Nelson Family Adventures

Big Sister

2010-05-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

Jewell is warming up to her role as a big sister. When she was first introduced to Ivy at the hospital she didn't know what to think. She just seemed perplexed. She would shrink away when we tried to put Ivy next to her. When Ivy came home Jewell continued to keep her distance.

But not for long. The change into big sister mode came when we put Ivy down for her first nap. "Where is the baby?" asked Jewell. Amazingly Ivy slept through her sisters exclamations of delight at learning the bassinet was not just for stuffed animals.

Older sister moments/interactions:

Jewell loves to hold her sister.
Jewell will gently stroke her sisters head.
When Jewell tries to say Ivy it comes out "I-fie".
If Ivy cries Jewell runs in from the other room and while patting Ivy's head with both hands repeats, "You're ok, you're ok."

New Baby!

2010-05-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday May 18th at 7:31 am Ivy Lynne Nelson was born. Just like Jewell she was born one day before her due date. She weighed in at 9 lbs 1.2 ounces and was 22 1/4 inches long. Ivy looks quite a lot like her older sister did when she was born. Of course both of them are as cute as can be!

March

2010-03-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

A little bit of commentary: Jewell is by far the best thing to take pictures of, so that's pretty much what we have! I (Jeanie) have been taking her to playgrounds and parks as often as possible (there is a play group the moms in our ward hold every Tuesday at the local park). She does a lot of cute things at home, of course. Above you can see her sporting her favorite beanie hat (thank you, Emma Nelson), and her love for stuffed animals. Like many toddlers, she loves to run around with nothing but a diaper (or nothing at all). She also loves books... and every second of time she gets to spend with her daddy.

2 Years Old

2010-02-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

Jewell turned two on January 29th, and I think had a pretty great birthday. We celebrated in Milton-Freewater at Travis' parents, a weekend trip we made so that I could attend Amanda Nelson's baby shower. Grandma Jorgensen's birthday was that Sunday and there was a big dinner with Aunt Colleen and Uncle Gene in attendance. Their granddaughter, Taylor, was there, who turned out to be a great playmate to help Jewell break in her new toys. Jewell got a set of beads (ages 4 and up, but we supervise) and a 6-in-1 doll set (playpen, front pack, carrier, bouncer, changing pad, and clip-on high chair). Only $19 at Target! There's a plug for ya.
Much thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Nelson for the wonderful ice cream cake!

Playing on with some of the toys at Grandma & Grandpa Nelson's house.
The Hello Kitty birthday balloon, which she wanted to take with her everywhere: to the library, to Church (we didn't) even to bed (I snuck in after she was asleep and pried it from her clutches).
Cute little redhead
Putting her blankie "on". Thankfully, Jewell enjoys brushing her teeth. She uses a variety of toothbrushes at once and insists on having the water run the whole time. It makes me cringe, but I'm picking my battles.
Tending to the needs of her stuffed animals

Our Holidays

2010-01-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

Have I started a New Year's Eve tradition for our family? This year, I made clam chowder. The best I have ever had! Thank you Costco, Martha Stewart, and Doogers for your supplies, recipe, and inspiration, respectively.

Christmas morning at Grandma & Grandpa Nelsons. Jewell is holding the Christmas stocking I made her.

Jewell had a lot of fun with her Aunt Tiffany, and kept asking her to come "sing" at the piano.

Some pics (still in the parking lot) of our sledding trip on Christmas eve. Jewell was NOT very excited about it. In fact, this year we bought her some pink snow boots and black snow pants, but she despises the snow pants so much she seems to have rebelled against all snow activity. Must buy pink everything from now on to ensure that it meets Jewell's standards. I basically had to hold her the entire time we were out sledding, which wasn't too much fun for me. But it was still amazingly beautiful outside. (For better sledding pics of the trip, and shots of a little girl who IS having fun, see Heath & Michele's blog).

The family photo: despite wild children and a freezing cultural hall, we made it happen! Thanks everyone for your cooperation.

Back in Selah at the ward Christmas party, Jewell got her first good taste of Santa Claus. Although she enjoyed the little toy doll he gave her, she was not otherwise amused.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving day very casually, just the three of us. We all got to sleep in and relax, and then we went for a drive up the canyon. It was raining everywhere, but miraculously as soon as we reached the spot where we wanted to go on a little hike, it wasn't raining! We had a scenic little stroll in the snow. When we got in the car and started driving, we were immediately in the rain again.

Instead of turkey, I made a quiche using my mom's fantastic recipe. And some apple pie. Jewell at a croissant and a heap of Wheat Thins. My little carb-lover.

But we did eat a bunch of turkey, like everyone else. Our Thanksgiving really happened last Sunday, when Trevor and Amanda came to visit and be part of the big feast held at her grandparent's house here in Selah. Talk about a buffet! And lots of people. Yet all Jewell ate was a muffin. Typical. But we feasted and Jewell had a great time playing with all the kids there. Trevor and Travis went skiing (some newly fallen snow) on Saturday, and we all rough-housed in the living room (and hugged)...

Also, I just finished painting this little wooden cradle I found for Jewell at an antique store in Seattle. I have a new-found love for spray paint!

Summer to Fall, Seattle to Selah

2009-11-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

Lots of changes! Jewell is almost 22 months old now! She has given up bottles and naps months ago (above photo taken in June), and her babbles are turning into a constant stream of new words.

We have made the big move out of the big city out to the Yakima area. Selah, actually. It's a little over 2 hours from Seattle. We miss our friends and the greenery (and the zoo!) but we are relishing all the space in our new place and are making friends.

Here's some photos of us during our last few months in Seattle...

Travis' birthday cake (June 21), and some other cooking creations including a homemade blackberry pie made with locally picked berries, and some lemon cookies.
Travis and Jewell have both really enjoyed the iPhone
Snuggling with Daddy...
...and Mommy
Jewell and Lambkin walking to the park
Gasworks park with Trevor and Amanda (they came to visit and go to a Seahawks game)
Visiting cousins and family in Milton-Freewater (Mason and Jewell getting some energey out at Church)
This year, there was lots of sunshine in Seattle
Renae, Jewell and I celebrating at Noah's Bagels in Capitol Hill after helping move her stuff to a new studio apartment
I will miss Licton Springs park
We moved on Halloween...and just made it to the Selah 1st Ward Halloween party.
Jewell loves to dress up...no need for a holiday
Some staples: Cheerios and yogurt
Room to run and play at our new place

Counting Backward through Another Month

2009-05-10T18:38:00.001-07:00

Here is our last month in reverse. Sorry we haven't posted for so long! This first little group is from yesterday when Travis took some time off working so we could see the annual Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center (under the Space Needle). We walked around and looked at all the shopping booths and listened to some live music.

Here is Jewell playing on our back porch. She is wearing a cute summer outfit from Grandma Nelson.

Last weekend we were on vacation at Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond, Oregon. Travis' brother, Blake, met us there for a three-night stay at the Inn. We relaxed and played in the swimming pools when we weren't at Smith Rock State Park, rock climbing (or at least they were: I was sick!)

On our drive back we were lucky to stop in Kiezer, Oregon, to see Heath and Michele's family. We went to Church and then spent some fun playing on the grass in the sun. Note Jewell's fancy walking skills.

