Year in Review

So it's been a very busy year, to say the least. Grad School, Kim working part time at church, getting more involved at church, Erica growing up and starting mother's day out, etc.

I haven't uploaded new pictures since February, but to all of your delight, it's finally time for a new update. I've finally caught up with all of the pictures (over 700 of them), organized them, captioned a few, and uploaded them for your viewing enjoyment. For that matter, I've also gone and captioned many of the pictures that I posted before and never captioned.

I've also got a few more videos that I'll put up in the near future, and we were given a hand-held HD video camera from my parents for Christmas, so there should be more in the future.

For the time being, enjoy all of the great pictures, and happy new year!

March-- House, Rodeo, Strawberries

April 2011- Easter, Walking

First Birthday Week and Party

May 2011 after Birthday

July 2011-- the 4th, Astros, and a Sprinkler

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

Early December

Christmas 2011

Videos!

Last 4 months of pictures

Yet again, 4 months go by and I finally get around to putting up lots of pictures of Erica. We had Thanksgiving, Christmas, a few trips to the zoo, and more. Enjoy the pictures!!

November fun around the house

Thanksgiving

Early December and Zoo

First Christmas-- Weeks Leading up

Christmas Eve and Morning

Christmas Afternoon and Next Day

Post Christmas Around the House

Late January, Early February

Erica and Toby-- a special gallery

I'll get around to captioning them all in the near future. Until then, feel free to comment and enjoy.

Eric

Pictures!!!!

So... It's been a while, I know... we really have been taking lots of pictures and have finally gotten around now to sharing them. They stretch over the last 3 and a half months, so enjoy! We'll write more later.

Erica, 2 and a half months around the house

Erica's First trip to Camp

Erica and Aunt Evelyn

Erica's Baby Dedication

3 Month old around the house

First Solids and Cute Bath Pictures

Trip to SA and more around the house

Kim's Birthday Weekend

Erica's First Football Game

Weekend with family outside of football

Cats and first solid foods

Russians and Playtime

Quick trip to San Antonio

More fun around the house

Trip to Huntsville

Pumpkin Patch!

Freebirds, The Zoo, and More around the house fun

3 Months already

So, since Eric has not been very diligent about updating this blog, and I got into writing in one for my summer Library class, I have decided to update this blog without Eric.

Erica is now 3 months old (already). Seems like it has been just a few weeks, and at the same time, as if it has been 6 months or more. She is growing by leaps and bounds - both physically and developmentally. She is almost 16 lbs and 2 feet tall. She has also started talking (baby talk of course) up a storm. She has something to say about everything, and it is especially cute when you can tell she is complaining about something. She got really mad at Eric the other day because he accidently clipped the tip of her finger instead of just the fingernail. He felt so bad about it, but that wasn't enough for her. He wasn't aloud to speak for about 20 minutes. Every time he'd start to say something she would start crying again. I thought it was really funny, but (for some reason) it wasn't so much to Eric. He already felt really bad about it, but her crying almost broke his heart. Poor, poor Daddy. She did eventually forgive him though.

She is also almost ready to sit up on her own. I will attach a few pics of her almost there. She started scooting across the playmat she has, but she can only do it when she is really, really mad at something.

She also has a new game she plays - there is a video of it below. If she is wearing a dress or shirt, you can ask her "Erica, where is your tummy?" and she will pick up her dress for you to tickle her tummy.

Part of me is very ready for her to sit up alone and crawl and have just a bit more independence - and the other part of me is not at all ready to let go of my sweet little baby.

August 1st was her Baby Dedication at church. All the grandparents came in, as well as Aunt Jenna, Uncle Chris, and Aunt Lisa. It was a great weekend spent with family - I really, really miss living closer to them at times like that. Saturday, the men all went golfing and the women stayed home and played with Erica. We also went out and I got a haircut because Erica has started grabbing things (including my hair) and I decided it was time to remove the temptation. On Sunday, we went to church for the dedication (pics attached) and then we all went out to lunch before everyone headed home. I can't wait to see everyone again at the end of the month - this time we travel to SA.

I know it's been a while...

So today is Erica's 2 month old birthday. We wanted to go bowling but she's had a rough day-- the kind of day that makes mom tell dad "I know you want to run some timely errands but I need you home RIGHT NOW" and Erica finally finally crashed for an afternoon/evening nap on my lap, where I currently hunt and peck through the keyboard with one hand, avoiding reaching over her and waking the princess.

