I remember when I used to talk my dad through it all over the phone. Now I just have to get his address entered in and I can take over his screen. Amazing.

Today was Rob’s 33rd birthday. We spent the morning having our DirecTV fixed by a wonderful tech named Frank. After the storms (I really don’t know which storm, but I am assuming it was the storm after the flooding sometime and probably the same storm in which our wireless router got fried) both of my receivers stopped working so I have been relying on Hulu to get my Shear Genius and Baby Borrowers fixes. Today, Frank installed a HD DVR and life is getting back to normal.

Anyway, after Frank left, Rob suggested leftover pizza for lunch and I countered since it was his birthday, we should go out to the Cheesecake Factory. So, off to the mall it was after a much-needed shower by yours truly. We sat outside, had a nice waiter and they brought out his Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake with confetti sprinkles and “Happy Birthday Rob” written in chocolate sauce with a candle. We took the 1974 SuperBeetle convertible that my dad so generously is loaning us for the summer (there’ll be a separate post with pics in the semi-near future) up to the Fashion Mall and had a nice late lunch and bought Rob some new kicks. I call them his driving shoes because they have thin soles so he can really feel the mechanics of the stick-shift Beetle and where the clutch actually kicks in. I have always worn thin-soled shoes when driving stick shift vehicles because it is something ingrained in me by The Wag at Frick’s Driving School in Mishwaka where I took driver’s ed eons ago. Anyway, it was raining in Anthropologie and the store was closed (I am assuming as a result of yesterday’s downpours), and we stopped in the Sharper Image- which is going out of business that advertises 50-70% off, but is really just normal prices because they mark it up before they mark it down- and laughed at the prices and what was left.

After we left, it was off to the Urgent Care for me as I am developing an ear infection which I just thought was from sleeping weird and maybe with my hand under my head (sometimes I do this and I wake up with a sore ear) until I noticed the right side of my throat hurt when I was swallowing. Just prior to 6 PM must be the perfect time to get to the Urgent Care because I was checked in without a wait and when I came back out to meet Rob the waiting room was full. I guess people get home, eat, and then go to the doctor. After that it was off to CVS where this lady told me I looked so happy and healthy and commented that the car probably contributed to that (which is totally true- it is like Prozac riding around in that thing).

Then I got home and watched some TV, ate some Parmesan breadsticks from Papa John’s (seriously the best breadsticks from a chain pizza place ever available), and saw that my cousin April started a blog about my Grandma and her paintings. That chick is so stinkin’ cool. It’s always cool when you grow up and you realize there are people in your family that you have stuff in common with and you’d probably want to be friends with them even if you weren’t related.

So, it was a good day. And because I’m not leaving you with a photo, I do want to leave you with this super cute doggy video. I could watch this guy’s YouTube video’s all day:

So, I am trying to figure out what to do with pictures on my blog. I can’t decide if I want a slideshow like in this post or if I should just do it where you could click and they would darken the page and pop them up without going to Flickr.

I ask anyone reading this to please give me your opinion. I can’t do both because the plugins conflict. So, do you like the slideshow like in this post better or do you like the Lightbox feature which can be seen here? Let me know in the comments!

Tonight I went through my Flickr and rated some of my favorite pictures of Dylan and Brady.  It was fun to watch them grow on my screen and it was interesting to go back and see the expressions they made as babies and see which was they’ve hung onto.  And Brady looked just like a little old man when he was born.  Too darn cute!  It’s also interesting to see how my photography has evolved and stayed the same.

I give you Dylan and Brady’s greatest hits!

We didn’t know this would be the first wedding we’d be attending this year until about a month ago.  We could not be happier that Rob’s grandma found Dean after his Grandpa Bill passed away.  Dean is a warm an wonderful man and they are really happy together. Look how giddy Rob’s grandma looks in the pictures. And of course I got some cute pics of the little girls in the family- 2 month old Elizabeth and 27 month old Emma.

