the big announcement

Hi everyone. Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures over Thanksgiving so I don't have many to post. I doubt that I'll be posting any before Christmas but I'm going to make sure to take lots while we're in Virginia so get ready for January! Anyway, I just wanted to announce that in about 21 or so weeks, Nathan's little brother will be making his big debut! We just had the big ultrasound today so that was fun! Anyway, time to put the toddler--definitely no longer a baby--to bed. :)

The Baby With Many Talents

Here's my baby who cooks AND plays the piano. Ladies, just wait a few years. He'll be quite the catch. ;)

The Pirate and his Play-Doh

So here's my little pirate, all dressed up for Halloween. We went to a couple of things--our little library class had a march around the library last week and on Halloween we met Jimmy at his school so he could show off Nathan. The whole school (about 500 or so students plus all the staff) had lunch together that day and there was a costume contest. Nathan got to walk in it (with Jimmy escorting him) and the whole school cheered and clapped for him. He was nervous when we got there because there were so many new people in one place, but I think he got over it because he was smiling as he marched around the circle to the applause. :) What was funny about his being shy was that all the way there he was chattering in the back seat saying "happy, happy, happy," and "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" because I'd told him we were going to see Daddy. Then when we got there he was really reserved until we were inside and not around so many new faces at once!It was hard to get a picture of him with his hat on because he'd only keep it on for a few seconds. My mom and I decided that he's a pirate who pillages for cheese.
Here he is playing with Play-Doh this morning. He really likes playing with Play-Doh (it actually keeps him occupied for 20 or 25 minutes! AMAZING!) and gets to do it outside (another favorite) so it doesn't get smashed into the carpet. Here he is saying his favorite word. Can you guess it?? It's "no," of course! I don't think he was protesting anything, he just says it a lot.

A cute story

Nathan is a good sleeper and part of that is that he always (well, almost always) goes down for a nap or bedtime looking up at me from his crib smiling. The other day I heard him kind of talking and making noises to himself before he fell asleep. Today, he was laughing and it was pretty loud. Jimmy put him down for his nap and a few minutes later was standing by the door and said he could hear Nathan laughing. I started listening and I heard it too--from the living room! I guess within a few minutes he went to sleep because we didn't hear anymore from him until his nap was over. It's nice to have a happy baby. :-)

Lots of Pictures!!

Here are a bunch of pictures from the past few weeks with a little commentary on what you're seeing. Enjoy!

Here is a little taste of Nathan's destructive habits. In this picture I had just separated the dirty laundry, went to answer the phone and less than a minute later came back to the laundry....unloaded onto the floor, from where I'd just picked it up.
This is about 3 lbs. of oatmeal that someone spilled on the floor. (Apparently I did something similar around Nathan's age, but I chose 5 lbs. of sugar as my weapon. I must say, oatmeal is probably easier to clean up than sugar.)
Just because he's cute.
"I like pancakes. Why are there no more pancakes on my plate?"
"More pancakes please, daddy!"
"Um, mom, my shoes are on and you said we're getting ready to leave. So I'm standing by the door, showing you where I want to go, trying to be patient but it's getting hard!"
Nathan likes phones. Notice he's got one for each hand.


"Ha! I'm the only one in the family who can fit between the fridge and the stove!"
"Uh-oh, this may be a problem. I think I'm stuuuuuuuuuck!"
Nathan's favorite chair (at the moment) because he can easily get in and out.
All finished! See you next time. :-)

Falling behind...

Update: We have not fallen off the face of the earth. There are pictures coming soon. Lots of them, so I have to find the time to actually upload them all! Hopefully by the end of the week...keep coming back because they'll be there eventually. :-)

time to vent a little

I just got an email forward from someone (who frequently sends me forwards with which I disagree because they're usually political and she and I don't agree on politics). This particular forward was about how Christians should send a letter to the Mrs. Fields company and/or boycott their products because they're removing the word "Christmas" from any of their products. This frustrates me. On the one hand, Christians complain about how Christmas has become so secularized and commercialized. I agree with this point. The whole point of Christmas is the birth of our Savior and to reflect on what he did for humankind. Some other, though certainly more minor, points are giving and spending time with family. So, it makes me sad how commercialized and secular Christmas has become and, in becoming so, how frustrating and depressing a time it is for many people.

Why, then, do the people who complain about the commercialization/secularization of Christmas care when secular industries won't say "Merry Christmas" or remove the phrase from their products? I think that people get separately offended because if you put the two thoughts together it would read something like this: "It offends me that such a holy season has been hijacked by commercialism and the real meaning of Christmas has been forgotten. And how dare those who have hijacked Christmas (with whom I'm offended for doing so) not wish me a "Merry Christmas" while I walk around their store angry that they've taken the real meaning out of the holiday!" It seems that if these industries are leaving Christmas out of it, we as Christians who want to focus on what it's really about, should be happy. Of course companies are going to target those who will be spending big bucks in December. It'd be stupid not to since their whole existence is based on people spending money. But if they'll leave Christmas out of it, aren't we getting exactly what we want?