Happy Halloween!

We have had a low-key Halloween this year. I took Owen to our local library for story time, and he wore his costume, listened to stories, and went "trick-or-treating" around the room to all the moms for candy. Tonight we dressed him in his costume and passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Many thanks to my good friend Tracy for letting us borrow her homemade clown costume!

It's beginning to look a lot like.....

CHRISTMAS!!

Ok...so it really isn't. At least not here in Tennessee. We finally have had some beautiful weather here with temps in the 70's after lots of rain. I had three different zoo trips rained out in the last month. For a stay at home mom, having something on the calendar is very important to me, and when it gets canceled, it's so frustrating. I actually made it to the zoo today, and it was wonderful! Owen enjoyed the animals, and I enjoyed my company with a good friend!

Christmas is coming! Along with that is the season of Advent. Justin reminded me that while he was at New Hope he spoke on celebrating Advent, but I guess it never sank in to me. Sometimes even the pastor's wife tunes out the sermon :) But, at my Mom2Mom group, a lady spoke about celebrating the Christmas season, and focusing more on Christ, than what this world has made the holiday all about. She talked about making the entire season a time of anticipation as we look forward to celebrating the birth of Christ and not focusing on the big pile of presents. I am very excited to celebrate Christmas in new ways!

I hope to add some new traditions to our family this year. With Olivia coming, we are not going home to Michigan for the first time. I think this is a good time to start some of our own Heap family traditions. I know that this year is kind of crazy, and Owen is still very young, so things will be very simple this year, but here are a few new things we are going to do this year.

I am going to buy a child friendly Nativity set, and at the beginning of Advent set out a few pieces, like the animals. Every few days I'll add a few more of the characters, until finally on Christmas Eve, Baby Jesus will be added! The wise men will also "travel" through our house, as they "follow the star"

An Advent Wreath---One candle is lit for every week of Advent, and then the Christ candle will be lit Christmas Eve/Day. As the kids get older, we will read a couple of stories about Advent, and complete a Jesse Tree.

On Christmas morning, there will be more Christmas lights/decorations in our house, because Jesus is finally here! As the kids get older, I think they will be excited to see the new lights and it will give us the opportunity to celebrate His birth Christmas morning.

On Christmas Eve or Morning we will have some kind of birthday celebration for Jesus. (Not sure if this will happen this year, with Owen so little and Olivia may be here!)

I'm trying to make Christmas more about the season of giving, rather than just presents, so I have a few ideas of actually making some gifts this year. Again, we'll see how the next 8 weeks go! But, I also think that starting this year, we are only going to buy 3 presents for Owen, and let the grandparents, aunts, etc do whatever they wan

t to do. That way, he hopefully is not overloaded with presents on Christmas morning.

By the way, Santa is still going to come to our house. I grew up with Santa, and really feel that it is ok, as long as we remember to focus on the true meaning of Christmas....JESUS. Also, there are some really cool stories and activities that you can do to celebrate St. Nicolas Day. So that tradition may be added as years go by.

Here are a couple of websites I like to give some more ideas about Advent:

www.adventconspiracy.com

www.rethinkingChristmas.com

www.stnicholascenter.org

So...what are your plans/traditions for Christmas??!!!

Of course, I couldn't post without leaving a picture of baby boy! Of course this is last Christmas...5 months old. Time does fly!

Introducing.....Olivia Nadine Heap

Hello friends!

So....I'm not a great blogger...and here is some relatively old news. As many of you know, we are going to blessed with a little bundle of joy in December. Our little girl, Olivia Nadine Heap, is due December 31st! Right in the middle of the Christmas season. My head is already spinning, but she will definitely be the best Christmas present we could ever hope for.

We had picked out the name Olivia when we were expecting Owen, and just decided to stay with it, even though it is another "O" name. Olivia means, "holy" and Nadine is my grandma's middle name, and means "hopeful". When we looked these names up, we knew that that was definitely our little girl. We pray that she follows Christ and brings lots of hope to those she meets. I realize that Olivia is a popular name, and she definitely won't be the only one with that name in her class in church or school, but I love it anyway!

I am feeling well. We are at 30 weeks, so the countdown (at least for me) is in full swing. I have gained the same amount of weight at this time as I did with Owen, so I'm hoping this continues, even with Halloween candy, Thanksgiving dinner, and Christmas parties! My doctor says I am "made to do this" which makes me smile. Are we done with babies? I don't know, but my heart swelled a little bit when he told me this. I am getting the nesting urges, but it is difficult to clean out a closet with a 14 month old trying to "help." I know she'll be make her appearance and everything will be fine, even if I don't get the curtains washed or the baseboards clean!

I have been so amazed at the Lord's provision for Olivia. I was, and still do tend to focus on the things we don't have, or worry about the future. I have been specifically praying that God would provide for some big items that we need for her, and He has! My parents are buying a crib for her, Justin's sister is giving us her breast pump, and Justin's mom bought her crib bedding. My sister's co-worker, who I've never met, is giving us boxes full of clothes. All the while, I've had friends give us clothes for Owen as well. Thank you, Lord! I'm still praying about some other items, so we'll see how He provides for those.

Olivia is a mover and a shaker. I don't remember Owen being this active. Although since I have absolutely no stomach muscles, I understand why I feel her so much! I wake up in the middle of the night and she's moving all over the place. I'm hoping she does not do this when she is out here in the world.

We have decided to put Owen and Olivia in the same room....I know it will work out, but still wondering how those naps are going to be for Owen. I am a big stickler for naps. It's my time to breathe, and try to get some of the bigger jobs around here done.

Speaking of naps, I'm still trying to keep Owen on two naps a day. He probably does this 4 days out of 7. I'm hoping he keeps this until at least he's 19 months. I just know I'm going to need a little more down time those first few weeks Olivia is here. Today, he did not want to take either nap, so I just had to let him cry it out. Hard to do, but I was going to lose my mind if he was up and grouchy, and we have church tonight.

I'm looking forward to being a mom of two! Exciting times around here...I have started a draft of other posts, so maybe this will help me stay more up to date.