So, there's alot of that's happened since the last post and we've really enjoyed her, as she's enjoyed us.

First, she managed to slip on an Alabama Onesie that her Gross Oma (Kim's Oma) bought for her some long time ago. It kind of pained me to put it on her, and I think it pained her too (she cried thoughout the entire time)... but we promised to put it on her and take pictures. Here are the results:

Erica in the Opposition's Colors

In the weeks since our last photo, we had a visit from my Aunt Patty and Uncle Steven, went to the zoo for Memorial Day, had a visit from Erica's Aunt Amy and Evan (which included a baseball game), and had a game night birthday party for Me. Pictures:

Erica-- Late May-Late June

But wait! There's more!

I'll caption all of these later, but for now, pictures:

Erica Cheers on the USA and poses as the 4th generation

Erica at the Cousin's Wedding where she meets lots of family

4th of July in San Antonio

Erica--What a Month it's been!

So, it's already way too late and I should be asleep instead of posting a blog entry, but I felt like doing it since I haven't done anything in a while.

Erica Danielle Patenaude was born on May 5th, 2010, at 8 lbs, 4 ounces, and 20 inches. She's a beautiful little bundle of joy that has kept us on our toes every day.

I've got plenty of stories already to tell, but for now I'll share plenty of pictures.

Baby Day!

Erica's First Few Weeks

We're Almost There!!!

So it's been way too long, again, since I put up a new post. I've got plenty of great pictures to share from the last month, but first let me update everyone a bit on our progress...

We're about 6 days away at this point. Kim's doctor is worried about the baby's size and that we might find ourselves in a forced C-section situation, so we're planning on inducing on Wednesday, May 5th (if you're planning on praying for us, we'll be in the hospital on Tuesday evening, and we'll also be just as happy with the baby coming early). Both of our parents are planning on coming down from San Antonio. At that point Kim will be 39 weeks-- but she's been ready for about a month now. She's uncomfortable all the time, she feels like a beached whale, she has a hard time getting up from couches and such. Plus, she gets very tired very quickly when out and around.

We see the end in sight, though, and very soon we'll be done beign pregnant and we'll start the journey of parenthood. I'm sure we'll have plenty of great pictures for this blog.

We've been having fun trying to do all of those fun things a married couple does before a baby comes in the mean time. A few weeks ago we went to Hermann Park for a picnic follwed by the painted potter where we painted an elephant and a panda for the baby's room. We installed shower doors in our bathroom and bought new dishwasher with the Texas appliance rebates... Also, we're planning on going to the Chili Cookoff at NASA this weekend.

In other stuff going on in our life, Kim's really been enjoying staying home from work. It's been a great blessing considering the kind of energy teaching was taking out of her, and it's going to make a very nice transition to her staying home for at least a year. We don't know yet how it will work out, and she may have to go back to teaching after a year, but at this point we're trying.

And, now for the pictures...

Baby Shower Part 2 and Late Pregnancy Pics

And now to the baby stuff...

It's getting late and I've stayed up way too late watching my first UT basketball game of the season-- their first round loss in the tourney. Stupid reasons to lose too (missed free throws!) I knew there was a reason I've always been annoyed by basketball compared to much better sports like football and baseball...

I promise I'll give more background, a few hand-picked feature photos, and funny stories in the near future. For now, check out some great pics of Kim and I unpacking loot from the school baby shower as well as pics from the work/sunday school baby shower.

Baby Shower Stuff, Part 1

Cute Cats

So it's not really directly in the topic of Eric, Kim and the baby-- but it's our other babies in the house that I've got alot of cute pictures of recently and wanted to show off.

Toby and Simba have really grown bigger, had their personalities form a bit more, and have enjoyed finding all of the great places to hide and nap around our house.

Here they are enjoying the skirt under the Christmas Tree:



Here they are hanging out on our dining room table, full stretch:



Toby in full living room rug ownership mode...



Simba cuddling up on Kim and the baby (one of Simba's "quirks" is his need to just cuddle up as close as possible to Kim and take a nap there...)



The two of them cuddling up with me on the love seat (if you look closely enough, you'll notice they're really not interested in me-- they're interested in the empty glass with ice that I'm holding)



And finally, the two of them being adorable laid out on the foot of our bed.



They're great cats-- always meowing at us in the morning to feed them, predictably coming to the same spots each time for more scratching (us scratching them, not them scratching us or the furniture), following us around from room to room, and always just being themselves.

For more pictures, go to our latest picasa album:

Toby and Simba being Cute