Ho, Ho, Ho!

We got a really sweet book from Ingrid, and thought we'd share some of it in our holiday post. It's called, "Once Upon a Baby's First Christmas," by Anne McEvoy. It's a tale of a little bunny that has a lot of questions upon discovering a cradle in the woods that contains a strange, unknown creature.

"What is it?" Bunny whispered, on tiny tippy toes.
"A baby," came the answer, with a lot of oohs and ohs.
"A baby?" asked the Bunny - "so what are babies for?"
"For cuddling," said the others, "and to snuggle and adore."
"It's tiny," said the Bunny, "it can't be very strong."
"That's so you can pick them up and rock them all night long."
"And what's this baby thinking?" They all looked and stared a while...
"Must be something sweet to make that precious little smile."
Thinking hard, the Bunny asked, "What do babies do all day?"
"They fill the world with wonder and steal your heart away."
"A baby is like Christmas," the Bunny finally sighed.
"It makes the world seem brighter and your heart feel warm inside..."
The others nodded slowly as the snow began to fall...
And all agreed a baby was the sweetest gift of all.

We send our warmest wishes, and hope that your holiday season is filled with love, joy, and wonder!

Better Late Than Never!

Yes, we're really behind on posting this last picture from Ethan's one-month photo shoot. You know what they say, though... good things come to those who wait. Those eyes! That hair! The sweet little cleft in his chin! We're so enamored with our little man, and (like all parents, we suppose) happen to think he's such a handsome baby boy.

Don't I look all grown up? Thanks for the big boy shirt, Aunt Mary!

Of course, he's not sitting up on his own yet, but with careful incognito off-camera propping by Mommy, and Daddy's quick shutter finger, it appears as though he can!

We had a great time with Grandpa Emerson last weekend! We started the visit by "breaking into" his hotel room to set up several framed pictures of Ethan and leave a special snack. Grandpa arrived so late that he wasn't able to see his little buddy in person on Friday, so we figured some pictures scattered around would be the next best thing. While in his room on the eighth story, a 4.0 earthquake struck, pretty much centered directly below the hotel. We've felt lots of earthquakes before, but it's a different story when the quake is so close and you're up so high! In accordance with tradition, we had a wonderful breakfast at a rustic, bear-themed diner on Saturday morning, the site of Ethan's first restaurant experience. We took a walk to the park, spent a lot of time eliciting cute little baby smiles, and made sure that Grandpa had plenty of quality cuddling time. We also worked in a quick photo shoot. Here are some of the highlights (click on picture to view in larger size):


Grandma and Grandpa Ventura arrive for a visit tomorrow, and Aunt Kelly is soon to follow. We're so excited about their visits and can't wait to introduce them to our sweet baby boy!