In the farming countryside surrounding Smith Rock, someone constructed this full-size pirate ship" made mostly of bales of hay. (I took this picture for you, Mom!)

Beautiful Smith Rock at last! Too bad I was horribly sick and barely made it out of this gorgeous gorge alive! We'll be back.

Travis and Blake enjoying as much climbing as they can before it gets too hot.

Tending Jewell

Jewell enjoyed many dips in the resort kiddy pool. She didn't want to leave!

A quick stop on our way through Vancouver, Washington, we had lunch at Burgerville with Grandma Athay. Jewell loves balloons. And we love Grandma!

An attempt to pull Jewell's hair back out of her face. It lasted about as long as it took to take this photo.

I went to Utah at the beginning of May to visit my parents, my brother David and his little boy Jonah. I was also able to meet with a client I have there (she does a jewelry line called Annie M.) I designed this sign (and the logo) shown here at her display at a recent Women's Expo held at the Utah Valley University.

In Grandpa's backyard (Provo, Utah) playing with cousin Jonah and Uncle David

Back in Seattle. Jewell on the Bed, Series II (with slicked hair, so refreshing)

Dinner time

Jewell on the Bed, Series I

Assembling Jewell's life-changing toy: a little stroller that helped her learn to walk (not without a lot of tantrums in the process). Followed by a photoof her happily walking with the stroller.

Shoulder riding to our little park

Look out below!

Swingin'

A quick snack

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

As you can tell, Jewell wasn't in the best mood this Easter. She has been sick (first real all night throwing up kind of sick), so she wouldn't eat anything and really just wanted to go home and sleep. Everyone else had a fun time, though. Our friends Richard and Diana Anderson (with baby Michael, Jewell's BFF/BF) joined us at my sister, Renae's house here in Seattle. Renae's guy pal Stacy was there also. We had an impressive little feast: ham, au gratin potatoes, cheesecake (my mom's famous recipe, prepped by Renae), deviled eggs (I accidentally forgot to bring them and Diana and I drove all the way back to my place to get them), tasty whipped-cream-topped strawberry Jello, and veggies. Oh, and I made homemade rolls! (recipe here; make sure you read the helpful reviews if you want to make them too). But Jewell wouldn't eat anything! Poor little girl. Thank you Renae also for buying Jewell and me a cute Easter present: a new book for Jewell and some Easter dish towels for me!

Jewell's new book

My new Crate & Barrel dish towels

Jewell didn't like the bunny ears too much.

Michael tolerated them.

Le chef

Renae and Stacy did like the bunny ears

We have been going to the park a lot recently. I mean a lot. Jewell constantly tugs at our hands and urges us towards the door. She really loves going outside and practicing her walking skills. We are lucky to live so close to a park. We've also been lucky to get some sunny days; but rain or shine, fully clothed or only in a diaper, Jewell always wants to go out (of course, we always dress her first).

My latest jewelry creation, which I just made for a custom order through my Etsy site.

Jewell strangely resembles me most when she's making her whining face. And I'm surprised she didn't like wearing the necklace.

Just another meal.

Spring Travels

2009-04-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Travis' sister, Tiffany, flew in from Atlanta on Thursday. She is making the rounds in the Northwest visiting family...starting with us. I felt very fortunate we were able to provide her with a fun selection of things to do. Thursday night we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Jewell has been particularly difficult and squirmy recently because she is learning to walk. This is absolutely adorable, but she just doesn't want to sit still! At the restaurant she demanded to be walked around, and it took awhile before she settled down and focused on consuming farfalle pasta and peas coated in cream sauce. We all devoured several refills of Cheesecake Factory wheat bread. And finished everything off with a nice slice of blueberry white chocolate truffle cheesecake...at home "to go" style because Jewell absolutely wouldn't last another minute.

Friday Tiffany, Jewell and I had a fantastic time at the zoo, thanks to a friend of mine who spotted me a few free passes. I decided it would be a perfect thing to do with Tiffany. We were very impressed with Seattle's zoo. The animals put on a fantastic show for us. We were amazed how the male lion strutted and roared, even pacing and rubbing against the glass to the shrieks of delighted (and perhaps a bit frightened) tourists. The tiger did the same thing, pacing and making a lot of noise. A little cold weather, but Jewell stayed snuggly in her stroller or got the blood flowing as she practiced "walking."

Friday night we went to the Edge of Glass and had glass flowers made. If you haven't done that and you live in Seattle, you should!

Our new climbing friends, Zack and Diana, were at the Edge of Glass, too, with their little girl, Kaylie. Saturday they caravaned up to Leavenworth with us for bouldering. The hike was short, the drive scenic, the weather beautiful, and the company great. My apologies for the lack of any pictures of actually climbing, which I assure you Travis and Zack actually did do. I, however, spent my time keeping the sun off Jewell and enjoying some conversation with Tiffany and Diana. We headed into town afterward for a bite to eat and a look about the shops. They are SO adorable! Mom (Joyce) you have to come see this place! It's a little pseudo-European village, with lots of cute shops.

We have been practicing walking with Jewell a lot recently. I bought her some little Croc-style shoes at Target; she's already broken them in. We walked her all around the Licton Spring's park today, which was a nice change from the daily rounds of the hallways and stairwells in our apartment building. She never tires of walking practice. You can tell from these pictures how much she LOVES it. Also pictured below: Jewell tries her hand using her first set of crayons.

Jewell's Sleep Problems

2009-04-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

Last year around this time we were having a problem with getting Jewell to go to sleep. This year that problem seems to have reversed itself. Now she is sleeping 23 hours a day! We don't know what to do. The only way she is even getting enough nutrients is because she will drink from a bottle in her sleep. She just won't wake up.

We have tried everything. All the specialists are stumped. I had high hopes for the baby acupuncture, you'd think poking anyone with 100 needles would wake them up, but that didn't work either.

I guess I can't really complain too much -- she behaves so well in church now. In fact now we can take her anywhere with us. We just prop her in a sitting position every once in a while. No one knows about our little problem, they just think we have a very well behaved baby.

We don't want to give up. Has anyone else seen this problem? Can you help?

More Jewell, More Food

2009-03-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

This week I (Jeanie) started doing yoga and Pilates again, and remember how fantastic it feels: so why don't I do it more often? I also remember how fantastic a yoga mat is for baby floor snacks. Here is Jewell, demonstrating.

I made some of Travis' mom's Reese's candy recipe: crush up 1 package of graham crackers (powder fine) with 1 lb powdered sugar and 2+ cups creamy peanut butter (I used more than the 2 cups it called for). Spread evenly over an entire a cookie sheet (to the edges). Melt a 1 1/4 bags chocolate chips with a stick of butter, and quickly spread over the top. Let it cool, then cut into squares to eat. You will need to find people to help you consume them all.

I also made some tasty stir fry for dinner (it's all about FRESH Thai basil). Jewell loves carrots and rice...even a little spicy. And she was getting fancy with the chop sticks (she's already mastered forks, I guess). She also impressed us with her choice of ensemble for the evening.

