Jennifer, Brandon & Corbin’s Journal

Well, I have tried & tried to get my hosting company to figure out what’s going on w/ our gallery & site, but to no avail. So, we have decided to move our blog & gallery to the free site, Shutterfly. We have moved the majority of Corbin photos and a select few “pre-Corbin” photos over to the site, along with a few of our latest Blog entries from here.

So, update your bookmarks to http://hurlburts.shutterfly.com and visit us there! You can sign up as a member to get updates when things change, if we haven’t already added you as one

Well we did it; we survived Corbin’s first Christmas. We made every effort we could to make sure everybody got to see him and it resulted in quite the miles being logged on the new Outlook. But it was worth every minute on the road!

On 12/13, Starkey had their annual holiday celebration and we took Corbin there to get a look at Santa and his Reindeer.

We went right before his usual morning nap time, so about the time that he was getting put on Santa’s lap, he was pretty well sleeping w/ his eyes open. Nonetheless some co-workers of mine got to see him again and were, of course, commenting on how cute he was. It helped that he has become quite the little flirt when he meets new people – smiling and tilting his head to one side.

The next celebration we attended was the one at my family’s in Lone Rock. This was on 12/20, and was held at my Grandpa’s farm outside town. The Thomas’ couldn’t make it due to weather – we had come down the night before so we beat the ensuing storm. We were the first to arrive and Corbin was in a great mood for Grandpa

The rest of the gang also showed up and enjoyed playing with our now crawling, babbling, and smiling baby. He had only gotten about 30min of his usual 1.5hr morning nap in the ride up from Algona, so he was soon cranky and we put him down for a nap. He slept for quite a while – I’m sure he was exhausted from all the attention!

That afternoon/evening we were scheduled to be in Rochester for Jennifer’s Mom’s side’s Christmas, but got word back earlier that day that the MN DOT had closed portions of I-35 and I-90 due to bad road conditions. We elected to stay at my dad’s that evening and take off the next (Sunday) morning. Despite waiting for conditions to “improve,” here’s a look at what we drove through that morning on our way back to the cities.

Fortunately it seemed that the drifts were all accumulating on the side of the road we were not driving on.

Our next planned trip was for Christmas Day down to Algona. Well, we couldn’t wait that long and decided to go down Christmas Eve. This meant that our family Christmas was celebrated on 12/23. We literally took over 100 photos of Corbin and his first Christmas at home opening his presents, so I can’t post too many here, but of course they can be found in the gallery.

Among the gifts that we spoiled him with were his own “ball pit,” a set of gears like that which he loves at Grandma & Grandpa Wittenberg’s, a 4′x7′ foam mat with alphabet letters for his room, some puzzles, and a musical “table”  he can stand or sit at.

I also pulled off a pretty good surprise for Jennifer by purchasing a piece of artwork by Amy Christie that she had been coveting for quite some time. She thought it was sold to somebody else because it was marked “Sold” at an art show she attended, but that “somebody else” was me

The next day we set out for Algona where Corbin got to, once again, meet his cousin Jordan. We were told she was quite excited that he was going to be coming. At this point the age difference doesn’t provide much in the way of common interests, but they still enjoy seeing one another.
Corbin also showed off the fixation with electronics that he still has

During this trip down we also stopped at the nursing home in Bancroft to visit Grandma Hurlburt. She wasn’t able to make it to the gathering on 12/20 as the flu was going around the home there and they wouldn’t let her leave nor accept any visitors. It was pretty bad. I called Grandpa and asked if we could come this time and he said that was fine. I think he may have gotten a reprimanding from the nurses as there still was a sign on the door saying no visitors were allowed. He had, however, moved Grandma to the front area instead of her room so we could visit for a few minutes. Grandma was the best she’s ever been since we had visited her and we caught this great photo.

After that we went to my Dad’s to celebrate Christmas there where Corbin received yet another huge play toy. Our living room now looks like a baby carnival but Corbin loves every minute of it!

