Meeting the MAN

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

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

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!

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

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!

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.

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Happy Mother's Day!

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

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

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.