Monday, January 26, 2009

Comments!



We love getting comments about our pictures and videos, also it is a good way to let us know what you like and what things you want us to amend! So comment early and often, otherwise Alaina and I feel like we are blogging to ourselves ;)

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Playtime with Daddy...means lots of pictures!

Maddie waving to her family and friends!


I've learned to sit up...sort of!


King Kong Maddie!

Also in case you haven't noticed we also updated the slideshow off to the right. Enjoy!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

FRUSTRATION!

This is Jon frustrated! TV was delivered as damaged merchandise. Jon will never be able to watch glorious HDTV. Jon mistakenly thought he was buying a TV at Best Buy but instead believes it must have been a donation. The TV saga continues...updates to follow.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Bath time adventures with Madeline Olivia





Daddy Update


With this post I am going to update everyone on me (Jon). I am currently in a state of frustration with Best Buy. After waiting years for the opportunity to purchase a flat screen TV I finally found the deal I couldn't refuse. I arrived at Best Buy on 1/11 to purchase the boob tube knowing I was not going home with it, as it was sold out at this store as well as all nearby stores. So I elected to have it shipped from a store around 30 miles away. The manager of the home entertainment section told me it would arrive 3 days later, at the store I was purchasing it from, so I could pick it up. Wednesday I called but NO TV, Thursday they said, Thursday I called, NO TV, "it'll arrive on Monday." Well as Monday rolled around NO TV, apparently the TV gets picked up by a shuttle that goes back and forth from Kansas City to St. Louis. So my TV has traveled to St. Louis and back, and should arrive tomorrow! I am not holding my breath. When it is all said and done the ole television will have traveled over 500 miles to make 30. Quite the trip.

The Optometry world is still treating me well! I enjoy helping people out in as many ways as I can. I still split time between Gardner and Overland Park with Gardner keeping very busy. It is also a joy to know in this down economy people still need to see. We are noting a small decrease in new spectacle sales but people are still filing in for examinations and red eyes. God Bless the baby boomers and their old eyes ;)


I was lucky enough at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 to play the tuba for 2 KU games at Allen Fieldhouse. I have a analogy for myself that I am like a fine wine I just get better with age, it seems to hold true for my tuba playing skills as well! Well actually it winded pretty good and I was sore for a week but I had a blast and look forward to playing in the future.

I continue to find projects around the house, although not as extensive as when we first moved in. I am in the process of motivating myself to fabricate a cat door. We truly enjoy being homeowners and I have no clue why we didn't do this sooner!

Monday, January 12, 2009

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

As you can see, Maddie's started solid foods. So far, we've tried sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, pears, peas, and carrots. She tolerates everything except the apples, although we're going to try a different brand with those and see how it goes, and she really likes bananas and peas (as you can see from the above photo). We had some video, but as it turns out, watching a baby eat isn't that exciting, so we opted for the picture instead. Maybe when she starts feeding herself, we'll have some good video.

Our House, is a very, very, very fine house

. . . with one cat wrapped in garland


We finally got around to posting a picture of the outside of our new home. We have some pictures of the interior, but with the holidays past, it seems a little silly to post pictures of Christmas decorations. Maybe next year...
As you can see, we got some help with the decorations this year. I'm not even really sure why I said "this year." As if we don't get "help" every year. Next year, I'm sure we can depend on even more "help", of the two-legged, 16-month-old variety. (Shakes head and wonders if they make floor to ceiling baby gates and if the Christmas tree would look as nice and festive in the basement.)
We have a few home improvement projects planned for this winter/spring, mostly painting, so we'll post pictures as things are completed.

Feel the Burn


Just a few photos and some video of Maddie playing in her exer-saucer. She's finally big enough to touch the bottom on her own; we don't have to layer Daddy's optometry school text books on the bottom. Hey, it's a big step! Don't judge...

Also, yes, we know the video is sideways. Whoever shot the video (we can't agree on who it was) wasn't holding the camera correctly, and there's no way to "flip" video. Just think of it as a good way to stretch your neck muscles. You're welcome.