The next day we headed out to Rochester to celebrate Christmas with Jennifer’s Dad’s side, and then it was finally back home here this past Sunday.

New Year’s Eve we celebrated quietly here at home with Jennifer’s Aunt, Cheri, by watching a movie and then watching the ball drop in Times Square.

All-in-all it was a great celebration in our eyes and we couldn’t be happier with our new baby boy. 2008 was a great year for us and much of our family despite all the economic issues, and we hope that 2009 will be at least as good.

We love you all and hope that everybody keeps in touch with us throughout the new year.

Jennifer had been spending almost every idle minute on her laptop computer near the patio. She was researching, reading, questioning, and signing up & posting on a myriad of forums and message boards to learn as much as she could. It really had almost become an obsession since I finally gave in and said “ok” – heck it was even a daily topic before that!

We sent off a deposit and anxiously awaited the day, which happened to be our first anniversary.

Then it finally came – June 19, 2005. We hopped in the car and drove for hours, north through the upper part of Maryland, then west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Finally we reach a small town and turned on to a road where the first house was a lovely log cabin-like structure. We came up the laneway and could barely contain our enthusiasm!
“Are you sure?” I asked Jennifer one more time.
“Of course!” she replied.

We had stopped at the bank before leaving to get the rest of the money, and a lady greeted us as we walked up to the front of the house. We handed her the money, “Great I’ll be right back,” she said.

She returned moments later.

Then there he was

We could hardly contain ourselves as we let him run around outside there, with the friends he no doubt had come to love during his first 8 weeks of life. Jennifer had spotted him online with this brothers and sisters, and we picked him out from this picture when the owner said he was the most plump & rowdy of the litter!

“Sebastian” was the name we had come up with. We wanted something that sounded cute and fun, but that we could shorten to something equally loving – “Bash” became more the rule than the exception.
Little did we know that as we shared our lives with him over the next 3 years he would have a multitude of names – Basha, Boosh, Booshness, Boosha – how we ever came to replace the ‘a’ with a ‘oo’ we haven’t the faintest idea.

We now were responsible for another life, and had taken the first step to really feeling like part of our own little Family instead of just Jennifer and I always out on adventures on weekends, seeing the sights, and going out on the town whenever we felt like it. Now we had responsibility. And we loved every minute of it.

His domain for the first few weeks in Maryland become our kitchen. We bought baby gates to keep him contained while we taught him how to let us know when he needed to go out, and where he needed to go.

We quickly found out that having a puppy was a ton of work, not just in caring, but in keeping track of! Bash never ceased to amaze us with the places he knew how to get to, or get under!

Everything he did became adorable to us – we had truly fallen in love with our new little life. From sleeping

to begging

to even just plain looking at us

he was the cutest dog we’d ever seen.

It soon became apparent that Sebastian loved the outdoors. He loved car rides, playing in the grass, and, as we came to visit many times, the water.

Probably the single-most fun place we went was Quiet Waters Dog Park near the Chesapeake bay where Sebastian could run and play in a fenced-in area with other small dogs, or we could take him to the water and he could show all the Labs and other Retrievers that small dogs can swim too!
We tried to take him anywhere we could, involve him in as much as possible, and find things that were even just for him. Sebastian was a part of our first Christmas card when we went to Quiet Waters to get our pictures taken by a professional. She loved working with us and him! He was just as photogenic as could be!

 

The photographer managed to capture an image of Basha that not only captures his essence perfectly in our eyes, but also remains a favorite to this day

Well, as they say, behind every good man is a good woman, and Bash found this out on his first Halloween. Jennifer just couldn’t resist a costume and the opportunity to parade around with other dogs in disguises at the Bark ‘n’ Bash held at Quiet Waters.

