Our first photo shoot

So Allison's Auntie AJ and Uncle Bernie got Allison a photo sitting with their photographer for her birthday. We just got the pics and thought we would post a few. Cannot believe it's been a year already.

We had a good time but I think she was done at this point :)

Allison is One...oh yah and her first Christmas

So much has happened over the last month it's hard to keep track. I think all the eggnog and catnip is making it hard to concentrate. But I will try and update you on what's been going on. Since my last post, we all celebrated the Christmas holiday, Allison's first.

After Eddie and Chrissy decorated the house for Christmas, they dressed up Allison for the Christmas card picture.

They also went downtown to visit Santa at Nordstroms. They took the picture right when Santa told Allison that she was a good girl this year and would get everything she asked for.

The weekend leading into Christmas was quite busy for the family. On Christmas Eve Eve, we hosted the Husky Band party at our house. It was fun getting together with all our friends we didn't see tailgating this year but missed those that couldn't make it.

On Christmas Eve they all went down to Chrissy's family's house to exchange gifts, see the family and attend their annual party.

Then came Christmas morning. Eddie and Chrissy got Allison up to see what Santa brought us all.

Might be time for a nap after all the Christmas excitement

After that they headed to Eddie's parents house to see the family and open some more presents.

So after Christmas and New Years came Allison's big day. Her birthday on Jan 2nd. Can't believe it's been a whole year already. And look how big she is now. Up to 15 1/2 lbs.

Jan 2nd 2013

Feb 2nd 2012

She had a lot of fun with her friends and family over to party for her birthday

This as been a great holiday and it's good to get back to some normalcy. The next post will be pics from her photo shoot. Until then keep your dogs locked up.

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas everyone.  Chrissy and I were considering letting Gus write the letter this year since he has become such a prolific writer, but since he can be long winded I thought I would give it a shot.  If you don’t have time to read over the whole years worth of blog posts, 2012 has been quite a ride for us.

It began a few days before the New Year, on December 28^th, with us staying at Evergreen Hospital where Chrissy was admitted during her pregnancy.  We watched the Huskies lose the Alamo Bowl and rang in the New Year all from the comforts of Chrissy’s hospital room.  At the time I was still on my knee scooter and in a cast after having Achilles Tendon surgery.  On January 2^nd, they took us to the delivery room where our first child, Allison Victoria Lord, was born about 3 months premature.  She weighed in at a whopping 1 pound 10 ounces and 13 inches long.  We spent the next 4 months at the hospital while she was growing and fighting through some setbacks including infections and surgeries.  But on May 5^th we finally got to bring her home.  All the prayers, candle vigils, well wishes and good thoughts worked because she is now doing great.  While she is still on the small side for her age, 14 ½ lbs, 26 inches, she is healthy and growing.

Since then it has been a lot of adjusting for the new mom and dad. Chrissy got acclimated as she took her maternity leave once we got Allison home and spent the summer with her. I got out of my cast and then my walking boot by mid summer but I am still working through physical therapy to strengthen my foot and walk normally again.

While we are still figuring out how to take Allison anywhere (who knew you had to pack up the whole house when you take the baby out), we did manage to spend the 4^th of July weekend with our friends in Chelan which was our first trip away from home.  We also took Allison to a couple Washington Husky football games, but she didn’t have as much fun as we had hoped (she still has lots of time to learn how Husky football is a way of life).  For the rest of the games she started staying with her grandma and grandpa (Eddie’s parents).

Speaking of grandparents, they have been a blessing since Chrissy went back to work in August.  On Sundays, Chrissy’s mom Connie comes to stay the night with us and takes care of Allison on Mondays. We have a very close friend, Cindy Perry, who nannies for us Tuesdays through Thursdays.  On Fridays, my mom Linda, comes up to watch Allison during the day until I get home.  So both grandmas and Cindy get their baby fix each week and sometimes more when scheduling problems arise.  It’s a win-win-win-win (I think that’s enough wins).

Otherwise it’s been a pretty uneventful year. That is until this last week when Chrissy threw a small surprise party for my 40^th birthday. We had a couple close friends and some family meet us downtown for dinner at The Met and then drinks back at our suite at the Hyatt. It was a great way to turn 40. And now wrapping up the Christmas season, Allison got to go to downtown Nordstrom to visit Santa for the first time. As you can see she liked it a lot. And since she was such a good girl this year, Santa said he would bring her lots of toys.

While we have now become those parents who talk about our kid obsessively, we wouldn’t change this past year for anything.   Happy Holidays to all of you and we hope the New Year brings you joy and happiness.

Love Eddie, Chrissy, Allison, and Gus

Oh my...11 months old

Well another month come and gone. Not much has happened. Allison is doing good and still growing. She is up to 14 1/2 lbs now. We got together with Eddie's dad's family for Thanksgiving but really didn't get any pictures. But everyone was able to see Allison and how much she has grown.The updated are pictures below.

Dec 2nd

 Nov 2nd

 Oct 2nd

 Sep 2nd

 Aug 2nd

 July 2nd

 June 2nd

 May 2nd

 April 2nd

 Mar 2nd

Feb 2nd

Now we are into December and getting ready for Christmas. It's also Eddie's 40th birthday this month and Allison got her daddy an early present to put around the tree. Its that start of a tradition for the both of them.

Allison enjoyed the train...