Howdy Pardner

Yesterday we attended the 2nd birthday party of a friend, and there was a great cowboy theme - complete with a petting zoo and pony ride! Kyle loved having the bandanna on throughout the whole party (he was even pretty unhappy when we had to take it off at home for bath time!) but the hat wasn't such a big hit - it was barely on long enough to snap this photo.

The pony ride was a little worrisome for Kyle, and to begin with he was ready to get off as soon as he was on. But once the pony started walking, he seemed quite content to hold on. In fact, he went back for a second ride a little later! We'll be taking him down our favorite horseback trip into Haleakala Crater before we know it.

Happy trails to you, until we meet again!

The "Littlest One"

Here's our littlest one, getting bigger each time that we take a peek! This time, weighing in at about 20 ounces, and measuring just as expected for 22 1/2 weeks. Dave is still convinced that the facial features are very masculine, but I believe the fact that this one is MUCH smaller than Kyle means that we have a petite little girl. It's hard to believe that we only have another 3+ months until we find out! There was a lot of action during this appointment, even though it was a very quick visit. We saw lots of swallowing, and (s)he was playing with his/her toes up above his/her head (ah, I wish I was still that flexible!) I officially "popped" the week before Christmas, so for those people who hadn't already been told, they now know they news!

Kyle still likes to "listen to the baby" if I am laying on the ground, and in fact, the other day "told" me to lay down and then he proceeded to push up my shirt a little bit and put one ear and then the other to my tummy to check if he could hear anything. Sometimes baby even gets a little wave or a kiss! I have another OB appointment on the 15th, so I am sure that he will like to hear everything through the Doppler then!

Merry Christmas!

We were lucky enough to have Kyle's Great-Grandma come for a visit for Christmas and New Year. Somewhere behind our posed family is our Christmas tree - just a little one this year as we had it up on the coffee table out of Kyle's reach. He was so crafty about it - he knew that he wasn't supposed to touch it, so he would pick something up and try to touch the tree with whatever it was that he was holding! The above shot was filled with much laughter, as Kyle loved having the camera on the tripod, and was clever enough to figure out how the trigger/timer worked, although it took a little bit for him to figure out that he had to run back to be in the photo with us!

Both sides of our families came for Christmas dinner, so we were lucky that our dining room table can expand to hold 10 of us. Along with Maemo, Granpa, and Great-Grandma, we also had Noni, Papa, Uncle Mike and Great-Uncle Charlie. Kyle was a little too excited from all of the other happnenings of the day, so he didn't spend much time sitting down during the big event. On the menu for our Christmas evening was:

Roast Beef with Horseradish-Mustard Sauce
Roasted Potatoes with Tangy Watercress Sauce
Dilled Carrots and Green Beans
Sautéed Leeks and Broccolini with Balsamic Vinegar
Orange, Arugula, and Kalamata Olive Salad
Ciabatta rolls

followed up by a wonderfully rich Chocolate Torte and the traditional Italian Rum Cake.

My apologies for the much-delayed post, I am sure everyone understands how hectic things are over the holiday season!

Wishing you all the best to you and your families,
love, The Walkers