Zander meets his cousins

In non-Zander related news, we bought a house! It is very exciting and lots and lots of work. We spent the weekend cleaning and painting, with the generous help of Jason's family.

It was a big day for Zander.

He's not used to this much excitement.

He ended the day by falling asleep in Grandma's arms.

...and he giggles in his sleep....

Zander likes to sit upright, but he's not really able to do that just yet, so we prop him up with blankets to slow the sideways topple.

He doesn't like it when I use the flash on the camera.

Maybe it's not so bad.

But when I don't, it looks like he moves at lighting speed!

Whoooooaaaaaahhhh!

That was exhausting.

Time for Fall Clothes

Look what showed up on our doorstep

Zander has arrived. Let the party begin.




Little Zander is really starting to engage with us, and his playful personality is coming out. Here is our beautiful baby boy smiling at his dad.

Fiji Toes!

Zander has Fiji toes! Is this a new development? Have I simply overlooked it until now? Who cares! He has Fiji toes!



My boy, you can look forward to a lifetime of picking things up with your feet. Hooray!

One Month Already

Believe it or not, Li'l Z is already a month old. Time is flying by, and he is already changing so much.

He has already outgrown:

- the small setting for the straps on his car seat

- he is almost too big for his Beastly Bumz newborn diapers

- the baby straight-jacket (aka swaddling). If we try to swaddle his arms, he will lay there and punch until he gets his hands free

- he can drink out of a bottle (which, I have to admit, made me a tiny bit sad)

- sponge baths (now that he has a proper belly button, he can have regular baths). On the upside, he LOVES taking baths.





Here he is "sun bathing."





On advice from some of our friends, I went to "Grow with Me," a shop for gently-used baby stuff. It is a great store, and I found an infant stroller for $25! We are getting tons of use out of it, and Zander seems to enjoy our walks.



One of Zander's favorite places is him faux-lambskin rug. By a wacky coincidence, we received two identical rugs as gifts. Perfect! Now he can spit up on one and use the other while it is being washed.


"Baby on the lam"

Goodbye Umbilical Cord, Hello Belly Button

Zander lost his umbilical stump today!



Here is his new little belly button.



Zander seems to prefer not wearing clothes, but his hands and feet get chilly. This is our compromise.

Zander wears his first hoodie

Babies for Change

Our dear friends Melissa and Fred gave us this adorable little onesie for Zander, helping him to make his first political statement.

Welcome to the World

On 8/18/08 at 8:48 pm Zander Micah joined us in the world, making Jason and I proud new parents.

Our Family Photo

The labor went really well, roughly 10 hours which is good for a first timer like me. That said, I had been experiencing the poorly named and very frustrating "false labor" for over a week. It must have done something, though, since we were all shocked to discover that I was already 8 cm dilated when we got to the hospital. The nurses whisked me up to labor and delivery, and a short 4 hours later Zander was in my arms.

Jason and I are loving parenthood, and Zander is an amazingly happy and adorable baby. We had a week-long babymoon where the three of us cocooned and grew into our new family roles. I'm very glad we had that private time. I highly recommend it.

Now we are ready to share him with the rest of the world. We've had several visitors and I'm gradually easing up on my over-protectiveness. Everyone has been so welcoming and excited to meet little Zander, it is heartwarming.

Tori's New Hobby

I am a big fan of trying new things and having new experiences. Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to do something that I never in my wildest dreams imagined myself doing.

Everyone in my office was going to an inter-office event, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to meet some of the people that I know exclusively through email and telephone conversations. The event was to take place at the nearby hunting club.

That's right, a hunting club.

I was assured that we would not be killing any actual live animals, but rather shooting at clay pigeons which, I was again assured, are literally made of clay and are not and never have been alive. "Skeet shooting" I believe it is called.

Okay, I told myself, I can handle this.

I was wrong.

As I drove up to the club, I thought, "This is pretty. It is sunny out, I'm in a fairly woodsy place, I like this." Then I turned off the car and heard LOTS OF GUNSHOTS.

I try to act calm as I walk into the lodge and meet up with the people from work. The front desk person asks if I will need to borrow a gun or if I've brought my own. (?!?!?!?!)

I borrow a gun.



She then asks me if I will need a lesson. "Have you ever fired a gun before?"

"Uh, once . . . in a play . . . I fired a gun . . . for, um, a sound effect. I was . . . offstage."

"Yes, I need a lesson."

As we walk outside, I try to ignore the incredibly loud gunfire all around me. I hang back and let the others shoot first, hoping that I will get used to the sound and stop trembling. Eventually, everyone else has gone, and I walk up to the - I don't even know the word - little half-cagey-thing where you stand while firing guns at clay pigeons. One of my co-workers hands me the gun. I am startled by how heavy and unrelentless and powerful it feels. My hands are shaking as I try to get the shells out of my pocket and I drop one on the ground. I fumble to pick it up while holding on to the gun but not wanting to hold the gun too close to myself oh my god what am I doing - okay, okay, load the gun - she told us how to do this - the safety, where is the safety? don't pinch your fingers while you push the shell in - that's right push it until it clicks but don't push too hard or you will pinch your fingers - now turn off the safety. Aim. "Pull". FIRE.

I'm nearly thrown backwards as I experience the kick of a gun for the first time. I don't want to do this again, but I have three shots left for my turn. C'mon be a good sport you can do it calm down breathe breathe stop trembling hands push 'til it clicks wait put on the safety okay here we go again.

I finish my turn in a blur while trying desperately not to show how much I want to cry.

I politely deline any more shots and try to enjoy what would have been really peaceful surroundings if not for the bullets flying around me.

On the upside, I won a prize in the drawing. I was really hoping for the Carnivore Blood-Tracking Light, but I was happy enough with my camouflage beer cozy made to resemble a shell.

The Big Day

Here's some really big news for you:

On April 8, 2006 Jason Michael Tomalia and Victoria Ann Low got married in a beautifully intimate ceremony on San Clemente Beach in California.

Here we are walking down the beach toward the spot we picked out for the ceremony.

Here I am getting all teary during the vows.

The big kiss.

Woo-hoo! We did it!

We had our honeymoon on a little island resort in San Diego called Paradise Point. Very green, very lush, very beautiful.

Awww, even the ducks are in love.

Woah!

Here's where we had dinner the last night of the honeymoon.

Now we are back in Minnesota enjoying wedded bliss. Life is good.