Merry Christmas!

We're up bright and early this morning. Raleigh's drinking milk, Grandma Deb is still laying on the couch were she was sleeping, and Josh is sitting on the coffee table telling Grandma Deb about the Madden football game he played on X-box last night.

And you can probably tell where I am :)

Raleigh got a tricycle from Deb and Steve.

Last night, we all had fun playing with Dublos (bigger legos). Erika made some pretty cool creatures.

There also was a ball to play with.

Joel did a little dance.

Oh, and I made chocolate chip scones from scratch.

House full of animals

It seems that animals love our house. For example...

 

This morning we had a reindeer in the house.

and yesterday, we had a monkey in the house.

Hoops and Boxes for Raleigh

 

We still have the box that our TV came in and Raleigh loves to play in it.

Grandma Deb brought a blow-up basketball hoop and oversized blow-up basketball for Raleigh to play with. In this picture, Raleigh seems to be playing the part of the basketball.

We just got back from spending hours and hours at Erika and Joel's house. Raleigh was able to sleep upstairs in the pack n' play while us Adults carried on adult (and some childlike) conversations.  All in all it was a lot of fun.

Luke and Karla are back in town and this time they're staying with Joel and Erika...it's ok, we can share :)

Karla showed me some of the photos they took of Raleigh when I was at work on Monday. One of the photos is with Raleigh sitting on Josh's lap holding a BB Gun. Karla is going to e-mail me that one so that I can post it.

Now, it's my bedtime. But first a note to Steve.

From all of us - "We all miss you and are looking forward to seeing you on X-mas night for dinner."

Happy Birthday to me!

Yup, at 10:31 am this morning, I turned 1 year older. Actually, I have been in the process of turning 1 year older for the past year. Now I'm already beginning to work on turning 1 more year older.

It was a good day. I finally got to work on a project at work that I've been itching to start for some time now.

Fun new software + lots of learning= me having a good ole' time = me being a geek and loving it.

Josh, Raleigh and I went out to eat after I got home from work, and then we headed over to Jamie and Chelsea's graduation reception party. The party was great, and the appetizers were fantastic.

Jamie also showed us his final web project which was awesome and funny at the same time. It's a story about a little boy named Winton. You can find his project on the following site:

http://www.webprolive.com/wintonwilton/

1st time on ice

We took Raleigh to the skating rink tonight. He wasn't too sure about the ice. He'd try to get himself into a standing position but his hands and feet would slip all around. He liked his sled ride a whole lot more. Josh actually donned his hockey skates for the event.

More coonskin hat

Raleigh opening his present from Luke and Karla.

Raleigh wearing his present.

 

Raleigh wearing his present, almost opening his other present (human-sized stuffed catfish), and greeting Gary the kitty.

There's that hat again!

So I was playing around in Photoshop tonight. The picture below is my result.

Luke and Karla are visiting, and they brougth Raleigh his own coonskin cap. He's a real Davey Crockett now. They also got him this awesome giant catfish pillow. Don't worry, I'll post a pic of that very soon.

Happy Anniversary to Erika and Joel!

Today is Erika and Joel's 2nd wedding anniversary! Congrats you two!

Dapple

Raleigh's newest word is "Dapple". He says it when I say "Apple".

We're working on getting some more videos posted, but we're having a hard time locating an important program CD that allows us to edit the video we take.

When we do post video again, we'll have some cute things to show you. Raleigh can do squats now, just like his daddy. He even mimics Josh's breathing pattern. (Squats are an exercise used to strengthen the hamstring, gluteus maximus, and quadriceps muscles)

We read Raleigh a book of 100 animals almost every day, and we attempt to make an animal noise for each animal. It can get pretty hilarious. For example, what kind of noise would you make for a clownfish?

For the humming bird, we make a humming noise with our mouth and we wave our arms up and down in really small movements very quickly.  The funniest part is that Raleigh mimics us except he spits a bit when he tries to hum.

Better Quality Photo

I'm just testing the waters here. I didn't like how that last photo turned out.