Arranged Marriage and Thanksgiving

These days, when most Westerners talk about arranged marriage, they aren't very excited about the concept. And by "these days," I mean the last couple hundred years. But just because it isn't popular doesn't mean it's not a good idea. People haven't had much luck picking their own mates for a while now, so maybe it's time to bring arranged marriage back. Or not. In case arranged marriage is cool in a couple of decades, we have dibs on Riley Kaleo Nelson for Siena's main squeeze. He is in the 100th percentile in height and weight right now, so we are banking on good genetics. We are also very good friends with his parents (no in-law drama here!). Seriously though... Peter and Katy Nelson came for a visit the day before Thanksgiving. We partook in some delicious Dos Coyotes and talked about the following scintillating subjects:

- giving/watching birth (we are all still amazed)
- breast-feeding (also quite amazing)
- Irish twins (proceed with caution)
- diaper issues (bumGenius? disposable? diaper service?)
- Hooter Hiders (we wish we invented these)
- Bellybou' (shameless plug for the Ganyos' store... turns out that the Nelsons know the other two co-owners! Small world...)
- Babywise (we discovered that Sam and I do not follow the Babywise philosophy... does that make us Babyfools?)
- growth charts (Siena is a middle-of-the-roader, and Riley is what I call an outlier)
- predicting future growth (Riley's doctor told the Nelsons that he would be 6'5" and 200+ lbs. That may end up being accurate, but I still call shenanigans on such predictions after two months post-womb.)
- youth ministry (Peter is a youth pastor at a church in SoCal)
- teaching (Katy teaches high school Spanish)
- good books (I am reading Surprised by Hope, a book by N.T. Wright, at Peter's urging)

I would not have known the first thing about most of those subjects if Siena hadn't forced me to learn. It's amazing how fatherhood warps one's mind... Peter and I were more interested in talking about babies than fantasy sports!

Here is a video of Siena's first meeting with Riley...




For thanksgiving we killed two families with one bird... that is, we enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast with both of our families at the same time. We are very grateful that our wonderful families get along and live within a couple hours of each other. Splitting a holiday or neglecting one of our families during these times isn't ideal, so we are thrilled when the families can unite for joint ventures.

Also at the feast were (Cousin) Shanon Sorbello, the Pleaus, the Riddells, and Joe. It was a glorious time... and we continue to be very thankful for all of our family and friends!

I would post pictures of the festivities, but Sam's camera was mistakenly transported to San Jose in (Brother) Andy's car. Her phone, wallet, etc. is probably on a mail truck somewhere in between by now...

Happy Thanksgiving to all... and to all a Happy Thanksgiving! Oh... while I'm on the topic of giving thanks... we have somehow neglected to share some very encouraging information: Siena went for her two-month check-up with her pediatrician last week. At the appointment, the doctor listened to Siena's heart and could not detect a murmur. Either God has closed the holes in Siena's heart or the baby doctor needs to go to the ear doctor for a hearing check. We will learn which option is true at our next cardiology appointment.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying some time off work, but I have to go back on Tuesday to start saving for a hefty dowry... just in case arranged marriage makes a comeback. :)

Public Menaces?

Sam here... Last week (Or the week before? How time flies...) some of my family came to visit. As soon as they arrived we reloaded the car and went to Common Grounds for coffee and crosswords. Unfortunately, partway through the crossword, a mocha-accident happened... coffee everywhere! On the crossword. On the floor. On my jeans. The employees were very gracious and quickly brought a mop and offered to remake the mocha. In my attempts to help clear the table of stuff so it could be sopped up, I dumped my water cup over, too. The boy mopping gave me a clear "are you serious" look and we quickly (and sheepishly) exited the building. Later we braved Burgers and Brew for lunch without incident.

Later, while Katie held Siena, I took advantage of two free hands to play in the garden with Mom. Aunt Katie is an all-star Siena-sitter.



Mom got busy fast: she planted my hydrangea, pulled out the remaining ivy under the grapefruit tree, and filled the big hole in the back corner.



When Dad was done mowing the lawn AND fixing the door to the garage, he sat down for some QT with his favorite grandbaby.

In other news, Sarah turned 32 on November 14th and requested Sloppy Joes for her birthday dinner. Last year was meatloaf. See "today's meatloaf is tomorrow's sloppy joe." She was loving all the attention!

Uncle Lilo taught Lukey a new trick: sucking in the belly. Luke needed SOME way to get the attention back on him.

Grammy's bundles of joy.

When Bethany is germ-free and Siena is in the room, she's probably holding her...

Shiloh's birthday also happened that week, but he doesn't appreciate birthday attention as much as his "big" sister. He didn't want his own birthday dinner (he got one anyway), so here he just got to blow out the re-lit candle for the big 3-0.

Siena was plain tuckered out from all the festivities. Isn't she cute?

Just this past weekend we participated in UCD's first Team Handball Tournament. It was a blast learning a new sport, and Shiloh's team kicked serious booty.
















Here is Shiloh's team post-championship game...
Standing (L-R): Joe Friis, Ranell Gonzales, Andy Christopher, Benny Burtt, Justin Smith, and Joel Holly.
Squatting (L-R): Sean Holleman, Shiloh, Rob Brunner



Some video action...

November Documentation

The Flip Mino is Shiloh's favorite toy. Here are some of the latest videos.

Election Day...

New Friend: Syndey Brie Forester

Hiccup Contest



The elusive smile

While the cats are away...



Tower goes boom



Who loves Cosby? Sarah does.



Done.

Two Months Old!

