bright eyes

Again, pictures taken by the Birds.

The waiting game

Patience has never been one of my virtues, except perhaps in getting to my thesis. Stephen, however, is the exact opposite. We already have stacks of books on our coffee table for papers that aren't due until the end of April. However, neither Stephen nor I are showing much patience when it comes to waiting to hear back from his graduate schools. Between the two of us, we must check thegradcafe.com (where people post whether they've been accepted or rejected by schools) at least a dozen times a day. sigh. This isn't the kind of suspense that is good for a girl who reads the end of the book first so she can enjoy reading the rest of it.

Our fat(ter) boy with Grandma and Grandpa Great

Pictures taken by some expecting Birds.

One way to make your usually mellow baby cry inconsolably to the point that there are tears falling down his somewhat chubby wubby cheeks?

Try spicy chicken curry for dinner when you're nursing.

just a few pictures from the holidays

IT was so fun to have little Abby and Maddy's smiling faces for Christmas morning.

Here are the grandkids that were able to make it for my Dad's 60th birthday party. Oh wait, I forgot, it was the 30th anniversary of his 30th birthday.

My sister Mary and her chunk of a baby Nathan. He was also born at 6 lbs, but four months later you'd never guess it.

We started a tradition that instead of the big fake stockings, we each get to pick one of our own socks. This way we become grateful for our big feet, right? Well this last Christmas Eve, we were lucky to get the decorations out, much less anything to put in the stockings. Little did we know that Santa/Jared would fill up the stockings after we went to bed at one o'clock in the morning. This was the first Christmas I was surprised to have a stocking full. Ohhwee the magic of Christmas lives on. Santa was disapointed that we didn't leave any cookies.

Stephen's parents are away in Russia, but still wanted the family to get together and paid for a oh so tasty meal at IHOP.










oh Stephen also had his birthday. Next year you can plan on giving him a cane since he is already an old 23 years old. I'm afraid we were too busy to take picures because we were eating like little piggies, thanks family!

Entering the competition at last

I don't really have a competitive family, but for years I've recieved the updates from my siblings about their children's percentiles. Hardly is there an update without at least something in the 95th. It's my turn now. The drum roll may begin. . . .

head: 20th percentile
length: 10th percentile
weight: . . . under the 5th percentile!!! (he is now 7lbs 12oz)

I know, I know, whose child is this anyways? Actually, I don't think there's any question as to whose child he is. He still has his Cranney brow. Though looking in the mirror today, I realized I'm not without a distinctive brow myself. Perhaps this is just a sign of Stephen and me just having such a wonderful marriage we're starting to look like each other. Well, if he's not ours we'll keep him anyways because he is so adorable and sweet.

Might I add before I finish this post, Christian did qualify for 95th percentile on ohhhwee-good-lookingness.

Also joy of joys, on New Years Eve, kumquat began nursing without a shield! Can I say how very happy I am about this? I thought I was doomed to pump ever 4 hours for the next 11 months or go solely on formula. This may not be a big deal to anyone else, but it's a huge deal to me and Christian.