our own family traditions. We weren't sold on the turkey spread because really, its just Thanksgiving a month later. So this year we did braised lamb and saffron rice with homemade flatbread for Christmas Eve, and for Christmas day, a lasagna bolognese with fresh pasta and a homemade bolognese sauce so good we even ate it on just steamed broccoli a couple days before. And to top it all off we made an out-of-this-world chocolate croissant bread pudding with raspberry truffle ice cream as a nod to one of our favorite desserts from our trip to Boston. All of our celebratory food was certainly a labor of love, but that labor was well rewarded and we think we've found our Fleshman family Christmas meals.

But as wonderful as watching Curran open presents and our Christmas meals were, the best part was having Joey home with us to celebrate Christmas and spend time as a family. I'm so grateful for the time he and Curran have had to bond and get to know each other. Honestly, Curran laughs more for Joey than he ever has for me. He loves Joey and Joey loves him, and its absolutely heart melting to watch the two of them interact. I love my boys!

Merry Christmas to You!

Once again my reach has exceeded my grasp, and while I had every intention of making Christmas cards to send to our lovely friends, it just wasn't happenin'. But hey, I finished sewing Curran's Christmas stocking before december so I'm still feeling pretty good.

So here are our merry, merry Christmas photos with our sweet little Curran--who is seven months now! Crazy.

[Okay, all you people that swear up and down that Curran is Joey's mini twin, take a look at the photo on right, and take a look at this. There is some Conrad in the little guy!]

Merry, merry Christmas from our little family to yours.

We hope you have a very special holiday filled with love, happiness, and really good food!

I'm Six Months Old!

My goodness, I can't believe our little small fry is six months old today!

 Curran is a whole bunch of fun these days. He's laughing more and making new sounds every day, which you can tell he's pretty dang proud of. This morning he just started scooting around by pushing up on his head, rolling backward a couple inches, then thumping his bum down on the ground, resetting, and doing it all over again. He has definitely kept me on my toes today! He's also getting better at sitting up on his own and is rolling like a champ.

 This little guy has become a big fan of mom and dad's food and is always reaching for what we've got. He's tried cooked sweet potato, steamed broccoli, and little nibbles of yogurt, and has been quite amused and is very enthusiastic about trying more. Joey's been waiting to give him solids practically since the day he was born, so he's pretty jazzed about it too. 

 Curran is still the biggest, most sociable flirt I've ever seen. Every woman is his number one girl and every man is his best bud. Even if he was crying for me five seconds ago, he will flash a smile for anyone who simply looks at him. He has his cranky moments like any other baby, but he really is such a happy, loving little boy.

 [And how freaking adorable are itty bitty baby suspenders? I die.]

Even Remy loves him too ;)

We love you little man and can't wait for the next six months with you, cutie pie!

Pregnancy + Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

This morning Curran got to "meet" his older brother.

I'm so glad he'll always have this bear to snuggle and play with and love.

I've really been missing Baby M lately. I wonder what our family would be like with him here, what he'd be exploring and learning, what little quirks he'd have. He'd be one this New Years Eve. 

Its been almost a year and a half since we lost little Baby M, and now we have our sweet, spunky Curran in our arms. But we'll always love, miss, and remember our first baby boy.

Since Mothers Day 2013 when we lost him, I've had several friends go through pregnancy and infant loss as well. I think of them today too. Some have become pregnant again, some have not. No matter our individual stories, no matter if we have children on this earth right now, we're all mothers and fathers to babies, to angels. 

I'll be lighting a candle at 7pm to remember Baby M and to show my love for all those families who hold babies in their hearts but not in their arms. It will join the wave of light that will reach across the world as thousands of families like ours, as well as the friends and loved ones that support them, light candles in honor of their angels. 

-------------------------

Mommy, Daddy, and your little brother, Curran love you so much, sweet babe. 

-------------------------

If you'd like a very special way to remember your angel baby, please consider donating to The Littlest Feet, a project created by my friend, Brittany, to remember her darling Abby.

Museum Day Live! at the Seattle Art Museum.

A couple weeks ago Smithsonian magazine was hosting Museum Day Live!, a day during which many museums across the country offer free admission. The Seattle Art Museum was participating so we decided last minute to hop on a ferry and head to Seattle for a free museum day. Considering how much it costs with the ferry to get there, its nice to save forty bucks on admission prices! And it was nice to do something we liked to do as a couple before Curran came along, plus we got a chance to get the little bub started early with a love of art.

 After the art museum we went by Pike Place Market to grab some greek yogurt (so, so good!) and cannolis.

WARNING!

Whatever the bakery in the market is selling as a cannoli, is in fact not a cannoli. Its a fraud! We had gotten our cannolis, hopped on the ferry back home, got Curran in bed, and finally sat down to enjoy our treat. But disappointment was swift and our purchase a waste. They were essentially shells filled with buttercream frosting. They advertised their cannolis as having a cream cheese filling--which, first of all, cannolis aren't made with cream cheese (that red flag should've stopped us right there). But then, it wasn't even cream cheese filling. It was like they scraped the creme off of oreos and piped it into cannoli shells. So, so disappointing. 

If it sounds like I'm being a little dramatic…well, fair enough. But you guys, they were a disaster. We spent the rest of the night day dreaming about our delicious cannolis from Maria's in Boston last summer and wishing we could get our paws on just one little crumb of those tasty beauties. 

But ahhh, I dream.

Cannoli impostors aside, we had a great time in Seattle on a beautiful day. Sometimes its hard to want to get out and do things with a baby, having to factor in his naps and diaper changes and meals and packing everything he needs and is a stroller better or should I just use the carrier and what if he just cries the whole time and and and……and sometimes you just have to forget about all that stuff and just get out there.

In other news, we're really loving it up here in Washington. We love our little house, the people are so friendly, our ward is hands down the best we've ever been in, we're exploring things we've never thought to before, and my favorite part: we actually get to experience fall for the first time since we moved from Virginia two years ago.

Life has its ups and downs but we are really, really happy here.

Happy Three Months to Curran!

This handsome guy's three month birthday was yesterday!

Curran is a fun kid these days. He's a big talker and very alert and attentive. He's super strong and loves to show off to everyone at church. He's been teething for the past couple weeks so that has made for some tough days, but overall he's a very easy going, happy baby. And he's plumping up! Three months old and he's just about ready to graduate from his newborn clothes and move up to 0-3 month ones. He's pretty content to hang out in a ring sling or woven wrap, but you can tell he's definitely ready to start movin' and groovin' more and more. He's thissssclose to rolling over on to his tummy---he's going to be on the move in the blink of an eye, I just know it!

-----------------------------

And here are some of our favorite photos of the little bub from the past couple months!

They're nothing spectacular and half of them haven't been edited in any way, but I'm kinda learning that sometimes its not about fixing every little detail and making things perfect, but just enjoying what you've got and embracing things the way they are.

So here ya go!