Baby Tad

It has taken us a week to post pictures, but we are so happy to announce the birth of our little boy, Tad Jared. He was born Monday, Nov. 9, weighed 8lbs 14ozs, and was 21 3/4 inches long. He is a very big boy. Here are some pictures from this past week:

Norah loves holding and helping me take care of baby Tad.

Halloween

I know this is overdue but I had to post our cute little bumble bee.

Notice I am just ready to pop any day!

smile

Norah has finally learned the art of smiling. Even as an infant it took so much effort to crack a smile out of Norah in front of the cameras, but last week she had no problem showing off her smile for grandma.

I am about 7 weeks from having our little baby boy, and I think that Norah does understand that she is going to have a baby brother. Here are a couple of things Norah has told me over the past month regarding the baby:

"When baby come out I change poo poo diaper." For some strange reason Norah has a fascination with babies getting their diaper changed. When friends come over to play at some point she usually tells me that they have a "poo poo" diaper and brings me diapers and wipes. About 50% of the time she is right.

My cell phone broke a couple of weeks ago, so I took Norah with me into the AT&T store. Underneath all the cell phones were the cell phone charges. She told me "Mommy go to the doctor and check the belly. Baby makes nosies." She thought the cell phone charger was the Doppler that the doctor uses to listen to the baby's heartbeat.

We are so excited about the new baby!

Monterey Bay

This past weekend Jared and I took Norah to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The jelly fish exhibit was by far the most interesting.

We then took Norah to the Dennis the Menace Park, which she loved! Later that evening, we went to Fisherman's Wharf where Norah had a close encounter with a parrot.

It was such a fun day trip. I would recommand it to everyone.

It's a...

I know this is long overdue, but Jared and I are expecting and...

Loved this picture since Jared can't wait til he can play football. I am due November 12. We are so excited!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

Norah had a Mickey Mouse party at the pool for her 2 year old birthday. Her good friend Kalee (the blonde second to the front) also turned 2, so we combined the party. Here are just a few pictures of the party.

Happy Birthday Norah! We love you!!!

Better Late Than Never

Easter weekend we went to LA area to visit family. It was Norah's first Easter egg hunt. We were so glad almost the whole family were able to get together.

Thanks Grandma Callister for helping Norah find the eggs.

Here are all our cute nieces and newphews searching for eggs.

There is Grandpa Callister begging the grandkids for a piece of chocolate.

Just thought I would add in some random pictures. Norah had a play date the other day with her two best buds Kalie and Avery.

Norah putting her hands over her hips. She thinks she is so funny!

Jeremy and Mandy

Jeremy (Jared's identical twin brother) got married last weekend in Denver, CO. Here are a few pictures of the big day!

As you can see this was one of the best pictures Jared could get from the nieces.

Here is Jeremy with his nephews. What handsome boys!

Everything went so smoothly at the wedding. We are so thrilled and happy for you Jeremy and Mandy!

All Dressed Up...

For our March Enrichment, our theme was All Dressed up and Somewhere to Go. We made little magnetic dress handouts.

Here is the poster advertising the event.

We spent all day and the night before putting up the decorations.

Wendy made this beautiful center piece with a big plastic bouncy ball and hot glued flowers to it.

We served a light dinner consisting of a chicken salad croissant and fruit on a sketwer.

Dessert was two cupcakes stacked with chocolate frosting, a raspberry puree, and a chocolate swirl to top it off.

We also had a wonderful program about the the 13 women who were in the first Relief Society. It turned out to be a great evening.

My Living Room

Here is my small but cozy living room.

This is my wall art. Its just fabric wrapped around canvas.

Jared calls this my "taco" pillow. I saw something similar in a store and thought I could make this. The "tacos" are felt cut into circles and sewed right down the middle in various directions. Then I used some of the material from the other pillows to make the piping around the edges.

I'll post my kitchen soon as soon as I am done with it.

Tour de Lance (California)

Last Wednesday, the Tour of California ended one of their phases in my town. We were right next to the finish line. There was a big crowd (about 30,000 people) to cheer on the "peleton," and especially Lance Armstrong who was there to start his comeback into biking.

Believe it or not, I actually snapped a shot of Lance (the second rider below) as he pushed towards the finish line. (Jared doesn't think its him but I am confident it is!)

Here's Norah stealing a sip from my drink. No, its not a Big Gulp.

Edge of Civilization

Ok, this is Jared posting, not Yanni.

I took norah on a short drive this morning just up the road from us. We live on the outskirts of Clovis and always drive southwest into Clovis/Fresno. This time, we decided to drive northeast towards the mountains since we had never gone that way. After driving 4 miles and passing some orange groves and old granit quarry we hit this little town called Academy, population 52! I decided to snap a few shots for fun.

Valentine's Dinner

The reason why I haven't posted in a while is because of this:

Yes, the Relief Society Valentine's Dinner. It kept me busy all week. We had cheesy bread and salads as our first course.

Followed by Pesto Pasta with grilled chicken topped with a cheese heart.

After 80 cheese hearts and 85 waffle cones, Wendy (my enrichment leader) and I were exhausted, but the results were well worth it. Aren't they pretty?

Our dessert was a homemade waffle cone with one scoop of vanilla ice cream, topped with fresh strawberry puree, whipped cream with a pinch of coca powder, and a heart-shaped cinnamon cracker. This was my favorite part of the whole night!

Next month is the Relief Society's birthday so we are throwing a party for the Relief Society sisters. Should be fun!

Grandma's 90th B-day

This past weekend we drove down to Glendora to visit with family and celebrate Grandma Fernith's 90th birthday (Norah's great-grandma). It was a fun time for all with great food and a wonderful slide show reminiscing of Grandma's life and achievements. I'll try to post some great shots from the slide show.

Say Cheese!

Just the other day, Jared decided he needed to capture Norah's "oompa loompa" pajamas on camera. It was the first time that Norah actual posed for the camera and said "cheese".

She kept on playing with her dolls and doll toys (thats a bib) and repeated over and over again "cheese....cheese...cheese".

Look What I Can Do!!!!

I decided last September to enroll Norah in a mommy and me gym class. We just finished the semester this past week. So as proud moms and dads do, I brought my camera to showcase all the things Norah has learned to do!


Here's Norah pulling up 1 cm off the floor!

Norah's favorite yoga position. The Peek-a-boo.

Here is Norah practicing both on the parallel bars and the balance beam simultaneously!

Good job Norah. We are so proud of you!