Joyfully Announcing...

We enlisted the expertise of Peter Ringenberg to take Christmas family photos this year. I suggested taking them at Notre Dame, and Peter further suggested the Basilica and the Administration Building (inside the Golden Dome). Unfortunately, we picked the absolute coldest day of the year to carry out this madness. Sure, taking a 7-week-old out into the frigid wind wasn't the most brilliant move as parents and required a ridiculous amount of outerwear and blankets, but it all worked out in the end.

Since we couldn't park near the Basilica, we bundled up our little boy and traipsed across campus running from building to building in an attempt to stay warm despite the swirling wind. Thankfully, inside the Basilica it was gorgeous and peaceful—that is, until Jack got tired of taking pictures...;) Actually, he was fantastic until he got hungry after an hour, so no complaints! I'll include a few of our favorite shots below.

"Mom, Dad, I'm so over this picture-taking thing...when do we eat?"

Our Little Bug

Thanksgiving

Yes, I realize that we are approaching Valentine's Day (several holidays removed from Thanksgiving), but I have a 3 month old, people! As Jack learns to take naps, we'll start posting more...;) Until we get back on track, enjoy the random backlog of posts.

Thanksgiving was a delightful time with family. At the beginning of November, we had a pre-Thanksgiving weekend with my sister and brother-in-law, Rachel and Peter Martens. They drove up from St. Louis and delighted us with their company as they met Lewis for the very first time.

Love at first sight...so precious!

Jack LOVES Aunt Rachel and Uncle Peter already!

The Sibs

Thanksgiving dinner number one with the Martens in our dinning room.

On the actual Thanksgiving (dinner number two), we had a cousin's dinner at my parent's—a fun and relaxing day filled with stories, games, and yummy food.

The proud grandparents!

Taking a Thanksgiving nap with Daddy and sweet moments with Mommy.

Our attempt at a family photo on Thanksgiving.

#2

In case you haven't breastfed a baby recently, let me remind you that breastfed babies will often not poop all day, only to make up for it by pooping multiple times in just a few hours. Of course, we're smart people, so we always remember such pertinent information. Right.

So Jack hadn't pooped all day today until about 7pm. Matt dutifully takes the blessed child to his favorite place: the changing table. As soon as daddy takes off the diaper, the second #2 soils the changing table and all available clothes.

Undaunted (sort of), Matt begins cleaning it up while calling in reinforcements. Sarah Beth rushes in for triage, removes some soiled items and starts the bath (for Jack, of course). Mercifully, Jack has decided in recent weeks that he likes his bath. Thus, after SB drew the water, we insert the baby into the bathwater to cleanse him. All is well, so Matt leaves the bathroom to attend to other necessities.

In a couple minutes, Matt (now in another room) hears SB cry, "He's peeing!" To which Matt kindly responds, "Eh, don't worry about it." Moments later, SB cries, "Mayday! Mayday!" Being long in suffering and tender in love, Matt moderately hurries to the bathroom and SB proclaims: "He pooped!"

Now, I'm not sure you've ever seen #2 in bathwater, but trust that it is not terribly appetizing. SB then informed Matt that we must clean the bath, then re-bathe the baby. At this point, she is wringing out the now-soiled washcloths and throwing them into the (adult) bathtub. She gets a towel and takes the child, and Matt cleans out the (baby) bathtub. Of course, the sponge on which the child sits proved challenging, but no match for daddy.

At last the bath is redrawn, and SB sets the child in the bathwater. Immediately Jack pees, and SB replies, "Eh, don't worry about it." Bath completed, we have a clean child, bath, and parents. Wait, the parents are somewhat harried and beleaguered. Good thing we were just about to do the child's laundry...

Our Nursery

So, it took a while, but with a little work and a little help from Matt's sister, it's done!

Sarah Beth has been taking pictures of kids around the world for several years in preparation for the nursery (with a few additions from her brother, Matthew). There's not room for ALL of the pictures; just a few favorites. Can you guess the countries and cultures highlighted?

Sarah Beth's mom is in the process of hand-quilting the bedding they designed together...it's beautiful and a lot of work! ;)