Enjoy the next three video posts from Avery's Christmas program. This video is one of our favorites because at the end of the song Avery bows and then starts jumping. Can't really explain it but it just makes me laugh!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Walkin' Ro
Guess what? Romey is trying to walk! Dan just posted this terribly cute video clip. Along with a wobbly Ro you'll also notice that Avery is desperately trying to vie for my attention. I guess you could say that we've entered the sibling rivalry zone. Enjoy!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
PBJ
I'm so glad that Dan posted this PBJ video. The back story is this: Avery loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Dan came across this video on YouTube, and started playing it for Avery. It became a "family dance" where we would all jam out to the this crazy banana PBJ song. It was so cool until it so wasn't and then it kind of died. So, here's a little tribute to the PBJ song--it was fun while it lasted!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Christmas cards
Dan and I have unrealistic expectations when it comes to our family's Christmas card. We have an image in our mind's eye that we're going for but it never quite comes out like we imagine it would. I will say this: thank goodness for digital photography! Of the hundreds of pictures that we took here are some of our favorites.
Romey loves playing with the telephone. Don't know where she learned this, but she keeps holding the phone up to her ear.
Okay, this one has potential. Avery and Romey are both smiling and looking 'toward' the camera.
Romey working on walking.
Giggling.....love it!
Giggling.....love it!
Romey loves playing with the telephone. Don't know where she learned this, but she keeps holding the phone up to her ear.
Avery hiding under the Christmas tree.
Embracing Christmas
Avery’s preschool hosted a Christmas Celebration today. Part one included a parent-student craft time, and then a Christmas program. Dan and I were a little skeptical about the Christmas program portion of the morning. Skeptical about what the school was planning, skeptical about Avery’s level of cooperation, etcetera.
The program began with the teacher lining the students up shoulder-to-shoulder facing the parents. Seventeen students facing forty plus family members all armed with cameras, and camcorders (if I had been on the student side of the room I would have been intimidated). The teacher welcomed the parents, and then led Avery and her classmates through three Bible verses complete with actions. I couldn’t believe it—nearly twenty three-year-olds stood together and recited their verses, and performed their ‘choreography.’ I took a quick glance around the room, and, like me, all us parental types had these dumb silly grins on our faces, hearts bursting, tears flowing. After the verses the children sang a couple of songs, followed by an activity/story led by the Preschool Director.
I was (am) so proud of Avery. I was thrilled to see her stand in line, and do as she was told. And, she even threw in a couple of bows for good measure. I love this kid’s spunk. She might have a hard time learning how to use her spunk for good, but I’m confident she’ll get it.
So, although I’ve been trudging toward Christmas a bit, this morning’s activities sparked a little renewal in me. And, although the ‘stuff’ of Christmas still wears me thin, I’m so grateful for the fresh reminder of the real reason why we celebrate Christmas—the anticipation and celebration of our savior’s birth.
Enjoying the first substantial snow fall of the season.
I just had to post this picture--Dan and Avery having a jam session.
The program began with the teacher lining the students up shoulder-to-shoulder facing the parents. Seventeen students facing forty plus family members all armed with cameras, and camcorders (if I had been on the student side of the room I would have been intimidated). The teacher welcomed the parents, and then led Avery and her classmates through three Bible verses complete with actions. I couldn’t believe it—nearly twenty three-year-olds stood together and recited their verses, and performed their ‘choreography.’ I took a quick glance around the room, and, like me, all us parental types had these dumb silly grins on our faces, hearts bursting, tears flowing. After the verses the children sang a couple of songs, followed by an activity/story led by the Preschool Director.
I was (am) so proud of Avery. I was thrilled to see her stand in line, and do as she was told. And, she even threw in a couple of bows for good measure. I love this kid’s spunk. She might have a hard time learning how to use her spunk for good, but I’m confident she’ll get it.
So, although I’ve been trudging toward Christmas a bit, this morning’s activities sparked a little renewal in me. And, although the ‘stuff’ of Christmas still wears me thin, I’m so grateful for the fresh reminder of the real reason why we celebrate Christmas—the anticipation and celebration of our savior’s birth.
Avery "helping" Dan set up the tree.
Icing some Christmas cookies.
Enjoying the first substantial snow fall of the season.
