This shot is DPP Reject #2, though the word “reject” is really just a joke as I love this shot of my nephew Noah. Isn’t he the cutest little baby boy?!

Noah’s sister and cousin, ages three and five respectively, have their moments of sweetness, but I can’t say their best sides were shown on Christmas Day. Of course we love these little girls a million times over and find great joy in them, however we witnessed a bit more bickering, non-sharing, and dramatic behavior than I would have preferred. But Noah? The kid was the picture of sweetness. His big blue eyes delighted in watching the antics of the girls, his dimples oozed adorableness to anyone who smiled at him, and he was a joy. As Adam commented today, Noah’s either going to continue to grow in his sweet personality or become doubly tough in order to keep up with his big sister. I told him, from one second-born to another, that I’d school him in manipulation if he ever needs such skills. ; )

Our children’s zoo opens it’s doors for two weekends in the winter. I never want to go because, let’s face it, who likes to walk around in the winter winds of Nebraska when you don’t have to? But Thanksgiving weekend here was amazing weather-wise, so off we went. I like this shot of Livia and my niece Madeleine because they were entirely engrossed in a completely empty turtle exhibit. Muddy leaves were all that covered the concrete basin, but they found it quite interesting. We had a fun afternoon together, complete with vanilla ice cream cones and a walk with Shiloh through the park. The girls were really sweet to one another—not one squabble over a toy. Praise God for cousins!

It’s the last day of November, peeps. Stretch those fingers, squint those eyes, do a few laps around the yard to wake up your brain in preparation for the December Photo Project! Twenty-five days straight of photography fun in one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. Our list of participants is growing and I get more excited each time someone signs up. Grab a badge and join the challenge of the 2009 DPP!

We enjoyed a really relaxing and delicious day yesterday as we celebrated Thanksgiving with both sets of parents. There is something quite decadent about two turkey dinners in one day, I must say. What I really felt was the wealth of riches God has given us: our parents (now grandparents to Livia) that have raised us faithfully and loved us unconditionally over the years. We are incredibly blessed by our families.

As much as we enjoyed our folks, we did miss our siblings. So Bean, Adam, Kris and Andrew? Can’t wait to see you at Christmas!

Pictured above are a few of the side dishes we ate at the Lawton dinner. There was the sweet potato souffle and bourbon cranberries from Needs More Butter sitting next to The Pioneer Woman’s corn/wild rice dish. We ate our fair share of green bean casserole and stuffing, and of course, the star of every Thanksgiving meal, turkey. Liv and I ate turkey sandwiches tonight and I can’t imagine a better way to eat leftovers than slapping them between mayo-coated slices of bread. Mmm, mmm good.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, what is left of 2009? A lot! The December Photo Project starts shortly (make sure you sign up—it’s fun!), then we have the national holiday known as My Birthday, and finally Christmas. Jesus’ Birthday. Somewhat of a larger event than mine, I suppose. ; )

Kids can’t resist piles of leaves.

And fun-loving adults can’t resist doing things like this.

With minimal arm-twisting, poses are made and captured with my camera.

And then the dog gets involved. I wish I could insert video here because Shiloh’s tunneling and leaf-leaping was absolutely hilarious.

Even the neighbor boy gets involved, because, as we all know, kids can’t resist piles of leaves.

The sweet babe in the following shot had just woken up from a nap. Her eyes were a bit puffy from sleep and her hair was sticking up adorably. I love this tender moment of cuddling between the little punkin and her mama. It’s a privilege to snap shots like this.

The almost-two-year old in the following photo completely cracks me up (on a regular basis). She was looking kind of funny in the pic prior to this one because her tongue, though in her mouth, was thrust under her upper lip. Next thing I know, her tongue is outside her mouth and I’ve got a perfect shot. So funny and so cute.

Oh, this one is sad! Before you feel like I’m a horrible human being for snapping this guy in his moment of distress, you’ve got to know why he was so distraught. He wanted a blue cookie, BLUE, and there was nary a blue cookie to be found. No one in his class had blue cookies, but such rational thought did nothing for the sweet lad. Life is hard sometimes. Sometimes one just needs a blue cookie, what can you say?

The last photo is self-explanatory as I have great love for this kiddo. Could someone please tell me who replaced my baby with a big kid?

We met up with the Weeks and Kirk families last night to enjoy the Lincoln Children’s Zoo Annual fundraiser, Boo at the Zoo. Livia chose to dress up as Tinker Bell for the second year running, which was fine by me. Halloween in Nebraska is almost always a cold-weather event, so my Tink is dressed in a green sweats. I think that will become my yearly challenge—how can I dress my little trick-or-treater warmly?! As you can see, I dressed up too. I love becoming someone different for one night.

