Christmas part 3 - Council Bluffs

After a wonderful and relaxing 3+ days in Reinbeck, we headed west for Emma's first visit to Council Bluffs.  I have to admit I was a little nervous about this leg of the trip.  We were arriving mid-day on Monday and not planning to leave until Friday and there was going to be a houseful all week.  Occupants included my parents, the three of us, my younger brother Justin, my grandma Marge (known to Emma as GG - short for Great Grandma), my older brother, his wife and their daughters Aubrey (3) and Annie (1).  Yikes!  It was loud and hectic at times but so much fun to have the entire family back home.  I was reminded of the power of family and the holiday season -- the entire week was a blast.  It was so fun to play with Aubrey and Annie as well as catch up with Mom, Dad, Jon, Amy, Justin and Grandma.  Highlights include: present opening complete with a visit from Santa, an open house for all Council Bluffs friends to stop by and catch up with us as well as meet and greet Emma, celebrating Mom's 60th birthday, and a trip to the zoo with dad. 

 Hello GG.  Hello Emma.

 One of my father's many talents is wood working.  He made this oak rocking chair for Emma that she is going to grow into and love.

 This is the "Peek-a-boo" bear complete with singing and moving arms.  Emma dug it!!

 Needless to say, Santa was a huge hit!  Emma LOVED him.  Perhaps it was because he was dressed like her :)

 Justin helping to sustain Emma.

Thanks for the rocking chair, Grandpa :)

 

 From left to right: Grandma, Aubrey (3), Emma (6mo), Annie (16mo), Gramps

Happy birthday mom! Doesn't she look great?  I hope you're enjoying this blog on your new iPad. Oh, and for those of you who are curious about who made and decorated the cake...it was yours truly ;)

For those who don't know, Omaha has one of the top zoos in the country.  In fact, only the San Diego zoo has a higher annual attendance than the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.  I grew up going to the this zoo on hot summer days and school field trips so I was very excited to take Emma while we were in town.  However, no one was more excited than Melissa when we rolled up to the giraffes!  The zoo may become a permanent agenda item on our trips home to Council Bluffs. 

Well, I think that wraps up our holiday adventures for 2011.  Christmas is always a special and sacred time but even more so we you can view all the magic and wonder through the eyes of an infant - for the first time.

From Minneapolis with love,

Jason, Melissa, and Emma

Christmas part 2 - Reinbeck

If anyone knows how to "do up" a holiday, its Roz Stull.  We rolled into Reinbeck on Thursday evening (the 22nd) and settled in for the next 3 days.  We were met with a house decorated to the hilt with snowmen and Santas, cheery Christmas music, a tree overflowing with presents, and the smell of Christmas goodies in the air.  For those of you who don't know, Roz's Santa collection is legendary.  I think at one point the number of Santas adorning the house was a mind boggling 300+.  Over the last couple of years some of the Santas have retired.  Regardless, and as always, we had a wonderful time.  Here are some pictures of our trip to Reinbeck. 

On Friday, John and Roz hosted the Stull Christmas, a gathering of John's cousins.  It is always fun to catch up with extended family and especially to share Emma with them.  Emma was pretty excited too...about the wrapping paper and boxes. :)

The following day was Saturday, Christmas Eve.  It was a very relaxing day filled with the anticipation of Christmas.

 Emma and her furry friends.

 Heading off to Christmas Eve Church service.  The highlight of the service was Emma playing with and waving an electric candle at the end of the service as we were singing Silent Night.

 The cousins (Emma & Ella)

 The Grandparents

The girls.

 Emma in her Christmas eve PJ's :)  Time to sleep so Santa can come.

A tradition at the Stull's is the reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas.  John does an excellent rendition.

Christmas morning and Santa did not disappoint!!

 A sled!  Now all we need is some snow...

Merry Christmas from Reinbeck!  Off to the Burgart's in Council Bluffs for the final chapter in Emma's first Christmas.

With love from Iowa,

Jason, Melissa, and Emma

Christmas part 1 - Minneapolis

"CHRISTMAS ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!"

