Festive Fun w/ Family & Friends

WHEW!!!!!!!! What a wonderful (yet busy) week The Webers have had! Norah's first holiday season has come and gone and we just couldn't have had a more wonderful time.

Norah was blessed with visits from The Godmamma from Pittsburgh, Uncle Matt & Aunt Courtney from California and Great Grandma Weber from Florida! She got to open all of her presents from Santa, and is even beginning to walk (with assistance) all around.

There are simply no words to describe just how jam-packed, and lovely the holidays have been for Norah, so we'll just let the pictures do the talking:

Hooray for the Holidays

Can you believe that Thanksgiving has passed and that Christmas is only a mere 16 days away?!?!?!? Where has the time gone?!?! Of course, Dan and J find themselves saying that a lot lately since our little girl is already over 10 months old.

November flew by and, before we knew it, Thanksgiving was upon us. We had a WONDERFUL time celebrating our Day of Thanks over at Grandma and Poppi's house! We got to see family that we haven't seen in a while and Norah even got to sample some of Grandma's famous turkey.

The day after Thanksgiving, The Weber family traveled West to Noblesville, IN to visit some of D & J's most near and dear family friends, the Friedmans and the Turners. J and Jaime Turner have been friends for almost 20 year now. We've shared just about everything in the world together: Graduations, marriages, births, funerals. Yes. Our's is a friendship with staying power. The trip was made even more special because our children got to meet one another. We had a lovely time.

Speaking of meeting people.....Norah got to meet a most special person this past Sunday.....SANTA CLAUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a great day! We started off getting Norah in her cutest of outfits and taking her off to meet The Big Man himself. While there, we ran into Poppi (Grandpa), and he came with us for our photo shoot. Norah was an angel! She wasn't scared of Mr. Claus. Rather, she was very curious about all of the lights and his big, furry beard.

After a few good pictures, we were off to buy Norah's first Christmas ornament and pick out our tree.

The day was capped off by decking the halls of the Weber Inn and decorating our Christmas tree. All in all, it has been a wonderful start to a wonderful season.

We Don't Give A Damn 'Bout OSU or Michigan

Living in Ohio has its perks. There's the thrill and pride of living in the state that can boast that its "The Birthplace of Aviation". There's Wright-Pat Air Force base, Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Skyline Chili,The Bungals, The Reds, The Cavaliers.....even The Browns (poor Bastards). There are quaint towns like Versailles and Greenville within an hour's drive. There is King's Island and Cedar Point...the list is long and distinguished. But, Ohio has a darker, more sinister side......College Football.

Every November, right before Thanksgiving, the normally calm, quiescent residents of the Buckeye State turn into scarlet and gray wearing, 'OH-IO' chanting, beer consuming heathens of society as they take on their neighbors to the North, the Michigan Wolverines.

It really is a site to behold. These normally mild mannered, hard-working folk toss their coffee and donuts for Kegs 'n Eggs and throw caution (along with their inhibitions) to the wind as they cheer on Brutus the Buckeye and Jim Tressel to (whey they always expect) victory against their dreaded foes.

J & D, however, could hardly care less. J is from Indiana, and she can hardly boast a good Big Ten allegiance in The Hoosiers or the Boilermakers. Dan was born here in Dayton, yes, but he was raised watching Donovan McNabb tear it up in Syracuse before he started to suck in Philadelphia.

No. There is no chanting of "OH-IO" in the Weber Household during this fabled rivalry game each year. Instead, D & J have found common ground in rooting for God's Team, the mighty Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. And, keeping with tradition, we have begun to teach our daughter the fine morals and values that are Notre Dame football. Gooooooooooooooo IRISH!

The Weber Inn: A House Divided: Part Deux-Pittsburgh Style

Last weekend, The Weber Clan headed up to Pittsburgh to enjoy the wonderful company of Norah's Godmamma, Cindy, our good friend, James, and, most importantly, to go see Dan's beloved Bengals play J's beloved Steelers.

Apart from a bit of traffic from the Pitt/Notre Dame and Penguins game, the ride up was uneventful. Norah, as usual, was just an angel. Mommy and Daddy purposefully left right at nap time so that Norah would sleep for a bit. (We're getting pretty good at this traveling stuff :-) )

We spent Saturday evening catching up with our awesome hostess, playing euchre and generally 'smack talking' about who was going to win The Battle Royal of the next day.

We awoke Sunday and dressed Norah in her best Bengals/Steelers gear. Mommy and Daddy are all about equality for our little girl, so we attempt to dress her half 'n half during Bengals/Steelers games (Yes. We realize that this type of wardrobe may lead to serious confusion and possible Multiple Personality Disorder in the future :-). Although there was not one stitch of clothing that matched on our poor girl that day, she still looked adorable. She had on Steelers socks, Bengals onesie, Bengals wind pants & a Steeler T-over the Bengals onesie. The ens am was made complete by adding the touch of Steelers beads and a Bengals teething ring!

Norah's Godmamma's Mamma, Mamma Scott was gracious enough to babysit our little girl whilst Mommy and Daddy went to the game w/ Cindy, James and Pappa Scott.

