Come on over...

I have a new photography website/blog at www.s-portraits.com. I am including pictures of Alex on that site....so feel free to hop on over if you need a dose of cuteness. :)

A few pictures to hold you over...

Hi! I'm s..l..o..w..l..y... working through the backlog of family photos that I have to share--yes, we have done a FEW things since Easter!! Here is a link to my flickr site that has a stack of candids from the past few months from my 'point & shoot' that I carry around with me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27343468@N06/

I would have liked to rearrange them (they are now in backwards chronological order, so Alex will appear to be getting younger, haha....) and add comments, but flickr is spazzing out on me and my concern for details has an inverse relation with the hours on the clock. :) But they are all pictures from pretty recently, ending with some from our trip to Disney World this month. Of course, I have lots and lots more...but they'll come later.

Hope you are all doing well. We are having a great summer and having fun chasing around an energetic 2-yr-old. Alex is doing fantastic--his best trick yet is that he FINALLY is going to sleep on his own. It's been six nights in a row now and it's SUCH a relief (mixed with a tinge of sadness) to get back that hour a night that it used to take to get him down. Yes, it took 2 years, but victory is finally ours!! :)

More soon, I promise.

Easter 2008

January, February, and March...

Wow--can't believe how fast this year is going by already! We have had a fun and busy January, February and March with the snow, lots of visits with family and friends, Alex's first plane trip (a separate blog coming soon) and bunches of playgroup fun. Alex is getting lots better about learning to play with other kids, but he mostly loves to watch and play alongside everyone. :) Our playgroup is lots of fun and we usually get together with the kids every week--and then just the moms have a night out once or twice a month.

Alex is almost 22 months old now--yikes! It feels like just yesterday that I was holding this teeny baby in my arms--and now I've got this big BOY, who thankfully still loves to be held in my arms. :) He's in my lap right now watching Sesame Street while I work on this. This kid is crazy about t.v. We have to make sure that he doesn't watch too much, but 30 minutes here and there makes a BIG difference when we're trying to get something done! His favorites are Sesame Street, the Wiggles, and the Little Einsteins. He even created his own sign for when he wants to watch the Wiggles, and talks about "Melmo" (Elmo) all day--cute! I love watching him get up and dance along with the shows, it's so funny.

He also is CRAZY about being outside. Whenever the weather is cooperative (and even sometimes when it's not) we have to spend lots of time outside in the yard or taking walks. He can climb up in our big playhouse all by himself and loves to run all over the place. He loves balls of any shape and size and it's his favorite thing to say too--"Ball?" "Ball!" "Ball." Since we've been to Kevin's soccer games a few times, I guess that is where Alex thinks he is all day. He'll ask several times during the day for "Da-da?" and I'll say "Da-da's at work" and he'll say "Da-da Ball". :)

Sad news, for those of you who haven't heard. Oscar (our dog) died a few weeks ago. Apparently he ingested something poisonous from our trash and though it looked like he was going to pull through, he passed away in his sleep. We're all saddened by his loss and appreciate the kind words and thoughts that many of you have sent our way.

Here is the (very large) slideshow of what we've been up to in the past few months. I still have to do one on our trip to Houston and Easter and I have lots of videos to share...but that will have to wait a bit longer. :)

It's SNOWING!

Yea! We had so much fun with the snow this week! Natalie was simply giddy running around the house and looking out all the windows! Alex wasn't quite sure what to make of it all, but he knew something was going on. Daddy actually DIDN'T want a snow day because he's on such a tight schedule at school--what an ADULT!! Haha! :)

We went out a few times to play. Alex didn't really like it blowing in his face and his hands kept getting wet and cold. But Mommy fixed that by putting on dry mittens and then putting plastic baggies around his hands--funny looking but it worked! Poor kid was bundled up so much he could barely bend his arms.

Enjoy the pictures and video. Hope you had a great time in the snow too!!

Alex's New Trick

Alex has learned how to open the bathroom door, move the step stool to the sink and turn on the water! He LOVES the water--bathtime, in the sink, or in rain puddles outside. And, as you can see from the second video, he HATES being told that he can't play in it anymore!

Playing around

Pictures from today and yesterday...

Alex playing with the dress up box that Oma gave him for Christmas...




Being cute after a bath...


Trying on Aunt BB's Army gear...

Happy New Year!

Okay, as you might have guessed, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to update our blog more frequently. So grab a LARGE cup of coffee (maybe 2 or 3) because I've updated all the way back to October! You can follow this page all the way down or follow the "archived blogs" link on the right.