Dining Out

2009-03-22T15:31:00.001-07:00

This week we had the treat of eating somewhere out of the apartment for a few dinners. On Friday I didn't feel like cooking...but I did feel like Asian food. We thought it a good time to use the coupon we got for the Mongolian Grill. The food was...not as good as the Mongolian grill in Walla-Walla. And Jewell was a squirmy worm. She refused to sit on my lap even if I let her play with anything she wanted. She crawled all over the restaurant, much to the amusement of the other guests (and not to mine). It was still a lot of fun and very tasty. And the leftovers were great for lunch the next day.

Saturday we were invited to our friends, the Carter's, apartment for a meal. They made sweet potato burritoes with black beans. I loved them, but I forgot to let them know that beans and Travis are not friends (he was fine; he had a Quesadilla). Jewell and Sawyer got along really well as crawling buddies, both demonstrating the same all-out motion style (think prowling tiger). And they enjoyed playing the kitchen cuboards while dinner was getting ready.

Things Jewell Loves

2009-03-15T14:31:00.001-07:00

Here is a week in the life of Jewell, with a few of her favorite things and activities.

Books, here with one of her favorites, I Can Fly

Paper (especially the paper she's not supposed to play with)

Mommy's "laptops"

"Watcha doin?"

Peek-a-boo

The climbing gym

Bath time (as you already know)

Standing with the assistance of a giant bin of stuffed animals

Daddy time Sunday morning

Her new bowl: it empowers her to eat Cheerios all by herself! It suctions to the table AND it has a protective brim to send spilled food back into the bowl. You can get them at Land of Nod.

Behind the Scenes of The Paper Nut

2009-03-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

This is Jewell and me, in our highly-worked little office. As you can see, it's common for me to do absolutely nothing with my hair. And Jewell is very clear about where she wants to be: in my lap. She already knows how to use the computer better than most people who were born before 1968.

This is really the first post I've made about The Paper Nut. Mostly I leave that to my Jeanie & Jewell blog. This week I am being featured as a guest-blogger on my friend's very impressive and highly-traffied design blog, Black*Eiffel. Here are my lovely wedding invitation designs. These are intended for letterpress, so imagine them thus. You can visit the site Travis and I have worked so hard to create here: thepapernut.com

Click the images to view them BIGGER.

Maya's Baby Blessing

2009-03-01T19:36:00.001-08:00

Today was the blessing of our new niece, Maya. We drove down early this morning to the chapel they attend in Federal Way. We arrived before anyone else, so of course we took advantage of the beautiful light and took some pictures. And, of course, we kept taking pictures the whole time we were with everyone. It was a fun mini-reunion with the Nelson side of the family: Travis' parents (Greg and Sandy), brother Trevor with wife Amanda, brother Heath (his wife stayed home with their two kids), and of course Jeremy and Christie's family, which includes Molly, Emma, and their new little Maya!

Mommy Jeanie with Jewell

Daddy Travis and Jewell

Jewell loves Aunt Amanda
(which you may not be able to tell from this picture)

The happy family

Proud daddy Jeremy

Beautiful mommy Christie

The lady of the hour, baby Maya

Molly, the loving sister

Emma stands ready for anyone willing to photograph her
Cousins, Portrait I
I included this one because I love how Jewell's indifferent yet composed gaze creates a composition reminiscent of a 17th century portrait painting.

Cousins, Portrait II
But this one's the keeper...

Travis with his Mom and Dad (and Jewell)
We were happy you visited. We love you!

Jewell Loves Bathtime

2009-03-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

This post is pretty self-explanatory.

The Park Revisited

2009-02-22T20:13:00.000-08:00

Jewell and I went to the park again this week. It seems that the swings are no longer her favorite attraction there. Now she like trying to climb up the slides. She was also very interested in the Merry-go-round but I intercepted her before she could quite get herself into trouble there.

Also this week Jewell decided that taking naps isn't that important. She used to take a nap at noon every day. She would sleep anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours. Now, on most days, she won't take a nap at all. Isn't one a bit young to stop taking naps? We think so, but try telling that to Jewell. (Turns out that our child is a bit strong willed. Surprised?)

I'm amazed the hat stayed on as long as it did.

Daddy-Daughter Time

2009-02-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

For those of you that don't know I work from home. Lately I've been doing some tedious programming for work. So I need to take somewhat frequent breaks to avoid getting burned out. Otherwise I end up asleep at my computer. So this last week for one of my breaks I decided to take Jewell to the park that's just down the street. She loves the swings!

We decided to give Jewell a little more freedom. Afterall she is 1 year old now so she ought to be able to pour her own cereal, right?

Kid Tested... Got a few of them in there.

Yesterday Jewell and I went to the library, the bike store, and to Greenlake park together. She helped the librarians reshelf some books (guess who pulled them off of the shelf in the first place?) at the library. At the bike store she gave some customers advice on which bike computer she preferred. (It just happened to be the one that was two feet off of the floor.) And at the park we had round 2 in the swings. (No pics this time—sorry.)

We did however find a perfect book for Jewell at the library. It's called Princess Baby.

We took Jewell to her friend Michael's birthday party today. She found a toy at his place that she loved. She loved it even more when she realized that we were all watching her!

Weekly Post

2009-02-08T19:17:00.000-08:00

When I (Travis) first started this blog I was posting about 3 times a week. Now I seldom post more than once a month. So my late New Years Resolution is to have a weekly post that I put up every Sunday.

Jeanie has been working hard on thepapernut.com this past week. We launched the site a week and a half ago after having a coming soon page up for a year. (That's about average right?) She's working hard to get the wedding section ready. That was the whole point of the site so we're pretty excited that will be up shortly.

Jewell milestones:

Using a fork to eat solid foods
Using a spoon to eat her own bowl of Cheerios (with supervision)
Going an entire day without a nap (not a good thing)
Eating peanut butter
standing for a good 1/2 second on her own
Hanging from a her first body harness at the climbing gym
Drinking cow's milk (organic)
Rocketing off the height chart (out of the 100th percentile)

And here's what you all really want to see. Pictures of Jewell!

Playing with her new dollie

Playing with Mommy's cell phone

Lookin' like a toddler

Munching her tofu at our favorite Pho restaurant on her birthday

Celebrating

2009-02-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the technical difficulties with this post. Here are the pictures that were supposed to be there.

Happy First Birthday Jewell!

2009-01-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

One year ago today Jewell Lorraine Nelson was born. She weighed 8 lbs 11 oz and was 20 inches long. Today she is much bigger than that! (24 lbs 31 inches)

She has brought such joy into our lives. A smile or a giggle is never far away when Jewell is around. That's not to say that she's never grumpy -- but so often the remedy for that is a little game we like to call "peek-a-boo". I'm pretty sure that we made it up (just like my Dad invented fry sauce).

Jewell loves making monster noises. I'd have to say that I encourage that a bit but what can I say? It hilarious when a little one-year-old is crawling around growling like she a big monster. In addition to monster noises she babbles quite a bit. It is absolutely adorable. She makes all kinds of cute noises punctuated by inflections indicating questions, statements, demands, complaints, etc. All in all she's quite the communicator -- now if we could just understand what she's communicating...