It has been an eventful week. Siena's only cousin, Luke, spent some time in the Pediatric ICU (read about it here) but is doing great now. Siena's Grandpa and Grandma Nicholson, along with dear Aunt Katie, came for a day and spent quality time with Siena. Grandpa also mowed our neglected lawn and fixed a door! (Thanks!) My "big" sister Sarah turned 32, and, if you know her, you know that this event was highly anticipated. If you don't know her, you should.

On the same day (November 14) our little nugget of cuteness, Siena, turned two months old! She celebrated by sleeping in while mommy got some work done around the house. Then she went over to Grammy and Poppy's to hang out. Here are some pictures...













Aunt Robin was visiting and held Siena until the 10-pound bundle wore her out with smiles and staring contests.




We are enjoying her smiles... she makes us work hard for them, but they are so rewarding! Grammy and Poppy put Siena to work when we came for Sarah's birthday dinner. They helped her roll over, hold up her heavy head, and practice making eye contact. So much exercise! In a smelly display of Siena's gratitude, she exploded on Grammy the next day. Nothing says I love you like a ruptured diaper. (Right?) And then it was back to napping while Mommy started in on Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. Sam has been a voracious reader lately, taking in books like "The Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte Christo" while Siena nurses or naps. At least one of us will be cultured.



Here is Luke sporting a pair of my basketball shoes (and not much else). It's amazing to think that one of these days Luke will probably fill those out!



Now to catch up a bit... since it has been awhile since we blogged... last weekend, Shiloh and I had our own dentist work done by our good friend Dave Forester down in Fresno, and then headed over to Shaver Lake to spend a relaxing weekend with Dave, Alissa and baby Sydney Brie. It is fun to think that Sydney and Siena could grow up to become young ladies whose parents force them to hang out together.

Here are the girls at their first slumber party together...




More laying around the cabin...




Siena finally fits in the Baby Bjorn! It puts her to sleep, which is nice sometimes. :)




The Foresters...






Dads with their Baby Bjorns... and their babies, of course.




We did lots of much needed chillaxing...




Cooper Forester came along for the fun weekend...




I'm not sure why I look so intense, but here's a family photo from Shaver Lake.




Here are some pictures from intramural flag football action...




The Keefers (minus Kindall) came to one of our games and got some cuddle time. Kevin's soft side is much more apparent around Siena... he's not as crusty as he seems. :)




Kevin caught whispering sweet nothings to Siena...




Siena met Mike Penna for the first time last weekend. She liked him a lot... even putting on a poop show for him. I tried to change her diaper while Sam went to work out. She literally opened the floodgates while I was trying to clean her up. Poop and pee flowed all over the carpet... hmm... we should look into some kind of sponsorship from Resolve Carpet Cleaner or something.




Nick Akl also dropped in for breakfast two weeks ago. It was fun seeing him again.




Mom and Bethany with Siena at In-N-Out... what fun!




We got the waiter to take our picture at BJ's Restaurant. JJ joined us for his "lunch" break and other patrons probably thought he came to arrest us because of his police uniform.




Life is moving quickly these days. I'm coaching basketball at Woodland Christian (varsity boys) again this year. It is sure to provide us with many opportunities to serve, learn, and laugh. Also, I turn the big 3-0 tomorrow. I have thoroughly enjoyed my 20s and thank God for them. We are blessed with way more than we need, good health, wonderful families and a generous collection of friends. Oh yeah, and Christmas is coming soon...

Halloween

We spent Halloween this year with friends at Justin and Natalie Smith's house in Woodland. It was a fun time of handing out candy, BBQing in the rain, watching one of Justin's favorite movies (Monster Squad), and hanging out with good friends. Sam and I dressed up as caveman and cavewoman, respectively. Siena came as a cave-dwelling baby bear, but she didn't realize it. Here are some pictures...

Cave dwellers (Sam had spandex on, don't worry)... and don't look at me wrong or I'll have to use my club... or I'll sic our pet bear on you. :)

Baby bear hibernating...

The hosts: Egg (Nat) and Bacon (Justin)

Carrie Undwerwood (Carie Brueckner) and random Chinese guy (Jeremy McChesney)...

Jenna (didn't need a costume because her dessert was so tasty) and "Sponge-Cob" Square Pants... without the pants.

Star (Jen Jarvis) made an appearance...

Katie Reece came armed with a calculator, taped-up glasses, and a very high IQ...

James Dean (Chuck) and Marilyn Monroe (Katelyn)...

Psalty the Singing Songbook (Hayden) and Halle came for a short while with the parental Ganyos. Halle was dressed up as something, but I'm not sure what she was, other than cuteness manifest.

The babies of the bunch (Matt Swarbrick and Casie Hall) came ready to spend the night, equipped with teddy bears, pacifiers, and women's pajamas (even Matt's!) from Walmart.

Enjoying the fruits of our hard-earned BBQ...

Here is a video of the night's festivities...

The next afternoon, we braved the horrible weather and watched (one half of) the WCHS football game. It was a sloppy affair and the field may never recover. We were very thankful for the dry, covered seats at the top of the bleachers...

Saturday night was fun - we went to BJs and JJ met us there, decked out in his cop-wear. Everyone at the restaurant probable thought we were busted until JJ sat down with us. :)

Nick Akl came over for breakfast on Sunday before church. He is up from L.A. and bought Siena a cute little pajama thingy that she will grow into...

Sam joined the fam at In N Out after church, while I played in a golf tournament with Chuck.

The Keefers (minus Kindall) came to our men's flag football game. It was Kevin's first time holding Siena, and Melissa also got lots of snuggle time. Cody was busy wishing he could play IMs... :)

Despite the crusty persona, Kevin is really a softy... here he is snuggling with Siena...

That's all for now. It was a great weekend! We are already looking forward to the next one! :)