Sebastian never had to endure an airplane ride to come with us for Christmas as we moved from DC in November of 2006, to Madison, WI. Before he moved, though, I was away for a week at my new job in Madison – Jennifer and I spoke daily, and she informed me that he seemed “depressed” that I was gone and hadn’t yet come back. He just wasn’t the same, he would lay in the corner seemingly waiting to hear the garage door open. It appeared we had become as much a part of his life as he had of ours. I returned for the big move and was showered endlessly with kisses and tackles as I entered our townhouse apartment in Rockville, Maryland.
Being the great companion that he is, he had no problem with the 21 hour drive. He was our excuse to stop and rest, so he could stretch his legs, eat, and take care of business. He had clearly become the sun that our world revolved around, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Our little family arrived in Madison just in time for Winter, and Sebastian’s first snow. Wouldn’t you know our little furball of joy could barely stand himself when he saw it and first stepped paw into it. Neither Jennifer nor myself are really winter-weather people, but of course we’d take him out for a run around – and bring the camera!

Madison was also where Boosh began the habit of sleeping in a decorative dish we’d received as a gift

How he ever found this comfortable is really beyond us, but of course we found it absolutely adorable.
To say that Sebastian was with us during the good and bad times of our first 3 years of marriage really is a statement that highlights just how much he meant to us. Jennifer never got a full time job while we lived in Wisconsin, and not much else was too different in the way of our expenses. But we did anything we could to keep Sebastian happy and healthy and at the center of our lives. Jennifer once again researched the area and found a large off-leash dog park near where we lived that we could take him to. Over 70 acres of trails, hills, dirt, mud, grass, trees, and open area for him to frolic and meet new friends. It became a weekly routine for us to go there on a walk not only for him, but also for ourselves. Our relationship grew stronger at these moments as we connected with nature, our beloved pet, and each other. We would sit and talk while he played, never straying too far from our site. Just another statement of Sebastian’s love for us and ours for him.
Sebastian made the 5-hour journey with us from Madison to home that Christmas season, and many of our friends and family met our precious little “furbaby” for the first time.

Madison was a short stop on our way to a more permanent living situation, but Sebastian enjoyed his time there probably more than we did. From lounging on the patio chairs, chilling in the baby pool we just had to buy for him since we left the coast, to meeting his cousin Sasha (Becky’s new puppy) and going slip-sliding on the Mississippi when we made the trips back to Iowa.

In July of 2006, we set sail for the great Twin Cities of Minnesota, and our ultra-modern “Flat” at Cloud 9. I have a hunch this was Sebastian’s least-favorite resting spot as the entire floor in the unit was concrete. He could never get any traction on the floor when he wanted to run around. He would always jump from rug to towel to furniture so he would have the opportunity to turn around without sliding completely out of control. As usual though, he was a blast while we lived there.
It was at Cloud 9 that Jennifer and I made the decision to drastically change our lives, and begin trying to have our first child. Again, to say that Sebastian was with us during the best and worst times of our lives is an understatement. We tried for the better part of a year to get pregnant, in the process losing two precious lives. Sebastian was there through it all, to share with us the joy of the || on the pregnancy test, and to be there for hugs, kisses, and cuddles when we came home from the hospital or doctor’s office. He never wavered in his unconditional love for us, no matter what the joy or concern had been.
We were only at Cloud 9 for a year, and then two of the biggest changes in our lives happened nearly back-to-back. We came across a town home not far from there that we loved, and were able to purchase, and shortly before that, Jennifer found out she was pregnant again.

Excited and nervous all at the same time, we moved to Eden Prairie and did everything we could to make sure this baby got to see the world. Appointment after appointment, prescription after prescription, month after month, we hoped and prayed for our little bundle of joy. And then on the snowy morning of March 31, 2008, he arrived. Corbin Daniel. And big brother Sebastian was just as eager as ever to see what had kept Mommy and Daddy away for those few nights.

At first, Sebastian was very confused and concerned when we arrived home with something moving under the cover of the car seat. It took a few days for him to realize that this new “thing” was staying and that he needed to be gentle around him. But they soon became friends.

