Merry Christmas '09

Ok, ok.... I know this is SO late, but here is one of my favorite photos of my two sweet children in their Christmas best! This was Iain's first Christmas, of course, so he wasn't quite as cooperative as Jaiden was with the picture taking (hence the pacifier).

(It took FOREVER to get this shot, by the way.... but I'll save that for another post, when I have a little time to show all the "fun" we had!)

Official Baby Announcement

Here is the baby announcement I created for Iain... using digital scrapbook elements. I printed them out and pasted them on brown, green or cream cardstock... of course, you can't see that part in this picture, but you get the idea! ;)

My Pirate Teddy Bear

It's official. Iain cracks me up.

He makes the funniest noises and silliest faces, and he is SO wiggly! (He was wiggly when he was "baking," too, so I guess this excessive movement should come as no surprise!)

One of the most entertaining faces that Iain currently makes is when he squinches up just the right side, half-closing one eye, which sort of resembles a pirate... or, at least, that's what I think when I see him do it! And one of the cutest moments of him making this face was actually captured on film (not that we use film anymore; it's just a saying!).

Sean and I were getting ready to go out and about, and we dressed Iain in his warm, fuzzy teddy bear suit (complete with teddy bear ears... and tail). I wanted to get a picture, but Iain wasn't really in the photo-snapping mood. He was in the squirming mood. But it made for a GREAT photo! Don't you think?

Iain, my pirate teddy bear! AAaRRRrrrrr!!!

How to Make a Newborn Smile....

Iain is nearly 5 weeks old, and I've seen a few dimpled smiles come and go.... Of course, as most mommies know, a good majority of those smiles had more to do with tummy issues and gas pains than with actual moments of hilarity or joy. As well, a large handful of those remaining smiles appeared while Iain was in the midst of sound sleep.

But -- hey -- I'll take what I can get until the REAL smiles start to show up!

In the meantime, here is a story -- in pictures (with my iPhone, no less)-- of Iain's reactions to me trying to get a cute little baby smile out of him....

Why is my pacifier on mommy's head?


Wait... now she has my socks on her fingers....


Is there any more food left over here?


Is that my bottle?


Let me get closer for a good look.... and maybe a taste.


Man... that wasn't my bottle. Oh look -- a fan!


Arrgh -- quit tickling me with your hair, mommy.... or I'll have to keep doing this pirate impersonation.


Seriously... we're back to the pacifier trick again?


It wasn't funny the first time....


Now I'm bored. And cold. Can you put those socks back on my hands?


Now that's kind of funny!

And now a few words...

OK, this isn't actually a few words from my "sponsors," so to speak. But I wanted to take a few moments to share some "business news." So please bear with me!

As you may or may not know, I recently started up TWO new home-based businesses -- B's Purses and Shure Pets -- which will hopefully enable me to spend more time with my newly expanded family, meet financial needs (since the status of my full-time job has changed) and get to know all of you!

I haven't had too much time -- or energy -- to put into either business lately, so I'm off to a slow start... But I LOVE the products offered by B's Purses and by Shure Pets, and I'm hopeful that YOU will love them, too!



That's why I am asking for YOUR assistance! So let me know if you would like to host a purse party or a pet party! I am scheduling now for January and February! You can do one completely online -- a perfect alternative if you and/or your guests don't live near Birmingham, Alabama. You can do a catalog party... where I'll send you catalogs, and you can pass them out to your friends for their orders. Or, you can host a home party, and I'll bring the products and details to YOU!

Check out my B's Purses blog and Rowdy and Teddy's Shure Pets blog for more details about current specials! (i.e. B's Purses is offering DOUBLE hostess rewards through March 1! And there are a bunch of grrrrreat discounts for your Shure Pets orders in January!)

THANK YOU!

Daddy & Iain

To complete the set of pictures, I had to take one with Sean and our little guy!

A few more pics of Iain....

Jaiden and Iain



Mommy and Iain