Please don't call CYS

Yes, I look as though I haven't showered in weeks (and likely haven't). And Jake looks like a smurf who is going hunting.

But it's still a funny picture.

And please don't call Children and Youth Services on us. We really do clean ourselves up now and then and dress our child normally. We just don't take pictures of boring stuff like that.

I lost my camera...?

Just looking for a good excuse for why it has taken me this long to feed and water the ol' blog.

Since there is way too much to cover since Christmas, I'll just pick up from a couple weeks ago.

Dog and Jim came to town (and we played lots of "Ticket To Ride").

Kevin turned 32 (and Jake tasted frosting).

Sharyn came to town (and we went to Wegmans).

The Kruks had twins...a boy and a girl (and the Cudas and the Hardestys each had daughters!).

We went to Oklahoma City to see Casey and Chris (and the memorial from the Federal Building bombing).

I went to Columbus to celebrate with Dog at her baby shower.  And I don't have pictures to share yet because, as mentioned, I left my camera in Ohio.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

That pretty much catches you up! 

Oh...I finally read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."  Loved it.  Loved it so much.

And also, Jake laughed a lot so far this year.

Glad to be back!

PS...some of you may remember that I participated in a marathon a couple years back...part of Team in Training, San Diego, etc. etc.  (If you weren't aware of this maniacal event in my life, you should also pay close attention to the word "participated" and note that I by no means ran the whole thing...but darn it, I completed it).  Anyway, if you are looking for a way to contribute in the fight against cancer, please consider giving at this generous woman's Team in Training site.  It's a really difficult thing to fundraise $4100 and it's awesome when complete strangers pitch in.  It really defines "community."  Anyway, consider it!  Thanks!

Jake's Christmas Gift

Well, Jake wanted to give his grandparents some fun gifts for Christmas.  Check them out below!

1 - The Journey of Jake

2 - Announcing Jake!

3 - Getting to Know You

4 - Everyone's Baby

5 - Peas and Carrots

6 - Growing Up

7 - Portraits

Amy's note:  If you don't laugh out loud right around minute 1:25-1:30 in the Growing Up video...well, I don't know...but you should.  You should laugh right out loud.

Christmas Recap

No real news over here at the Vileation Nation.  We rang in 2009 with a pizza from Papa Johns (we tried the whole wheat crust because, you know, we're really trying to be healthy now that we have a Wii Fit).  We also managed to convince a few people to come over and watch the Rose Bowl with us...I'm really glad we did because Kevin had to maintain some level of mature behavior since we had guests.  If there were no guests, I am sure that he would have been in bed, under the covers, miserable.  I am sure of this because that is exactly what happened after the big Iowa loss.

Anyway, here are our Christmas recap pictures...we really did have an absolutely wonderful holiday season.  

And don't miss our pictures from the trip to the Eisenhower House in Gettysburg.  Kevin wanted to get there in December because the house was decorated for Christmas.  What they mean by "decorated for Christmas" is "a wreath on the front door." That part was a little disappointing.

Finally, here is a picture with Jake and his bear at each of his month birthdays so far. 

Sharing Christmas

Megan over at A Day with the Demos had a wonderful idea in inviting people to share Christmas via their blogs. Sadly, I don't have very much decorating skill. So here are a few shots of what we have going on in the Vileation Nation. But if you know what's good for you, you'll visit Megan's site which has links to other sites where people are also "sharing Christmas." People who actually decorate...and decorate well.

Here's the tree...and a toy of Jake's...

"Everybody loves a turkey and some mistletoe..." Or is it "Everybody loves a pug and a Christmas tree?"

We're so excited to have new titles this year...Mom and Dad! Which means new stockings, too...and of course Jacob has his own stocking as well.

Got this fun Advent calendar on sale at Target.

Jake will get a new ornament every year...this year he got a Panda, of course! And where did we get this ornament? Valley View Farms!

Our friend Glen is the coolest. He has given us the special White House ornament both this year and last. Very cool because last year's ornament is "A White House Wedding" and last year was our first Christmas as husband and wife. This year's ornament is "An Old Fashioned Christmas Tree." These ornaments are spectacular, I wish the picture could do them justice. Check out this site to get a better idea of how beautiful these ornaments truly are.

And here is Kevin's special ornament this year. You know he put the "Vile" in "Elvis."

Merry Christmas, everyone! Thanks for sharing the holiday season with us!

Santa Baby

Yep, that's Santa and a baby, alright!

Experiment

I have been experimenting with baking.  Obviously.  The gingerbread boys seem to have club feet.

I say "experimenting" because there is always a high likelihood that none of my end products will be fit for consumption.  That's why we always have a good rotisserie chicken available as backup.  Ha.  Not sure why there's a chicken in the picture. 

But some of the end products have looked decent this year, which I suppose is a start. Hopefully I'll have things actually tasting decent before Christmas arrives.  Because so far nothing has really stood out as a winner.  The sandwich-looking things above were relatively good...cranberry-oatmeal cookies with cream cheese icing in the middle.  Thank you, Rachael Ray.

In completely unrelated news, I paid $18 (tip and everything) for a haircut today.  I don't want to tell you how much cheaper that is than what I normally pay, but suffice it to say that now we can actually heat our house this winter.

I did something else monumental today.  I killed a spider.  With my father's college fraternity paddle.  Just looking at the link for the spider is making me want to run and scream.  A house spider.  Come on.  I've heard of house music, house parties and house keepers...but never a house spider.  

Heckuva day over here in the Vileation Nation.

Check out Jake talking with Luther.  Luther is obviously really blown away by Jake's sparkling conversation.