However as often happens when a baby enters the lives of a family, everything changes. For our beloved Booshness this was unfortunately no exception. He was not, and could not, be the center of our attention any more. We played with him when we could and took him with us on family trips to Iowa but for the most part Corbin now occupied every waking moment of our lives.

Then this December 2008, Jennifer and I made the hardest decision we have ever had to make. We had talked about it in passing. It just wasn’t fair to Sebastian any more. He hadn’t been to a dog park in over a year, and, no fault of his, our patience for accidents and behavioral issues with the baby had begun wearing thin. The couple of nights prior for no obvious reason he had had accidents over night on the carpet, an extreme rarity for our well-behaved pup. It was clear that he was no longer enjoying the life he was leading with us.
And then a blessing. Jennifer mentioned to a co-worker one day that we were considering giving Sebastian away when she responded that they had done the same with their small dog only a year prior because they moved and the dog didn’t handle it well. “Is he good with moving?” she asked. Jennifer nearly laughed out loud. Barb was excited to talk to her husband, Martin about the possibility of really surprising their two children this year for Christmas.
Over the next couple of days Jennifer and Barb talked about Boosh via e-mail and negotiated a “two week trial” for Sebastian – starting on December 10.

As the day drew nearer we started to gather up Sebastian’s things – his many leashes, coats, raincoats, and toys that had come all the way from Maryland and his “Glory Days” as a little puppy in a big big world. We thought about all the time we had shared with our dear friend and faithful companion, and how we wished more than anything that we could keep him with our little family. But the more we thought about how things were, and how things had become, the more clear and correct the choice we were making became.

On December 10, 2008 we took this last picture of our beloved Sebastian with his little brother Corbin:

Followed only too few moments later by a picture of Sebastian with his new family, The Cruz’s: Mercedes, Barb, Jorge, and Martin:

And a final picture of our little family:

The next couple of days & nights were some of the most difficult we’ve ever had. Not having the persistent wagging butt at the top of the stairs when we came home, the jingle of a collar in the middle of the night, or the faithful following around the house was, and continues to be, a very hard adjustment for us. However, Barb & her family have kept us updated with how Sebastian is getting along with them, their house, and their children and everything sounds like it is working out fantastically. He is playing with the children, eating normally, and minding his manners around their home.
For this we are more thankful than I think we ever could be. To give up such a friend was harder, I think, than we could have ever imagined. But to know that he is getting the attention, love, and companionship that he deserves makes the pain much easier to bare.

Sebastian - we learned, we laughed, and we loved for 3 great years. You were with us from your home in Pennsylvania, to our homes in Maryland, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. You stood by us when times were tough and we could barely afford our own groceries, when our hearts were broken with the inability to conceive our own children. And you shared our joy of the birth of our first child and purchase of our first home. You never doubted our love for you, and we yours for us. We wish for you nothing but the happiest life a dog as perfect as you were for us deserves, and we sincerely hope you have found that at your new home.

We will miss you and love you always and forever, little buddy. Rest assured you will not be forgotten, my friend. Take care.

- Brandon (Dad), Jennifer (Mom), and Corbin (little brother)

Well, it’s almost the holidays. Around our house we are already filling up our calendar for December. We are double and even triple booked on some days but that’s part of the excitement of it all. We are excited to see family and friends.
Thanksgiving is around the corner and we are headed to Rochester to celebrate with my family. Jessica should be flying in from Las Vegas and we will miss Stephen and family in Oregon and Tom and family in Arizona. It will be somewhat of a quieter Thanksgiving without Jacob running around. We will miss him!  We wish Jill and Jordan could make it up but we will hopefully be spending lots of time with them over Christmas. I can’t believe Jordan will be 2 in January!

