That Time of Year

It's that time of year when everyone is busy, busy, busy with the activities of the season. Teri and I enjoying our first Christmas with our son and dressing him up in Christmas outfits whenever possible (poor little guy!)

Here are a few of our holidays festivities from the last few weeks and quite possibly my last post of 2008.

Happy Holiday's Everyone!

SANTA'S LITTLE HELPER

AT THE ARBORETUM

CHRISTMAS COOKIE NIGHT - We made these for a church function with James and Audrea. Vin even got in on the action eating his first teething cookie.

DINNER WITH THE NEIGHBORS - We gathered with our neighbors and friends for a casual pot luck dinner at our house on Monday.

AJA AND RICHARD'S WEDDING RECEPTION

OUR FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY AT KATE EADY'S HOUSE

Boropia

This week we lost our cat Boris. He was treasured member of our family and will be dearly missed.

We got him and his sister Audrey from a student of mine who had found them tied up with wire in a plastic sack. Her boyfriend was a veterinarian who nursed them back to health.

Boris was a fantastic cat who loved to be cradled and held like a baby. Before Vin came along I would snuggle with him every night and he was a great nap partner.

He will be missed but I know that he is happy in kitty heaven "where the bugs are fat and lethargic, the mice and squirrles are plentiful, and tuna fish rains down from the skies"

Do You Believe in Fate

Do you believe in fate? In the past year I’ve experience a situation that I contribute directly to fate. Almost two years ago I began a Ph.D. program at UTD, since then I have decided not to continue with the degree at this time. However, while at UTD I took a gender history course and met a woman name Lourdes. Lourdes and I discovered we were pregnant at the same time but didn’t see each other again until this summer when Vin was about 8 weeks old. One afternoon I ran into her at the Magnolia Theater’s Mommy Movie day. She was with 2 other mom’s and after the show they invited me to lunch with them. I remember being so excited to have met other mothers. All their babies were within about 6 weeks of Vin and so we had a lot in common. When I went home that day I cried with joy about my fun afternoon. Since then I’ve become a part of their larger group, we meet once a month at someone’s house and then also get together for baby play dates and mommy outings.
We hosted the monthly party last month for Thanksgiving and invited the Dads too (so far we are the only lesbian family in the group) and then last night we went to Jessica’s house. I made all the babies Santa Hats and they looked sooooo cute!! Pictures from both parties are below.
So back to the fate thing… I had never taken the course with Lourdes I would not have this fantastic group of women to share my motherhood experiences with. THANK YOU FATE!!

THANKSGIVING PARTY AT OUR HOUSE

CHRISTMAS PARTY WITH ALL THE BABY SANTAS!!

Thanksgiving in Florida

We spent Thanskgiving with my dear old friend Deana and her family,husband Paul; sons Hans, Rocket and Bodhi and her daugher Liesel. We had hoped to see her older kids, Hans and Liesel but they were out of town.
We had a fantastic time lounging around the house, going to the beach and sailing. Her husband Paul races sail boats and their boat is just feet from their back door. It is so cool!
I took over 100 picutures during our visit but narrowed it down a bit here.


SAILING

This is their backyard, the boat's name is Soul Shine

Paul and Teri enjoying the ride.

Teri drove the boat the entire time. Does one "drive" a boat?

At the beach looking for shells.

Two old friends.

Deana with Bodhi

BATHTIME FUN

This is Vin's first "big boy" bath. Rocket is showing him how it's done.

Check out the inquisitive look that Vin's giving Rocket. He was so curious about Rocket and all the games he played. He had this look on his face most of the trip and I thought it was worth a close up.

THE JOHN DEER COLLECTION

Paul works for John Deer and I have a soft spot for the company since my Grandparent's house is right next to the John Deer dealership in Spearman. John Deer now makes all kinds of clothing and kids toys, this is a kids hat. Vin would fit in perfect at the Panhandle Diner!

TWO BABIES!

Deana pointed out that Teri is a much better holder of two babies than me.

It's hard to tell but they have on matching Thanksgiving outfits.

THANKSGIVING DINNER

Vin's way past rice cereal and has now moved on to Turkey Legs.

The spread and the pretty table.

One of my favorite holiday activites is going shopping for the meal. This is Vin's first time in a grocery cart and you can see Deana in the background checking out our list.

PLAYING AT THE PARK AND ON A BIG TREE