Christmas is Here

Yes. We're that excited.

I'm Coming Home

Monday morning at 6:00 am we took off from Connecticut for Utah. None of us had enough sleep going into it and almost missed each of our three flights, but we had a good time.

Taken before we had to run half a mile through the Vegas airport. Thus, I can still smile.

Topher was apparently vibrating in this picture.

Topher did great during the flight. He only cried when we were getting off the airplanes.

The turbulence was a bit much for him.

When we finally made it, Topher found a gaggle of people excited to see him.

Topher meeting his grandpa for the first time.

And a whole mess of Aunts

Now that we're here, it's time to get ready for Christmas


And some quick notes: I wore the first outfit as Joseph and Kari won the throwdown (Thanks for the comments).

Cuteness Throwdown

I was going to use the blog to rant about my misadventures into the world of Linux after my Mac forgot how to charge its battery, but decided I'd leave it to this:

[Insert Linux joke here that only one of our readers will understand (Hi Brett!)]

So, instead I'm declaring a Cuteness Throwdown!

Anyone who dares accept the challenge should leave a note in our comments section pointing us to your post. Link back to this post in your entry so that your unique readers can find all the other entrants. With that, bring it on:



Is that not enough for you? Try this video of Topher in his new swing:



Still not impressed? Let's get up and personal:



And now for the coup de grace. The big reveal:


So, let's see what you've got. I think we're all excited to see what you all can come up with.

Party!

So, our church had a Christmas party today and we were asked to play Mary and Joseph for the brief program they put on during it.  Having a baby makes you a prime target for these things.

We spent the day trying to figure out how to dress up.  We didn't want to just wrap sheets around us, so we pulled out Megan's fabric collection and got a little more elaborate.

Below you will find our three finalists for my Joseph outfit.  We'd like to take a poll of your favorite, so leave us a comment saying which one you like best.  We'd let you all pick which one I would wear, but the party is already over.  We'll let you know our pick later.  Without further ado:

Option #1: Karate Fighting Buddhist Monk

It also looks something like an Elvis stance.  This was probably the most elaborate set up we had, using two large pieces of cloth and a whole mess of safety pins.  

Option #2: Pirate

Megan didn't think it was right for me to go without a head covering.  I think a head covering makes me look too much like a pirate (Not that there is anything wrong with pirates, per se.  I just don't think Joseph would approve).  As soon as they asked if we would play the parts, I tried to convince Megan to let me grow a beard.  She didn't take the bait.

Option #3: Mephistopheles

I'm not saying we picked this outfit, I'm just saying this picture is wicked sweet.

Because I know the real reason people visit the blog, here's a picture of our little Baby Jesus.  He wouldn't stand for being put in the manger, however.

Thanksgiving Holiday - Another Photojournal

Well, it's been some time since we've written.  Only getting two comments on our last post threw us into a fit of despondence from which we've only now recovered [Pity, please!].  But now we're back and ready for action.

Topher had a good time with friends and family at Thanksgiving.

He got a little sick over the break, but he's so darn cute that we didn't mind staying up a little with him.

Topher waited patiently for the turkey.  When the popper finally popped, he couldn't wait to dig in [note: this sentence actually describes Topher's dad].

Joy

It was a beautiful sight.  It will keep us fed for a long time.

All the turkey sure knocked Topher out though.

A flying saucer ghost made an attack, but we successfully defended him.

The following day, it was time to start setting up the Christmas stuff.

But things got a little messy.

Because Topher's so darn cute, we didn't mind the mess.

The tree looks great and Topher is really excited for you to see it. 

But you'll have to wait for the grand unveiling.

Happy Holidays!

In other news.  Topher's dad lost his eye in the Robot Wars.  His bionic eye is working out nicely.

'Tis the Season

For all those people who complain about stores marginalizing Thanksgiving by putting Christmas decorations out the day after Halloween (Someday, Thanksgiving, you shall be commercialized to the point of losing all meaning, too. Someday...), this is for you:

The mice must have let the other animals know that our house was a safe haven of some sort, so the turkeys asked if they could crash here for a week or so.

I was all for it, but Topher seemed hesitant.

When I told them they couldn't stay here (but that I wouldn't kill them), the turkeys started to get a little threatening.

Not willing to be intimidated, I opened the door and they made a run for it (but not before they asked if we had any peanut butter covered croutons left.  We didn't.).

All Smiles :) :) :)

Starting a couple of weeks ago, Topher began smiling in response to the sound of my voice. The quest to get a picture of it as proof was on, and until today, failing. Today I succeeded with not just a mere picture, but several seconds of live footage!



Isn't he adorable?!! Now I can go delete the other twenty videos off the camera that didn't work!!

Breakthrough

Last night we made a few breakthroughs with Topher.  He's been rather fussy lately and Megan and I were approaching wit's end.  I found that I could calm him by lifting him up and down for a few minutes, but this quickly tired my arms out and got "Magic Dance" from Labyrinth stuck in my head for the next few hours (Don't be surprised if another music video shows up here).  It was a good way to give Megan a chance to shower, but it was no long-term solution.  We started reading and discovered he had some pretty painful gas.  Apparently the answer to David Bowie's question "What kind of magic spell to use?" is Mylicon Gas Relief drops.