On a little less happy note, this weekend would be about the time our first baby would be turning 1. The baby’s due date was November 22. We are blessed with a baby boy that is so perfect. I mean, he’s only had pink eye once and besides that been completely healthy. He is calm, observant and beautiful. But, as the weekend approaches, I remember the trials we went through to be blessed with him and the babies that lost their life before we knew what the problem was. Of course, both those events led us to have Corbin and we wouldn’t have it any other way. However, it is hard not to think about what our first baby would have been like and what he/she would be doing on his/her first birthday. Though it is sad, I know it was meant to be and we feel lucky to be able to discuss our journey with others who are experiencing the same. I think we both feel like we were given the opportunity to be empathetic about infertility and pregnancy loss in a way that people who have not experienced just can not. I can’t speak for Brandon, but I know that I feel like all the good things about our first two babies were passed on to Corbin and that’s why we have such an extraordinary baby.

Enough sadness! We are wondering how in the world our Christmas tree is going to work this year. I’m somewhat hoping that it will inspire Corbin to crawl over and rip it down. That actually would not be so bad if it would get him moving! He is scooting back and getting up and holding the crawl position but no rocking yet. I really wouldn’t care that he’s not crawling but he gets so frustrated that he cannot get to the places that he wants to be or maneuver over to get a different toy. I have a feeling he will be crawling just a couple weeks and then be working on walking. I am so excited to buy and wrap his Christmas presents. We have always spent Christmas Eve with my family. We went to mass and while we were away Santa came and there were presents waiting for us. We continued that tradition every year until this year. We will be starting that tradition with our own family this year. We will attend children’s mass at Pax Christi on Christmas Eve and then go home to open presents with Corbin. For some reason it has rekindled the spirit of Santa in me. I just cannot wait to experience this with our own little family.

As some of you may have noticed in past years, I LOVE to go all out wrapping and decorating presents. I just like making them beautiful. I think it is part of that whole designing spirit. However, this year I am going to try to push down that need to spend way too much on wrapping gifts that will only be torn open. [please note even in this writing I am trying to convince myself it is unnecessary. Its not working well] This year Corbin will be making our wrapping paper and although it won’t look like it belongs in the window of Papyrus, it will be special for other reasons. Maybe if I put it out there for all of you to read I can resist the urge to buy all that beautiful wrapping paper and accessories that are out there. I know some of you [Becky!] will hold me accountable for having C made paper. After pricing how much it will cost to make the invites I designed I realized I might have been a bit ambitious, but I love the process so much that I am going to do it anyway. My husband will be thrilled to know that he will be cutting out close to 400 squares for them. I think he regrets ever volunteering to cut the first project years ago. He is just so much better than me at cutting and numbers so that job always gets delegated to him. It’s all about teamwork babe!

We are thankful for Corbin. We always knew we wanted to be parents and it’s amazing to know that we yearned for this for so long and didn’t realize how much we really were missing out on. Every day we are amazed at what God has given us in Corbin. He is the light of our lives and we cannot think of one thing we would change. We are thankful for all of you. We will miss Grandma Marion who passed away in August and we know that she, along with Grandma Val and Great-Grandma Sophia, are playing with our little ones who didn’t get to spend time on this earth. We are thankful for being back in the Midwest and surrounded by family and friends. It is great to have the Thomas’ here. It is wonderful to have Aunt Cheri here (and her friends that have become our friends) and I am thankful that her and I have become friends as well as being aunt/niece. She helps keep me grounded here and it’s nice to have a woman that I have always looked up to be a part of my daily life. I am thankful for reconnecting with several friends from high school and hope we will continue to get together in this new stage of our lives. We are thankful we both enjoy our jobs and they provide what we need. We are very thankful for Ann, Corbin’s sitter, who is amazing and has put up with us and our new parent woes. Not to mention that I do not feel the least bit guilty leaving him there in the morning because I know he is loved and well taken care of. That alone means the world to me. We are thankful for The Backyardigans whose theme song will calm Corbin in the event that Daddy doesn’t have food ready quickly enough. Above all, we are thankful that we have a very happy, healthy marriage because without that we wouldn’t truly be able to appreciate all that is listed above.

