Little Red Riding Hood

A Rockin' Tea Party

Christmas

Mark and I talked a lot about what to do for Naomi this year for Christmas, and we settled on Legos, the big block kind. I actually think that Mark got them for himself - he is so excited about playing Legos! And I am too, truthfully. There is something about buying toys that brings up all the lego-playing memories of each of our childhoods.

Last week I was at IKEA, looking around for stocking stuffers, and found a doll bed that I couldn't resist for Naomi. I knew she would like it, because she loves to play pretend, and put her animals to sleep, and pretend to take a nap herself (this is well documented in a previous post). As it turns out, her Nana bought her a doll - so it was perfect! But the secret appeal for me, was that I was going to have to pull it out Christmas Eve and put it together, set it up, and position it just right under her stocking for Christmas morning. Just like Christmas was crafted for us growing up, now its my job to create this magical season for my baby.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! The weekend before the weekend before Christmas, we took Naomi out to get a Christmas tree, and then decorated it. She helped Mark put the star on top, and brought us the ornaments -- faster than we could get them on the tree! It was fun to see her particpate a lot more than I expected. She has continues to bring us ornaments from the tree - long after its been decorated!

We hope your Christmas was lovely and restful and full of fudge and cookies.

2600

Did you know there are about 2600 cars stolen in Austin a year? One of the top cars stolen are Honda Accords.

Mark owns a 1995 Honda Accord, with 215,000 miles on it. The antenna stays halfway up (cause its broken), and the driver's window doesn't roll down. But it runs well, and he bought it the year before we got married.

And then one recent Saturday night it wasn't where we last left it. Parked on the street by our house.

4 hours after making a report to the really nice cop who came to our door, we got a call that it had been in a wreck at 290 and 183.

Can you believe it? Someone stole our car.

So, to you car thieves and house burglers who may one day walk/drive by my house and think, "there's a house I should rob!" or "that's a car that would be fun to take!" Let me say this, don't bother. Really. You saw the tape deck...and left it. The one in my Suburu doesn't work either.

Update: It was a single car collision, had front and rear damage (joyriding anyone?) and the steering column had been broken to get it to start. The insurance company totaled it. So we're in the market for a used car.

Naomi in a Cabinet

Naomi likes to play in the kitchen, with the one cabinet she is allowed -- the one with pots and pans and cookie sheets. She pulls them all out, sits on them, stands in the big soup pot, makes a lot of noise. The other day I turned around and couldn't see her -- until I peeked inside. There is a perfectly sized upside-down plastic bowl to sit on. She thought it was pretty cool.

Thanks-mas, part 3

More pictures from our trip. Oh, and there was a lot of static up there.

Thanks-mas, part 2 -- Snow Day!!

We went to the mountains near Winter Park. When Naomi went outside for the first time in the snow, she asked for more.
Mark and Naomi are ready to play!
She watches her daddy build a snow man.

Here's the snowman - with Chad, Alli, Alvin, Mark, Naomi, and Mom.

Thanks-mas, part 1

This year my (Kristen's) family celebrated the new, combined holiday of Thanks-mas. Celebratoriness and focus on food of Thanksgiving, with the presents and holidayness of Christmas. And it meant we went to Colorado for a week. Naomi had lots of time with her cousin Alvin. Here. you can see them having a pancake party. Sometime after this, Alvin gave Naomi a hug, and knocked her down. Its okay, she took his toys away later. Naomi also liked to show Alvin and Gran her belly during the reading of the "The Belly Button Book".

The Farm

Last weekend my friend Etta came into Texas, so we had to go say hi and introduce her to Naomi. Its hard to believe they hadn't met. We spent the afternoon at the World Hunger Relief Farm - where I did an internship and Mark was on the board for a while (http://www.worldhungerrelief.org/). Its a pretty spectacular place, and just becoming more and more the place we all thought it should be. Naomi just had fun with the goats.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Texas this year, and it was a nice balance between time at home and time with family. Dinner was at Mark's grandmother's house, and then we spent Friday night and Saturday with his family in San Antonio.

Naomi enjoyed a cold walk by the river near her great-grandma's house - where her Pop Pop taught her to throw rocks into the water.

She also enjoyed her blueberry-applesauce pie made for her by Mark and I along with broccoli casserole for Thanksgiving dinner.

In San Antonio she got to play with cousins, and even shared her lunch with Anna! Actually, they took turns sharing, so I'm not sure who is passing food to whom here. And we actually got all these people in one place to record us all as we were Thanksgiving 2007!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Outside

A day does not go by that Naomi doesn't start talking about going outside within an hour or two of waking up. She frequently brings us our shoes while we're all still in our pajamas. So, what's all the fuss? Why is Outside so great? A look from Naomi's perspective:

Gone Fishing

Ahh, that's my girl. She really liked holding the minnows - and liked putting them back in their bucket. Saturday we went fishing with Mark's folks and granddad at Blanco State Park. It couldn't have been a prettier day, and Naomi loved being outside.

All Done

Last night at small group, while we were in the middle of a discussion, Naomi went around and made sure everyone had their shoes on and then walked to the back door and said "all done! all done!"

I understand. Sometimes I am all done too.

Halloween!

Here's Naomi in her costume on Halloween - where you can see her tail and spikes! We stopped by a few neighbors' houses to say hi, and then went to a friends to watch trick-or-treaters in action! Thankfully, she's still too little for candy, and too young to know she was missing out!