Merry Christmas!

So I realize that Christmas was more than 2 weeks ago and I haven’t posted about it yet. I’m sorry! I’ve been consumed with other things like COUPONS! And BREAD! (More about both of those later…)

Anyway, Christmas. It was great! We spent the actual Christmas weekend with Rob’s family in Denver, CO, and Emily got to go on her first plane ride! She did really well on the first flight, sleeping most of the way and playing contentedly the rest of the time. The flight home though, not so much. We were slightly delayed because of an issue with someone’s seat assignment (the flight attendants spent a half hour straightening out a ticketing error that gave one seat to two people… duh.) so we ended up sitting on the plane for almost an hour before ever taking off. She slept that whole time and about a half an hour after take off, and for the next two hours she was AWAKE! She was fascinated with the plane seats for a while but when that novelty wore off it was overtired-cranky-get-me-off-this-plane-right-now baby. That was fun. The guy next to us couldn’t have jumped out of his seat faster when we landed, haha.

The trip itself though was great! We got to spend time with Grandpa Moose and Grandma Goose and saw a few of the sights of Denver! Christmas night we went to the Denver Botanic Gardens and looked at over a million Christmas lights that they had put up all over the garden. It was awesome, if a little cold. But we bundled up and Emmie was happy snuggled in her Ergo carrier with her Strawberry Hat on.

She didn’t really want to sleep very well while we were there so I had to spend a good deal of time trying to get her to nap. But when she was awake she was happy and smiley and had a great time playing with Grandma! We also went to the Christmas eve service at their church where Grandma sang in the choir. It was truly a beautiful service, complete with candles and Silent Night. Perfect.

Before we left for the trip, we opened presents and spent a day together at home just the three of us. Emily didn’t really seem to get the whole Santa thing, but it was still fun! She ate ribbons and shredded paper, and eventually played with her new Shopping Cart. It’s noisy and bright and obnoxious and she LOVES IT. As soon as we put her down to play she goes straight for it every time! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Ancel! She also made out like a bandit with all her new clothes! She’s the best dressed baby around! :)

I didn’t get any pictures of the trip to Denver (we didn’t want to deal with the big camera on the plane) but I do have some from before we left! Maybe Grandma Shankland can send me some pictures to add here…!

Our tiny little tree!

“I GOTTA GET THE BOOOOOOWWWWW!!!”

Mmmmm… Bow.

Happy happy!

What have you got?

The Shopping Cart!

Daddy putting together his first ever toy. Yay!

My little shopper.

Don’t mind the mess in those photos, we were having way to much fun to worry about cleaning up! Haha.

All in all, Emily’s first Christmas was a smashing success. Good times were had all around, and they didn’t even lose our luggage! Next year though, we’re staying in Washington state. Anyone want to come to visit us? :)

More Traveling!

Last weekend our very good friends Andy and Alex were married in VA, and Rob was asked to be the best man! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make the trip over with the little one, but I hear it was a fantastic time!

Congrats again you two, we are so happy for you!

While Rob was running all over the state of Virginia helping out Andy (by keeping him out of Alex’s way) and eating great food, I went to Spokane to spend a week at Grandpa’s house with Emily. We had a great time, too!

We were lucky enough to get a chance to see Tara and Karter and baby Kennedi while we were there, too! Tara and I figured out that we’ve been friends for 20 years! WOW! It’s great that our girls are only a few months apart in age!

The girls and the kiddos.

Grandma and Emmie!

Giggles for Grandpa.

Tara, Karter, and Em.

Sweet baby Ryan. He’s getting so big!

Tummy time with Grandpa.

They became very good friends this trip!

Hanging with Uncle Zach.

Grandpa and his boys!

Silly, silly.

We had lots of fun, and now that Emily is getting bigger, she does a lot better with trips like this. We were lucky enough to find a portable swing at a second-hand shop, and she LOVED it, so we actually got her to nap a little bit. That made the trip MUCH more enjoyable. But as much as we love to travel and see family, we were SO GLAD to be home! A week away from Daddy makes Emmie quite the cranky-pants!

The next big thing on our list is Thanksgiving, also in Spokane. And then comes Emily’s first plane ride to Denver for Christmas! Anyone with tips on flying with an infant, please share! I’m more than a little nervous about that so any advice would be much appreciated.

P.S. Apparently bananas are very tasty but not so good on the tummy. This solid food business is tough!

Visitors!

What a great weekend we had! Family from out of town, date night, good food, what else do you need? :)

My mom and dad drove over from Spokane Saturday morning and brought my nephew Colin with them for a quick weekend visit. Saturday afternoon we unpacked a few more boxes and (finally!) got the desks set up in the office. It looks like I’ll actually have a place to put my work table so I can do a little sewing! YAY!! I was really not looking forward to a year and a half of working on the kitchen table. Now I have a spot!