Obviously I could go on and on about how wonderful my little birthday girl is. So I will... Just kidding. But I will leave you with some lists. What good blog post doesn't have lists in it!

Jewell's favorite books:

Where the Wild Thing Are
Zolo ABZ
I Can Fly
Hello Kitty Color
Toot & Puddle

Jewell's unique personality:

growling (real, scarry growling)
developing a fondness for binkies after 9 months old
love of chocolate
spunk to match her red hear

A New Nelson

2009-01-26T17:55:00.000-08:00

My brother Jeremy and his wife Christie just had a baby girl. Her name is Maya. She was born at St Josephs in Tacoma, WA. She weighed in at 7lbs 10oz and was 19 inches long.

Jeanie, Jewell, and I were lucky enough to go down to Tacoma and see Maya yesterday. What a cutie! (Not as cute as Jewell but one might say I'm biased.) Welcome to the family Maya.

The Comings and Goings of Jewell

2009-01-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas in Utah

2009-01-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Here are a few highlights of our holiday vacation to Utah. My (Jeanie) parents live here, and had been dreaming of having all their kids and grandchildren "home" for the last Christmas we would celebrate in this house. This is our "dream come true" Christmas. This year was different for us in the way it was for many families this year: less shopping, more family, less extravagance, more old-fashioned card games. Not to say their wasn't a down-side: the weather was so snowy it was torture for Travis not to go skiing. We didn't get out as much as we'd hoped (Travis was working most of the days we were there) and I do regret not having more fun in the snow. All that, however, is not to be compared with the good times we had (as you can see). Fun at Grandma & Grandpa's (and new carpet!) What would Christmas morning be without toys? "Hey! Look what Santa brought me!" Some story time with "Grandma Great" "I'm ready for my close-up." Jewell joined us for a little trip to the climbing gym Jewell getting a feel for the holds Lookin' pretty happy Obviously these kids love Grandma J My brother David with his little boy Exploring the stockings Travis helping Jewell learn to climb up (and down) the stairs Cousins playing together Playing at the airport In our Seattle apartment, our attempts to photograph Jewell in her little Christmas dress

A Few Weeks Ago...

2008-12-03T20:31:00.001-08:00

I (Jeanie) have been spending most of my online-social-networking on Facebook, posting photos and updates there, and thus neglecting our poor little blog. Please accept my apologies and enjoy these somewhat belated photos, taken a few weekends ago at a military park in North Seattle. The bottom three are obviously at home (where else would I let Jewell roam free in nothing but her BumGenius diaper?

Montana Trip

2008-11-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

Jeanie, Jewell, and I just took a little trip to Great Falls, Montana. The main purpose of the trip was for me to go hunting with Jeanie's dad and uncle. And believe me, we did a lot of hunting. I'll spare you the pictures of dead animals. If you want to see those let me know, and I'll email them to you. I am putting in a picture of a fish, but I threw that one back, so it's not a dead animal.

Jewell's CostumeNot a big fan of the hat!

Travis and the Trout

Playtime!

90 years and 9 months McKamey's Pond

Jewell and Grandpa Joel

Jewell's turn to drive

The Cuteness I

The Cuteness II

The Cuteness III

Summer Slideshow Part 2

2008-10-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

As promised here's part 2 of our multipart summer slideshow-a-thon! (Of course you must realize that we're giving you so many pictures at once in hopes of earning a small measure of forgiveness for not posting for so long.) This slideshow is all pictures of our trip to Cannon Beach.

(Click on the left or right side of the picture to navigate. Right click and select "Open Image in New Window..." to (you guessed it) open the image in a new window)

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8 Months Old

2008-09-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a photographic tour of Jewell's life so far. She is truly the most adorable thing to hit the face of the planet, and we love her! Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8 8 Months Old Today!

Summer Slideshow Part 1

2008-09-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Finally, we're back on the blog scene with a lovely load of what you all have been asking for: pictures of Jewell! This is Slideshow Number 1 of several we will be posting of our recent Jewell photos (stay tuned for pics of our summer travels and climbing trips). So sit back, make a batch of popcorn and enjoy.

(Click on the left or right side of the picture to navigate. Right click and select "Open Image in New Window..." to (you guessed it) open the image in a new window)

SimpleViewer requires JavaScript and the Flash Player. Get Flash.

Training

2008-08-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

The 2024 Olympics are just around the corner. (Maybe 2020 if she decides to be a gymnast.) So the training starts now...

Swimming: Strength Training:

Proper Diet:

Wrestling(it only looks like a hug):

And for those of you who didn't get my April Fools post (maybe because I accidentally posted it on May 31st)--this is Daddy's special event--joking.

Six Months!

2008-07-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Jewell is six months old today. We are so proud of her. She is just getting the hang of eating solid food. Though she still has trouble getting the lids off.

Okay so maybe we don't let her eat peanut butter. But she seems to like bananas.

I just weighed her and she was 19 lbs. (Nineteen lbs of cuteness that is!) Just today she started actually bouncing in her door bouncer. (Before she just played with the toys and slowly spun around.) She is also growing much more attached to her mommy and daddy.

Another new thing that Jewell does is reach out when we come to get her from bed. You'll come up to the crib and her arms will be under the swaddle blankets. But as soon as you get there she breaks her arms out and starts stretching. (And if she can't get her arms out sometimes she just pokes one little hand out. Can you say adorable?)

Happy six months Jewell!

Weekday Climbing!

2008-07-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took advantage of Aunt Renae's (Jewell's aunt) day off to go climbing together. This is the second time that we've taken Jewell out in her Kelty carrier.

She has totally outgrown the Baby Bjorn (front carrier). So now we have her in the backpack carrier. It is frustrating for me because I can't look at her while we walk. But she sure loves it.

Daddy's Haircut

2008-07-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well last Friday was the day for my semi-annual haircut. I have wanted to get it cut for a while but I couldn't justify getting an expensive haircut and I didn't want a cheap one. So my solution up until now was to just not get it cut. My last haircut was in December.

So on Monday (tomorrow) I have a job interview. Jeanie decided that I needed to get a haircut for the interview. So she made me an appointment at the local beauty school. I rode my bike on down (my current means of transportation since we parked one of our cars) and got my hair cut.

So if you're thinking I've been building up to something such as "it was the worst haircut ever" you're going to be disappointed. The haircut is fine. Of course there is a punchline -- it turns out that the interview is going to be a phone interview.

Last Picture With My Long Hair

The New Hairdo (Jewell included to make me look better)

Aunt Jill is Visiting

2008-07-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

Our aunt Jill is visiting this weekend. She recently retired so she decided to take a road trip. Her trip started in Arizona and she went to Provo, UT then Vancouver, WA and now Seattle.

We all went to lunch yesterday at the Greenlake Bar and Grill. It's a nice little place right on Greenlake. Jeanie's mom actually owned a store back in the '70s that was in the same space.

We have more nice adventures planned for today. Hopefully Jewell cooperates with those plans.

No Mobility Yet

2008-07-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

So we've been encouraging Jewell to start crawling. She's not always thrilled with the process though. Here's a video of Jewell having a little tummy time.

New Jewell Video

2008-07-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

Happy July!

