St Nicholas Day, A Best Race Ever, and Rule #9

Dec 6. was a very, very busy day!  Ever since 1985, the McParlands have celebrated St. Nicholas day, and have come to expect wonderful Christmas ornaments to magically appear in our shoes.  This year was no exception.  Despite our being 1300 miles away in California, ol' St. Nick was able to find us- and especially Xander, to help him celebrate his very first St. Nicholas day properly!  Thanks to Grandma Kathy for letting St. Nick know how to find us.

Saturday was our travel day, and on our way there we almost met St. Nicholas's best buddy, Santa.... we were right next to the Flight to the North Pole and if we didn't have big plans for our weekend in Sacramento, we just might have hopped aboard!  We settled for meeting a very nice police dog who was helping out.

We got to Sacramento with no mishaps. Xander was again a very good traveler, with only a small amount of (probably justified) fussing.  We had a quiet night, and Jake got ready for the race on Sunday.  It was bitter cold to start the race, only 25 degrees in the morning, but warmed up a little as the race went on.  Xander and I stayed bundled up while we cheered on the racers, and especially Jake, who ran a spectacular race! 

We were racing from one point to the next trying to see him as often as possible.  No matter how many times we saw him, he was smiling- I really don't think he ever stopped smiling or passing people during the whole race!  We did miss his finish though- in our racing to one of the sighting spots, I lost the keys to our rental car and it took a few hours before I could have a tow company help break in and I get the paperwork to call the rental agency and find out that a kind soul had put the keys in a safe place for me to retrieve again.  All ended well for Xander and me, and for Jake too!  Jake finished the race in 3:02:30 which is a significant personal best for him and was much faster than he had hoped for.  Best of all, he finished still feeling well and strong.

Monday we had a little extra time before our flight home and we were able to drop in on Cousin Rebecca Martin at her winery in Napa.  Nothing like getting a personal tour!  Rebecca looks wonderful and clearly has a passion for her profession.  What fun!  Only one regret there though- we forgot to get a photo!!

Just before heading to the airport, we stopped to get a late lunch.  Here is where rule #9 comes in- No dumping chili on the Mama, *especially* when she only has one pair of pants, it's cold out, and we're about to get on a plane. Hmmm....  Those inquisitive baby hands are trouble!

We had a wonderful weekend, but I was very, very glad when we made it safely home and into our own beds.

Thanksgiving in Crested Butte!

Our Favorite Holiday!!

You all know by now that Xander really gets into his food, but when it comes to Thanksgiving, Xander and Jackson are well matched in their enthusiasm!This is how Thanksgiving should be!

Of course, when you are going to be eating delicious holiday food, it's good to get out and go for a brisk walk to get the appetite going ahead of time.  Crested Butte did not disappoint with any number of trails for us to explore!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Ski Passes!

Yes that's right!  Xander has a PLATINUM child membership to Creste Butte Ski resort- where there are more double black diamond runs than any other run.... combined.  How long do you think it'll take before Xander can out-ski either of his parents... combined?

Would the real Xander Lewis please stand up?

Xander is becoming more and more mobile, very quickly. Before taking my attention off him for a second I now need to carefully remove anything that I don't want him to play with within a 4-foot radius. He can easily go from sitting to his belly, and then "scoot" and "spin" his way to whatever it is I least want him to play with, including dog toys, my food, my books, dust bunnies, knives, Otto’s ears, and anything smaller than a golf-ball. Unlike many babies, he has not learned to roll to what he wants- he really doesn't like rolling over even though he does know how. He is not quite climbing the walls yet, but he has pulled himself into a standing position while holding on to his playhouse without any help from me- until he realized what he'd done, at which point he bleated for help and reassurance. He loves to stand holding onto hands, legs, or furniture.  So that 4-foot radius? Make that 3-dimensional. Most of the time he can go from a stand to a sit without incident, although there are enough times he misses his butt and lands on his head that I still like to keep pillows around him. He's also "walking" while holding onto our hands, and is starting to get the idea that he can go where he wants.  I'm not sure when he'll actually crawl, right now he tends to scoot backwards when trying to move forwards, but I do know its not too far away. I'm going around the house now trying as much as possible to baby proof and/or catalog dangers.... and the floors under the furniture have never gotten so much attention. Dust bunnies, beware- the Mama is on the hunt!

All this activity and freedom is really changing Xander's interests- namely, food. He is eating less often and gets bored with food now- he'll even turn down a bottle! He'd rather play! Who is this kid?  Don't worry- he's in no danger of starving- the kid still likes to eat, and loves new tastes and flavors (recent additions: tomatoes, peach yogurt, stroganoff sauce with noodles and real Cheerios) but I wonder if he'll be our Michelin baby much longer if this keeps up.

