Happy First Birthday Jewell!

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

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

Our Christmas in Utah

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