5 months!!!

Today is Caleb's 5 month birthday! Wow!! One year ago on the 10th was our very first ultrasound-he looked like a little upside down monkey/peanut. It is SOO hard to believe that was one year ago. We were only beginning to grasp the idea that WE WERE HAVING A BABY! Now we have this awesome little baby boy who is reaching, grabbing, giggling, drooling (like a madman!), trying to sit up on his own, loving "standing", enjoying his baths now, and generally making me happy to be alive each and every day. I mean it, the world could be falling down around me, but when I go in to get Caleb out of his crib every morning and he smiles in recognition at me, it makes it all worth it. What an amazing love to experience, and how extra-cool that it's happening at Christmas time. I never understood the love Mary must have felt for Jesus until this year. In my Bible study we talked about if she knew what his fate would eventually be, and how she would be able to stand that knowledge. I cannot even begin to imagine.
Today I rounded up a bunch of things to give away to this Christmas store our church is participating in--games, books, etc. that we no longer use, and it was so fun knowing someone else will get enjoyment from these things. We hope to make it a yearly tradition, because the Lord knows how abundantly blessed we are!! :) This is something that was modeled really well for me, and it feels so good to be able to do it. We're hoping to actually volunteer at the store as well. It's a really cool idea. I also wrapped a few of Bryan's gifts today, as well as a gift for our life group Christmas party. It gets me so excited! UPS dropped off a couple more presents today, too...I have to say, this online shopping thing is GREAT, esp. with a little one who I'm not always ready to cart around the mall.
Today I saw my brother and his wife Ashley, who just moved to Lexington from Richmond. They hadn't seen Caleb in quite a while, so they stopped by and hung out for a little while and played with him. They ALSO brought me seasons 1 and 2 of Jon and Kate Plus 8 and a season of Everybody Loves Raymond to borrow; woo hoo! We're getting cable as a Christmas gift this year and I must say how excited I am to get TLC again! AND ABC Family. Bryan is especially pumped for the History Channel and the Discovery Channel. Maybe we'll save money on renting movies!