40 minus 1

Today is my birthday...39 yrs young. It's the kind I tend to pay less attention to, since I tend to focus on the milestones. Contrary to many women, I'm actually excited about turning 40. Now that I know a lot of 40-somethings, it seems like a good age to be.

Since I had to work today (an unfortunately reality of being a treasury professional), we marked my birthday yesterday by going to my favorite sushi place, Minado. It's a Japanese seafood buffet; all-you-can-eat sushi for $20 -- a "bahgin" in Boston.

We usually go to Minado after church with our friends Jon and Oil. This time we were joined by Ken & Lisa too. Six adults and 4 kids under the age of 3, missing their naps as we stuffed face. It was a great time.














Riley began shoving maki rolls in his mouth before we got back to our table. The fish eggs (right) were a particular favorite and he got it all over his pants and high chair.









CeCe joined us about half-way through after catching a short nap. Check out Jon's colorful plate with his first round of sushi:









Zac & Zippy showing off their expert handling of chopsticks. No fair, they're half Thai:









After finishing our meal, the kids enjoyed looking out the window and saying hi to people, while the adults talked. They kept themselves entertained for almost an hour, I'd guess.









I captured the kids spinning around, though my inability to talk and film at the same time is evident there in the beginning...ha:


The latest family shot with Riley plugging his ears -- one of his latest discoveries.



















My actual present is coming in Feb...a concert with four of my favorite artists all on one stage. It's a rare treat and I can't wait!

My pre-birthday was a great day spent with my friends and family. Thanks to the Zivans and Crounses to helping to make it special. Now, the countdown to 40 begins!

Shelby

christmas vacation week

This week began with disappointment for us. The last blog entry was about day one of trying to get on a plane to go to Seattle. The next day didn't go any better. We had tickets to Seattle passing through Salt Lake City, but our flight from Salt Lake to Seattle canceled and that effectively canceled the trip. It was a big deal because of how little the Browning clan gets to see us and more specifically Riley. It's really important to us that he knows his family well on both sides, so this was a loss.

So we got a couple of extra days at home. We were in a pretty crappy place, so there's not much to report there. One good thing that happened on Monday was that Shelby was able to take Riley to his swim lesson. They both really enjoyed that. We also got to do Christmas shopping for me (new work clothes) and got me some winter boots, gloves and snowshoes. That was more of a family gift (did I ever tell you how much I hate snow?) It will give us a fun activity to do as a family during snowy weather (we have a sled for Riley) and hopefully it will help me to dread the white nastiness a little less. Shelby did some shopping for herself on Tuesday.

The change of plans meant that we would be spending Christmas with the Berg clan. First we had a leisurely Wednesday morning. Riley demonstrated for Mama how he helps Daddy grind beans to make coffee. He also likes the feeling of the vibration on his teeth:














We headed down to CT in the afternoon. When we got to Grandma Berg's house Riley went to check out the tree with Mama. He loved the lights and the "balls" (ornaments.)














When it was time for dinner at Grandma's Riley wore his newest piece of clothing:














When told that the bib said I love Grandma he patted it with his hand. Very sweet.

There were also Christmas Presents for Riley on Christmas Eve:

Like any basketball great Riley knows that you have to take the ball to the hoop














Any ball














Basketbat?














Basketball video:


Baseball with Mama














Again, not totally clear on the concept...














Baseball video:

On Christmas Day it was off to my brother Drew's house for dinner and gifts with Drew and Bruce's families. We had a great dinner and Riley got to play with his cousins:

Hanging out with Daniella














Physicist Riley at the chalk board














Upside down with Bruce














Riley also got to play Sean's drums. We really hope that Riley wants to be a drummer as we'd love to have one in the family (Mama plays piano and Daddy plays guitar.) So hard to find a decent drummer, great to have one at home. And yes we are fully aware of how loud they are. Daddy has also always wanted to play the drums...

Our Little Drummer Boy














Drums video:

When it came time for gifts the nieces and nephews were very confused by our gift of travel sized Sensodyne toothpaste:














Until they found the money stashed inside. We wanted the toothpaste for when we travel (which is frequently.) They were very happy to let go of it... The rest of the gift went over quite well.

As difficult as it was to have our travel plans ruined by the awful weather, it was good for me that we were in CT for Christmas this year. This was the first Christmas since my Dad's passing and so it was good to be with my family. Especially Mom. With the way that the doors just kept slamming in our faces when we were trying to get out of Boston it would appear that perhaps God thought we needed to be in CT too. The presence of family can be very comforting at times. And as my Mom often says, the toughest things are "firsts."

We headed back home after Christmas dinner because the next day we were off to visit Shelby's cousins up in Maine. Shelby and I babysat Jon and Julie's new dog (Erica can pretty much take care of herself at age 10, so she wasn't hard to watch) so that they could go out and celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary. Erica loved playing with Riley and his new Legos:

Back home again Saturday Afternoon. For not being able to travel as we planned we certainly spent enough time traveling.

I also spent a little time reflecting on the 'reason for the season' while hanging out with my boy. We have a God who sent His son as a baby at what we know as Christmas fully knowing that he was sending him to suffer and die for those who believe in Him. I am even more amazed at this after having become a father.

If it was my son I'd have to say, "Sorry world, you're out of luck."

I'm so glad to have a God who is so very much bigger, stronger, wiser and more compassionate than I could ever be. Praise You and thank You Lord. You have blessed me and mine unimaginably.

Jonathan

what to do when your flight gets cancelled...

Today was the day we were supposed to fly to Seattle for Christmas with Shelby's family. We got to the airport very easily and quickly and were hoping that it was an omen. It wasn't. After sitting there seeing our flight listed as on time and then with a 15 minute delay the flight was canceled. One more reason for me to hate the snow (as if I needed more...)

