Macaroni Monster

Lafe snapped these great pictures after we let Stetson feed himself macaroni and cheese. He went through a week-long phase where he refused to eat anything unless it was finger food. This was by far the messiest meal we've had!

Laundry Day

We snapped this picture while we were in Arizona. We panicked when we realized that we couldn't see Stetson, so we went looking through my parents' house trying to find him. Lafe finally found him like this -- in the upstairs laundry room, peering out from the dryer. We had no idea he was such a climber!

This shot is perfect for today. I'm aggravated about laundry. I'm finally finishing up this week's. I usually do all my laundry on Thursdays, but this week our little family of three managed to dirty enough clothing for eight loads of laundry. I put the blame on winter. Winter clothes are bulky and they always end up soggy. Plus you have to wear so many clothes in the winter! Today Stetson had on socks, an undershirt, and pajama bottoms all underneath a t-shirt, pants and jacket. Of course, he then managed to knock over a bowl of soup I'd left on the counter, covering himself in potato stickiness. So we're on our second set of everything.

Stetson is always a big help when it comes to laundry. He loves playing in the baskets and pulling all the clothes out. Yesterday he even helped me sort my sock drawer. Before moving to Cleveland, I thought that socks epitomized winter. Only in the most frigid of conditions would I be forced to wear socks and shoes. On the rare chance that flip-flops would not do, then I'd endure a cute pair of socks for a day or two. But moving to Cleveland, I've learned that not all socks work for winter. For example, cute socks just don't cut it. No, we're in the world of wool now. Plus, your shoes get covered in snow so you're always taking them off at people's houses. Your socks have to be in completely presentable condition. So Stetson and I went through my drawer, throwing out any socks with holes and putting the cute, thin socks I used to love at the bottom. Stetson's favorite part was when I'd put my hand in one to check for holes and then use it as a puppet. It was good for an hour of sock puppet goodness! I guess there are some good to laundry (besides the whole looking presentable and smelling good part).

So here's to the Sisyphean task of laundry. And longing for the flip-floppin' days of summer.

To a new year and new adventures!

2007 was a pretty exciting year for us -- we had a baby, applied to dental school, got accepted to dental school, packed up and moved to Cleveland. So we made sure to send it out with a bang!

We spent a month in Arizona eating, shopping, and visiting with friends and family. Stetson was the busiest of all! While we were in Arizona, he...

... cut three new teeth (bringing the grand total to four). His new toothy grin makes him even more adorable than before.

... threw a fit when Santa came to visit (even though it was Poppa).

... celebrated his first Christmas. I don't understand all the hype about a white Christmas. I'll take green any day!


... went on his first small airplane ride. (He's been on 13 commercial flights).

... took his first trip to Disneyland. (We went with my family. Sadly, Lafe couldn't be there because he had to go back to school.)

... learned to walk! (This is actually another picture at Disneyland. I just realized that we don't have any pictures of Stetson walking!)

After all that partying, we're glad to be back home, although we miss all the family and great weather. We look forward to all that 2008 holds for us. Happy New Year!

Christmas in Arizona

We celebrated a very merry Christmas with both of our families in Arizona. Stetson was so sleepy on Christmas morning that we let him sleep while we opened presents. He woke up for breakfast omelets, then opened his presents when the cousins came over.

No Christmas Day nap for us! After cleaning up, we headed to Dane and Alysen's. We opened more presents, stuffed our faces and played Guitar Hero. We also learned that Stetson loves lemon meringue pie. Here are some highlights from that day...

We'll be home for Christmas!

We're in Arizona for the holidays, so we'll be MIA from the blog scene while we soak up the sun and hang out with family and friends. If you're in town, we'd love to see you. Have a very merry Christmas!

Cool, Cool Cleveland...

It's definitely chilly here in Cleveland. Fortunately, Stetson and I had a little reprieve from the cold when we went to Arizona for two weeks. Lafe had finals, so he was able to do heaps of studying while we were gone, but we missed him so much. Stetson and I had a blast hanging out with all the family and soaking up the sun.

Stetson loved playing with Mason!

Luke babysitting Stetson...

Hangin' with the Chaffee cousins in Grami's playroom.

We were only home for 48 hours before we headed to Lee and Vanessa's for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania!

We had a great time at Lee and Vanessa's. Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous. Vanessa brined a delicious 20-pound turkey, and her lemon meringue pie was picture-perfect (and tasted awesome, too). To keep the kids out of the kitchen, we headed to the creek behind their house. [Lafe took all the pictures at the creek]

We spent the rest of the week playing games, going to the outlet malls at midnight on Thanksgiving, and having an awesome breakfast buffet Saturday morning at Shady Maple Smorgasbord (more than 200 feet of all you can eat, home-cooked food for $8.99).


Stetson playing with Noah B. at Thanksgiving dinner.


Thanksgiving is yummy! (and so is this basketball...)

Little Edison was so perfectly behaved that we hardly knew he was there. Jaxon and Lily are such a good time and were wonderful with Stetson. Lily is all sass. Here are some of my favorite Lily-isms from the week...

Lacy: "Lily, do you like to wear cute clothes and shoes?"
Lily: "That's what I do."

Lily: (after every single toy commercial) "Jaxon, will you get that for my birthday?"
Jaxon: "Only if you share."

Lily: "Fine. If you don't watch this movie with me, then you don't get to watch the next one. We're not going to watch any movies then."


Jaxon is a little techno-phile. If he wasn't playing on the mac, then he was taking pictures on my LG Chocolate phone. It made for a pretty funny moment when I was browsing my phone's pictures on the drive home and realized Jaxon had snapped a picture of Lily going to the bathroom. Thanks, Jaxon! At least it was Lily and not Lee...

All in all, we had a wonderful time! But it's good to be home again. We're only here for two weeks while Lafe does sealants, then it's off to Arizona again for the holidays.