Congratulations!!

Welcome to the world, Alyssa. Congratulations, Amanda and John!!! I can't wait to get my behind up to Newark so I can meet that little pumpkin and take lots and lots of pictures of her.

Merry Christmas!

We have had a wonderful Christmas this year. Both sets of parents and my brother spent Christmas day with us, enjoying a breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, and Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. We had a yummy turkey dinner that day as well...And we're still enjoying the leftovers. Benjamin got lots of toys...it's hard to teach a nearly-three-year-old about being grateful for the abundance he enjoys, but he thanked everyone and has been playing with his train house, basketball hoop, duplos, as well as Noah's toys. :)

Some photos:
Christmas eve, at Andy & Melissa's place.
Christmas morning...


K's family.
T's family
The day after Christmas, our friends Christine, David, Jennie, Dave and baby Claire came over for make-your-own-pizza lunch. It was nice to see everyone and meet Claire - she's so sweet! Noah was particularly fussy, but we got a decent photo of the two of them.

baking

It's Christmastime

I haven't had much to write about these days...Tim is enjoying his Christmas break [and it's possible that Benjamin, Noah and I are enjoying it even more than he is!] - we have done some walking, playing, decorating, and now Grandma and Grandpa B are in town. Some photos:

Grandpa B and a Christmas tree

Decorating our tree:

The four of us!

Three months

Noah is three months old already! (How did that happen? I'm certain he was just born!) He is a ton of fun: smiling, "talking," making adorable faces, grabbing at things on his playgym, chewing/sucking on his hands, looking at and smiling at our faces, and growing like crazy! And, my personal favorite, he has been sleeping from 8 or 9 at night to 6 or 7 in the morning (for the past 10 days or so!). Noah is still our easygoing little guy!

Eliza

If you are of the praying sort, please do so for this family. They lost their nearly three year old daughter yesterday, and while they know she is now at peace, I know they could use peace and comfort in this difficult time. I cannot even fathom what it is to lose a child, my heart breaks for my friends. Sam, Daniele, and Luke, we will pray fervently for you. Know we are sending you hugs and love and prayers from California, and will continue to do so. I definitely had to close my eyes to hide my tears when Benjamin prayed for you guys.

http://dixiejax.blogspot.com/

2008 in review

Some somewhat silly questions to recap the year...it's fun to look back. At some point I'll post my 12 favorite photos from this year...it'll take me awhile to choose, I'm sure.

JANUARY--
Did you have a New Year's Resolution this year?
If I did, I clearly don't remember it now...

Does it snow where you live?
nope (though, where we lived in January it would snow from time to time)

Do you like hot chocolate?
definitely

Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop?
Nope. I'm not sure I'd want to, with all the crowds.

In January we found out we were expecting our second child! Benjamin and I explored the San Diego Zoo while Tim attended his math conference. We also enjoyed mom and dad Blakesley's 60th birthday party!

FEBRUARY--
Who was your Valentine?
Tim. And Benjamin.

When you were little did you buy Valentine's for the whole class?
yes

Do you care if the groundhog sees its shadow or not?
no

This month we got to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time and see what the little bean looked like. We celebrated Benjamin's second birthday with a party at the park.

MARCH--
Are you Irish?
maybe a little bit

Do you like corned beef and cabbage?
Yes please. With mustard.


What did you do for St. Patty's day?
Probably made corned beef.

Are you happy when winter is pretty much over?
Yes, I love spring.

Nothing particularly exciting happened in March - my belly grew, Benjamin and I had many adventures at the Museum of Life & Science, and we celebrated Easter with friends.

APRIL--
Do you like the rain?
Yes, as long as I'm not stuck in it.

Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year?
No

Do you get tons of candy for Easter?
Only what I buy myself.

Do you love the month of April?
I like it - the weather is nice, the flowers start blooming...except that it also means pollen, which is bad for me.

In April, we found out our second baby would be a BOY, our friends Lori and Carter (and Benjamin's friend Grant) visited NC and we got to see them, and we went to see "Spamalot".

MAY--
What is your favorite flower?
lilies and gerbera daisies

Finish the phrase "April showers…"
bring May flowers

For Mother's day we went out to brunch with our friends Chris and Debbie and their little one (who was still in Debbie's belly at the time). It was YUMMY!

JUNE--
What year did you graduate from High School?
1996

Did you do anything fun during this Month?
We celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary, said farewell to our friends Jen and Sam who moved to Nebraska, welcomed our dear friends' daughter Kalina into the world, and said goodbye to our friends Sarah & David and their kiddos


JULY--
What did you do on the 4th of July?
Took some fun family photos

Did you blast the A/C all day?
I'm sure we did since NC is HOT during the summer

This month we bid farewell to our home state of eight years. It was hard to say goodbye to our friends.

AUGUST--
Did you do anything special at the end of your summer?
Tim started his new job, we went up to the bay area to see my parents/go to Leah and Khari's wedding/photograph that wedding as well as Hallie and Cody's wedding!

What was your favorite Summer 2008 memory?
Getting to see our CA friends again

Did you have a sunburn?
no

Did you go to the pool alot?
not alot, but we spent some time there

SEPTEMBER--
Are you attending college/school?
Tim's teaching it.

Do you like Fall better than Summer?
yes

What happened this month?
I turned 30 (we spent the day at the Santa Monica Pier) and Noah was born. Due to the second event listed, the rest of the month is kind of a blur. :)

OCTOBER--
What was your last Halloween costume?
This year I bought a pirate shirt and some orange and black socks and called it a day

What is your favorite candy?
anything involving chocolate

What was your favorite thing(s) about this month?
Celebrating Tim's birthday and being together for twelve years. We trick or treated with Benjamin at the mall near our house, which was a resounding success. He loved being a tiger and saying trick or treat to everyone, and carrying around his plastic pumpkin was about the most exciting thing ever.

NOVEMBER--
Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving?
this year went to Tim's parents' and it was delicious

What are you thankful for?
my family and friends (and friends who are family)

Do you love stuffing?
no

Anything special in this month?
James and Christina got married, we went to the LA Zoo, and Noah got to meet his great grandma.

DECEMBER--
Do you celebrate Christmas?
yes

What do you want this year?
nothing big - I have the best gifts in my family.

What do you love most about December?
all the time spent with family, decorations, the smell of Christmas trees and cookies...

Some new pictures.

Go Duke!!
With both my boys, and my new hair! :)Benjamin and I have been doing some Christmas projects.
A foam nativity scene:
A foam igloo. Benjamin liked putting the ornaments on the little tree and playing with the penguins.
We're working on finishing our foam gingerbread house. (Yes, these little foam projects were on sale at Michael's the day after Thanksgiving...)

Jingle bells