A few from Christmas, 2011

Theodore wasn't sure at first about the whole Santa Hat thing.


Eventually, he decided it was OK. :)


Theodore unwrapped the first gift of the night.


Uncle Paul scores a win with an empty box. What kid doesn't LOVE a big box to play in? It also occupied small bodies as the big people did gifts.




Sorry sweetheart, worst face ever. But we're now ready for spring training around here!

Christmas Cookie baking, 2010

Yeah, so I'm a year late on this. I've been meaning to post it, but life has happened.

So, this is from LAST year before our nephew could crawl or walk. BIG difference from this year, where he was running around the house! :)


I'll share photos from this year's installment of cooke baking SOON! :)

Future hot rod?

Hold on to your estrogen, ladies! There's going to be plenty of testosterone (read: car stuff) in this post. There are a few photo tips/notes hidden in here, though.

My father-in-law restores classic cars, and over Labor Day, Theodore checked them out.





(no flash here).


{I forced my camera to flash here ... if you have glass, don't take a flash photo straight-on ... stand a bit off to an angle).

Green thumb?

When we were visiting my in-laws over Labor Day weekend, we visited the retirement community. Of course, Theodore was a bit hit. He seemed into the watering can ... so we'll see if he gets his mom's brown-ish thumb or his grandma's black thumb. Or if he goes more along the lines of Uncle Paul or Auntie Karen with a more green color to that thumb.

Theodore's 1st Birthday Party

I made a brief post last month when our nephew turned 1. I've now had time to sift through the photos and share. There are LOTS, so get cozy.


Check out the crowd!

After he woke up from his nap, it was time for presents.


Check out that grin!


"Auntie Karen, what the heck are you doing???"


Opening.


As with kids, though, the bag or box the gift comes in is almost always better than the gift itself.




He seemed pretty excited!


Leftie. For sure.



"Quit it already, Auntie Karen."


Next up: Cake!


Sans milk.


Getting strapped in & ready. No clue what's coming. Robin's been strict about no sweets until he was 1. So poor kid didn't know what he had to look forward to. ;)


Closer to showtime, but he's not sure what's going on.


Patiently waiting. If he knew how good his cake was, he wouldn't have been so patient.


(left) after; (right) before. :)


Dad is giving him an assist on the candle, but as you can see, Theodore already has his fingers in the frosting. Smart kid.


"Hmm, not sure what this is but I like it."


A little more ....


Aaaand, out comes the candle.


Chow time.


Leftie. All.The.Way.


Cute baby cupcakes.


Eating Auntie Karen's ice cream. This kid loved it. He's smart like that.


I love Theodore in this series. In the top, he's looking for more cake that was caught in his bib (which had a pouch to catch food), then he's looking up, and finally at me. Silly goose.


After, he was banging on the door b/c daddy was outside cooking dinner.

99 Red Balloons

Spent Saturday morning babysitting Nephew Theodore. We hung out, and did a few balloon drops with leftover balloons from his birthday party.

And did lots of singing and dancing to "99 Red Balloons." I happen to think it'd be a fabulous idea for a kid b-day party ... getting 99 red balloons and finding someplace to put them all! Fun all around! :)


Lots going on, photos/stories to share (hopefully soon!).

Nephew Theodore turns 1!!! :)

WOW. Has it REALLY been a year since Theodore was born?

Today Erik and I are taking some quality time with his parents, who are our houseguests, so there won't be a big post here. Please, however, feel free to skip over to the Heartland Blog to see some takes from our nephew's first birthday party. :)

I will have more here later though. PROMISE!

My 30th Birthday party! :)

Ok, only 2 photos to share. I got hollared at by friends for "working" (taking pix) at my own party.


Since I only have 1 married friend with no kids and who isn't preggo, we decided to have a family friendly event. Bring your kids. And boy, were there kids! We had no cake, but an ice cream sundae bar. It was fabulous :)

It was amusing to watch Theodore interact.


Pretty cute! :)

Theodore + Bailey II

Theodore is a BIG fan of Bailey, if you can't tell from this photo!


Bailey also happens to be a big fan of kids in general. Sometimes she has a hard time controlling her excitement (impulse control issues), but she does fairly well.

When Theodore was eating dinner, a portion of it ended up on the floor. "We're going to have to get out the vacuum," Robin said. "Nope," I responded, "we've got a dog."

Bailey was sitting by my seat, but she saw morsels start to fall from the table like manna from heaven. And she started to whine and squeal. You would have thought I had a T-bone dangled in front of her nose, not some peas and pork chop bits across the room on the floor. Geez.


This is from Dinner #2. Just Theodore and I. You'll notice how interested Bailey is in what Theo's doing.

Swim time! :) pt. 2

OOOOK. As Robin wrote on her blog, we had company over the weekend. Good times were had by all.

I have some photos + videos to share. Actually, I'll break them into 2 posts. Sound good?

First the videos, because they're super cute :)




I think at the point we have kids, I'll want a video camera or something with video that has a higher quality than my little camera has. But for now this is OK (love you, Theo! Not a reflection on my affection, I promise!)


He's got a toofer coming in .... so of course he liked gnawing on the noodle. Pssst, kid, that isn't ours!






I kept switching back and forth from the "automatic" setting on the camera (the 2 above), which used a flash, to the "manual" setting w/o a flash (below). With a flash, kids are more prone to know you're taking their picture. Sans flash, you're more likely to capture them "just being kids" .... but in a low light situation, it's not always a pretty end photo. Sigh, what to do?


Unfortunately, the lifeguards at the Y here in town won't let us go down the big slide together :( but we'll just have to go back to the big city for that!

We "bobbed" and went under water. He did fairly well with that. And even better this time at floating on his back with some assistance (side note: my first job was as a lifeguard, teaching swim lessons. Probably one of my most favorite jobs. Ever.)


I've never seen such wrinkled feet after the pool. (TIP: used macro feature on camera to get this).


After bath time.


:)