While this reduced Topher's fussiness significantly, we still weren't able to get him to sleep without feeding.  While this might not seem like that big of a problem, Topher sometimes wakes up when he is still full and feeding him only makes him angrier.  At one of these moments last night I took him and bounced him around to get him to calm down.  For whatever reason, I started singing "The Gambler" to him and it put him right out.

Thank you Kenny Rogers, wherever you are.

We're hoping this signals a new era of keeping Topher relaxed.  We're also hoping he doesn't grow up to be a compulsive gambler.

In mouse news.  After my last post, the onslaught continued.

The next mouse we caught was pretty cute, but not as cute as this:

He's cheeks aren't full of nuts, just love.

It was when this little fellow

"At long last, I have returned to you Peanut Butter Covered Crouton"

showed up that I knew we had to do something.  I'm pretty sure that he was mouse number 2 from the previous post.  We ramped up our defenses and started taking the mice out and putting them in our dumpster (which I believe is something like Rodent Heaven).  Unfortunately, I later discovered that a large hole had rusted out of the bottom of said dumpster.

After a few days of averaging two mice per day without hearing back from our landlords, I took matters into my own hands.  I stopped by a local hardware store and picked up some metal reinforced wall patching kits and a roll of pro strength duct tape and went to town.

It's not the prettiest repair job ever, but it has apparently done the job.  We haven't seen another mouse since then.  Most importantly, nobody had to die.

-Quick Note: While writing this post, Topher started fussing again.  Guess what put him to sleep:

Well, you get the idea.

Getting Big!!

Today, Topher is one month old! The last month has flown by and I can't believe how big he is! Here he is the night we brought him home from the hospital, one day old:

Back in the day when he slept through most of his diaper changes.

And here he is at one month, minus a few days:

Now Topher screams and or wiggles through an entire changing.

He also has three or four (and counting) awake, alert periods everyday where he's happy and likes to play.

Topher's also still a momma's boy, but he likes to spend more and more time with his Dad.

And last, but not least, Topher has started to smile in response to me!! It's amazing how one smile can make up for hours of lost sleep and frustration :)

He was smiling at me right before I took this picture, but now he just looks disconcerted.

Happy one month Topher!!

Everyday an Adventure

Usually, when you have a five-hour long class that gets cancelled, it is the most exciting thing for the day.  Today it wasn't even close.  

Topher has been having a rough go of things at night lately, waking up with blood curdling screams every few hours (Megan figures he thinks he's being chased by terrorists).  At the 6:00 freakout this morning, we all ended up downstairs.  Megan and Topher eventually fell asleep on the couch, but I was wide awake.  I got on my computer but soon heard a noise coming from underneath the sink.  I quickly deduced what it was:

Mice love rigatoni.  Especially 2 month old, peanut butter filled rigatoni.

After our last mouse sighting, we bought a "Mouse Cube." It's a small plastic box that lets mice in, but then they can't get out.  I took him outside quietly (Megan had no need to be awoken to a mouse in the house) and released him into the wild (i.e next to the gazebo). He actually turned out to be pretty cute, though not as cute as this:

Yes... his cheeks are full of nuts.

We thought the excitement was over for the day.  Unfortunately, Megan then saw what was reported to be the hugest spider she'd ever seen.  I tried to hunt it down, but to no avail.  It was fortunate that my class was cancelled, because she then refused to go downstairs without me.

We again thought that the excitement was done for the day, only to hear some sounds coming from under the sink again.

"Whatever happens Peanut Butter Covered Crouton, I won't let go."

It was a different mouse this time, even cuter than the first.  The cuteness only lasted so long when I let him go outside and he immediately turned on me. I escaped and got a better picture of him:

Wanted for attempted murder.

In other news, Megan made an experiment of putting Topher in the bouncer that his Aunt Kelli and Uncle Jarom gave us (thanks guys) so that she could take a shower.  It worked like a charm, except we had to add a towel to keep him from folding over sideways.

Now if it could just keep his pants from climbing up to his armpits, everything would be perfect.

Rock the Vote - Topher's Photojournal

Topher got a call from a pollster the other day:

He was asked who he was going to vote for.  Topher told them he wasn't sure, but the call started him thinking:

Topher started doing his research as election day was fast approaching.  Even on the way to the polls he was deep in concentration:

He ultimately made his decision and cast his vote.  Topher went home and rested easy in having performed his civic duty:

And just so you know, we may be unaffiliated, but we definitely had lasagna for dinner tonight. We'll be dancing later tonight.

Happy Halloween!

It was an exciting and tiring first Halloween for Topher. We first got him all dolled up and took him on campus.

He's a Killer Bee. Not a Bumble Bee. A Killer Bee. An Africanized Killer Bee. Get it right, or pay the price.

He was sure a big hit with the girls on campus.  Every girl on campus.  One saw him sitting on my lap and asked "Is it real?" I didn't know how to respond to that.

Topher's grandma bought him a little husky dog while on campus.

The festivities began later in the day.  We baked ourselves a pizza, carved a pumpkin, and watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Something appears to have gone wrong.

Madness

We took Topher out of his Africanized Killer Bee With Laser Beam Eyes costume, and made him something more nefarious:

Someone came to the door dressed as Batman and Topher shot him with his umbrella rifle.

He kind of looks like road kill in this shot, but he's the cutest road kill I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot out here. Poor critters.).

Topher's first Candy OD

Be careful, or he'll bite your nose off.

The real excitement for the night was when Topher got chased by a stampeding herd of goats.

JUMANJI!!!

Err...