Maybe I am being sentimental because the holiday season is among us or maybe it’s that we will be celebrating 10 years together in a few weeks. Whatever it is, it feels great to share it all with you and hopefully it ignites something inside of you to think about all the things you have been blessed with too.

Well, whoever you voted for, it was truly a historic day for America when Barack Obama won the presidency. However, I am SO tired of hearing about politics and everyone else’s views. It’s great, really, but when you try to push your ideas on to me, I get annoyed and I’m not really one to fight back about it even when you are totally wrong and probably got your idea from a commercial. I mean not *you* as my reader but as a general statement. Okay ending vent!

Corbin LOVED swimming lessons and it was so warm it was like a cool bath so there were no heating issues. They actually have a separate pool for the little ones (and elderly) who can’t handle the very cool water of the regular pool. Of course our baby was the best swimmer While I say that sarcastically, he was the only one who has perfected his dolphin kick and was flapping his arms like he was really going places. If only he had that much motivation to crawl, maybe he would be getting places. We have always known he was a water baby. From the time we brought him home, he LOVED bath time. No screaming naked baby for us! He just kicked and splashed and had fun. At home he chases down the blinking rubber duckies that Stephen and Diane got us while they were home. His bath is also a big rubber duck that sits in the regular bath, courtesy of Auntie Jill. What can we say? We have a fish on our hands! For the next session of lessons, he will need to be walking on his own so maybe by the spring he can move on from sea turtle to sea lion.

Teeth. Well, he has two popped through and we think the two on either side are also making an entrance. He has been gnawing like crazy on his fingers. His sticks his peace sign fingers in his mouth as to avoid the teeth that are through and just drools. He’s also started on some big boy food. He has done broccoli, noodles, and his favorite, lemon poppy seed muffins. Not to be confused with poopyseed which I just about typed and realized that’s exactly what diapers look like after the muffins. He is trying to master his pincher grasp. Again, if he would work this hard at crawling….

Well, obviously he is not crawling. And I’m pretty okay with that. I am just hoping he doesn’t go through that stage where he is upset because he can’t get a toy and he’s so close. He is attempting to pull up on things already, and when we stand him up he tries hard to cruise. Most of the time he gets his arms going to the left or right and one foot will follow but he doesn’t follow with the other foot. We have a feeling once he does crawl, he will not be crawling for long. I was walking by 9 months so if he follows suit he could be doing that at Christmas but the way things are going, he’s just content being able to spin himself in circles and roll to get places.

School is going great! Nothing really to report except that I love my job. It is so laid back and stress free. I mean don’t get me wrong, we have high goals for the students (like having them ready for kindergarten) but the environment is so different from the last school I was at.

I am working on invites for a couple who is getting married in the spring but they have not yet decided a location (and therefore theme) so maybe they should get on that *coughelbownudgeaniawinkwinkmolly* so that we can decide if it’s a little more frilly or a little more modern. It’s been fun and I’m excited to start working on our Christmas invites.

We get our family photos done this weekend which will be our first time ever having professional ones done. It will be great because she takes them, we choose a package based on how many pictures we want post-processed and then we get them on a CD! YEA! because most photogs won’t give you a CD unless you spend a ridiculous amount of money. We have a GREAT printer so we can print professional quality ourselves and I can use the photos for anything-like scrapbooking or Christmas cards without ordering them for ridiculous amounts of money.

Also, we upgraded our Kia. Well, actually Brandon dragged me kicking and screaming to the dark side, also known as Saturn. Brandon has owned 3 Saturns already and now we have the 4th sitting in our garage. We bought the Outlook because we felt like we needed more room in our car. After C and the dog got strapped in, there was not much room left! It feels so much better to have some SPACE. We had been thinking on it for a while but a great deal arose so we took it. So far, I love it! (but don’t tell Brandon).

