Happy Birthday, Toby Fields Gilliam!

TOBY IS ONE!

Happy first birthday to my last-born, my baby. He's been in our lives for 365 days, and every single one of them has been a delight (minus a few bumps along the way, naturally) -- we're eternally grateful for his safe delivery into this chaotic world and for the surprise of a lifetime.

We had planned for a little Jameson Ruth, a little girl to complete our circle -- and when he showed up as a screaming, pink 6 lbs. baby boy, our hearts exploded and all the pieces fell together perfectly. It was a delight, a treat, living proof that sometimes science fails and surprises can happen to anyone. In this day and age, I feel like there aren't many mysteries left in life; Toby is proof that we don't know everything. We can still be humbled by our expectations. His entire life is a legacy to the illusion of knowledge and the beauty of unexpected surprises. 

I love this fella more than words; he was unplanned and unexpected, but he's never been unloved or unappreciated. He's a gift, the sweetest gift in the world, and he's one-year-old. His first year marked a year of lasts for our family; there'll be no more of our children's "first" milestones. It's bittersweet, but also welcome -- our family has finished expanding and will now continue only to grow. We will nourish what we have, feed and love and support our little buds to help them bloom. 

Hopefully, we've given Toby a wonderful first year of life -- I know, without a doubt, he has filled our year with immense love, pride, and joy. 365 days of bliss! 

Happy Birthday, my New Years boy. May each birthday be better than the last, and may your first be filled with all the love in the world! 

(photos by Pam Burke Photography)

And with that, this year is gone -- 2014, you were awesome, and I can't wait to see what 2015 will bring for our family, friends, and loved ones! 

Merry Christmas, 2014!

From our family to yours, we hope that your Christmas is full of warm embraces, happy homes and stuffed bellies! This season is all about celebrating love and life and family, and we're definitely thankful for all of the above...Merry Christmas!!

Currently

Loving: The Christmas season (!!) there's nothing like big family gatherings, homemade meals, presents under the tree, lights twinkling around the neighborhoods, and all the joy in my littles eyes when we talk about Santa. I've said it before -and I'll say it again- being on this side of the season is so magical! 

Cooking: Rice, rice, rice -- our entire household is on a white rice kick, and we eat it with about anything. 

Anticipating: The boys' birthdays...Toby will be 1 on 12/31 and Jaxon will be 2 on 01/09 (!!) we're planning a small double-birthday party after the New Year. I feel bad for the boys having birthdays so close to Christmas -and so close together- but we'll make the best of it while they're still little and pull double duty. 

Listening to: I think we're with the rest of the world right now listening to the new Taylor Swift "1989" -- if you can't beat 'em, join 'em (!!)

Working on: "Grown up stuff" - being responsible, paying bills on time, trying to save money, following through on promises, that sort of thing. Sometimes I look around and surprise myself with being an adult. Just the other day, in our weekend travels, I looked at Justin and said, "who let us leave the state with four kids?!" Being an adult is a surreal experience, I still feel like such a kid at heart most of the time!

Watching: We joined in with the other (disappointed) people last night and watched #EatenAlive - what did we watch, exactly? Why did we watch it? I'm so confused, and I'd like those two hours of my life back, please.

Appreciating: My sweet husband surprised me with the new iPhone 6 -and even though it's such a materialistic thing- I am in love with a stupid, albeit awesome, phone. I've wanted one for years, so I'm really appreciating/loving that I finally have one of my own (!!) 

Currently series inspired by Danielle.

Toby's Birth Story

December is Toby's birth-month and so, in his honor, I'm finally posting his Birth Story -- this post has been a year in the making; lots of rereading, editing, and remembering. I look back on that day/night with such fondness, such a bittersweet sense of familiarity and yet surprise. Continue below the jump to read the entire story....


I can hardly believe I'm writing my fourth birth story - or that this is my last birth story. But, here it is, the story of how our little Toby Fields made his grand entrance into this world...

Toby - Month Eleven

This is the last monthly update - the next post I write will be for his first birthday. And from there, his age is no longer counted in monthly increments. He'll be one. ONE! We made it through another year of firsts, another baby -our last baby- to watch and admire and appreciate. Toby Fields, the almost one-year-old.

How did that happen so fast?

This guy is such a dream baby. I can't count how many times Justin said "he really is such a good baby...as long as he's not trapped in a car!" over the holiday weekend. 

Toby eats awesome, he sleeps awesome, he plays awesome, he is awesome. Sure he has himself a little temper tantrum from time to time, but mostly, he's a really chill kid; he's always been a (mostly) mellow piece to our wild family puzzle, and I hope it's a trait he keeps for life. 

I love all his quirks, but most of all, I love his little laugh -- it's something Justin taught him, and it's hilarious. I'm going to have to try and get video of it -- it's a Woody Woodpecker type of chuckle, and it's his trademark for sure. It's impossible not to laugh at him when he's laughing like that! And while he does it randomly all day long, he'll mimic Justin every time -- he's the only one I know who can get Toby to laugh like that on command! 

November is definitely the month of thankfulness, and I am eternally thankful for this guy. He's everything I could want, need and dream of in a little boy; he's my baby, the baby, and he's almost ONE. 

Cue the tears.....

A video posted by Mary Ruth Gilliam (@mommaruthsays) on Nov 11, 2014 at 2:33pm PST