Nate and Christiana
Dec 1 2009

Happy Birthday, Husband!

Nate’s 27th birthday was the day before Thanksgiving, on November 25th. It’s pretty remarkable to think that on his birthday, two years ago, we had our first coffee date. So much has happened since then! My mom served a delicious breakfast of Dutch Babies (a fancy pancake), bacon and sausage.  David, Shannon and Johnny were in town to celebrate with us. Nate received several fun board games for our life in Cambodia, including Settlers of Catan, Monopoly and Clue. That night, I took him to Maggiano’s at Santana Row. My cousin Jenn generously (and enthusiastically!) offered to babysit Ava. The girls bonded over the movie “Mona Lisa Smile” and they were sad when we had to return home. We were able to celebrate with Nate’s family later that week, where he was generously given a much-needed tripod for his camera and a new game – Wii Sports Resort. Many hours of fun ahead!

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Birthday breakfast

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Settlers of Catan…yay!

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Nate’s first birthday as a daddy.

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Our little pink teddy bear bundled up before heading out. Her annoyed face.

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Maggiano’s…yummy!

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Thanks, Cuz! Ava had a great time with you!

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Dec 1 2009

Ava: “My Firsts”

Ava here…I know that I can’t talk or write yet, but Mom was kind enough to put down some of my thoughts into my first blog post. I wanted to share some of my “firsts” with everyone…

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2 days old – This was quite an eventful day–first  car ride (I LOVE cars!), first sunlight (too bright!), first time to my new home at Nana and Opa’s (my very own room….woo hoo!). As you can see, I am THRILLED!

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4 days old – Through the technological wonders of Skype, I got to meet my Auntie Lydia and Uncle Xidong for the first time. I can’t wait to meet them in person in December! Here’s Daddy holding me up to the camera.

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Here’s the somewhat blurred image that they got to see of me.

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5 days old – First time with a babysitter. Gramps and Grandma Nan took care of me while Daddy took Mommy on a date in Morgan Hill. I slept almost the entire time, but we got to hang out for a little while and discuss the current economic situation.

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Mommy and Daddy saying goodbye when they left on their date. I would have waved back, but I have no control over my arms.

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6 days old – My first walk. We took a stroll around the park near my house and then through the local neighborhood. Mommy was pretty tired after it, but I did great!

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The weather was beautiful! So much more to see than Uterus City.

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Mommy took a turn pushing too.

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10 days old – First visit to the Dr.’s office. I REALLY detested being weighed. I peed all over Daddy in my frustration. I was apparently a little underweight (probably because I slept so much during my meals), but 2 weeks later at the next appointment, I was right on schedule.

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Though I look a bit flustered in this photo, I actually really like Dr. De Villiers and highly recommend her. I was just having a bad day.

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1.5 weeks – My first book – “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. I enjoyed it immensely…especially reading it with my daddy.

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Almost 3 weeks old – My first shopping trip. We went to Kohl’s to shop for Daddy.

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I was mesmerized by the stacks of shirts.

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3.5 weeks – My first REAL bath. I’ll have to say, when I initially got into the water, I really didn’t know what to think: “Hmmm…this is different.” Quickly, however, I realized that it wasn’t that great and even though I tried to explain to Mom that I preferred to be dirty, she went on washing me anyway.

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I was definitely happier when it was all over.

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4 weeks old – My first bottle. I was pretty confused at first with this foreign object, but I caught on quickly. Daddy enjoyed getting to feed me too, since Mommy was having all the fun in that department.

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One month old – First time to church. So many new friends!

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1 mo, 4 days – My first visit to Costco. As you can tell, I was fascinated!

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1 mo, 1 week – I received my very first passport. I’m not particularly thrilled with my photo, but I can get a new one in 5 years, so I guess it’s ok. I can’t wait to fill it with passport stamps! First one…Cambodia!

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My passport mugshot…I look like I’m having a movement…dang it! Better luck next time.

ava sucking thumb

1 mo, 9 days – the first and last record of sucking my thumb. Must have been some fluke thing where my flailing thumb just happened to hit the target of my mouth…I haven’t been able to find it since. Oh well…

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1 mo, 10 days – First time hanging out with Uncle Johnny as he played the piano for me. We had some sweet bonding time.

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1 mo, 3 weeks – I decided that if Mozart could do it, then why not me? Mommy agreed to start my lessons. Uncle J. and I will be playing duets soon! Can’t wait!

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