Today's The Day

Well, yesterday was anyway. I have been pretty anxious for Shane to walk (or heck, do something :) ) for a little while. Everybody's been telling me not to worry, that one day he'll just start doing it. They were right. And now that I know he can do it, maybe I'll slow him down a little :)

Cookie Party 2009

One of the highlights of the Christmas season growing up for me was always the cookie party at my friend Christie's house. I hadn't been home for Christmas in a few years so it was extra fun this year and especially good to see all these girls again Shane got to meet them and quickly suckered Jamie into walking around with him to chase the dog.

We have fun chit chatting for a bit, but when the cookies come out it is serious business.

There are snowmen, Christmas trees, gingerbread men, ornaments, moose, snowflakes, lights; airheads to make scarves and noses, vanilla wafers and sour straws to make ear muffs, licorice to string the lights on, and little crockpots with white and milk chocolate for dipping. It is an unspoken competition to make the cutest and cleverest cookies. And I don't even need to show you the others for you to see that mine are the cutest

Right? Ha ha.

Disneyland!

On Monday we went to Disneyland! It was all decked out for Christmas, and we had a great time with my family, especially seeing our nieces get so excited. But man our blood has really thinned out living in the tropics, because we were cold!
Shane went on Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, the teacups,

Pirates,

Small World,

and a few others. Josh and I managed to go on Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain while grandma babysat. I think Shane's favorite parts of the day though were his cousin Kate,

and of course walking around.

Thanks for taking us mom and dad!

Aren't Fat Kids Supposed to Like Cake?

A couple weeks ago we had a real low key party for Shane's birthday. In true Dominican fashion, the power was out for the start of it.
We were glad our friends still came over and the power came back on just in time for cake.

And, as you can see, Liz's camera works a lot better than mine, so thanks to her for taking the rest of these pictures!

He opened some presents from the grandparents. He loved the ribbon but didn't really get the opening part, so his friend Ella was more than happy to help. (By the way, she came up with her own nickname for him- "washing maShane")

We put him in his chair and he wasn't so sure what to do with all the attention Tentatively at first he started smearing the cake on his face,

Then really got into it

Resulting in this

and this

And yet he took one bite and decided that was enough, and opted for a bowl of potato soup instead. Go figure. Anyway, he had a lot of fun and so did we! Happy birthday Shane!

I Don't Think We're in Kansas Dominica Anymore...

Today Shane actually sat in a carseat,
we went to Costco, played at the park, ate good food, walked around in pants without sweating our brains out,

took a bath in a bathtub and I put him to bed in these bad boys

And I haven't gotten bit by one mosquito. Nope, we're not in Dominica anymore. We're at home in Southern California, and are loving every minute!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Heck, what do I know? I'm from Southern California.

A Look Through the Year

My baby is 1 today! That is hard to believe. And yet it's that old paradox that it seems like he's been a part of our family the whole time, like that's the way it's always been. Shaners is such a joy, and also a handful! As our neighbors like to say (just imagine a Caribbean accent) , "Shane is so busy. He don't even know how to walk, and he just want to run!" We spend most of our day outside, walking around exploring the yard, or at the pool. Of course, he still won't take the plunge and do it on his own, he insists that I hold his hand. Maybe by kindergarten he'll be doing it on his own? No, he's not crawling either ha ha. He is a cruising fool though. His newest obsession is our landlord's dog. As soon as he goes outside he goes looking for him and as soon as he finds him starts saying "dah, dah." Of course chickens, goats, and sometimes even little girls are called dah too now. He also says "uck, uck" when he sees a big truck go by. He's gotten really into his toys lately, and especially books. He's not much of a snacker and won't really eat unless he's hungry, but then when he is, he EATS. Almost as much as Josh or I, which is saying a lot! Current favorites are oatmeal, nutri grain bars, and whatever we're eating for dinner. And just like his mom, he laughs at most everything. His laugh is this little hearty "heh heh heh" and it gets me every time. He is a big time flirt and has way more friends than Josh or I. He is constantly clapping about something that made him happy, and especially to show us he approves of his food. He loves to stop and give hugs and kisses to his mom and dad, which we love. You never know what to expect from Shane- he laughs with delight when we get caught in rainstorms at the beach and our clothes are sopping wet, is unphased when the power goes out and he's sitting in the dark, and doesn't even flinch when our dog is barking a foot away from him. And I love that about him. We love you Shane! Pictures of the partay will be forthcoming, but until then, enjoy this look back at our little man and his first year.

In the hospital
Newborn

1 month
2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

1 year!

Unconventional Thanksgivings

I can only remember a handful of times that my family actually had turkey on Thanksgiving. Over the years we have developed a lot of Thanksgiving traditions that I love, but they are a little bit different from what you might think of when you think of Thanksgiving. Instead of cooking all day, we wake up and drive to Dana Point to run in the Turkey Trot. Instead of eating turkey, we go to Lucille's Smokehouse and get ribs (if you're gonna eat good food, you might as well eat good food, right?) Instead of eating pumpkin pie for dessert, we go to Ralph's and get bags of candy and take them to the movies with us. Then we wake up the next morning and do Black Friday shopping. And I love all of it! My Thanksgivings have always been a bit unconventional, and this year was no different! Josh still had school, so Shane and I went to the pool. Now that's what you think of when you think of Thanksgiving, right? For whatever reason he was throwing a fit when I first got in with him.
What would I do without cute girls everywhere I go? This one came along and had Shane laughing and smiling within a matter of minutes.

Then for our big dinner we went up to campus where they were serving Thanksgiving food. We got there at 6, the time it was supposed to start, and stood in line.

But the food didn't get there until 7, and we didn't get ours until 7:30. If only you knew how Dominican that is. All that waiting made Shane tired.

Now, let me show you a picture of our Thanksgiving "feast"- can I get a drumroll please? Here it is in all its glory:

And Shane ate all my mashed potatoes. I can accept being unconventional, but I'm pretty sure it's just blasphemous to leave Thanksgiving feeling hungry! Oh well, sometimes all you can do here is laugh. Despite the frustrations, we really are thankful to be here. I am so grateful for this opportunity Josh has to pursue his dreams and become a doctor. I am thankful for all the beauty here, and for all the things we are learning. It is amazing the things you take for granted until you don't have them. We love our family and miss them a lot, but it has been so good for us to just have each other and to rely on one another when we have problems instead of our family. We have definitely grown a lot closer to each other and to the Lord since we have been here, and that has been worth it all. Happy Thanksgiving!