I have been working on embedding my own customizable movie player to out blog so that I don't have to rely on youTube anymore. Here is a little movie of Jewell that was shot yesterday. She's playing with a rattle that Grandma Janetski gave her.

Make sure to click the button on the bottom right to test the full screen mode.

Five Months Old!!

2008-06-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

Today is Jewell's five month birthday! She continues to amaze us every day with her excitement and happiness. She clearly recognizes us (Travis and Jeanie). She will smile at other people, but those smiles aren't nearly as big and bright as the smiles that she reserves for Mommy and Daddy. Sometimes she just smiles at us when we're doing nothing to provoke it.

There have been some more "firsts" for Jewell recently. She has tried her first "solid" foods, which are hardly "solid" because they're smooth and creamy. She officially does NOT like the rice cereal (some impressive exaggerated gag expressions got the point across) but she did gobble up her first helping of pureed carrots (hand made by mommy).

She also exhibited her first desires to crawl. She manages to squirm around in a short radius from wherever I (Jeanie) set her, but no crawling. All I know is that when I leave her to play with some toys on a blanket I come back and the toys are all in very different positions and Jewell, herself, is relocated. Her favorite toys, by the way, are stuffed animals, laundry (she's very into textiles), mommy's hair, and anything that's satisfying to chew on.

Travis has been very persistent about getting us to take a family photo on Sunday, when we're all dressed up. So below is our little family behind our apartment today.

Jewell helping fold the laundry.

Wide Angle Jewell

2008-06-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

Mommy and Jewell in wide angle vision!!!!! I was experimenting with wide angle shots and putting the camera close to the subjects. (In this case the beautiful subjects.)

Mommy and Jewell

Jewell's Stats

2008-06-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well Jewell just keeps growing and growing. On her last weigh in she was 16 lbs 1 oz, 27 inches long, and her head was 42 cm. And she may be a little bigger than that now.

Our big girl has pretty much outgrown her Baby Bjorn so we pulled out the Kelty carrier. It works great and we can even use it to let Jewell sit at the table with us.

Jewell's New Carrier

Happy Fathers Day!

2008-06-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

So it's my first Father's Day as a father. The first thing I did today was wake up and unwrap my best present. That would be Jewell. She was all swaddled just like a present for her daddy.

Yesterday we went out climbing with Jewell again. We went up to Little Si in North Bend. Our friend Amy went with us too. Jewell was great. She took a real nap. (She usually takes very short naps in new places.) And we kept her out all day and she didn't fuss (too much).

The Whole Family--Almost

2008-06-04T22:42:00.001-07:00

The Whole Family--Almost, originally uploaded by longroper.

So I took a family picture while we were in Salem for Mason's baby blessing last weekend. I think the pictures turned out pretty good considering we had two babies, a toddler, and one grumpy Emma.

I encourage you to click on the picture to go to the Flickr page. It's pretty cool because you can select sections of the photos and leave comments on those selections. I have left several comments on different elements of the picture and I think it's worth checking out.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-06-03T18:25:00.001-07:00

Jeanie and I were married three years ago today in the temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. Happy Anniversary to us! We celebrated by getting a babysitter this afternoon and going to see a matinée of Iron Man. I know, not really romantic, but we enjoyed it.

Meeting the MAN

2008-05-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

No not that Man. I'm talking about Mason Allan Nelson (a.k.a. Bonesteele). Jeanie, Jewell, and I finally got to meet our nephew (Jewell's cousin) Bonesteele today. He is just as awesome as I thought he would be.

Notice in the picture that Jewell and Mason are wearing semi-matching onesies. They are both from the same line that proclaims "I'm Cute" on the front. As if we didn't already know.

Jeanie and the MAN

Cousins

Jewell's First Day at the Beach

2008-05-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

Jewell had her first day at the beach today. Unfortunately it was too cold for her to suit up. We were at the Oregon Coast in Pacific City. It was a neat trip for Jeanie and I because we went to dinner with Heath and Michele in Pacific city on our honeymoon three years ago.

It was amazing to reflect on how much we've built since then. Jeanie and I were just staring our lives together then. Now we have grown so much and we have brought a wonderful baby into our family.

So Jewell really loved the beach. At first I though that she was too cold because I was carrying her in the Baby Bjorn face out. So I could only feel her wiggling but I couldn't see her face. But actually she was excited and wiggly -- not cold and wiggly.

Jewell's Great Grandma

2008-05-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

We spend this Friday with Jeanie's grandmother. We stayed at her place in Vancouver, WA on our way to my brother Heath's place in Salem. It wasn't completely a stop of necessity (it's only an hour more to Salem) but we wanted to visit Grandma Athay too.

We had a great time. We went to Skippers together for lunch, went through a car wash (that was actually quite entertaining), went to Red Robin for dinner, and played Rummy. It was quite an eventful day.

Four Months!

2008-05-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Jewell is four months old today. In the last month she has really grown. She is bringing so much joy into our lives. I can hardly explain how happy she makes me. These are some of the milestones in the life of Jewell this month:

She laughed for the first time
She started sleeping in a crib
She started grabbing toys
She graduated to only six month size clothes
She only wakes up once a night
She has gotten even better at melting my heart

So happy four months to my little princess! Jeanie and I love our baby girl so much!

In the Crib

Melting My Heart

Playing with her butterfly

Laughing

More Laughing

My First Day at the Crag

2008-05-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

So our friends Britt and Aaron had a baby a month before we did. Their daughter is named Emery. Because Emery is a month older it seems like she is Jewell's big sister who gets to do everything first.

Well not to be outdone by her friend who is a month older Jewell had to have her own first day at the crag too. Some friends of ours came with us today and made it possible for us to take Jewell along. Thanks Amy, Alan, and Dave.

Here are some pictures from Jewell's first day out climbing with us. She did pretty well. We even got her to take a few short naps while we were out. She was pretty exhausted when we got home but I'd have to say she held up pretty well considering how tired she was. (She did break down once during the day but when Daddy held her for a while she calmed down -- I was so proud.)

The Hike Up With Daddy

Keepin' Warm With Mommy

My Little Nap Station

Where is Everyone?

Mommy and Me Lookin' Good in Nature

The Whole Gang

Amazingly Cute!

2008-05-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

My daughter is so cute. She had really started responding to the facial expressions of others. Here is a series of pictures that is the product of a session of mother and daughter smiling back and forth. (There are about 32 pictures in the gallery.)

Click on the left or right side of the picture to navigate. Right click and select "Open Image in New Window..." to (you guessed it) open the image in a new window.

SimpleViewer requires JavaScript and the Flash Player. Get Flash.

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of my mothers out there. This especially means you Sandy, Vivian, and Joyce. And I also have a message from Jewell for her mother. "Hi mommy! Happy Mother's Day. Here is a little something I commissioned Daddy to make for you." Please forgive me if you find this cheesy.

New Developments

2008-05-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

So life with Jewell in the last couple of weeks has changed from barely surviving to totally amazing. Two things changed: (1) Wifey put Jewell on the formula and (2) Jewell started going to sleep much easier. So Jeanie is much happier and Jewell is much happier. And that makes me much happier. Another new development is Jewell's level of interaction. She has started touching her toys when we put her in the bouncer or lay her down. She's just being so cute all of the time that I never even want to leave the house.

