Conan's First Snow

Living in Europe for six years, I have fallen in love with winter. As a Texas girl, I have always been fascinated by the snow and all those winter accessories I certainly never needed before. I have more gloves, scarves and coats than I could ever possibly need, and have loved getting to wear them during our cold winters in Germany and the Netherlands. I was worried I wouldn't have the opportunity to experience winter once back in Oklahoma, or at least the 'winter wonderland' kind I had gotten accustomed to. I was in for a pleasant surprise when we received our first snowfall in early December. When everyone else was complaining about the ice and extremely cold temperatures, I was so excited to be able to bust out my winter duds and enjoy the pure beauty of the snow-covered streets. We have continued to have quite a cold winter with lots of arctic blasts and ice storms, but unfortunately, no more snow. This early December white-out was the perfect way to get in the holiday spirit!

Conan's first snow!

Conan with his one-of-a-kind Pirate Raggedy Andy doll made by his Grandma Beckie

Our neighborhood park as a winter wonderland

The second week of December was filled with festive holiday activities. On Friday night, we attended the 965th Squadron Christmas Party. Unfortunately, it was a pretty lame event due to lots of games and not near enough dancing. Luckily, we had a great table to make the night more interesting and even ended up crashing the holiday party next door, which was playing great jams where we could break it down on the dance floor!

Squadron Christmas Party

Saturday morning, we attended the downtown Norman Christmas parade. The temperatures were still quite frigid and extremely windy, so after about 30 minutes, we called it good. We got there just in time to see a few floats and Conan's first viewing of Santa. That evening we had our church Sunday School party and were able to get to know several of the couples in our class we had been attending the past few weeks. That Sunday morning, we officially joined First Baptist Norman and are so excited to be a part of this church family. Since then, I have joined the choir and Conan has become a nursery favorite. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us at FBC-Norman. 

Norman Main Street Christmas parade

Our festive rides

Conan has not been a huge fan of bath time during his early life. This was very disconcerting for us as bath time is one of the mechanisms encouraged for soothing a fussy baby. For him, getting undressed and wet only made him more angry. Although it did get somewhat better as the months progressed, it was still never a "fun" time for him. Finally, when he outgrew the infant bath and could safely sit up alone, we could bust out the giant rubber ducky (thanks for yet another hand-me-down, Laurel!). The first time he got in, we noticed an immediate difference and when we showed him how to splash, he was all smiles and laughter. Yes, finally he loves bath time, though now he cries when we take him out. Seven months has proved to be one of the most fun and engaging stages yet!

Conan, 7 months