Bacheler Christmas

We had a great visit with Nate's side of the family this past weekend. Papa was on breakfast duty each morning. Uncle Dan and Aunt Molly got to practice their parenting skills (Owen's cousin is due in April!) Grandma seemed to win the 'get Owen to fall asleep' award for the weekend, and Owen met his first dog up close and personal. We had quite a spread for our early Christmas celebratory dinner - I slathered the 'Clark Gable' pork roast in garlic and rosemary and it turned out beautiful - juicy and flavorful. And my first try at baked apples was a big hit, too. Along with Grandma Pam's spinach salad and lots of sweet treats for dessert, we ate well.

Here's proof that Santa Claus came to our house....Dad helped Owen out with most of his present unwrapping.
The gang as we sat down to dinner...
And lastly, a funny parting shot of Owen entitled "Baby in Space"...

We hit the road for RI tomorrow - wish us luck on the two day car ride!

Awaiting guests and the quest for head control

This week, we're looking forward to the arrival of the Bacheler clan to Green Bay for an early Christmas celebration. Grandma and Papa arrive tomorrow afternoon; Uncle Dan, Aunt Molly and doggy-cousin Lucia will get here around lunchtime on Saturday. I'm planning a feast for us all on Sat night - the menu will include garlic and rosemary-studded pork roast (I got a Clark Gable roast at a nearby grocer that has a beautiful old-fashioned meat counter/butcher; never heard of that style of roast before, have you?), baked apples (Cooks Illustrated magazine recipe), Grandma Pam's wonderful spinach salad, rolls, and my homemade chocolate mint cookies for dessert...stay tuned for photos from our visit.

Here are a couple more video clips to show Owen's daily head control work-out regiment. He's getting stronger (and more vocal!) by the day.

Blizzard Allison

The snow started falling late yesterday morning, and by this morning, when Nate got up at 6am to shovel the driveway so he could leave for work, there was 14" on the ground. Blizzard Allison they're calling it - I guess they name bad snowstorms just like they name hurricanes.

After shoveling for an hour, Nate came back in and check his email and found that (for the first time in at least 12 years, according to a co-worker) UW-Green Bay was officially closed for the day. Snow day!! Still, with lots of grading to get done, Nate decided to brave the roads and drove to campus to pick up some lab reports. Apparently he was the only one crazy enough to do so, as he didn't see any other cars in the campus parking lot...

We all bundled up briefly this afternoon so that we could show Owen what snow is all about. Here are father and chubby-cheeked son, plunked down in the snow drift that Nate made with all of his shoveling...
and a wider shot back toward our house, for perspective

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ~ blizzard warnings are in effect until midnight tonight.

Owen's New Tricks

Every day, the head gets stronger, the legs are kicking more, and the vocalizations are increasingly entertaining. Below are some video clips to show off some of the new talents that Owen is acquiring. Also photos of a favorite evening position - napping in Dad's arms in the rocker. And documentation of our first walk in snow....

Here come the holidays

Well, we've made it to December without so much as a flurry of snow here in Green Bay. And the local weather experts are predicting a less snowy winter than last year (40-50" expected, as opposed to 80-90" like last year). We'll see how accurate their predictions are...

Owen did quite well during his first long car ride over the Thanksgiving holiday. We tested his road-readiness by braving the Chicago traffic on Wed. evening and, as expected, were stuck in stop-and-go traffic for quite a while. But we made it to central Indiana by 9pm or so and only had another 2.5 hours to our destination in Wapakoneta Ohio on Thanksgiving morning. Nate's Aunt Pat and Uncle Bob host an ever-growing group of family for the holiday. I think there were 14 of us staying at the house. Owen got lots of attention and still found time to nap amidst all the conversations, TV football, and other young cousins running around. A good time was had by all.

A very happy birthday (tomorrow) to Nannie! We can't wait to see the whole Daley clan in a few short weeks.