Saturday night mom and dad came to our place for some Chinese take-out (YUM) and then they watched Emily for us and we got to go out on our very first date night! We went to see Iron Man 2. I really liked it! And I only freaked out about leaving the punkin for the first few minutes; after we got to the theater I was fine. But when we got out of the car, I did look in the backseat out of habit thinking we forgot to get the baby! I guess it’s better to be overly cautious on that one though. :)

Sunday morning we met my brother and his family at Marie Calendar’s for a brunch buffet. Holy tons-of-food, Batman. It was wonderful! The best part for Rob was when they brought three heaping plates of steaming hot bacon to our table and put one down right in front of him. He looked like he’d just found the winning lotto ticket. And I guess in his eyes it was probably just as good! They also had waffles, biscuits and gravy, eggs benedict, an omelet station, and pretty much every other breakfast food you could ever want. Needless to say, we all walked out of there pretty stuffed.

My nephew Cubby and I at breakfast

The whole family, minus mom

Rob, Grandpa and Emily

Grandma and Emily

Sweet Baby

First use of the baby carrier. She’s not too fond of it, but we’ll keep trying! 

Grandma and Grandpa will be back for the Fourth of July weekend. We can’t wait!!

Home Sweet Home

Now that the dust has settled and our bags are unpacked, I've finally found a chance to write about our week last week. We didn't take the camera, but came home with much more than pictures could ever have captured.

On Monday, January 18th, Rob's grandmother Elanor, a.k.a Grambo, passed into God's arms at the glorious age of (almost) 95. While it wasn't completely unexpected, it was still sort of a shock to most of her family and friends. She was Grambo! She didn't give up! Her 80th birthday present to herself was to go heli-hiking in the Alps. She wasn't one to take life lying down, she was a wonderful person to all who knew her, and I heard her described more than once as a "firecracker!" Even though I only met her one time, her memory will be lasting, and we won't miss a chance to tell our children about her.

Tuesday morning we headed to the airport (early) and after three flights we landed in Cleveland, OH, around midnight. During one of our layovers Rob got a call from a company he applied with and was able to do a phone interview before our next plane left. Perfect timing! :) Hopefully he'll get to do a second interview in person at the beginning of next month, but more on that later.

The rest of the week was full of family time, good food, fond memories of Elanor, and exploring the city. Even though there was some sadness, it was a great way to spend the week and we know we won't soon forget our time there. It was nice to get a chance to meet (and catch up with) more of the Shankland family!

Friday morning we got up at 5:00 am, which is really 2:00 am for us west-coasters, and headed again to the airport. Flying at 6 months pregnant is uncomfortable enough, but being that tired didn't help things! We made it though, thanks to Rob. He's a wonderful daddy already!

Papa moose flew with us to Chicago, and from there he went home to Denver, and we flew to San Francisco. After 2 delays and a gate-change, it was getting late and we almost decided to just rent a car and drive home! It's only about 15 hours, we can do that, right? Yeah... Um, I'm pretty sure someone would have ended up walking home if we'd tried that... I was *a bit* cranky by this time. I'd like to take this opportunity to again thank my wonderful husband for not leaving me at the airport and continuing home without me. It wasn't the most friendly day I've ever had. Sorry, honey. :)

At long last we made it home, and I think I lasted about 20 minutes before falling dead-asleep on the couch. But what a week it was! We are so blessed to be a part of a family that loves each other so much. It was more than obvious that Elanor was a driving force in the family, someone that helped to mold and shape many of the kids that came through her home (Rob being one of them!) and she will be greatly missed. I think Rob said it best: We're sad for ourselves but happy that she's home now with God.

Thank you, Elanor, for all that you were to all of us. You'll be in our hearts forever.

Home Again, Home Again!

Jiggity Jog! I can't tell you how nice it was to be able to take a break from work and everyday life to visit the coast and take a trip to Denver, but boy is it nice to be home! I don't think I've ever been so tired after a trip!

We had a fantastic time this weekend in Colorado with Rob's parents, visiting with them, climbing mountains, riding trains, and eating good food. Here are just a few pictures of the trip, the rest are on my Picasa site. Be warned, though, there are quite a few scenery pictures! :)

On the baby front, we are at ten weeks pregnant now! I'm sorry I missed the 9 week picture, we were tired out and didn't take one. But here is ten weeks (sorry it's a tad blurry)!

Here is where the punkin is this week: 10 weeks, a kumquat!

A little over an inch long now, with fingers and toes and moving around like a champ! Of course I can't feel it yet, but at the speed I'm growing it shouldn't be long! Ha!

We have our 12 week appointment at the end of this month, and hopefully we'll get to hear the baby's heartbeat! I can't wait!! Lately I've been eating everything in site (including pickles from the jar) and trying to keep from gaining a hundred pounds. OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration seeing as how I've only gained 4 pounds total so far, but always being hungry is a new thing for me! We'll see how I do in the coming weeks and months. :)

Well, speaking of food it's time to get dinner started. I'll try not to wait so long to post next time, and I hope you all have a great week!