Babies R Us

I haven't had a chance to update my blog since Christmas, so I wanted to add a quick post. Last Friday, we headed over to Bob and Robin's to see Eric, Maria and Dafna while they are in town from Spain. Several friends came to spend time together and enjoy some beer and pizza and board games. There were eight children under the age of 3, so it was a full and busy household! Little girls everywhere! The only boys, Thomas and Zachary, are still too young to run around like the girls, but Thomas was scooting all over the house too. Zachary just hung out and slept.

Here's the summary of the group: Mike & Bree, with Sam (almost 3) and Jasmine (18 months), Robin & Glenda with Tatum (almost 2) and Thomas (10 months), Bob & Robin with Lily (almost 2) and Elle (4 months), Eric & Maria with Dafna (9 months) and Chris & me with Zachary (2 months). This was the first time since having Zachary that I've been to an event with so many babies and toddlers, and it was fascinating to see how different they are at the different stages of development.

I've added some pictures of the evening to flickr and the slide show above. I'll update again soon with pictures from Christmas and Chris' family visit!

Pictures: Evening at Bob & Robin's

I'm baaaaack! Kind of.

Now that Zachary is over six weeks old, I am slowly reintegrating into society -- albeit with a newborn infant attached to me at all times. It's still a little intimidating, but we're taking it one day and one event at a time. It's going well so far!

Last week, we had a full calendar (at least, compared to the last six weeks)! We went shopping at U Village with Margaret, as well as at Northgate Mall and downtown with Chris. We also went to dinner at Ben and Carrie's, attended my team holiday gathering (I know, I know...I'm supposed to be on maternity leave) and the neighborhood block holiday potluck. I've also been taking walks with Zachary in the Ergo and Cowboy tied around my waist. When I do that, I feel like I just need to carry a cup of Starbucks coffee to complete the "Seattle mom" picture...

All of our trips have gone relatively smoothly -- even the nursing! At U Village, Margaret and I found a secluded chair at Barnes & Noble. I admit I felt a bit awkward, but it worked. While shopping with Chris, I stopped at the Nordstrom lounge to nurse, which was really nice. Not only was it private, but there were several other nursing mothers there as well.

I had no idea that it was going to be this intimidating to get out and about with a baby! It's one of those things I never thought about before, and I know it will get easier. But I do keep having little "ah-hah" moments...like the fact that babies aren't allowed in bars and aren't welcome at fancy restaurants. I guess that should be obvious, but I tend to think that as long as he's in my carrier, I can go anywhere with him!

I've added some pictures from this past week's excursions to flickr (and the slide show above).

Pictures: December 2007

Pick-up artist

Yesterday Chris took Cowboy for a walk. It was a "two bag" day for Cowboy, but alas, Chris discovered that the bag carrier was empty! So he made a note of where each deposit was made, brought Cowboy home, packed Zachary and me into the car (we were heading to Starbucks for my team holiday party), and then drove back to each location with a bag to pick up after Cowboy. Maybe it's my sleep deprivation, but I thought it was hilariously funny to watch Chris pull up next to a lawn, jump out of the car with a blue bag, pick up a pile of dog poo and hop back into the car. He's such a good dog owner.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

OK, I stole that blog title from Margaret. But I feel justified in doing so, because she stole one from me earlier ("What a difference one day makes"). Ha! Plus, I need to get her back for introducing me to that sinful (and addictive) delight called the peanut butter banana smoothie.

We're getting ready for the holidays! We have a tree and lights up, I stuck my little one-piece nativity scene on the mantel, and I'm single-handedly eating the chocolates out of all three Advent calendars (the sacrifices I make just to keep us up-to-date). Chris' family is coming out for the holidays (and to see a certain little guy, of course), and we're looking forward to our first Christmas with Zachary!

It's also kind of neat to realize that this is home...that we no longer "go home" for Christmas. We are a family and have created our own home that Zachary will one day "come home" to for holidays. Crazy! But really great too. I guess we're finally growing up?

In addition to putting up decorations, we took Zachary out for his first social event this weekend! We couldn't miss Jen and Eric's annual Christmas party, so we bundled up the baby and headed on over. As always, the house looked amazing and Jen and Eric did a fantastic job of hosting. It was really nice to see everyone after being on house arrest for so long, and people were excited to finally meet our little guy. There was also a lot of other happy news to celebrate -- two pregnancies and one engagement! We're very excited for everyone and looking forward to Zachary having a couple more friends next summer!

I've posted two new sets of pictures on flickr: Christmas decorations and Christmas party.