Whew!

I swear I have some more pictures of Nate, I just haven't had time to download them yet, and since I"m currently at work and my camera is currently at home, I'm unable to down load pictures now.



Two things for today 1) Can Toddlers grow a couple of inches in one weekend? I say that because both Mike and I noticed this morning that Nate's head is officially above the top of the high chair when he's sitting in it.... His budda belly has receded- so I'm thinking that he grew out and then UP! AND I thought I'd be good for a bit with 18month clothing... I'm noticing that 18 month onesies might not last us much longer....he's too long.... I put one on him this morning and it looks like a scoop neck tee shirt! AHHHH!!! So either I"ll have to go with shirts that aren't onsies, or get some 24month shirts... luckily it looks like the 18mon pants will last a little while longer. No wonder he had a crabby night on Saturday night- he must have been growing! I asked him this morning to get me the pig (small plastic animal) and he went and found it and brought it to me. He waves, he blows kisses regularly now. He knows how to smell flowers, and he can identify his slippers from his shoes. He makes a "fishy" face, and can currently (though not regularly yet) make sounds for: duck, dog, cow and a pig. And, he says "Touch Down" for any sports what so ever. I have a video clip of him saying it, though its a weak one- I need to try and catch him saying it like he typically does. (Yes, he says "touch down", though he hasn't said "momma" yet.) He does the sign language symbals for: hungry, eat, all done, juice and down. He can find his head, his nose, his knee, his foot and his belly. And, thanks to Little John, he has the hand gesture for "I don't know". Though last night when we were putting him to bed, and the cat wasn't there (Max typically comes in to say good night), Nate was pointing to where the cat usually sits and was doing the "I don't know/where" gesture-as if to say "Where's the cat?" a complex thought. He amazes us with everything he comes up with. He can point out pictures of- ball, slide, dog, bus, pig, chicken, cow, sheep, monkey, car and a lion. He's also learning to put away his books and toy cars. Anyway, just wanted to share!



ok, and (drum roll please....) the second item I'd like to update you on is...... Nate's cousin (our nephew) will be arriving from Ethiopia within the next 6 weeks! (exact date is TBD at this moment....) Since the adoption is officially, well official, I can post the picture of Kai! :) The family is having a baby shower this coming weekend to help Mel and Kev stock up! :)

That's all for now, I'll try and post some more pictures soon!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sorry I haven't updated through out the last week- its been a whirlwind of a week. We went down to Chambersburg to spend before Christmas with Mike's family- went down to VA (I stayed in Chambersburg to work on my dissertation), came back to Chambersburg (he had a fever for most of the time we were in C-burg and VA-but was better by Christmas), then headed to Lancaster to spend the rest of the week with my parents. We left Nate with my parents for Friday and Saturday and they brought him back up to State College on Sunday so that Mike and I could finally unpack and settle our house a bit more. Nate had ear tubes put in at the Geisinger Facility in Danville on Monday Dec 31st. We had to get up at 4am to get him to Danville for his 6:45am reporting in time- needless to say that Mike and I were wiped and went to bed early- so the ringing in of the New Year was quite low key this year. Santa was ridiculously good to Nate (and us for that matter) this year- I have some pictures and videos of him the last week. Nate's doing great after his surgery- you wouldn't even know he had them. For all of you who didn't know, Nate has been on 8 rounds of antibiotics since Oct, for he had major fluid in his ears that wouldn't clear, and thus he kept getting ear infections. We couldn't get him into the ENT (ears, nose and throat) doctor up here in State College until March (which we weren't going to wait that long for...there are so many antibiotics, tylenol and advil that a kid can have in his lifetime, let alone in a 6 months)- we were able to get him into the Geisinger Facility in Danville PA ( about 1 hour 30 min from SC) for his consult on Dec 19th, which it was evident that he needed tubes and she got him into surgery for Dec 31st, thank goodness! Hopefully this will help us avoid ear infections for the rest of the season.

I'm sorry that I didn't get to send out Christmas cards this year either- it doesn't mean we love any of you less- we've just been ridiculously busy- i.e. sick kid, buying/selling a house, working on my dissertation etc.... Hopefully you've been able to get your "Nate" fix here on the blog. Hopefully as the writing of my dissertation progresses and the house gets settled, I'll have more time to keep in touch!