Meeting Henry John Ogburn

We drove up to Aspen last weekend and got to meet Henry John Ogburn!  7 weeks old and he looks just like his father- it's scarey!  Congratulations Mike and Tina!

What a difference 6 months makes!  They were born at similar weights... and just look at the difference now.  And buddies already- Xander actually grabbed little Henry's hand for the photo and didn't want to let go.  Xander may be bigger now, but I'm putting money on Henry being taller before they are both 5.

A visit to the Children's Museum

The nice thing about being a stay at home mom is that you get to take your kid fun places.  The Children's Museum is free until the kids are 15 months old and I for one plan on getting my money's worth!

They have great toys there...

And some fun activities...

We asked Leah and Alex how old they were...

 they didn't have the words yet, but somehow, we got the picture(s).

The Colorado Front Ranger's Dream - A home in the mountains

I think that everyone who lives in the Colorado front range, the Denver/Boulder area, has this dream of having a place in the mountains.  We've had that dream for a long time, but didn't see it in our future anytime soon.  Sometimes though, a deal comes by that you just can't pass up.  So today, with our friends the Fossums, we are now the proud owners of a condo in Crested Butte!!!

29 Castle Rd, Mount Crested Butte, CO 81225

I am incredibly excited about this place.  The crazy thing is, we have never even skiied there.  Erin and I fell in love with Crested Butte in the summer.  The mountain biking there is incredible, and it is absolutely gorgeous, I've never seen such amazing fields of wild flowers.

The condo comes fully furnished so there is nothing to do but walk in the door and enjoy!  It is right next to the ski slope and the mountain bike trails.  One thing that I am really exicted about is the big grassy hill on either side.  It is the perfect place for sledding with Xander, and when he is older, building ridiculous ski jumps once the lifts close!  I can't wait!

-Jake

Transformative Moments

From Erin:
1) Age 1 second- when I learned what love and family was
2) Age 5- when I learned I was smart, and liked learning
3) Age 8- when I felt hate for the first time
4) Age 11- when I realized I didn't actually care if absolutely everyone liked me
5) Age 12- when I started running with my Dad, and realized I was strong
6) Age 16- when I realized I didn't *have to* be what other people expected of me, and was free to make my own choices and mistakes
7) Age 16- when I fell in love for the first time
8) Age 17- when I started reading John Steinbeck and Ayn Rand
9) Age 18- when I met the man I knew I would marry.... someday... and when I realized our worst day would be better than a day without him
10) Age 23- when I got married, graduated university, drove accross country, got a job and bought my first home: In short- when the world finally acknowledged me as an adult
11) Age 30- when I found out I was pregnant, and when I found out I'd miscarried
12) Age 32- when I met my first child, my son, my Sunshine.  When I learned a heart can break a thousand times from a love that has no boundries and yet be all the bigger for it, and when I finally really understood my mother, and how much I owe her.

The inevitable choosing of favorites

When I became pregnant, the dogs knew.  I'm not sure how they knew, but they became so much more protective (much to the chagrin of the mailman, various neighbors, and any lurking evil-doers).  I became the one they clung to, hung out with, and wanted attention from, much more than from Jake.  When Xander was born, Blitz got jealous, but Otto transfered all his protectiveness to the little guy, going so far as to race to his side whenever he cried, sit as near to him as we'd allow (and once sitting on him by accident) and sleeping in his room during naptime.  As for us, we found quickly that the dogs simply were not as important to us as they once were.  Not that we didn't love them, and not that Jake and I didn't take Blitz running almost every day, and Otto too if it was a shorter run, and not that they didn't still sleep in our room even after Xander started sleeping in his own room at night, but well... sometimes we forgot to feed them in those first few weeks.  Okay, sometimes, not often, we still forget to feed them.  And sometimes they are in the way, and are told to go away.  And the protective barking at the mailman wakes up the Baby, and we scold the dogs about that...often.  And of course, they don't get nearly as much cuddle and lap time as they used to.  You see, we have a baby now, a real live human being that looks like us, and smells sweet and is amazing and awesome and we haven't even ruined him yet, and as it turns out...dogs are, well, dogs.  Who would have known?

So it should come as no surprise that another shift in the hierarchy of favoritism has occured.  Yes, Xander has started eating "O's" today and that means that they dogs have quickly learned that Xander's highchair is THE PLACE TO BE and Xander is THE ULTIMATE FOODSOURCE.  Well!  At least if we forget to feed the dogs, Xander will take care of it for us!

Happy Halloween- take 2!