The Tredway Three have been home a great deal over the last 10 days or so. It began with the cold weather (and snow!) and continued throughout the following week. Last week was cold, that’s just all there is to it. Cold, cold, cold. One last trip to the children’s zoo? I think not. A nice autumn walk to enjoy the fall colors? Uh, no. Playground? No. Backyard? No. Sit on the porch for a spell? Perhaps a minute tops.

We were homebound. The extrovert and her two introverted family members were tucked away indoors for the duration of the cold spell. And then… Jeremy. got. sick.

Dun, dun, dun!

In the middle of the night, my husband became a shaking mess. With chattering teeth he asked me to cuddle close to warm him up. Let’s just say that getting close to him felt about as comfortable as hugging the sun. He was smoking hot—and not in a good way. I knew he was burning up with fever but he had already taken meds at bedtime (when he knew he was coming down with something), so I tried to warm him up a bit and wait it out ’til morning. A few hours later he wasn’t shaking anymore and informed me his fever had probably broken. I pulled the thermometer out of his mouth: 101.7.

That afternoon I dropped him at the doctor’s office, ran to pick up Livia from preschool, then returned to hear the doctor’s report. I found my sick guy in the waiting room, a paper mask covering the lower part of his face. Another woman, with an infant in her arms, was wearing a mask too. Apparently Jeremy walked into a waiting area full of masked folks. Uh-oh.

Let me pause here to mention the terror and confusion accompanying the H1N1 virus. People are dying of this strain of the flu. People always die of the other strains of the flu. But for whatever reason, perhaps because of its contagious nature, we are all freaking out about H1N1. I have type 1 diabetes and RA. My child is five years old. Jeremy took steroids for allergies last month (I only mention that because I wonder if his immune system is a little depressed right now). None of us want to die of H1N1, no one does, and yet some will—and are—dying of this virus. And as much as we’d like the vaccination for H1N1, no one in Lincoln is handing it out just yet. Back to the story…

Jeremy had a cough, a fever, body aches from head to toe. He apparently looked just like all the other coughing patients in the waiting room that day. And guess what? They weren’t testing for H1N1 anymore. Because really, it just didn’t matter. My ailing husband was told to take Tamiflu right away, and even though our neighborhood Walgreens was out, another pharmacy filled the order. Within four days, Jeremy was feeling much better. By the time the weekend came around, I was down for the count. No fever, but body aches, sore throat, exhaustion.

So… What were we sick with? H1N1? Perhaps. No one knows. I’m hoping we had a mild case of it and will thus have immunity against this particular strain for a time. Regardless of a name for our illnesses, we stayed home. For days on end.

I did dishes. I did laundry. Livia and I made bread. We watched all sorts of old cartoons on Hulu. Jeremy introduced Liv to The Dark Crystal and The Neverending Story. I got sucked even deeper in Harry Potter Book 5. But yesterday something glorious happened. The sun came out and warm, October temps hugged us like an old friend. We turned off the tv. I put the book down, for a spell at least (get it? Spell? Harry Potter?). Then we went off to the Pioneers Park Nature Center and praised God for this amazing world he’s given us.

Today we’re back to the daily grind—and we’re thanking God for the blessing of good health.

After Labor Day it’s Birthday Extravaganza in our household. Auntie Bean, Grandma, Daddy, Uncle Noonee and Madeleine. I believe the month of September is full now, thank you very much, and all future Tredways and Lawtons ought to carry birthdates from one of the other eleven months. That being said, it’s fun to buy cards and presents for all the adults before capping off the month with a kid celebration for Madeleine.

The following shots are from my niece’s birthday party. She turned charming, vivacious three. (Forgive me, Evil Uncle Adam & Kristen, for posting a snotty nose pic. I love it though.)

Last week was a whirlwind of work, housework and packing for Labor Day weekend.

This week involves re-entry into daily life after a wonderfully relaxing and refreshing weekend at the lake with four amazing friends. Before I left, Livia told me she would “focus” on being good for daddy over the weekend. And apparently her focusing paid off—she was great! But I fear I’m paying for my departure now, as my kid is offering up some really, really, really challenging behaviors. Sigh.

It was so good to have a weekend off. It is also good to be home with my beloved husband and beautiful kiddo.

More coming about my girls’ weekend…

Yep, this little face definitely charms me! I love my sweet nephew Noah and marvel at his new growth and expanding personality each time I see him. He’s talking now, with baby goos and ah-oos that mesmerize me.

Kristin wears Noah on her chest in the coolest baby wrap (what’s the name of this one, Kris?). It’s amusing to see something similar to a pregnancy shape, only there’s a baby snuggled close and sleeping just inside the fabric. Sometimes I forget Noah is there until I hear his waking cry. The wrap is a brilliant way to keep a little one happy and snugged tight.