Christmas Ketchup

This post is all about filling in some of the holes of our writers strike inspired sabbatical. We realize that the timing caused us to miss some major holiday posts and so we'll try and make it up to you here. We have about as much motivation to give you a full two month play-by-play as you do to read it.

The first major event was our decision to actually celebrate Christmas this year. Last year was pretty rough with the first trimester and all and we just didn't have the energy to jingle, don gay apparel, wassail or much of anything. This year was much more merry and bright, complete with Christmas tree, decorations and Santa. We ended up celebrating Christmas early here in Vegas so that we didn't have to recreate Santa's sleigh in the back of the car for both legs of the trip to Utah.

We made the pilgrimage to Salt Lake to share the holiday with friends and family. It was a great trip and we were able to connect with quite a few people that hadn't ever met Paisley. Tim is still building vacation time - and learning not to be the last one in the division to ask for time off - so we had to return to Vegas a few days after Christmas. A snow storm in central Utah kept us north for a day longer than planned. Paisley had an abundant Christmas and was pretty spoiled by her three Grandma Santas. Luckily, most of the presents came with off switches.

New Years Eve was fun and we had our friends come over for pizza and a competitive round of Cranium. The competition definitely took its toll and by 11:00 we called it a night. Once you have a kid, staying up past twelve becomes, staying up later than usual. Another successful celebration.

One of our family gifts to ourselves was a new camera lens (a sweet Canon 50mm f1.4) and have had a lot of fun playing around with it. Here are some of our favorite pictures from over the holidays.

our "official" family christmas photo

tim & paisley on our faux christmas morning

paisley loved santa

nate, tonia, jamie (holding p) & julie

tonia, julie, brandi (holding p),nate & jamie

christmas morning opening presents & eating wrapping paper

paisley chillin' with her aunt christine

paisley & cousin matthew

cousin natalee, grandma sherry & paisley

Jolly Green Bean

With all of the chastisement that we've received over the last video clip of Paisley eating green beans, we thought that we should exercise our right to defend ourselves with a rebuttal. It's pretty much the only exercise that Tim participates in these days. In explanation, from birth until her 6 month mark, aside from a few experiences with formula early on in her life, Paisley's diet has consisted solely of breast milk. Once she hit the six month milestone, we determined that it was best for both baby and mom to introduce spoon foods. We eased her into the solids bath with rice cereal, which is really nothing more than tasteless flakes mixed with breast milk into a sort of Elmer's glue like substance. After a week of white paste, it was time to kick it up to green. Brandi undertook this adventure on her own while Tim was at work but was kind enough to prop her phone on the high chair as to preserve and share the moment. The video clip was Paisley's first exposure to flavor, unless you want to include the edge of the coffee table, which she can't seem to suck on enough. What we're trying to say is that the experience had to be overwhelming for her. Since then she has been exposed to squash, sweet potatoes, prunes, applesauce, carrots, peas and peaches. Green beans happen to be one of her favorite dishes to date. Peaches and prunes usually require a little persuasion but we've graduated from the gagging and dry/not-so-dry heaves. At least until we break into the pureed spaghetti and meatballs. That should have all three of us feeling ill.

Here's a video clip of just how much Paisley likes green beans now.

Paisley Goes Green

Since our last update in December, Paisley has started eating solids. These green beans are her first experience with a non milk-based product. If you stick around for the ending, you'll find out how much she really liked them.

We're it.

"Thanks" Steph for tagging us - it gave us the motivation we needed to start blogging again.

A. Each player answers the question about themselves.

B. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, and then leaves a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog to get the directions.

10 yrs ago:

T- I was a disenchanted biology major at the University of Utah due to the fact that they were just trying to make geneticists so I changed my major to creative writing. This blog just happens to be my crowning achievement. I was in between a series of collapsed lungs which would peak with lung surgery, a dropped semester and waving goodbye to my career as a professional cyclist.

B- I was working full-time as a lab tech/EMT in the ER at LDS Hospital - 4:30pm to 3:00am Wednesday through Tuesday, 7 days on, 7 days off - which meant I had time left over for another full-time job. So I was also working for Snowbird Ski Resort doing hotel reservations, 7am to 3:30pm... Most of my sleep was had "on the job." I had an apartment in Salt Lake, right across from Trolley Square, and a seasons pass to Snowbird - though neither got much use that year.

P- Kickin' it in heaven with Jesus. Reading "What To Expect From Those Who Are Expecting."

5 Things on my to do list Today:

T- 1. Update blog 2. Make dinner 3. Invite myself to someone's house for dessert 4. Go to church 5. Spend time with my family

B- 1. Feed Paisley 2. Change Paisley's diaper 3. Feed Paisley 4. Ask Tim to change Paisley's diaper 5. Fold laundry

P- 1. Eat 2. Play 3. Poop 4. Put random stuff in mouth 5. Sleep

Things I would do if I suddenly was a Billionaire:

T- Buy a good life insurance plan, buy an Acura MDX for Brandi, keep my new Blackberry, change my vote to McCain to keep those tax breaks, give half of it away and invest the rest.

B- I'm too much of a realist to honestly answer this question, I know I'll never be a billionaire so by answering I'm just setting myself up for disappointment. Though I think one thing that would be high on my priority list would be giving Paisley some siblings.

P- Get my own pad.

3 of my bad habits:

T- Picking at miscellaneous ingrown hairs/blemishes, Forgetting to wipe off counters, Tendency to stretch the truth for the sake of a good story

B- Caffeine addiction (though I've limited myself to 2 a day), Punctuality (or the lack thereof), Overly detail oriented

P- Mumbling, Peeing/pooping my pants, Breastfeeding/being so needy

Places I have lived:

T- Salt Lake City, UT; Los Angeles, CA; Logan, UT; Boise, ID; The woods, OR; Las Vegas, NV

B- Salt Lake City, UT; Northern Virginia/Washington DC area; Las Vegas, NV

P- Heaven; Womb; Las Vegas, NV

Jobs I have had:

T- Paperboy for Deseret News; Gift shop attendant at Hogle Zoo; Usher at Movies 10; Bike messenger for law firm; Lab technician/animal tester at USU; Fish Biologist; Environmental Biologist for SNWA

B- Restaurant hostess; Telemarketer; Cashier at "The Riv"; Receptionist at computer software co.; Clerk in ER at Holy Cross/Legacy Hospital/Salt Lake Regional Medical Center; Phlebotomist at various hospitals; Lab Tech/EMT at LDS Hospital; Waitress; Snowbird reservations; Surgical Assistant for laser vision correction co.; Fly fishing guide; Bartender; Medical Assistant; Office Manager for private practice physician; Director's assistant; Mom

P- Baby

Things most people don't know about me:

T- I met my wife on the internet, I am a food/music/movie snob, I'm left handed

B- I'm a chronic hand washer/germaphobe, I've had 3 concussions from competitive snowboarding, I hate pears

P- Lots because my parents won't update the blog

We tag Brent, Kate, Rachelle, Veronica & Allison

Miracles of Modern Science

We just want to post a quick blog to thank everyone for keeping our little family in your thoughts and prayers. The little one is finally back home with us and seems to be getting back to life as normal. Things were a little touch-and-go for a few weeks. We're just feeling really blessed since we weren't really in the financial situation to try and replace her. We just want to send a special thank you to the geniuses at the Apple Store and their successful hard-drive transplant. It feels good to be back.