This is why it's important to blog more often...

Ooooor.... just take a few less pictures of the kid. Seriously, it's kind of ridiculous. 

Christmas time activities. 

Lunch with friends in Ohio. 

Christmas decorating in Ithaca. 

Christmas morning walk at Buttermilk Falls

Nap time!

Karate kid. 

Christmas stories at Zhora's. 

Lab baby. 

Christmas dinner with Vinnie, Jackie, & Veneta in Geneva. 

Skiing in the 'Shinny. 

Zach and Pipen. 

Sledding!

Reading with Grandma Neta!

Two wild and crazy guys!

Dudes' day out. 

Adventurey day

The Chopper and I (and Sarah and Zhora) had an adventurey day today.  So, of course, Emmett had to start by fueling up!  Some pears and prunes to get the ole engine going, today.

He and Jonas and I then headed down to Johnson City to meet up with a guy about a boat.  I've had an eye out for a solo canoe for quite awhile now.  I missed out on a couple that I was eager for, but finally found this one down in PA.  The guy who was selling agreed to meet us half way.  I have this vision of camping with the family and some friends on the banks of a great Adirondack lake.  To be able to do that, at least one of us has to be able to carry gear.

It was great fun to tie the canoe onto the roof rack and go full Subaru.  Emmett and I just wish that it wasn't going to be so long til we can get out on the water.  Still, that gives him some time to learn to swim.

We hadn't been home too long when it was time to go back out on our next adventure.  The girls (Sarah, Zhora, and Eva) had been hanging out and making lasagna, and were eager to go hunt a Christmas tree.

We'd looked around at a bunch of different farms and settled on Moore's.  There is a barn and wreaths and cider and Santa, and lots and lots of trees.  No horse drawn sleigh or anything.  For the price we paid to bring a dead tree into our house, I think a sleigh ride wouldn't be to much to ask.  Still, we had a good time searching for the just right one.

The kid just loves being outside!  We're so lucky.

He definitely recognizes and is infatuated with Zhora at this point.  It's hard to get a picture of him with her around because he's always looking at her.  It's obvious that she's going to be his "big sister".



A successful hunt!

The tree is only about 6 ft tall, but it's pretty and should be fun to decorate.  We had a good time getting it.  It was fun to strap stuff to the car today, too.  Looking forward to a nice christmas season in the near future, and some awesome canoe camping in the spring/summer.

The girls went out to the Ice Festival and to see a movie.  The boys (plus Eva) went home and chilled.  It was wonderful.  Emmett and I ate and played and read lots of books.  He played with Jonas for awhile, too.  It was very sweet.  All in all, a good day.  We're looking forward to getting the tree up and to getting the canoe in the water.  The timing on those two events is gonna be a little different.

From vision to execution

Some people get the nursery ready before the baby is born.  Some of us just try to get it done before the baby is a teenager.

We talked about a lot of ideas.  A wall of trees?  Different ecosystems on different walls?  Night time to day time?  In the end, we decided to do mountains on one wall and green and blue on the others as a kind of abstract reference to nature.  With the mountains, too, we discussed how abstract they should be.  In the end, we thought it would be cool to paint a couple ranges that are meaningful to us.

It was so great to have Dad help out.  Having him be a part of this process was both emotionally and practically meaningful.

We got a lot done the weekend that Mom and Dad came up.

But there was a bit more to wrap up.

The 7 peaks on the left represent the Tetons.

The two on the right represent the Charleston Range.  The green hills up front are the ridge line that we live on, as viewed from the other side of the valley.   

Checking out the new crib from Zhora.  Sarah found the baby gym on Ikea's website.  

Putting those monkey toes to use.

The room is still a little cluttered, but then, so is the rest of the house.  It's coming together though.  I got a mobile hanger mostly complete and created a way to hang the globe lamp that Veneta got for us.  You can see those things in the left corner next to the bookshelf Mom H put together from the crates from Grandma Harrington's basement.  The bike trailer is folded up for the season in the right corner.  I painted the inside of the door with magnetic paint and covered that with chalkboard paint.  We're looking forward to playing with letter magnets and writing/drawing messages on the door for Emmett.

Our friends Emily and Nikoa (just realized I have no idea how to spell his name) gave us this beautiful train print and made the frame and mat for it.  The train was drawn by Emily's grand dad.  Shannon painted the David Bowie piece.

Thanks to everyone who helped by giving us stuff, taking stuff, moving stuff, fixing stuff, painting stuff, or suggesting what to do with stuff.