My sister Melissa is engaged!

On Sunday, December 21st, Ted Darby asked my sister, Melissa, to marry him and she said yes. They are planning a wedding for this summer!
Congrats to them both!

Week before Christmas!

Where to start.....last week was so busy followed by a busy weekend! We're hoping that this week won't be as bad and we'll have some time to breathe before we fly home next week for Christmas.
Last Friday Nathan and I attended our first Avalanche hockey game, with Jason, Michael and Rebecca. Nathan did so well we had the people behind us and beside us commenting on how good he was. The only part he didn't like were the air horns they sounded when we made a goal. Those actually made him cry but by the time the music stopped and the crowd calmed down we had him calmed down so no one even knew he was distressed. I had my camera with me.....but did I take one picture? NO! I forgot about it.
Saturday was full of running errands and doing things around the house to get ready for next week. That night it snowed and Sunday we woke up to a white world! We headed to the Natural Grocers that day and made homemade baby food, to put in the freezer, for a good part of the day. Nathan is now set for a while on frozen and fresh foods. I'm also making his (rice cereal) porridge now that he is old enough for it and plan to start him on yogurt this week once we get the okay from his doctor.
Sunday night we hit a Colorado record low of -21 degrees! As I was driving in to work on Monday it was -9 and at 2:30pm when I checked it again it was 1! Nathan and I went to our breastfeeding group holiday party and had a good time. Anytime that I get to get him early and spend some quality mommy time is a good time! He also LOVES our lactation specialist, Becky, and had some good lovin and smiles for her too. Tonight we are having our home group and will play a round of Chinese Christmas for our celebration!
I am now seeing a chiropractor/acupuncturist twice a week and am finally getting some relief from my (whole body) pain, headaches, jaw aches, etc! He's really good and looks at everything that is going on with your body (blood work) and not just your skeletal and muscular frame.
I don't know where the time has gone - I can't believe that next week is (Nathan's 1st) Christmas and a week from today we'll be flying out! I also can't believe that January 2nd Nathan will already be 8 months old! We're enjoying him so much I guess he's making the time seem to pass so quickly. He's such a sweetheart and we are so blessed to have him. Hope you all have a Merry week! :)

Nathan meets the Big Guy!

Today, Nathan met Santa Claus! This is the Santa from the Brown Palace who also happens to be our chair of the College of Business. So this is Nathan and Santa Vinnie!

Nathan's Photo Shoot

Yesterday was Nathan's photo shoot for the magazine ad and he did great. There were 4 white babies being photographed for 2 spots - and he was one of the 2 that would actually sit in the plane and smile - so I think he's going to be a shoo-in. We had to sit in a ratty "talent" room for over an hour while he laughed and smiled.....would not eat and finally got tired. Then it was FINALLY our turn. He sat well and smiled, but not his huge grins that he could have done before having to wait so long. They still loved him though. The videographer that screen tested him remembered him. He said that he has notes about his "monster smiles" and him being a smile machine. It was quite nerve-racking and exhausting for Mommy and Nathan, but an experience we'd not give up for anything! This photo was when they were done - I put him in it to take a picture - you can see in his eyes he's about to loose it! I got him out and he recovered though - never cried - just fell asleep on the way to the car!

Note: On the video that is NOT Nathan crying - that's one of the other two babies that followed him. They are also in the studio.

Thankgiving in Colorado - with video!

This Thanksgiving was Nathan's first and we stayed in Colorado. The Tuesday before we fried a turkey for friends and the Wednesday before we fried one for us and one for friends. I got my mom's recipes and made the traditional Southern meal for Jason and I. Once we were thoroughly stuffed and rested we painted our stairwell wall! Bet you didn't see that one coming! Nathan also ate sweet potatoes for the first time and finished a jar in two meals. :) He loved them. Friday we finished up our beautiful "Merlot" wall and put everything back up - and started on our Christmas decorations. By the end of the weekend we put up 4 trees and decorated our front porch, our kitchen counters, our window between our den and kitchen and our mantle - pretty much every surface we could! Nathan got an early Christmas present from Jason - a Lionel train that is now under the tree. Each year he will get a new train car and extension tracks. He loves just watching it go around and around. We enjoyed having the 4 full days together just to enjoy being with one another.

Update on Nathan's screen test!

Well, Nathan wasn't chosen for the TV commercial, but was chosen for the print ads!!! So we will go Wednesday, December 3rd for the photo shoot! YEAH! He will be wearing a white cloth diaper and sitting in a baby-sized paper airplane. The ad will be in magazines and other print publications in the Baltimore-Washington area!

We knew we had a cutie patootie - now we have proof! :)

Hollywood, here we come!

Lunch with Chris & Susan, Twilight, etc!

Good Monday morning!!! We are looking forward to a short work week and a long holiday weekend.
This past weekend Rebecca and I braved the opening of Twilight! We were certainly among the older crowd. The theater was full of teens that screamed through most of the movie - especially when it was a close-up on one of the male characters! We still had a good time though.
Saturday Jason, Nathan and I met Chris and Susan for lunch. We had such a good time we plan to get together again this Wednesday evening to fry turkeys.
I also saw my doctor Saturday for my cough. She has started me on a new inhaler (different from the new one week before last) and an antibiotic for the sinus infection I now have. I am already feeling better.
This holiday break we plan to paint our stairwell wall, eat turkey, most likely have Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant and put up our Christmas decorations. We will also be relaxing!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!!