Happy Holidays!

Hope that you and yours had a relaxing and restorative holiday.

Em, Z and I headed up to Kentucky and spent some quality time with her Aunts, Cousins, Mom and Step-Dad, Sister, Brother-in-law, nephews, and Grandma. We were glad to see so many relatives, and Little Zola (as Jack called her) was mostly very happy to meet so many new (to her) folks.

Head here to check out some photos of the trip and our Christmas morning back in NOLA.

Zoë Says Dog Shush and More Verbalizations

Zoë's been talking up a storm recently - putting words together like nobody's business - "Jacket Off," "More Milk," "Daddy's Hat," and my favorite, "Dog Shush." She's also using "Please," and "Thank You" in mostly the right order! Em and I are constantly amazed by her, and as we shift into holiday season, we're so thankful that she's happy and healthy. I also wanted to thank you. All our family and friends, no matter how far away, your love and support mean so much to our little family.

Check out some new photos, click right here.

Is it September Already?!?!

Wow - the summer just flew by. Here in NOLA we're white knuckling through another bumpy hurricane season, with many Gulf Coast communities taking it on the chin - check out some crazy photos of Hurricane Ike's impacts from the Boston Globe right here.

Em, Z and I were lucky enough to be able to evacuate from NOLA for Gustav by jumping on a plane (then another plane, then another plane) and landing in Seattle. We bumped up an already planned trip and spent a few extra days enjoying family, friends and the humidity free weather.

We had a very nice stay with Z's PaMaMa, Anna May. She opened up her spare bedroom, and Em, Z, the pack and play and I took it over. A great improvement of this trip? Z actually slept in the pack and play. Anna May even hosted a Gulf Restoration Network house party, and my brother Byron, parents Neil and Veda, friends Dan, Shannon and their kids Brooke and Forest came over to eat some red beans and rice, watch some documentaries, learn a little about Louisiana's coastal wetlands crisis, such as how those wetlands protect our communities, and what needs to be done to restore them, and listen to some NOLA music (thanks to Basin Street Records).

We then headed over to the Olympic Peninsula and spent some time in Port Angeles and the Olympic National Park. Great views, great weather and a great time with Dan and Shannon and Forest and watching Brooke and Zoe become toddler friends.

We spent a couple of nights with Uncle Dave and Auntie Judith at their home in Sequim, and enjoyed their fantastic hospitality. On Sunday, they opened up their home to a huge passel of friends and family to celebrate the trifecta birthdays of Uncle Dave, PaMaMa and Laurel. A good time was had by all.

We closed out our trip with a nice evening with PaMaMa, Byron and my parents at the old homestead (Mom even treated us to Mojitos!).

Lots and lots of new photos over on snapfish - check 'em out.

Love ya all,

Aaron

A New England Weekend

Em, Z and I spent the July 4th weekend on the New Hampshire coast, attending the wedding festivities of Em's Tulane undergrad pal Alison Gorsuch. Beautiful spot, just south of Portsmouth, north of Boston.

Great to see all the little ones, and we we're lucky enough to share a cabin with Emi and Jonathan and their gorgeous kids, Jack (3) and Grayson (just turned 1). Z got along with them well. At the wedding events she also got to meet Alison and Adam's daughter Ella - she's the dark, curly haired child in the photos.

Z was pretty good on the flights, with a relatively short period of fussiness on about every leg of the trip. The best travel moment was the flight from Boston to St. Louis, as across the aisle was a cute 3 year old, Michael - who was really interested in 'the baby.' He asked Z's name three or four times, forgetting both her name and gender in between requests. But as Z shifted into fussy mode towards the end of the flight, he piped up from across the aisle, "don't cry baby" in a very loud voice, which got a good chuckle from most of the plane. The most amazing thing was that Z listened, and immediately nodded off to nap time.

On the whole, the trip was a nice way to spend the 4th, catching up with Em's Tulane undergrad group and their families. Hope you like the photos.

Love,

Aaron

Z's first birthday - a good time had by all

Even Z, I think. We had a great crowd out at Audubon Park for Z's birthday - Grandma Veda, Omi Anne, and Grandpa Jack all traveled in from out of town, and really helped make it a special day. We had bubbles, a cupcake cake, hummus (I swear, one of Z's favorite foods) and Bellini's for the adults, and then we strolled, toddled or otherwise headed up the park to the duck pond where the kids in attendance overwhelmed the ducks in residence with their stale-bread generosity. If there's some sort of flour pollution outbreak in the pond, I do apologize.

Thanks to the Depp-Mipro's, the Klebba's, the Bergeron-Kerstein's, Casey, Jen, and Jeff for helping to make it such a special day.

Check out the photos here.

Quick Update and Some New Photos

Just wanted to let everyone know, Zola had surgery last week to insert tubes in her ears, in an effort to deal with her seemingly uninterrupted ear infections - 7 in eleven months of life seemed a bit excessive by most standards. Omi Ann came down to help out for the recovery.

Z responded well, and is now sleeping through the night. To celebrate, we headed to Audubon Park! Check out some photos on the left.

Spring is Here

Zoe is almost one year old! We have survived a terrible winter, but alas Spring has Sprung in the Big Easy where it is 80 degrees on average every day now. Zoe has moved into the one year room at day care and thinks she is such a big girl. As you can see from the photos she is almost walking and is full of personality. She loves the outdoors and wants to be outside all the time. However, she has enjoyed some weekend shopping excursions with Mom. A girl needs shoes!

Happy Spring
Emily

Sorry for the delay - new photos are now up!

It's been pretty eventful around here - we've had Mardi Gras, Zoë's started crawling, and FINALLY everybody is well! That's right, since our last post, everybody has been sick with a plethora of ailments. We're heading to Doctor Zombie's Voodoo shop later to get a smudge stick and burn some sage to get rid of whatever evil spirits have taken up residence here, we're knocking on wood, we're tossing salt over our shoulders, everything we can think of to clear the air.

Despite the sickness, Z did take in her first Mardi Gras parades, and really marveled at the spectacle! Best thing about taking your 9 month old to parades? THROW MAGNET.

Love you all, and we'll leave you with some crawling and clapping video.