We think so too. :)  So much so that it's too much for 1 blog post to handle.  I think the Christmas post is going have to be a series.  Mostly because I have so many pictures to share and I'm not very good at deciding which ones to keep and which to cut out.  Terrible actually.  So, I'm going to share lots of our favorite pictures of Emma and family over the holidays through a 3 part series.  Part 1 is our first family Christmas with Emma in Minneapolis.  Emma was pretty excited and so were we.  One of the magical things about being a parent is exploring the world through your child's eyes.  There are so many things in the world for Emma to discover and every time she runs across something new she encounters it with eyes full of wonder and curiosity.  Often times she will stare, dumbstruck, at something she's never seen before, and then give a shrill of joy and a big smile as she looks back as us as if to say, "Are you seeing this!  Can you believe it?!".  Then she goes right back to discovery mode.  Emma's curiosity and sense of awe is one of my favorite things about her and I look forward to (re)exploring the world with her. 

This Christmas there were many new things to be discovered such as the Christmas tree, lights, snow, presents, and on and on.  When it came to the present opening she couldn't have cared less about what was actually in the gift, but man did she like to get her hands on the wrapping paper.  Here are some pictures of the week before Christmas and our "Christmas night" opening presents in our house.

Emma helped me wrap presents.  She was a pretty good help...when she wasn't putting everything in her mouth :)

 Emma is digging into her giant size stocking - an oversight by her parents led to a 3 foot long stocking.  Ooops. 

All the excitement is tiring.

It's a good thing she rested up because the next day we took off for Reinbeck to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Melissa's family.  Tune in for part 2. :)

With love,

Jason, Melissa, and Emma

Emma Barks Back

Hello again, blog world.  I'm a little embarrassed for the long absence but more so overwhelmed by the large volume of pictures, stories, and videos to share.  Things to "discuss" include, but are not limited to: sitting up, eating, Christmas, Santa, Christmas, presents, Christmas, holiday travel, CHRISTMAS, New Years, a trip to the zoo, and Emma "barking" at a dog.  Seriously, I'm glad my good friend Peter Eliason had his video running for the barking episode because it's probably one of the funniest things she's ever done.  I was planning to cover it all in this post but I think I'd like to give Christmas its own posting since I think I just filtered through no fewer than 250 pictures from a 6 day period.  Perhaps New Years will also have its own post with a mini look back at the wonders of 2011.  So that leave us with sitting, eating, and barking. :)

Emma started sitting up.  Well, I guess I should clarify that.  She can sit.  This started the week before Christmas and she has really perfected the skill over the last 3 weeks or so.  We still aren't to the point where we're comfortable setting her on the floor and leaving her, as she still has a tendency to fall backward.  But for the most part, she is able to sit and reach and play with toys while she looks around the room with her big 'ol grin.  And, after a short hiatus, she is back to rolling over.  Within the last 3-4 days she has started to roll onto her stomach while sleeping.  This pissed her off the first couple times she did it, usually around 2:00 in the morning, but the last 2 mornings we have found her on her tummy with nary a peep during the night! 

Still have some work to do :)

Emma's diet is also changing.  We have started giving her solid foods.  Starting with rice cereal mixed with breast milk (yummy...), then onto squash, carrots (which she hated), and most recently sweet potatoes.  We have made all of her food so far.  In fact, the squash that she is eating was given to us by my Aunt Carolyn.  Big deal, right?  Well, I think so because it was grown in her garden on the farm where my Dad grew up.  Pretty cool, I think.  Here are some pictures of her first foods and a video of her eating the squash - the first food with a different taste than breastmilk.  Watch for her reaction - the shudder is priceless!  She wasn't to sure what to think if it at first, but she has turned into quite the eater - just check out her cheeks. :)



Bake



Blend

Serve

Enjoy!



The last thing I want to share just happened the other night.  We were at our friends Jim and Stacy Kowitz's house (Stacy is holding Emma in the video and their dog's name, and the co-star of the video, is Sam) for "Dinner in the Hood," a monthly dinner gathering of married Luther couples who all live within 5 miles of us.  Sam was probably the first dog Emma has ever seen and she loved him!  However, she wasn't quite sure what to think when the dog gave her a friendly bark.  The only natural thing to do is to bark back, right?!?  Check it out, it's hilarious and may be a glimpse into her developing personality (oh boy!)

Look for another post soon with highlights from our Christmas travels!  Here are some random cute pics of Emma to share with you.

With love,

Jason, Melissa, and Emma