Daddy Turned 40 / Fa La La

Spencer has had lots of fun since the last update. Holiday travel...the big 4-0 for Dave...meeting loads of family...and of course presents galore.

We went to Aunt Bobbie's house in Columbus the weekend before Christmas for a pre-holiday family gathering. Spencer met his second cousin, Sarah, who was born in July. Even though she lives in Austin, we hadn't managed to do an introduction in town. Lots of photo opps - it was like walking into a crowd of papparazzi when we arrived.


David turned 40 on December 22nd. To celebrate, we went to Ichiban for sushi with Mike, Patty and a few good friends. We had a private room and it was the perfect setup for Spencer. He was a trooper as usual. It was my first sushi in over a year (no raw fish for the preggos), so I really enjoyed it. Lots of great food and laughter. Mike and Patty spent the night with us so we could have our Christmas the next morning before they headed to New York.


On Christmas Eve, the three of us drove to Angleton to see my family. We were nervous about the long car ride, but - no surprise - Spencer did great! We saw my immediate family (Spencer met Aunt Dianne and Uncle Scott) then went to Grandma Hill's that night, where he met lots of great-aunts, great-uncles and assorted cousins. On our way back home on Christmas Day, we stopped by Dave's Aunt Ellen's house. Spencer met his other baby 2nd cousin, Caroline, plus other great-aunts/uncles and cousins. Again, lots of photo opps with the two babies.



Christmas was especially joyful this year. We feel so blessed.

I'm experimenting with Picasa Web Albums. Here are the links to a couple of albums. You'll probably have to create an account to view them, but I'm not sure...

Dave's 40th Birthday
Christmas 2008

See you in 2009!

New Friends

The Poage twins arrived Friday morning. Spencer couldn't wait to meet them, so we went to the hospital Saturday afternoon to see the babies and congratulate Charity and Coy. Piper and Beckett are really big for twins (over 6 pounds each), but so tiny compared to our 14 pounder. We're excited that these babies will grow up together and be the best of friends. Oh yeah—we also got to visit with Nurse Joan who took such great care of us in October. She was so happy to see Spencer.

Spencer is only 10 weeks old, but he has already thrown his first party. On Sunday, a few of our close girlfriends came over for a brunch to thank them for keeping us fed when Spencer was born. Cyrus Scholes also attended, so Spencer got to meet his third friend of the weekend. Sidenote: We had a diaper incident right before the guests arrived, so he didn't get to wear his special holiday ensemble, and we didn't get a picture...thus the mismatched socks and pajamas.

We have been reading books to Spencer lately, but his favorite reading material is the Crate and Barrel catalog. It has lots of color, especially red. He loves looking at it with Daddy!

We'll try to squeeze in another update before Christmas. Until then, fa-la-la!

Goo Goo Ga Ga

Spencer is now two months old and weighs 14 lbs 6 oz. We are starting to see some developmental changes. He has really started chatting with us — lots of "Goo Goo Ga Ga" and cooing. But the best part is all the smiling! He has also discovered his hands and likes to keep them in his mouth quite a bit. It's a fun stage.

We took a trip to Cedar Park last week to visit Charity. Spencer can't wait until Piper and Beckett get here to play with him. Only a few more days! Spencer tried out Beckett's "Bumbo" seat. Dave said the caption for this picture should be, "Wait...you mean this ISN'T a potty seat? Oops..."

I assembled his Baby Einstein playmat this weekend and it seems to be a hit. Spencer really likes the music and lights. I think he was trying to reach for the toys. It won't be long until he figures out he can grab things.


We took our first trip to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market on Saturday to see our friend Patrick at his yummy tea stand. We met Steve and Grace Garven there, and went out for burgers afterwards. Spencer also attended a holiday open house at Rachel's on Sunday, and had lunch with Jenni and Susan on Monday. We are staying busy!

The First 8 Weeks

I used to think new parents were just unorganized when they said they never had time to do basic things like check email, return calls or brush their teeth. I stand corrected! Now that things have settled down a little, I am determined to get this blog going to document the life and times of Spencer. So here's a recap as we hit the 8-week mark...

Spencer Michael was born Monday, October 6, 2008 at 6:28 pm in Austin, Texas. He weighed 9 pounds, 4 ounces and was 21.5 inches long.

We came home from Seton Hospital on Saturday the 11th, just in time for Spencer to learn the important lesson that OU sucks.

Here are some other highlights of Spencer's first two months:

• We spent the first few weeks just figuring out our new life with Spencer. David was amazing — he had to take care of me during my recovery while also doing just about everything except feeding Spence. What an awesome husband and father!
• GranPatty ("Geep") Horridge stayed with us the first week and really whipped our house into shape and made sure we ate. Grannie Rives came the following week — she was so disappointed that her broken wrist kept her from picking up Spencer!
• We had lots of visitors and were blessed with a constant stream of food from the "Gravy Trains" set up by Rachel and Tracy.
• On 10/16 Spencer had his first visit with Dr. Bayer. He weighed 10 pounds, which the doctor said was exceptional! I was relieved to know that breastfeeding was going well.
• Spencer met his Great-Grandmother Rives on 10/13 and Great-Grandmother Hill on 11/22.
• On 10/29 we ventured out for our first non-medical outing — breakfast at Central Market.
• Spencer had his first real bath on 10/30 and loved it.
• Halloween marked a major milestone: Spencer's first Tex-Mex. He's been to Casa Garcia's three times so far.
• 11/4: Election day. Hooray!
• At Spencer's 1-month checkup, he weighed 12 pounds 3 ounces. A healthy boy!
• We took our first overnight trip on 11/9. We joined Geep and Pop at Pine Fork, where we rocked on the porch for hours.
• We returned to the ranch for Thanksgiving, where we spent two relaxing days with Geep, Pop and the Bullocks.

David and I are so in love with our little boy and can't wait to share more photos and stories with you. Our new video camera and two digital cameras will be arriving this week, so stay tuned!