Army Crawl

We Flip. That's right, we got the Flip video camera for Christmas, so we now can post movies like this one, where Max shows off his new army crawl. There is a lot going on in these 45 seconds, including an intense few seconds where Max can't decide if he wants me or his toy. Check it out.

Max's First Christmas

We planned on touring Indiana for Christmas, with stops in Carmel, Corydon and Bloomington. But Max came down with the stomach flu on our first night. It was a long night, but he was feeling better the next day so he could enjoy Christmas with the Burkles. When we arrived in Corydon, I began feeling a little under the weather, and by Saturday, everyone had it. And I mean everyone. The good news is, we will never forget Max's first Christmas!

Opening presents.Playing with our new blocks.
We didn't take any pictures in Corydon, but I stole this one off of Danza's blog. Diane got matching shirts for all the little guys. So cute!

Max Runs First Marathon

OK -- it just looks like he ran a marathon. This is actually drool. What's amazing is that this happened in about 20 minutes. I took off his second bib of the day and failed to put on a new one quick enough.

Season's Greetings

So I did not get around to sending Christmas cards this year. I took these photos a few weeks ago with every intention of making some cards and never got to them. We also never put up a tree. But I'm going to pull out all the stops next year. In the meantime, we wish all of our friends and family a happy, healthy holiday season.

All Bundled Up

Max and I braved the cold weather and light drizzle for some fresh air today. We had the right gear, including a cup of coffee for mom, and Max even snoozed a bit. I don't know what I'm going to do when there is snow on the ground.

First Annual Chili Cook-Off

We hosted our first chili cook-off this weekend, which featured five versions of this all-American comfort food. Leading the pack was Dale's Texas-style chili, which was full of meat (and, true to his Texas roots, sans beans). Andrew's chili had a lot of character to it and featured smoky short-rib meat in a recipe that has surely been tweaked to perfection over the years. Ryan brought a vegetarian version that had quite a kick. My red chili was just an excuse to load up on toppings (I opt for noodles, cheese, sour cream and Fritos), but my white chicken chili was a favorite among the babies.

Calling All Visitors

We have upgraded the sleeping arrangements in the office/guest room from an air mattress to a bonafide bed ... a pullout bed, that is. But we're getting closer to the real deal. Here, Max is demonstrating the different configurations.

Lover Boy