Jewell's Turtle Hat

Spring Flowers

Reading Her Book

Bad Influence

2008-05-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

Grandma J decided to share one of her favorite pastimes with Jewell -- Ebaying. It's amazing how quickly children pick these things up. Jewell is barely becoming interested in books (mostly the taste of them) but she seemed to pick the computer right up. Grandpa Greg (my Dad) will probably contribute to this in the future too. Good old Ebay -- teaching us that we're not actually buying things but winning them.

Visiting Family

2008-04-27T18:46:00.001-07:00

We went to visit Alison and Oliver today. Alison is Jeanie's cousin's widow. They only live a few miles away from us but we didn't really know them so we didn't visit until now. The difference today is that Grandma J is visiting and Oliver's grandma is Grandma J's sister-in-law who is also in town. (Did that all make sense?) So we had a connection. We had a great visit. Alison has a beautiful little home. And of course Oliver is a handsome little fellow. Oliver wasn't the least bit interested in Jewell. Well not until his mom held Jewell -- then he wasn't so happy. So we will definitely be visiting Alison more in the future. Especially since she offered to cook. (We've been told that she's a very good chef.)

The Grandmas with their grandbabies

Oliver found his old shoes very entertaining

Alison loves her little Oliver!

First Outdoor Climbing of the Season

2008-04-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

Jeanie and I got to go climbing outside today. Her mom is in town and babysat Jewell for the day. Thank you so much grandma J. Jeanie and I had a wonderful time. We went to exit 38 which is near North Bend. It is really beautiful out there.

Jeanie celebrating after her first climb back.

Trying to capture some of the scenery

My first try at blurred water pics

Grandma Janetski is in Town!

2008-04-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Jeanie has been pretty worn out lately so her mom decided to come to town to give her a break. Hooray! Jeanie and I are going to go out climbing together tomorrow. It will be our first time leaving Jewell with someone for so long. So Grandma J got here this afternoon and we headed straight down to Fremont. I wanted to go down there because there is a Blown Glass studio there that I wanted to visit. I have a school assignment coming up where I am doing a marketing video. So I asked them if I could do it on their studio. James, the owner, was all for it. I'm pretty excited about that. We also stopped by a few other shops. There was one with an antique couch that Jewell totally matched. (Picture included).

Jewell and the Couch

Grandma J's Arrival

Grandma J Feeding Jewell

Bonesteele vs. Jewell

2008-04-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

So I was thinking what would happen if Jewell and Bonesteele went head to head? It's pretty obvious that Bonesteele would win hands down in a wrestling match. But what about a cuteness match?

Bonesteele	Jewell

Well it's a tie of course!

A New Nelson!

2008-04-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

Jewell got a new cousin this week. His name is Mason Allen Nelson (aka. Bonesteele). We are very excited for Jewell to have a cousin so close to her age. And we are excited for Heath and Michele too. This is my brother and his wife's second child.

Jewell Update

2008-04-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know Jeanie has had a hard time getting Jewell to sleep. This translates into Jeanie spending all of her time either putting Jewell to sleep or worrying that Jewell will wake up and she'll have to put her back to sleep. Things seem to be slowly improving though. Jewell even fell asleep mostly on her own today! Hooray! A lot of people have been praying for Jewell and Jeanine -- thank you. I know your prayers are making a difference. Today our friends the Boundy's took care of Jewell for a while so Jeanie could have some time to herself. They sent her back with a present too. Thank you Boundys. Look how cute Jewell is in her new hat:

Sunday Afternoon Post

2008-04-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a few days since I posted anything so I figured I'd better get something up. Things seem to be improving with Jewell's ability to get to sleep. In the past she's only been willing to go to sleep when someone was holding, rocking, and shushing her. Lately she's started letting Jeanie put her in her bassinet and rocking the bassinet until she falls asleep. That is wonderful but unfortunately it can't last for long. Pretty soon Jewell is going to outgrow her bassinet. Jeanie is already planning her approach for the transitioning Jewell into sleeping in her crib. Here's a couple of pics of our little cutie. One of them is one of my better attempts at getting a picture of Jewell smiling and the other is her with her ugly doll. (That's the actual brand name.)

Grandma Janetski's Email

2008-04-09T00:03:00.000-07:00

So I was checking something in Jeanie's email for her and I came across these pictures. The pictures were both sent in an email from Grandma Janetski. She seems to think our little Jewell looks like a Guinea Pig!

Daddy Daughter Day

2008-04-08T23:47:00.001-07:00

I got to spend a lot of time with Jewell today. Jeanie had a doctors appointment so I got her all to myself for a while. That can be pretty scary because Jewell won't take a bottle but she was wonderful for me today. Luck was on my side too -- right at the moment she got hungry Jeanie walked in the door. Then I took care of her while Jeanie made some dinner. She was being so good today that I was able to take care of her for much longer than usual. So I was pretty happy about that. Jewell has been growing so fast lately so I decided that I would take at least one picture of her every day. I've been doing pretty good so far. Now all I need to do is get around to posting the pictures a little more often. Speaking of that here are a few of her in the shirt Grandpa Janetski bought for her in Mexico.

Going Crazy!

2008-03-31T00:13:00.001-07:00

***April Fools Post***

So Jeanie and I have been going crazy over how difficult it is to be parents. At times Jewell is requiring up to two hours to put her to sleep. That means rocking, shushing, swaddling, and going in a dark room fro two hours! And then many times she'll only sleep only half an hour before waking up.

So Jeanie has been doing some research and we have decided to try the Ferber Method. Otherwise known as cry-it-out. We started trying this method before but it didn't work so well. Jeanie was freaking out and Jewell showed a great ability to cry at full volume for a very long time.

But this time we are prepared. We have developed our own Ferber/Nelson method of teaching a child to put themselves to sleep. In case you didn't follow the supplied link the Ferber method basically involves letting your baby cry themselves to sleep. The modifications that we have made are slight but make a huge difference.

The fact is no one wants to listen to a baby crying for hours. You can try using headphones to block the sound. But really the best solution is to stop the sound at its source. For this you will need a bandanna. Make sure to fold the bandanna into a very thin stip so that you don't cover the baby's nose. Then tie the bandanna tightly around the baby's mouth. (Note that it is very important to swaddle the baby tightly so they can't pull the silencer off.)

The next modification to the Ferber method in the Ferber/Nelson method is suspension. You need to make the baby feel like they are in the womb so they will be comfortable. We toyed around with the idea of a water tank but Jewell had so much trouble breathing with the regulator that we tossed that idea. So we decided that hanging the baby by their feet would be the best solution. (It works just like in the first Batman movie.)

So starting tonight we will begin Jewell's sleep training. We are quite confident we will have a happy, well rested baby in no time at all with these new changes.

Happy Two Months Jewell!

2008-03-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Today is Jewell's two month birthday. Hooray! Jeanie and I celebrated by going out to Coldstone and using our buy one get one free coupon. So we ate some tasty ice cream and then walked around while Jewell slept in the Baby Bjorn. Unfortunately she woke up before we got to the car and started fussing. She was all out screaming by the time we got home. She just doesn't like her car seat.

