Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas! May the light of Jesus shine through you this season, giving you hope and peace.

Love,
The Gerber Family

What holiday traditions do you have?

I always love asking this questions to people I meet. I guess it is to get ideas for my newly budding family. I am always on the lookout for ways to make holidays more special and meaningful. One thing this year that I would really love to incorporate is the "family pajama." I know, a lot of you might be laughing about the concept of having matching pj's, but one of my friends from Harrisonburg grew up with this tradition and I thought it sounded neat. They could unwrap one gift on Christmas Eve (which was the family pj) and then they all wore it to bed and woke up the next morning to do the Christmas festivities in matching attire.

Except...do you know how hard it is to find the "family pj?" I mean you can find matching/coordinating jammies at countless websites, but in the correct sizes that you need? That is the challenge. So, I'm going to have my extraordinary brother's business (Springer Design), a logo design/screen printing/anything you want they can make company, create us some. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. So, be looking sometime next year for pictures of the first annual, "I (heart) my family" jammies.

So, I pose the question to you...what are your family traditions?

My postings come in waves

Here are some more recent pictures of Connor's life. I love it how Owen loves his little brother so much. OK, so he can be a bit much at points (note the slobber on Connor's face), but I'd rather have to deal with too much love than not enough!

Sorry, it's been awhile!

I really have no excuse for my lack of updating...my parents graciously took Owen back to PA with them for the last 10 days, so we've just had Connor to care for. It has been great and yet bittersweet. Shawn and I have enjoyed a bit more peace and quiet and a chance to reconnect since we've added Connor to our family. However, 10 days is long time without Owen! It was almost too quiet around here. I look forward to his antics when he returns (this afternoon)! It's been so funny...every time we talk on the phone he always says, "I'll be back soon!" At least he's loving every minute of his time away with Grandpa and Grandma S. and seeing his other cousins/aunts/uncles in Ohio. So, we'll see how things feel after he gets back. I'm sure it'll feel wonderful to have all my boys back in one place, yet I'm starting to feel that sense of being overwhelmed by the new balancing act that will come with the transition from a family of 3 to a family of 4 !

Update on Connor: He is an angel baby, by and large! He sleeps. He eats. He does his "thing." He sleeps. He eats. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I mean, talk about laid back. It is awesome! I suppose, however, anything compared to the high maintenance of our first little one, will seem laid back. :) Connor is now 25 days old. At his 2 week appointment he grew 1 inch (22" now) and gained about 1.5 lbs (9 lbs, 15.6 oz)! I couldn't believe it! It feels great when you are sustaining a life! Such a sense of accomplishment! So, as you can see, he is doing marvelous, and I am so thankful.

Pictures--The above pictures are as follows: Family Christmas Picture '08, face shot of Connor sleeping (9 days), Grandma S. and Connor, Owen and his cousin Wade being silly in Wade's barn. If that last picture doesn't look like trouble, I don't know what is?!? They are going to have so much fun growing up together!