Well I think that is everything you’d want to know and much more. I see Brandon put up a Christmas wish list. My mom asked for one so I guess he figured he’d share it with the world. I guess he also thought it was a baby shower since apparently Corbin is asking for diapers and food. Somehow I don’t think he’d be impressed with that….

This morning Jennifer and I woke up and took the baby boy along with us to vote! He, of course, did really well for most of the time we were waiting in line – all told it took us about an hour from the time we arrived to the time we walked out.

We are anxious to see what the evening brings and who our next President will be!

What channel(s) are you going to watch tonight for your updates?

On a different note, Corbin starts his swimming lessons tonight with Mommy. Both are quite excited about it – we are anxious to see how he’ll take to the (cold!) water. He seems to like bath time quite a bit lately, kicking & splashing all about, not to mention chasing down his rubber duckies! Hopefully he’ll have the same enjoyment in the pool!

Read an article today about how Bill Gates has apparently started a new “mysterious” tech company – named “bgC3″. That’s an awful lot like BC3!

Well yesterday Anne finally showed Mom why I haven’t quite been myself at night lately… my mouth hurts!
I’ve been chewing and chewing but nothing seems to do the trick, as near as I can tell I have two things poking up through the bottom of my mouth!
Dad came home yesterday and Mom showed him, but I don’t like when they’re digging around with their fingers in there and trying to pull my lip down. Now they’re always putting some funny-tasting stuff in my mouth and then it feels all funny – but it doesn’t hurt anymore.

I’m sure Mom and Dad will try to get a picture of it since they both seemed so excited about it, but I hope there’s not much more of this, it’s really annoying!

edit: I told you they’d get pictures!

Well, as previous posted, we have been super busy this fall but I’ve been loving it! My job is going fantastic and I haven’t ever had such a stress-free job. It’s been a great experience and I’m glad I took the leap and just did it. It was a little scary to think about teaching 3 and 4 year olds that didn’t speak English but its turning out to be the best leap I’ve ever taken. It definitely has been nice to be home with Corbin on Fridays!

The 6 month pictures went well. The urban ones went really well and although we had a fantastic setting for his country pictures (Thanks Auntie Cindy and John!), we got there at high noon on a very bright day after a 3 hour drive (cranky!) so they weren’t as great as I anticipated but there are a few in there worth looking at. One that  you should really look at is here. No, that bumblebee is NOT Photoshopped in. There were lots of the little critters around that area and I just got lucky. I have no idea where it went because in the next frame it was gone. I couldn’t do that again if I tried!

This past weekend we went to Algona to visit our family. It was so nice to see everyone and there were all amazed to see how much Corbin has grown. Almost everyone we encountered commented on what a happy baby he is. He really is so laid back and not much gets to him. Grandpa Randy had him laughing so hard we thought he was going to get the hiccups. Its the first time he is laughed THAT hard before. It was very cute.

Janelle and I went out and shot some pictures of her around town. Mostly on a train trestle near our house. Well, if near means down the street and through a cemetery. By the time we got to the trestles we were covered in burrs but it was fun to take the camera out and have a subject that would do whatever I wanted her to do. I just wanted to play with the settings and learn the new camera some more. Pictures of that will be up (maybe) later. They have to be approved by Janelle. *insert eye roll here* She was great though. We also got some pictures of Corbin at Call State Park among all the leaves. They will also be posted soon but as you can imagine, after a busy family-filled weekend we are ready to crash!

I will try to update more often but for now look for pics in the upcoming days!

I don’t know how I ever forgot this in my previous posting, but we have also had Corbin’s first prescription! Yup, a couple weeks ago, we started noticing some green "goo" in his eyes – I’m sure most of you right now are saying "oh no!" as you have guessed it – pink eye! So we have been putting drops in his eyes (what a pain!) since then and it’s cleared up.

Also, we are noticing that he is finally discovering that chewing on his thumb is much less hazardous than his fingers – he doesn’t choke himself! So he’s found his thumb but isn’t quite holding it "right," just sticks it in his mouth and gnaws on it for now.