Since I forgot to bring my camera on the ice cream trip I snapped a few shots of her on her changing table so you can compare her at birth, one month, and two months. She really has grown.

Birth

One MonthTwo Months

New Clothes!

2008-03-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Jewell received some new clothes just in time for her 2 month birthday. The white shirt/dress is from Jewell's Grandpa Joel. He got it on his trip to Mexico. He was there for some sort of archeology conference or meeting or something. (I actually prefer to think that story is a cover for his real reason to go to Mexico -- to check up on his drug business.)

The other two outfits were a surprise from our totally awesome friend Britt. Jewell and Emery were already destined to be BFF but now I'm pretty Britt is one Jewell's best friends too. Jewell loves her new outfits and can't wait to grow into them. I'll put some pics of Jewell wearing them as soon as she can wear them.

Easter Dresses

2008-03-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Elisabeth and Jewell both had very cute Easter dresses. This morning Elisabeth was being absolutely adorable towards Jewell.

Elisabeth Loves Jewell

Jewell is vary smiley these days. It's pretty rare that I catch it on film (digital film) though. Today was one of my lucky days.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

We are spending our Easter at Heath and Michele's place. We had the egg hunt the day before because that worked better with Elisabeth's nap schedule than Sunday afternoon. I played two roles in this event: Easter Bunny and photographer.

Bad Bunny

Two at Once

Jewell's Outside Time

More Easter at the Other Nelsons

2008-03-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

So Heath tells me that his daughter Elisabeth has been playing like many of her stuffed toys are babies lately. Well when a real baby showed up Elisabeth still didn't know quite what to do. (I think it's fortunate she didn't treat the real baby the same as her toys.)

Heath and Jewell

So Heath was coaching her a little but on what to do. The extent of her interaction so far has been to pat Jewell on the head, point out her body parts when Heath names them off, and to feign like she is kissing her. It's absolutely adorable!

You are Healed!

Easter at the Other Nelson's

2008-03-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

So pretty much everyone in the family had met Jewell except my brother's wife Michele. So Jeanie and I decided that we should and spend Easter weekend at their place in Salem. So far we have already learned a few things:

Leaving Seattle on I-5 South at 3:15 pm is a bad idea.
Jewell doesn't like traveling.
Jewell can cry at full volume for 45 minutes straight.
Traveling with children can make or break a relationship.
Jeanie is very forgiving.
Trying to pass a semi at night, in the rain, with a screaming baby in the car is very difficult.
And no matter what happens I will always love my little Jewell.

Jewell Doesn't Need to Walk

2008-03-20T01:56:00.000-07:00

It looks like Jewell has decided to bypass walking and move right on to more efficient means of locomotion. You'll have to see it to believe it. (If you check this right after I post the video probably won't be live yet.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

While Jewell and I decided to forego the green beer and corned beef hash we were still feeling a little bit festive today.

Juicy Jewell

2008-03-15T23:41:00.000-07:00

So I'm taking my morning shower and Jeanie comes in the bathroom shouting, "Look!" I'm thinking "Oh no! Something is wrong with Jewell." Fortunately that wasn't the case. It was an exclamation of cuteness not of trouble. Jeanie had that Jewell fit her Juicy Couture jacket that is sized for a 6 month old. Jeanie was so excited. Jewell does look mighty cute in her little jacket. It is a present from Jeanie's Mom. She started looking for in on Ebay not long after Jewell was born. There are matching pants but those are still way too big.

A little Jewell in Juicy Couture.

Bonus Picture

Getting an Early Start

2008-03-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

We have had a fair amount of sunny (or not overly rainy) weather lately in Seattle. This has inspired me to start looking at my local climbing guidebooks again. So I took the opportunity to bond with my daughter. We're covering two of my favorite hobbies here -- reading and climbing.

Baby E's Very Own Post

2008-03-05T18:13:00.001-08:00

Elisabeth Profile, originally uploaded by longroper.

I was looking through my photos from the weekend and I saw this wonderful picture of Baby E that I had forgotten about. I like this picture so much that I am dedicating a post just to this picture. Enjoy.

Baby Blessing

2008-03-03T14:54:00.000-08:00

Our little family outside of the church.

Jewell in her little white dress.

I gave Jewell her baby blessing in church yesterday. We did it in Milton-Freewater because a lot of our family was already in town for Trevor's wedding. It was great that we could do it there because my Grandpa was able to stand in. Jeanie's parents, sister, grandmother, and aunt all made it for the blessing. Her aunt came all the way from Mesa, AZ. It was great to have them there. The whole weekend really reminded me what a blessing it is to have such a wonderful immediate and extended family.

Four Generations

2008-03-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had four generations of the Athay family together. We had Great Grandma and the three J. Lorraines (from left to right: Jewell, Jeanie, Beth, Joyce).

Cousins

2008-03-01T21:02:00.000-08:00

This last Thanksgiving Jeanie and I went to Jeanie's grandmother's house in Vancouver, WA. Well my brother Heath doesn't live too far from there so we met up and went to the mall in Vancouver together. We made a stop at the Children's Place and bought some matching outfits for Jewell (then unborn) and Elisabeth. It was the first article of clothing that I picked out for Jewell. This weekend is the first time we have been able to get Jewell and Elisabeth together for a photo shoot. Elisabeth didn't totally understand what was going on but with Heath's help we still managed to get some good photos. (I'm sure Jewell didn't understand what was happening either but she isn't mobile enough to escape.) Here are a few of them:

Amateur Wedding Photographer

2008-02-29T22:06:00.000-08:00

My younger brother Trevor was married today. He and his new wife Amanda were married in the Richland, WA LDS temple. It was a beautiful ceremony. It was so cool to be in there with them as they were being sealed. I was reminded of the covenants that I made when I was married to Jeanie. I am so happy to be married to a wonderful woman who loves me so much. I know that Jeanie, Jewell, and I are going to be together forever. I love my family so much and am excited for Trevor and Amanda now that they are starting their own family. I nominated myself to take some pictures for them today. I have included a few of my favorites in this post.

One Month Birthday!

2008-02-29T22:01:00.000-08:00

Jewell is one month old today. And just as cute as ever. This is a picture of her that I took at Trevor's wedding today. We had to leave her with someone else while we were in the temple for the ceremony. It was the first time that Jeanie and I have both left her. As soon as the ceremony was over we rushed back outside to be back with her. Happy one month baby Jewell!

Dr. Mario

2008-02-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

I have found a new name for addiction and it is Dr. Mario. So yesterday I was fooling around on the internet. (In case you don't know that's a thing that Al Gore invented.) I decided that I wanted to get some more ROMs for my Nindendo emulator. So I found a site that gave the top 100 NES games to get some suggestions on the best games to download. One of the games on that list was Dr. Mario. In the last 24 hours I have played Dr. Mario for at least 6 hours and maybe more. (That might not seem like much but I don't exactly have 6 hours to spare.) My sister Tiffany and I spent all of last evening playing. And I can't stop thinking about going and playing some more right now. I believe that Tiffany has caught this addiction also. Her eyes lit up when I mentioned that I might bring the Xbox (modded with NES emulator) home with me this weekend. Just the mere thought of playing some more Dr. Mario glazes my eyes over and all I see are little pills falling into a bottle. Kind of ironic that a video game about drugs falling into a pill bottle is addictive isn't it?