I just had to post this picture--Dan and Avery having a jam session.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
The Sole Survivor
“I saw that going so differently in my mind” has now been added to our list of favorite parental coping phrases. You might recall that one of our other favorites is “it could have been so much worse” after Avery gave herself a haircut.The goal was simple: first birthday portraits for Romey. The stage was set. Romey had had a great start to her morning, and my sister agreed to come over and hang with Avery. And then, little by little, things started to un-ravel. The cumulative effect of the following resulted in no portrait and a lost shoe:
• It was snowing.
• Ave intentionally woke Romey up from her morning nap.
• During Romey's bath she slipped and banged her cheek on the side of the bathtub (resulting in a dime-sized red mark.)
• I spilled some water on Romey’s dress resulting in a last minute wardrobe change.
• My sister was late.
• The mall’s parking lot was packed.
• Somewhere between the car and the portrait studio one of Romey’s shoes disappeared (and she wasn’t wearing socks).
• I looked for the shoe; Dan looked for the shoe. We collectively determined that the shoe had vanished into thin air. Ro knew what happened to the shoe but she wasn't giving us any hints.
• We bagged the idea of trying to find the missing shoe, and decided to buy some new shoes. Gymboree was selling zebra print shoes, and polka-dotted shoes. No thanks—she’ll go barefoot.
• Our number is up, and we take a smiling and charming Ro into the portrait studio.
• I set Romey on the floor, and she freaks. She’s afraid. I pick her up, soothe her, and put her back down. She screams louder. I look at Dan. He looks at me. We hastily grab our things and head for the nearest exit.
The moral of this predictable story is: don’t ask me for professional portraits of the Nelson girls. Instead I’ll happily send you the Kodak Gallery link, and you can order some cute candids. And, speaking of pictures, Avery’s preschool portraits came in this week. She did a great job, and I’ll be posting one here soon. Maybe the key is that someone else needs to take Ave and Ro to the portrait studio. Any takers?
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Romey
Dear Romey,
Happy Birthday! Today you are one year old. Last year you were born around 5:00 a.m., and today, as if on cue, you woke at 5:00 a.m. for a feeding. This morning I held you and thought about the moment we first met. It was an unforgettable moment—a moment that your dad and I had desperately hoped for, prayed for, and dreamed of—and it was everything we wanted it to be and more. The timing of you was perfect, and we’re so glad that God allowed you to join our family.
Our first year with you has been a joyous journey. Sure, you brought all that newborn stuff to the table, but overall it’s been a fairly easy year (easy because of you; not easy because then there were two—that’s hard). For your first hour of life “on the outside” you screamed hysterically, and then that was it. From that moment on you became our easy-going, un-assuming kid. You are quick to smile, happy, sweet, a snuggly kid, and a hopeless mama’s girl. We often joke that it is easy to forget that you’re around because of your happy-go-lucky way. Simply put, you’re a joy. And you’re a gift. Your middle name, Jean, means “gracious gift from God” and there couldn’t be a better way to describe you. It’s our privilege to have you as part of our family.
Happy Birthday Romey. We love you.
Love,
Mom
PS. Enjoy some of my favorite pictures from our first few days.
Happy Birthday! Today you are one year old. Last year you were born around 5:00 a.m., and today, as if on cue, you woke at 5:00 a.m. for a feeding. This morning I held you and thought about the moment we first met. It was an unforgettable moment—a moment that your dad and I had desperately hoped for, prayed for, and dreamed of—and it was everything we wanted it to be and more. The timing of you was perfect, and we’re so glad that God allowed you to join our family.
Our first year with you has been a joyous journey. Sure, you brought all that newborn stuff to the table, but overall it’s been a fairly easy year (easy because of you; not easy because then there were two—that’s hard). For your first hour of life “on the outside” you screamed hysterically, and then that was it. From that moment on you became our easy-going, un-assuming kid. You are quick to smile, happy, sweet, a snuggly kid, and a hopeless mama’s girl. We often joke that it is easy to forget that you’re around because of your happy-go-lucky way. Simply put, you’re a joy. And you’re a gift. Your middle name, Jean, means “gracious gift from God” and there couldn’t be a better way to describe you. It’s our privilege to have you as part of our family.
Happy Birthday Romey. We love you.
Love,
Mom
PS. Enjoy some of my favorite pictures from our first few days.
Our first 'meet and greet'
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