Well, you all know the outcome.....J's beloved Steelers dropped BOTH games of the season to the Bengals in God knows how long. The score was 18-12 in what was a defensive game. Despite this loss....we had a blast! Dan has a wonderful first visit to Heinz field yelling "Who Dey" to all fellow Bengals fans he could find and J got to have her picture taken in front of ALL SIX Steelers Superbowl Trophies.

The night was capped off by hoagies from the world famous Pirmanti Brothers (you know the place....where they serve the French Fries ON the sandwiches) and J's discover of Norah's 3rd tooth on the way home.

We had a great time and hope you enjoy the pictures.

The holidays are right around the corner, so stay tuned for many more of Norah's 'firsts'

Much love,
D & J

Pretty Pumpkins & Precious Pachyderms

Well, better late than never. Please forgive us for not posting with greater alacrity, but it has been a crazy few weeks (a statement that rings true with parents far and wide, I'm sure). Ms Norah's first Halloween was a blast. The weather was perfect and the outfits (that's right, I said outfits...plural) were adorable.

Norah started out the day in a cute little pumpkin outfit that Grandma had bought for her. We went cruising around The Greene (a mall here in Dayton) and got iPhones for Mommy and Daddy. Norah was the cutest pumpkin in all of Dayton! :-)

After a quick photo shoot in her pumpkin outfit, it was time for a wardrobe change into her next costume; The Elephant.

There are no great words to describe it, save to say that Norah was cuter than hell in her outfit! Never have we seen such a cute elephant. The outfit had tusks (a Male Elephant Trait), so Mommy tied a pink-polka-dot ribbon around Norah's waist. How cute was she! We made stops over to Ms. Kath's (her sitter) house and paid a visit to Grandma and Poppi. All the while, Daddy played "March of the Elephants" by Henry Mancini on his brand new iPhone.

The night was capped off by Norah helping Mommy make a Jack-o-Lantern and Mommy & Daddy handing out candy to the Kiddos.

All-in-all, a great first Halloween for our daughter. Enjoy the pics and video!

Mommy, Daddy (and Doggy) Go On Holiday

Well, after almost 9 months, Mommy and Daddy finally took their first long weekend without Ms. Norah. You'd think that almost 9 months of sleep deprivation, diaper changing, crying/screaming patrol, spit-up cleaning, baby-proofing, teething, and...well....life changing events would lend itself to Mommy and Daddy being more ready than ever to 'get the hell outta Dodge' so-to-speak but, as all things have been since Norah-Belle was born, it wasn't that easy. The maximum time that D & J had been away from Norah since she was born was only about 14 hours, so this was a bit of a challenge.

After a few tears and a ton of big hugs and kisses, Mommy and Daddy left Norah in the care of Grandma and Poppi while they took their other 'fur child', Angus, down to the cabin in NC for a few days of R&R and to close the place up for the Winter.

All in all, it was a TON of fun, and we're glad that we did it. We played cards, went fly-fishing, hiking, poked around the shops in some quaint towns, sat by a roaring fire, ate WONDERFUL food, took in the beautiful Fall Foliage and just generally loved spending time with one another and, of course, Angus.

Our beautiful little Boxer-Boy had the best time by far. He got to be off leash and traipse around the woods, sleep on the couch, take hikes and have Mom and Dad all to himself for over 48 hours! Even though Angus is THE BEST 'big brother' that we could ask for, we sometimes forget that he needs his 'alone time w/ Mommy & Daddy' too, so we're glad that he got to have that.

Grandma and Poppi took EXCELLENT care of our little baby and she, too, had a blast. It's safe to say that we all got a welcome holiday!

Windmill Farms '09...A Day That Will Live In Infamy

It started out as a great idea: "It's a beautiful, crisp Fall day. Let's take Norah out to a pumpkin patch and petting zoo", we thought. Well, you know what they say: 'The best laid plans of mice and men...." right? :-)

Norah had a great time, initially. We bought some cider so that Daddy can make some hard cider to warm us during the Winter months. Norah played in a pumpkin patch and got to pose with one as big as she is. We got our picture taken with Frankenstein and some other scary characters. And, we even got to visit with some roosters, goats and deer.

Then, came the Lama pen. We had been having such a fun time getting up close and personal with the animals that we didn't even think about the quirky personalities of these "Sweaters-with-hooves" until it was too late. And, for those of you that don't know...lamas spit....a lot.

We were just about to get the cutest shot of this furry little friend sauntering up to our daughter when....WHAM! This precious Peruvian animal hocked up a giant loogie and spat it in Norah's face! That's right. You heard it here. A lama spit in our daughter's face.

Mommy and Daddy's fears were quickly assuaged once we ascertained that the offensive liquid had not gotten in her eyes and/or mouth and began laughing. Norah, on the other hand, did not take this assault so lightheartedly. She began crying...hard. After a few minutes of tears (and some anti-bacterial gel on her hands etc...) Norah came back to her senses and was right as rain. The incident, however, will be forever etched in our memories....just one of the many that we love to share with all of you.