Aunt Tiffany

2008-02-26T19:46:00.000-08:00

Jewell's aunt Tiffany came to visit this week. She came from Tennessee for my brother Trevor's wedding that's on Friday. So she flew into Seattle a little early so she could come see Jewell.

The Baby Mohawk

2008-02-24T15:18:00.000-08:00

I love doing this with her hair now. I don't think I'd be a big fan of it if she decides to keep the look when she's older. She wasn't in the best mood when I took these pics. Probably because she's been sick the last couple of days. (It breaks my heart every time I hear her little cough.)

A Walk in the Park

2008-02-24T15:08:00.001-08:00

The weather in Seattle has been amazing for the last week! Unfortunately I have been mostly cooped up inside. Normally I would have been out climbing but I am still recovering from a tendon injury. So I was planning on going to a Mountain Bike park in Seattle proper that I just found about. But that didn't happen. So the extent of my outdoor activity for this lovely weather has been... A walk in the park! (There are no pictures of me because I'm the family cameraman.)

26 Years Later

2008-02-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

Jeanie pulled out her scrapbook the other day and showed be a photo of her with her old baby quilt. It just so happens that we still have that quilt. So at her request we did our best to recreate the picture of her when she was a baby. Jeanie(mother) is on the left and Jewell(daughter) is on the right. The photo of Jeanie was taken in October of 1981 and the photo of Jewell was taken in February of 2008.

Background Chooser

2008-02-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

I have added a background chooser to the blog. You just click the background that you want. This will be a semi-permanent addition to the sidebar. (The random background feature is still active.) I'll try to add the holiday layouts to this feature sometime soon. Here it is:

Uncle Blake

2008-02-18T18:03:00.000-08:00

Uncle Blake came to visit today. He's up in Seattle to go to the Marlyn Manson concert. Jewell was a good girl and resisted the urge to pull on his creepy-guy goatee. (I once had a creepy-guy goatee myself.)

Grandma & Grandpa Nelson are in Town!

2008-02-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

My parents just got here today. It is there first time seeing Jewell. There got here at a really good time. Jewell was awake and in a good mood. She seemed a little bewildered by the new faces she was seeing. She wasn't upset though. Of course I was manning the camera. Here are some pics. The last picture is pretty much real time. Grandpa and Jewell are both napping on the LoveSac right now.

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T16:35:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day! This layout is only supposed to display today only but my server is confused about what day it actually is. So this layout may be up for an extra day. My little Valentine: Some of our Valentines decorations:

Two Weeks!

2008-02-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

Jewell is two weeks old today. I am still loving every minute of being a dad -- well almost every minute. Really the only thing that I don't like is when she is crying and I don't know what to do to make her happy. I don't mind changing diapers. I don't mind getting up and holding her during the night. Here's some pics from when Uncle Jeremy and family came to visit. Unfortunately I couldn't be there when they came because I was off shooting a film for one of my school projects.

Baby & Daddy

2008-02-07T23:13:00.001-08:00

The first thing on my todo list when I get home:

Baby & Daddy, originally uploaded by longroper.

She's nice and quiet when we clean her head. It's the rest of the bath that she's not so fond of.

The Good Part, originally uploaded by longroper.

This is what I like to call the swoop. It's where Dad comes in and takes over for the fun part.

The Afterbath, originally uploaded by longroper.

One Week Old!

2008-02-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

We have had our little baby for one week now. Every time I look at her I just melt. It's amazing to think that she's really our's to love and take care of. So I finally got the video camera out and took some footage of her today. It's a bit long so don't feel obligated to watch it all. Enjoy.

New Look

2008-02-04T23:08:00.001-08:00

I've been fooling around with the template for our blog a little bit. My latest change is to make the background a random pattern. Check it out. Hit your browser refresh and see what happens. Patterns courtesy of squidfingers though I hope to add some custom ones in the near future.

Eating From a Bottle

2008-02-03T19:35:00.000-08:00

Jewell ate from a bottle for the first time today. It was very empowering for me. Before there were times when she would cry and only mommy could take care of it by feeding her. Well now I to can fulfill my little baby's needs. (Of course I still can't supply the milk.) And now I am obligated to wake up in the night and feed her. I guess being able to help my wife is not such a bad thing though.

Sleeping On Daddy

2008-02-02T19:25:00.001-08:00

Sleeping On Daddy, originally uploaded by longroper.

Jewell didn't sleep too well on her first couple of nights home. Last night she was wonderful though. This morning she stayed awake laying on my chest and she was being such a cutie. Up till now most of the time that she's been awake she's been either eating or crying. So it exciting when she stays awake and is just chillin'.

The picture on this post is the morning of her first night home. That night she wouldn't sleep in her bassinet so we ended up having her sleep on our chests.

The Adventure Begins

2008-01-31T11:51:00.001-08:00

This is the start of our family blog. Jeanie and I have started on our greatest adventure yet. We just had our first baby. Her name is Jewell Lorraine Nelson and she was born two days ago. I made her a website that's here: linky I also have some pictures of her on my fickr account here: linky Sorry for the lame template. We plan on updating that in the future but we're a little busy with our Jewell for now.

Nelson Family Adventures

Big Sister

New Baby!

March

2 Years Old

Our Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving

Summer to Fall, Seattle to Selah

Counting Backward through Another Month

Happy Easter!

Spring Travels

Jewell's Sleep Problems

More Jewell, More Food

Dining Out

Things Jewell Loves

Behind the Scenes of The Paper Nut

Maya's Baby Blessing

Jewell Loves Bathtime

The Park Revisited

Daddy-Daughter Time

Weekly Post

Celebrating

Happy First Birthday Jewell!

A New Nelson

The Comings and Goings of Jewell

Our Christmas in Utah

A Few Weeks Ago...

Montana Trip

Summer Slideshow Part 2

8 Months Old

Summer Slideshow Part 1

Training

Six Months!

Weekday Climbing!

Daddy's Haircut

Aunt Jill is Visiting

No Mobility Yet

New Jewell Video

Five Months Old!!

Wide Angle Jewell

Jewell's Stats

Happy Fathers Day!

The Whole Family--Almost

Happy Anniversary!

Meeting the MAN

Jewell's First Day at the Beach

Jewell's Great Grandma

Four Months!

My First Day at the Crag

Amazingly Cute!

Happy Mother's Day!

New Developments

Bad Influence

Visiting Family

First Outdoor Climbing of the Season

Grandma Janetski is in Town!

Bonesteele vs. Jewell

A New Nelson!

Jewell Update

Sunday Afternoon Post

Grandma Janetski's Email

Daddy Daughter Day

Going Crazy!

Happy Two Months Jewell!

New Clothes!

Easter Dresses

Happy Easter!

More Easter at the Other Nelsons

Easter at the Other Nelson's

Jewell Doesn't Need to Walk

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Juicy Jewell

More Video

Getting an Early Start

Baby E's Very Own Post

Baby Blessing

Four Generations

Cousins

Amateur Wedding Photographer

One Month Birthday!