Family Lobsterfest 2009

Every year Jon's aunt and uncle send the family an awesome Christmas gift: a full lobster dinner. This year we got together on Beth's birthday to enjoy some tasty crustaceans. I refuse to be in the room when the lobsters are slaughtered. I admit, however, that I have no problem eating them when they are done.

This year's menu included cheese fondue, lobster bisque and shrimp corn chowder, fresh salad, boiled fresh Maine lobsters, and chocolate lava cakes with vanilla ice cream for dessert. I proudly made the lava cakes from scratch and, from what everyone tells me, they turned out great. I've had no sense of taste or smell for the past week due to a nasty cold (not swine flu, I swear) so I had to take everyone's word for it. Oh the irony.


Place mats that came with our lobsters.


The ginormous pot (aka, the instrument of death).


Nothing says ambiance like floating lobster candles.


Jon and the seaweed-covered lobsters.


The birthday girl (take the damn picture so I can eat my lobster).

Seven Months!

Amery is seven months old today! I have to cheat a little with this picture. It's actually from his six-month photo shoot. I promise I'll post an official seven-monther soon! We've been so busy with Grandma in town this past week that we haven't taken a single shot of them together.

First Easter (new pics added!)

Here are a few shots from Amery's first Easter.


Surprisingly chipper considering he did not want to wake up for the 7:00 sunrise service.


After church.


All dressed up with papa.



Right after this one was taken we broke the news that he can't actually eat the chocolate they handed out to the kids on the way out the door. Turns out he really just wanted to chew on the plastic eggs anyway.


It turned out to be a beautiful morning and we were able to have brunch out on the patio with our friends Drew and Carrie. The menu: Bacon-and-Egg Casserole, Amish friendship bread, mixed berries, coffee, juice, and mimosas.



Amery hung out with us on the patio.



Later that day with his cousins Jax and Jade.

More 6-month pictures

As promised, more cute shots of you-know-who! These would not exist without the awesome talent of our friend who took precious time out of her hectic schedule to spend a couple of hours with us.

Happy Easter!

When they told me they were taking Easter Bunny pictures at daycare, I pictured his teacher with a scary rabbit mask on her head. Good thing I dressed him in something cute, because we were pleasantly surprised by the final portraits.



Thirty-five dollars later we have enough wallet-sized copies to choke a French lop eared.

First Trip to the Zoo

Auntie Laura is in town so we took a trip to the Austin Zoo on Saturday. The zoo is really more of a rescue/sanctuary. All of the animals there have been rescued from a bad situation. Many were pets first before the owner realized that having a giant Bengal Tiger isn't such a good idea.

He was less than impressed with the fake gorilla in the gift shop.

It was almost 90 degrees on Saturday so we broke out the sun hat.

One of the large female lionesses. Check out that huge paw.

Checking out some monkeys with Auntie Laura.

Sneek Peek: Six-month photos

These were taken this morning by a good (and talented!) friend. There are more to come, but these were two of her faves that were waiting for me on my email shortly after our session.

Shopping Milestone

Amery sat up all by himself in the cart at the grocery store a couple of days ago. Hey, this is a major milestone when your mom likes to shop as much as his does.