We had a great New Year's Eve at home this year. We had planned on going to something with Kevin's friends, and had an invitation from Natalie's friends as well--but I suppose we're getting old because we just wanted to stay at home. :) We invited Kinsley and Nick and their two sons over and had a great multi-course dinner provided by Pop (aka Kevin's dad). (Side note: Pop had previously agreed to drive over and babysit while we partied...but graciously agreed to change roles from babysitter to chef when we changed our plans). We had bruschetta, crab-stuffed shrimp, and kabobs...delicious!! While Pop cooked, we visited, played Wii and passed around baby Andrew--the newest addition to the Eubanks family. The boys even stayed up until 11pm!

On New Years Day, we went over to Oma and Grandpa's house (aka Natalie's parents) for a bring-in-the-new-year dinner with collards, black-eyed peas, corn bread, potatoes au gratin, cole slaw....and more. It was so tasty and guaranteed to bring us wealth, luck and longevity for 2008...thanks Mom!

2007 was a great year for our family, and we hope it was for yours as well. I've gotten teary-eyed more than once thinking about how fast Alex is growing up already--but it's been so much fun and we look forward to the new adventures that 2008 will bring.

Best wishes to you and yours in the coming year!

December 2007

We had a fun, but very busy December. Natalie was kept busy with holiday portraits and finishing up senior pictures. Kevin was busy managing classrooms full of students ready for the break. And even Alex was busy with a very full social calendar. :)

We stayed close to home for most of the month, travelling only for Christmas. On Christmas Eve we went to the Taylor's for dinner and then left for Huntsville to spend Christmas day with the Shivers'. It was a fun holiday getting to experience everything with Alex. Last year he had no clue what was going on, and even this year it was a bit much for him. He is very fond of his nap, and not even shiny wrapped presents could change his mind. He did get lots of great presents though--thank you again to our family and friends for your wonderful generosity. We all received way more than we should have...in fact, most of it is still stashed around the house waiting for the organizing fairy to appear. :)

Highlights for us this month:

• Alex FINALLY calling me "Ma-ma"--my favorite Christmas present!
• Spending time with Kevin's Canadian cousins and the rest of the Shivers clan
• Seeing Nat's highschool girlfriends, and all of their boys (husbands, boyfriends, and sons)
• The arrival of Andrew Joseph--the newest son of Natalie's great friend Kinsley
• Playgroup fun--cookie swaps and Christmas parties, but most special was a trip to a local retirement home to visit the residents and pass out goodies--a very 'warm and fuzzy' way to start the holiday season
• Rest & relaxation during Kevin's break from school and Natalie's sabbatical from photography

Hope you all had a wonderful month and a great Christmas!

Christmas

New York

In November, Kevin and I went to New York on our first real "no Alex" trip. We went to NYC for 4 days to be tourists and because our friend Shannon was having her first big art show. We had a great time seeing the sites and catching up with Shannon. Her show was a big hit and we are very proud of her! It was a nice mini-vacation, but we were glad to get back home to Alex. He had a nice stay with all of his grandparents, even though it ended with a sick baby and a very worried mommy. All was well though, and we are grateful to have such good babysitters for Alex whenever we need to get away.

November 2007

We had a great November this year. Alex is so active--walking, running, and starting to climb--that he's really kept us on the move. Mommy and Alex continue to go to play-group every week and Alex is starting to interact with the other kids more. He's very jealous if mommy holds another baby though--he comes running and says "no-no-no" when he sees it! :) We also are taking another class at the baby gym and Alex loves to climb all over their gym and is learning lots of new songs (so is Mommy).

We enjoyed a visit from Daniel (Kevin's cousin), his wife Rochelle, and their daughter Maia. Alex wasn't too sure how to handle Maia--she's got several months on him--but they made friends by the end and it was fun to watch them around each other.

Alex had a Thanksgiving feast at his preschool and they all dressed up like Little Indians--cute. Mommy and Grandpa attended and had quite a time watching a hundred kids and their parents eat turkey. It was a very noisy room!!

We had Thanksgiving day with the Taylor's this year and enjoyed a delicious meal with lots of family around. Then we drove to Huntsville to have "Friday" Thanksgiving with the Shivers family. So much turkey, so little time. Alex does pretty good in the car since we have a DVD player for him to watch. But 4 hours of Elmo is a lot for any sane adult to handle!!

October 2007

We had a fun October with lots of fall and Halloween things to do. Alex had parties with his preschool and our playgroup, and we went trick-or-treating with our friends Ryan and Kinsley.

Alex was a giraffe for Halloween--an easy choice since he's been collecting the long-necked creatures since birth. We call them "gi-gi"s around here and it was one of the first animals that he recognized when he was younger. His costume started as a one-piece, but as you can see in the photos, had to be altered to just a jacket since he had a growth spurt before Halloween! :)

Fall Candids

October Candids