Christmas Morning

All done opening presents....notice that Ryan is playing with his new Jack-in-the-Box.  He has been talking about getting a jack-in-the-box for over a year now.  I have no idea where he got the idea, maybe a movie?  But it was the toy he told Santa he wanted and whenever anyone asked him what he wanted for Christmas, that is what he requested.  I wasn't really planning on buying one (they are hard to find and cost 20$!) but my sister said I had too.  He didn't give quite the reaction you would imagine after all that, but he probably would have mentioned it if he hadn't received one.  

The toys that created the most excitement were definitely Woody and Buzz.  

Ryan of course took some time out Christmas morning for some book reading.

Before we ripped into the presents.  They look so cute in their new p.j.'s and slippers.  Andrew received Cookie Monster slippers, but unfortunately they were too small, the kid has big feet!  (Like mother, like son I guess).  He was plenty happy with Ryan's old Elmo slippers though.

We had a great Christmas and it was so fun having Grammy and Gramps come and visit.  Tomorrow we head out to Las Vegas for the week and Christmas part II!  

How we do Christmas...

We went to the mall to see Santa.  Both boys went to Santa no problem.  The only problem was when it came time to leave and the "elf" woman informed me that I HAD to purchase pictures. She said I should have told her not to take the pictures if I didn't want them.  WHAT?  She was taking the pictures with a digital camera, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter if I buy them or not, but whatever.  Spencer forked out a ridiculous amount for the pictures, and I'm pretty sure it was to avoid an embarrassing conflict between me and Elfie.  

When Grammy and Gramps came into town we went to the River of Lights at the Botanical Gardens.  It was actually pretty impressive and we had a good time braving the cold and checking out the lights.

Earlier in the week we went to a Gingerbread House party with some of our friends from the baby-sitting co-op.  Ryan was very diligent and serious in putting the candy on his house and I don't think he even had a piece of candy while we were there.  Andrew on the other hand was pigging out, and if you know Andrew and how he drools, he came home quite the mess.  

This picture was taken right before I told Ryan we had to throw the house away.  He was actually ok with the idea, because royal icing isn't that good and the candy was getting pretty hard!

snow in Albuquerque

Like most of the country this last week, we too got snow.  I know some of you didn't believe me when I told you it snows here, so here is the proof.  It snowed all day, but didn't start really sticking in the afternoon.  We probably only got about 2 inches, but it shut this place down!  The schools were cancelled and even Spencer had a 2 hour delay for work (which he unfortunately didn't get to take advantage of, the poor guy has had to go to work really early and stay late this week because he is running some kind of test).  The snow was totally melted on the roads by about 9am, but we got lots of good snow play in yesterday and this morning.  

We are so Thankful....

For the Pilgrims and Indians....and that Grammy made us this awesome tee-pee to play in,

For all of the good food we had to eat,

That we could spend the week with all of our Grange aunts, uncles, and cute cousins,

For the beautiful snow!!!  Even though it ruined our chances of an outdoor family picture and it made our trip home a little slow...

 

and to be back home safe and sound.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Fascinating Read

I'm famous. My thesis finally showed up in the UW library catalog. There's two copies for everyone's reading enjoyment.

Also, my advisor presented some of our work at POF 2008 (The 17th International Conference on Polymer Optical Fiber). I ran across the program in my periodic googling of my name today.

November???

I can't believe November is almost over.  I was thinking about something to post about...nothing too exciting, just living our little life here in Albuquerque.  I only had 2 pictures from the month of November.  My parents came over Veteran's day weekend and we had a great visit with them.  My mom and Ryan made Gingerbread cookies.  And true to my Mom's Kindergarten teacher self, she even sent Ryan on a little Gingerbread man hunt when they escaped off the cooling rack.  

Ryan is still constantly making us laugh by the little phrases he comes up with.  We have to be VERY careful what we say, because we know we will hear it again, coming out of Ryan's mouth.  The other day he gave ME two choices, a happy choice and a sad choice of things I should do...something he obviously hears a lot.  

Andrew is all over the place.  I am sure he will be our child that has all of the broken bones, he usually is sporting at least one bruise on his face and I think he gets a bloody lip at least twice a week.  He is so different from Ryan in that he gets into EVERYTHING.  We didn't have to toddler proof much with Ryan, but Andrew is teaching us how to do it now.  He is so sweet and I think we treat him like he is 6 months old still, but oh well.  Soon enough we will have a real baby in the house again and he'll have to become a big boy then!

My pregnancy is going great.  My only complaint is my nasty varicose veins developing on my legs.  My doctor finally told me that I had to start wearing support hose all the time, or they will get worse and not go away.  It is the most uncomfortable thing in the world to wear nylons ALL of the time.  But I know lots of women have it a lot worse, so I will try not to whine too much about it!

We are excited to go to Denver next week for Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for!

HaLlOwEeN

What a cute elephant and gorilla!

Ryan had lots of fun trick or treating.  He was a real trooper.  I kept asking him if he wanted me to hold his bucket, but he said he was ok.  People gave him handfuls at a time!  We only went down our street and by the end, his bucket was totally full.  We did take Andrew, but after a few houses, I brought him back home.  He liked getting the candy and would say "please".  But he just wanted to bang his flashlight on the sidewalk and he was slowing us down :)  Something kind of fun about trick or treating in Albuquerque is that a lot of neighbors sit out on their porches to hand out candy.  I've heard that in some neighborhoods they even sit out on the sidewalk and chit chat with each other and the kids can just zoom down the street collecting candy.  How efficient!