I saw Maddie eating Santa Claus



As I mentioned in "What We Should Have Said", our friend Shawn owns his own Santa costume. We won't go into the details, mostly because I can't remember them, but trust me, it's not as creepy as it sounds.

Because he's a great guy (and have I mentioned he owns his own Santa costume?), he agreed to come to Lawrence and pose for pictures with Maddie and a little boy named Oliver. We couldn't get her to smile for any of the shots (I think she was too interested in Santa to pay any attention to the four adults shouting at her), but at least she didn't cry. (She wants to me say that she would never do anything that stereotypical and blasé. Unlike other babies, who cry for perfectly rational reasons, she cries for no good reason. She is an individual, and she will cry right now, just to remind you of that fact!)

Oh, and the title of the post, she did try to eat his beard. Why? Because she's four months old and everything is edible. Everything, including the cat... Unfortunately, we're slackers, and we didn't get any pictures of her eating the beard, but I can tell you it didn't appear to taste particularly fantastic.

Friday, January 2, 2009

What We Should Have Said

As most of you have probably noticed (if we haven't by now lost the five people who were actually reading this), it's been way too long since we posted anything. But wait, before you complain, I have excuses, and they're good ones!

See, the holidays hit us like a sock full of quarters to the face. It never sounds like it's going to be that bad until you're sitting on the pavement wondering, "Holy cow, where did my jaw go?" (And no, I have never hit anyone with or been hit with a sock full of quarters. It just never sounded that threatening, but people always seem to imply that it hurts. Oh, and no, I have never been at a loss as to where my jaw was either.) At least once a day, one of us would say, we should post something on the blog, especially since we sent out those little cards with our holiday cards. You know, the ones telling people to check out the blog because it would have the most up-to-date information on the Webster-Stoppel family? Yeah... Unfortunately, there were presents to be purchased and wrapped (and by wrapped I mean popped into incredibly convenient gift bags); a baby to be fed, bathed, burped, changed, rocked, etc.; holiday cards to be signed, stuffed, and mailed; parties to host and attend; and somewhere in there, we managed to sleep--a little.

So, I decided to do a quick run-down on the things we meant to write about but failed to do. We have pictures to go with some of these, and we'll post them, sometime.

1. We meant to post pictures of our new house, for those of you who haven't seen it. The pictures were taken; they're just still on the camera.

2. Our friend Shawn, who inexplicably owns his own Santa costume, volunteered to save us a trip and a ridiculously long wait and posed for pictures with Maddie. We have some great shots of Maddie sampling Santa's beard.

3. I sprained my left breast. No, seriously, that's what I'm calling it. This is what happens when your child, who was sleeping through the night, stops (for no apparent reason), and then, just once, sleeps through the night again. The body is not equipped to cope with the irregular sleep patterns of a four-month-old. Both of the girls are just fine now, thanks for asking.

4. We hosted the first of what we hope will be "Jon and Alaina's Holiday Special 20XX. The party went pretty well, and I'm sure we have some pictures of that, too. The mulled wine was a hit, so we'll be serving that next year.

5. Obviously, it was Maddie's first Christmas, and I'm sure we can get one or two posts out of that. In fact, I think I'll save that because it's possible the after-math is still on-going. The routine is sacred, people! That's all I have to say about that, for the time being.

6. Maddie started solid food. So far, we've covered sweet potatoes and bananas. Bananas are, by far, the favorite. Unfortunately, it seems the stories about solid food and sleeping are a myth. You all are liars! Liars! (We've got some pictures and video. Again, to be posted at a later date.)

7. Maddie had her four-month check-up. Here's the run-down: She weighs 16 pounds and is 26.5 inches long. That puts her in the 85th percentile for weight and the 96th for height. Thankfully, her head size has now averaged out. She's only in the 45th percentile for head size. And yes, she got shots, and yes, she cried. Wouldn't you, if someone stuck three gigantic needles in your thighs?

I'm sure there are other special and exciting things we meant to post, but I can't remember them at the moment. I'm running on about 4 hours of sleep, so you'll have to forgive me. (See after-math of holiday travels, above.) Happy 2009 everybody, and seriously, we'll get some pictures up soon!

With love,

Jon, Alaina, and Maddie