Riley was a trooper through the whole thing. Once we got settled into seats near the window he had a good time. Some pictures:

Checking the snow and ice on the window














Airport Gymnastics














Ready to dismount














Water break














Here's a video of him doing gymnastics by the terminal window:



Once we found out that our flight was canceled we went through the process of getting our bags and going back to our car. Riley got a chance to practice his driving skills while Daddy packed the car:














Then we figured all was not lost since now we had time to go out for a sushi lunch at one of our favorite places, Sake. Riley joined in on the feast:














Riley got special treatment with a warm damp towel to wash his hands with after eating. Then all the waitresses had to come over and give him a Christmas present when it was time to go. He told them thank you with sign language and said, "Bye bye!" They were all very impressed.














Since we had no plans for the rest of the day, we called our friends Justin and Alecia and made impromptu plans for dinner and hanging out:

We found some minor changes had been made to our Christmas card



















Justin was able to find Riley's 'tickle' and Riley enjoyed Justin's pizza shirt














Riley loved the fact that the lights in the kitchen were also balls, but was very concerned that one of the lights was not turned on














He was also concerned that the pole lamp might not be turned on














So we checked














We hope to get out tomorrow. The weather isn't looking a lot better on either end of the country. We'll see. It'll be a very long day if we do. And Seattle, where it usually rains and there is no snow now has more than we do.

Great.


Jonathan

bonkers (shower exile for boys) / the third week of advent / moman

Since Shelby was throwing a shower for Dagmar on Saturday we boys had to find someplace to go as it was ladies only. So Riley and I went off to Bonkers. We were accompanied by three other guys whose ladies were at the shower: James (Dagmar's husband), Matt and Luke.

We got to Bonkers and I immediately took Riley into the play area for toddlers. The other guys stayed outside and couldn't have possibly looked more out of their element. Actually, the look they had on their faces was more "deer in the headlights."















Can't really blame them I suppose, James' wife hasn't had their baby yet, Matt is only engaged, and I'm not sure what Luke's status is, but he doesn't have kids. They looked like they felt terribly out of place (that will likely end soon for James at least...) They were actually pretty brave in venturing into this foreign territory.

Riley had fun in the play area:

Hiya!















He's a round peg in a round hole kinda guy...















Riley always slides headfirst















After playing a while we went out to join the other guys out in the main room. Riley spent the majority of the time hitting the buttons on the front of a punching bag game and looking at the lights on the merry-go-round. Matt had to leave early, but James and Luke stayed and talked serious adult talk. That'll change when they have kids...

The shower went well (see Shelby's entry on that.) We got back in time to say goodbye to all and help pack the Wann's car with their shower booty.

The other event of the weekend was the continuation of the four weeks of Christmas...our Advent gift gala for Riley. Some pictures:

Riley loves his Lego Duplos:















The Legos' place was under the couch...















The Stacking Rings went in the truck...















Presents were a little easier to unwrap...














No No Yes Yes was a big hit when read by Mama...















Our boy loves the Christmas tree















Lastly, we got our first snow of the year and Riley loves a "moman." So Daddy was happy to make one for him (regardless of his own feelings about the stuff...)

The Moman















Moman!















I'm trying not to color his thoughts on the white stuff. It's one of the hardest things I've done since becoming a dad!

I love my boy!


Jonathan

water lover

Riley loves water. Any water. He loves to drink it, splash in it when we kayak, turn faucets on and off, watch shower and faucet water flow, flush toilets, take baths and lately, swim with Daddy. Today there were a couple of new things added to the list.

This morning while getting ready I got in the shower and brought Riley into the bathroom with me. He did better with this than being stuck in his crib last week, so I figured it was the way things were going to work for a while.

Well, while I was showering he kept opening the curtain to see what was going on inside. The problem was that he was opening it up enough to let water out. I finally closed both ends up and told him to play outside the shower. Well the next thing I know he's diving face first into the tub with me! The problem was, he was still in his jammies with his slippers on.

He didn't catch himself with his hands as he came in, so he banged his face and started to cry. So here I am with water streaming down over us holding my crying boy. I put him back outside, but realized as I put him out there that he would be cold (and he immediately started to whimper.) So I shut down the shower, off came the jammies, slippers and diaper, and in came Riley!

He didn't seem to know what to think of it at first, but he did enjoy playing in the water and getting splashed by Daddy. He also loved running down the hall naked after we dried off...

Everything took me twice as long to do, but I knew where Riley was and what he was doing at least. So he's had his first real shower.

The second new thing came while we were at swim lessons. Riley has always enjoyed "jumping" from the side of the pool to Daddy (with me holding him the whole time) and has gotten a kick out of being partially dunked in the water as he lands. So when he was insisting upon going to the opposite side of the lane line yesterday I had an idea... So I told him I was going to bring him under the lane line back to me, said, "One, two, three!" and pulled him under the water to my side. He came up laughing, pointing to the other side and saying, "More, more!"

We probably did it a dozen times before it was time to get out of the pool. I never expected getting him to hold his breath under water to be so easy or so much fun. But our boy loves the water!

We love our Water Lover!


Jonathan

Dagmar's Baby Shower

My friend Dagmar is one of the first people that I met when I began attending CTK back in January, 2002. In the past six years, we have seen each other through 30-something singleness, marriage and now babies. Dagmar's due to give birth to her first child next month. I had the joy of hosting her baby shower!

We had 13 adults and 5 children in attendance and it took some kitchen & dining room redesign to accommodate the celebrants. Now I know the maximum number that we can host at one time!



















Sebastian was a trooper for being the only male in attendance!









Dagmar had lots of help from the little girls:












She had lots of advice from the moms too...









We had a great time and Dagmar collected some serious baby booty!









Shelby