January 16, 2012

On the 16th, we went down to Cincinnati to spend the day with Annalisa and Marcus on their turf.  We had a great lunch and then just sat around enjoying each others' company.  Brian had never seen their house before, and they have made plenty of additional renovations since I was there last, so it was nice to see the place.

Oh, and Claudia was there, too...

My sister, getting Claudia's attention for some pictures :)

Loving those baby lips...

And all those precious details...

January 15, 2012

Annalisa and Claudia had to head back to Cincinnati on Sunday, but that didn't stop me from getting some fun baby pics :).

We had dinner with my dad's family (minus a few members), and got to meet the new baby of my cousin Matt and his wife Kristi.  The family was nice enough to indulge me while I grabbed some pictures.  (By the way, it's incredibly difficult to get the color right in my parents house.  The wall colors just don't lend themselves to easy-picture-taking..oh well)

Meet Andrew:

January 14, 2012

On Saturday, we met up with my granddad for breakfast. He's always a hoot to spend time with...

Then we went and cruised around some of the fun little shops in the Depot District.

So thankful to be able to bring my husband along and spend time with him and my whole family...

January 13, 2012

Spending time in Indiana with the family = lots of pictures of Claudia.

Aren't we lucky to have the cutest nieces in the world?

She's doing a great job with tummy time...

And my parents are obviously infatuated....

This child's expressions are priceless - we're especially in love with the furrowed brow :)

Of course, Claudia wasn't the only new baby.  Since we visited last, my folks have also acquired a tiny little Yorkie.  His name is Davis, but we quickly learned that his name is really DavisDavisDavis.  He's a cutie :)

January 12, 2012

3am wake up call?
Check.

Catch the airport shuttle at the hotel, make it through security, grab some Starbucks, run into Ian at the airport, secure decent seats on the plane, take off on time, make it to Chicago early...only to find that our connector flight has been cancelled...along with every other flight out of Midway.

...Book another flight for tomorrow morning, check on prices for rental cars at Hertz, check on rental car prices at Enterprise, check on rental car rices at Budget (and be pleasantly surprised).  Have Southwest pull luggage out of storage, begin to drive through the snowstorm from Chicago to Indianapolis. (Insert unpleasantness here)

...Pull into Indy, fill up the tank with gas, grab some more Starbucks, return the car at the airport, meet up with the parents, drive on through the storm to Richmond...

All worth it to finally be able to meet our newest niece:

Meet Claudia.

According to the picture info, this was taken at 10:29pm Seattle time, making it 1:30am Richmond time (You know there was no way I was waiting until morning to pull out my camera, come on)

January 8, 2012

This week's new neighborhood tour took us to Georgetown.  It's another area of Seattle that I've never explored, and I loved it.  The old buildings, fabulous pubs and quirky old stores were just delightful.

January 7, 2012

I am completely in love with our fireplace.

January 6, 2012

Nothing to fancy to report - I'm just spending some time playing around with camera settings.  Here's a view from the kitchen.

January 4, 2012

A glimpse into how I'm convinced the thoughts of Venn play out...

"What?!  You're trying to tell me that somebody snuck into your office, ATE a blue marker and ruined the carpet?!  

Well, that's just ridiculous.  I'm much to mature for that kind of nonsense.

Have you checked with Daijo?

It kind of sounds like something Daijo would do."

January 2, 2012

Today, I'm thankful to live in such an awesome city.  Despite the rain, Brian and I ventured into the International District today for a wee bit of exploration.  We had fabulous Korean food for lunch (and as a result, we're going to attempt to make a dish called Bibimbap tonight)

I love that this is so easily a part of my life.

January 1, 2012

Beginning 2012 with a thankful heart...

We had a huge year last year, and it's a good feeling to start the year with nothing really on the books.  I made a point of being pretty lazy over the holidays, just to be certain that I keep 2012 in perspective.  It's so easy to take the little things for granted.  It's a year to take it slowly, and enjoy every minute, and not forget how blessed we are.

So, today, I'm thankful for the way the Daijo-nator stares at me so soulfully, and the way that Venn can't stand his brother getting any attention, so he always plops himself directly in between us so he can be a part of the action.