Spencer and I went to a fun Halloween party.  If you can't tell, we are obviously a Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol man and a surprised housewife.  It was a big hit, and yes, Ryan and Teri, we totally copied you!!!  

Oor friend Max joined us again for Halloween festivities.  You might remember him from last year.  

Fall fun

We went on over to the local corn maze.  Spencer has never wanted to go.  He had a scary experience in a flea market maze apparently.  I told him that this would be much more fun than a creepy flea market, and I think he had fun.  Ryan later told me that when we were in the corn it was "kind of boring" (his new favorite word).  

....and more fall fun

Ryan wouldn't touch the insides of the pumpkin, but he liked watching Spencer carve his pumpkin and gave him lots of directions.  Andrew pretty much thought he should be able to use his pumpkin as a ball.  We had to keep making sure he didn't throw the pumpkin off the table.  

Martha Who?

While I really enjoy reading my Martha Stewart magazine, I rarely try any of her ideas myself.  I know it won't look half as cute when I do it!  I thought I could actually do this little craft project, (and with help from Spencer of course) I think we made these gifts for the girls I visit teach pretty cute!

*By the way, it's super easy, just paint a terra cotta pot to look like a candy corn.

Guess who's 28?

I love this picture.  It looks like Spencer, but he has such a baby face!  What a cute freshman.  I've decided that it is a good thing I didn't know Spencer growing up.  I am sure I would have thought he was cute, but Spencer was shy...I was not, and I probably would have scared him off.

What a handsome man.  We love you Spencer!  happy Birthday!  (We decided this is Spencer's first birthday as a real grown up, now that he is a working man.)

I hate to brag....

but I just paid $2.69/gallon for gas!!!  

It's a....

GIRL!!!  Can you believe it?  Because we can't!!  We are so excited to add a little girl to the family.  The boys are showing off her new (and I'm sure to be ever expanding) wardrobe.  I couldn't resist stopping at the store on the way home.  

We even got to see one of those crazy 3-D images of the little girl.  Like the Ultrasound technician said, "Isn't this a cute picture?  Cute..and a little scary".  Don't worry, there isn't a hole in her head.  It's just the way the pictures turn out sometimes.  

according to Ryan...

It is interesting this time around to hear Ryan's perspective on having a baby.  He has lots of funny ideas about how the whole thing works (some are to embarrassing to share, seeing as they have to do with my body!) For instance...

-Ryan tells us that our baby came from heaven and lived with Heavenly Father.  Then it came into my tummy (all correct so far), and that I ATE the baby to get it into my tummy.

-If you lifted up my shirt, you could see the baby.  I guess I have see through skin.  

-When it is time to have the baby, I go to the hospital and I just go to the bathroom and the baby is here.  If only it was that simple!  (By the way, Ryan didn't use exactly those words, but again, too embarrassing to put his actual words).  Or the belly button was a possibility baby exit as well.

-Ryan had the idea just today, that when I go to the hospital, I should take Andrew with me.  Then he could stay at home with Daddy and play CandyLand, and when the game was over they would come see the baby.  Does not sound like a successful birthing plan to me.  (although, I think Spencer would be ok with this part.  I think he secretly wishes he were a dad in the 50's and could just drop me off at the hospital and come back when all the dirty work was over).

So far, Spencer and I just laugh at all his crazy ideas, and no, we do not give him the correct info.  Maybe you think that's terrible, but he's only 3!

soccer player

Ryan is playing YMCA soccer this year.  They don't play real games...just have little practices once a week.  Ryan is really enjoying it.  I count it as a success that he doesn't cry, follows instructions, and has fun.  

Because of Spencer's and mine outstanding athletic abilities, he is obviously the best one on the team.  He'll probably be on Team USA, 2016.

Everyones favorite part of the practice, snack time.

ryan's 1st picture

I know this is pretty much only for the grandparents...but isn't it cute?

In our Garden

When we didn't move to Yakima, Spencer's dreams of being a pretend farmer were lost.  Raising goats and having a couple acres of orchards isn't likely to happen in Albuquerque, but we're doing what we can.  

We've also being growing another one of these this summer.....

but it won't be ready until March 5th.  

(that's right, I'm pregnant!)

oh brothers

sorry andrew.  we were too busy taking pictures to save you from your older brother.  what a sad face!  Ryan isn't really beating him up...he thought they were really just messing around and wrestling.  I think Andrew thought so too, until he obviously was done.

more from the fair

We took so many pictures of the boys in the petting zoo that it had to have it's own post.  The petting zoo actually only consisted of a bunch of goats and sheep running around.  Andrew ran in and went nuts.  He was running after the animals, laughing and petting them.  He is actually pretty soft when he touches them, but hasn't quite figured out certain animal rules.  For instance, touching their eyes, mouths, and bottoms is probably not a good idea.  And somehow he got it in his head that he should give a goat a kiss and was chasing this one goat in circles trying to kiss it on it's mouth!  What a funny kid.  I think he has heard his dad talk about his dream of raising goats a little too much.