Enjoy the pictures and videos! :)

Puffs with Papa

Playing music from Great Nana and Pa

AND..... the ball pit from Grammie and Papa- more of this to come....

Nate sitting in the sled that Grandma and Granddad gave him....

That's our little angel!

Here is Nate helping Grandma to open her gift.....

This is Nate's "special" tree- notice the legos and cheerios that decorate the tree.... he also didn't leave the hat on long for the outfit....

Hopefully this is a video of Nate and the ball pit/slide

Nate helping Daddy put together the ball pit/slide....

(Yes, he has learned how to sit down to slide down....)

Nate's tree at home! :)

That's all folks! More to come....

Snow...etc.....

Cousin Janet came into town this past weekend...and it was almost a year ago exactly that she came the last time!

Last year......

This year! (He wasn't feeling great, he had gotten his shots the day before.....) But the next day he was feeling much better, we decided to get him outside to see what he thought of the snow...

Ok, so he can walk in doors with the boots (man, they don't make them very friendly to get on....)....








But he didn't quite get outside walking.... this is mere seconds before he fell on his face....hasn't really learned to catch himself with his hands, especially when he's bundled up... he was fine though!

I couldn't resist- here is Nate and Daddy exactly a year ago than the one of Daddy and Nate in the snow suit! (Dec 16th)

1 year stats!!

Ok, even though I just posted a post today, I wanted to update you with his 1 year appointment stats that he had today. Nate is officially 33 3/4 inches tall (grew 2 inches in the last 3 months), and is 24lbs 10oz (hasn't gained a whole heck of a lot of weight) He's way off the curve for height, but he's in the 90th percentile for weight, and in the 50th percentile for head circumference. Poor little guy also got his shots- it should be an interesting night!

Enjoy a few pictures we took this evening!

Mom and Nate reading - Dad's grabbing the camera more!

That's our bucket boy! Who cares of what comes in the bucket, its the bucket that's fun! He put it on his head himself....

Not long 'til Christmas now....

Who does Nate resemble more? Mom or Dad? Or..............

the caroler???? What??? :)

Here's me reading with Alayna in my lap, and then along comes Nate, he wants to be a part of it too!

Getting used to the new place.....

We'll try and get Nate out in the snow this weekend- for it looks like we're going to be getting some of that falling white stuff.... Lets see here- Nate has his 1 year appt on Friday, I'll post his "official" stats when I can. He's learning all kinds of things at daycare- he's dancing to music, and starts doing hand motions for songs- I was talking to Miss Jenny and was wondering what patting his head meant....and she said its the Monkeys on the Bed song! He's also learning how to use spoons to feed himself. He actually can moo like a cow now, instead of every animal making the same "woof woof" noise... They explore and make pictures every day- here is a shot of "naked baby painting" - they stripped them down to the diapers and let them play with yellow paint and potatoes- though it was washable paint, all the kids looked slightly jaundice for a couple of days! HA! Lynn sent this along to me... :)

Dad thinks that he can only get away with wearing this sweater now....he could get beat up for it when he gets older...heehee....


Don't ask me how he stayed on the arm of the chair.......

Nate in his Christmas outfit- both him and little John have the same one- we'll have to get them together to snap a shot! :)

Here's Nate playing around with Dad's hat

Whew! Busy week!!!

This is our new house!!! 165 Lenor Drive- nope there wasn't any snow on the ground when we moved in, that came the next day! Once the inside it cleaned up a bit, I'll post some inside pictures.



So not only did we move to a new house this past week, we also celebrated Nate's 1 year birthday! So here's a picture of him on the day he was born, and one on his 1 year old birthday- its amazing how much he's grown!


Then........ Nov 30th, 2006 - 9lb 1oz, 22.5 inches long....
Now.... Nov 30th, 2007 - roughly 24.5lbs, and around 34inches tall....Is that really the same kid????

This is kind of like a 'where's Waldo' only it's 'where's Mike?' - this is a scene from our old bedroom after we brought everything down from the attic.... its a bit deceiving, for under the stuff is our bed, and 2 empty dressers....but still......

Here's Nate wanting to help- sorry about the open mouth and squinty eyes- its what he does now when he knows we're taking a picture.....

I'll try and post some more pictures soon once we have our Christmas decorations up in the new place.....