The Ober Times

Welcome to our annual digital Christmas letter! As I'm writing this, I sit in disbelief that another year has already come and gone. Where in the world does the time go?!? You'll find recent photos scattered about this post. I know there's a lot...I had a hard time choosing!So 2009 has been another year filled with change for us. If I could describe this year in just a couple of words, I'd have to say it was BUSY but BLESSED.At the beginning of the year, we celebrated Isaac's first birthday! He was just walking and had a few words in his little vocabulary. It has been so fun to watch him grow and develop over this year! And I can hardly believe that he's already almost TWO! Some of his favorite things include (in no particular order): food, sleep, trains, Mona (our dog), his grandparents, giving kisses, saying "no," laughing, getting dizzy, his cousin Morgan, his aunts, baths, bugs, lights, getting put in time-out!!, riding on the carousel, climbing on EVERYTHING, coloring, running, jumping, and reading (especially his Bible)...just to name a few! ;) This kid LOVES life...and his joy is so contagious. We look forward to watching him develop into a little person! Around that time (February-March) I began to take my hobby to a whole new level. I asked to do some practice sessions for a few of my friends and family, and continually had people telling me, "You need to do this." "Your photos are so good." So I wanted to see if I even had what it takes to photograph other people's kids. :)And as it turned out...I DID! :) I think I had done about 5 or 6 practice sessions (totally free), when the word started getting out. I had people asking left and right, so I decided to get a website up and running (www.leslieober.com). At the end of March, I had my first paid session (at 50% off).I kept quite busy March, April, and May...and then took a maternity leave for 6 weeks. I picked right back up with FOUR shoots in the first week back to work! It has been a whirlwind experience. I never in a million years imagined that I would be doing this...running a successful business!! :)And I am SO blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home with the kiddos and work in the evenings and weekends with the photography (which I JUST love). I will be lucky to break even this year with my business income, as I continue re-investing whatever I make right back into the business. Once I have all the equipment I need, I hope to finally make some extra money for our family.The other MAJOR change (and blessing) this year was the birth of our beautiful and delightful daughter, Naomi!! She is SUCH a happy baby and continues to bring us so much JOY! Some of Naomi's favorite things include (in no particular order): playing in her exersaucer and Jumparoo, watching Isaac and Mona, her paci, people (especially mommy), being tickled, chewing on EVERYTHING, and being swaddled (still).We've had so many scares with her throughout her short life...starting in-utero. First, we were told that her intestines were growing outside of her abdominal cavity, which was a cause for concern, but we later found this is the normal stage of development at that gestational age. Then, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which led to close monitoring.Toward the end of the pregnancy, an ultrasound (taken as a precaution to make sure she wasn't getting TOO big) revealed that she had extra fluid around her heart. We went through LOTS of tests with multiple doctors to find that yes, she does have a tiny bit of extra fluid, but not enough to warrant worry. :) Whew!Then she was born and was just lovely. When she was two weeks old, after her umbilical cord fell off, she had some pus and bleeding out of her belly button. Her pediatrician was concerned and recommended that we go straight to Riley to see a pediatric surgeon. Come to find out, everything was fine! :)And then the last scare was with her stiffness. She qualified for treatment through Indiana's First Steps program. She has been seen by both a physical and occupational therapist to help loosen up her extremities. Her extreme stiffness coupled by a small head size had us worried about possible cerebral palsy.She no longer requires any therapies, as she is meeting her milestones and doing wonderfully! Praise God! We are so thankful for the Lord having His hand on Naomi's life. He continues to show us that He is MUCH bigger than our worries. It has helped us understand why God tells us that worrying is pointless...we can't change anything by our worrying, while we've seen that God can do anything! :) (Matthew 6:25-34)God has been so good to us this year. In this crazy economy, Kevin has continued working for his amazing company - Nielsen. He has survived some lay-offs and continues thriving with working from home. It really is a great fit for our family. Although if you ask Kevin, I think he'd definitely say that he misses being at the office. He misses seeing his co-workers on a regular basis...I'm sure it gets lonely working in a room all by yourself every day!Another change (more recently) this year was that of our church. We have finally found a place that we will call our church home! We totally see God moving and working in and through this place. And we feel like we will be encouraged to live powerfully and fully with the strength God provides in our lives. We look forward to learning and growing with this new family!!Wow...this has gotten LONG! Hehe. Well, that pretty much sums up our year. We spend our days busy and exhausted most of the time. I hear that having two babies 16 months apart can do that to you! :) But we wouldn't change it for the world! We live in a wonderful neighborhood (with GREAT neighbors), have an awesome family around us, and have everything we could possibly need and more. Praise God!
I hope this holiday finds YOU praising God just the same. He IS good. And He truly is the reason why we celebrate this time of year. We praise Him for sending His only son to die...so that we may live forever with Him! Wow.

Many blessings and lots of love,
Leslie (and the whole family)

And one more photo to leave you with...this is what Isaac thinks of this whole Santa business...

And here's a video from this morning...He may not love Santa, but this kid loves Jesus and knows that HE loves him! :) ENJOY...