We went for dinner at a buffet afterwards and Emma got down to business with the ice cream. Kathie just loves being grandma and Lizzie stares at her intently. Rob got to feed her and she held his finger with quite a bit of strength. Then Auntie K got to hold Lizzie and burp her. On the way out of the Sirloin Stockade, we found the best crane game prize ever.  Just what every kid wants- Harry Truman! They also had a janky Itchy and Scratchy toy and buried in the corner was another president- Ulysses S Grant. Then we got home and Nico was sleeping on the pueblo. 

We went to see Elizabeth again last Friday. She’s already getting bigger. I swear she has gained weight- and for once it’s a good thing!Here’s my photo album of all the Elizabeth photos so far…                                                                                  *k*

Rob is now an uncle to a beautiful baby girl. Elizabeth Esther was born at 11:21 PM on Friday, January 18, 2008. She was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 20.5 inches long.We were in Florida visiting my parents, but we got to visit with her for the first time yesterday.Look at Rob with her. It makes my ovaries hurt.Here’s the link to the Elizabeth tag page on my Flickr so you can see them all!

So, this holiday season has been a whirlwind! But it has probably been one of my more favorite years on record. Not so much for the loot- although it was pretty sweet- but for the general cheer and the getting to hang out with our friends and family.The Friday before Christmas we ended up at our friends Steve and Jamie’s house. It was an impromptu party organized over the internet during the day. It was good to be surrounded by good friends.Then on Saturday we met Jeff and Carrie at The BAR at the Broad Ripple Steakhouse for a couple martinis. It was good to see them, and we can’t wait to go to their wedding in L.A. this fall!Sunday, we headed up to South Bend to my parents’ house. The day of Christmas Eve I was woken by a wonderful phone call- Joe (my best man) and Carisse got engaged in Paris! I knew it was coming, but it was still exciting knowing she had the ring. Congrats, you two! Then Rob and I picked up pies, switched my car, ate at Bob Evans, and wrapped a few last-minute gifts. Then we trekked to Angola for Christmas with my mom’s side of the family. The kids were super cute and the Swedish potato sausage was tasty. Dylan got a toy piano and he played and sang us some songs. After we got back to South Bend, we went to Zoë’s and hung out with her family after catching the tail-end of their mostly annual Christmas Eve party. Rob and I ended up wth the largest gift- a giant cartoon made from a couple photos from our wedding rehearsal. There was only one place to hang it when Jimmy brought it down to us (it wouldn’t fit in my Subaru Outback) this weekend- our entryway! Then it was off to Greenfield on Christmas morning where again the gifts were lovely and the company was good. Rob gave me a Nelson spindle clock at his parents’ house and his mom made both of us stockings, which can all be seen in this picture:Then on the 27th it was practically a Warren Central HS reunion when we met up with Rob’s friends Lyle and Catherine, who coordinated a get together at the Broad Ripple Brewpub. Good friends were in abundance as we hung out with Carly and Kevin, Amanda and Neal, Matt and Pooyan, and too many other cool people to list.Anyway, I’m still pretty beat, but I have managed to be fairly productive since the festivities died down. And I feel another big burst of energy coming this week; the New Year can be super energizing!As always, there are more pictures over at my Flickr page. I post a lot of stuff over there and never refernce it here, so you should think about bookmarking my Flickr page or adding me as a contact if you have a Flickr account.

So, Mikey and Diana came down Monday with the kids and I got to have a late lunch/early dinner with them and Diana’s friend Danielle (who also lives here) at a Mexican restaurant. Dylan was completely conked out, and Brady was really good. Here are just a few pics…as usual, click them to make them bigger!

Danielle getting some practice with Brady before she pops out her little girl Addison in 4 months…

Brady grabs Mikey’s face.

Dylan says, “Zzzzzzzzzz.” Although when he’s awake he repeats everything you say.

My cousin Cassie and her husband DJ just had some gorgeous pictures taken with their newest addition, Hunter. Hunter is about 5 or 6 weeks in these pictures. The little girl with them in the grass is DJ’s daughter Reese. So cute! And what a great photographer (although she had good subjects to work with)!

Cassie and DJ and Hunter

Photo © Kimberly Jewell Photography