Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!

Dan, Kristin, & Norah

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Since it's been a VERY long time since our last post, here's a quick summary of what we've been up to...

Dan ran a half marathon in early November, finishing in 1:30:54, which was 50th place overall (out of over 1200 guys) and 14th place in his age group. He was pretty excited about his time and Norah and I were glad to be able to cheer him on at the finish line!

Good job Daddy!...Happy Birthday!

The next week Dan and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and Dan's 31st birthday. Norah was happy to help her Daddy with his present and candles (and of course, the cake).

We had a very special Thanksgiving this year since Judie and Mike were able to come out for a visit. Norah loved showing them all of her toys and books and enjoyed lots of good play time with Grammy and Grandpa. Dan made a very impressive turkey, and with everyone else helping with the side dishes and appetizers, we ate quite well! Since the weather was pretty rainy for most of Thanksgiving weekend, we had a pretty low-key time (no Black Friday shopping this year), though we did enjoy watching Notre Dame beat USC (finally) in football. It was a great visit and we were so excited to have Judie and Mike make the long trip here!

Giving thanks for all our blessings

Now we're busy getting ready for Christmas. We got our tree a couple of weeks ago and- with Norah's help- put lots of lights and ornaments on it. (Of course, all the fragile ones went on the top half of the tree while the hardier ones went on the bottom.) Both my mom and Judie were nice enough to share our childhood ornaments with us, so our tree tells quite a story of 31 years of Christmases. It's really fun to see all of our handmade ornaments, as well as those that were given to us by grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and friends throughout the years. We look forward to adding all of Norah's ornaments as the years go by!

O Christmas Tree... Hanging the first ornament

Dan is almost done with the fall semester of classes, with just one semester to go before graduation. (Almost means that there is still a final project to turn in, though Dan assures me that he is "nearly" done. It just wouldn't feel like the end of the semester with out some good old fashioned procrastination and stress!) This semester was another busy one, with two regular classes, a final project, and an independent study. I can't say enough how glad he (and all of us) will be when he is done!

Now we're trying to finish our last minute Christmas shopping. I am lucky to have two weeks off work this year, which has given Norah and I some good time to shop, work on projects around the house, and play. Dan still has to work for a few more days before his Christmas vacation (long weekend) starts.

Enjoying the leaves last weekend

The real story of this weekend has been the rain in Fresno. Usually we are thankful for the water, but this weekend's downpours have caused some issues around our house. We have a new indoor water feature- a babbling brook running through the heating ducts in the foundation of our house. I'm sure that the peaceful sound of running water that starts every time our heater kicks on will soon be replaced by the unpleasant reality of a repair bill, but for now Dan and I just put out a tarp and sandbags (thanks to the Army for Dan's sandbagging skills) and are waiting for the rain to stop. Oh the joys of homeownership!

We hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing or talking to many of you before the new year!

Halloween!

Finally- the long awaited Halloween pictures! Sorry for the delay- we've been offline the last few days as we switched internet plans.

Halloween 2010: Norah is a little lamb

Norah had a fun Halloween- after some initial skepticism about the costume. I think some of the fuzz from the hood got into her mouth at first. (If you look closely in the pictures, you can see that it got all over Dan and me, too!) We went trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa's (and a few other houses on their block), since most of our neighbors didn't have their lights on. She got the hang of trick-or-treating pretty quickly, and loved looking at all the pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns at everyone's houses. She was even nice enough to give all of her candy to her Daddy! Maybe next year she'll get to try some of it!

Are ewe kidding me?

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!



Pictures of Norah in her real costume to follow!

To the Fair

We took Norah to the fair a couple of weekends ago. While she was pretty uninterested in the art and textile displays, she did have a lot of fun seeing all the animals up close. We stayed away from the rides this year, but Dan did get a chance to get his corndog and funnel cake. Lucky him!

Firetrucks and Farm Animals

Norah and I have been going to Mommy and Me gymnastics since August. She really enjoys the class and the chance to play with the other kids who are in it. In the process of taking the class, we have realized that we have a bit of a climber on our hands. Norah gets to try out new things at the gym, but then she practices them on pretty much every piece of furniture at home. There might be a bit of a genetic connection in this trait, since I've heard her Daddy was quite the climber, too. She is turning into quite the independent big girl!

Look what I can do myself!

Norah's Pumpkin

So many to choose from!

To help get ready for Halloween, Dan, Norah, and I headed to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. She got to pick her pumpkin out of the field, so it took us awhile to find the perfect one. Of course, we got a little side-tracked checking out all the dirt clods, pumpkin vines, and various other weeds. (Norah was really interested in all the dirt, but as soon as it got on her hands she would wrinkle up her nose and frantically brush her hands together. Dan blames me for this. I don't know what he's talking about.)

After harvesting our pumpkin, we got to take a hay ride around the farm and see some farm animals. Norah had lots of fun!

We walked way out into the field to find our pumpkin... then Daddy cut it off the vine and we carried it back to the car

A Busy Fall

September has brought beautiful weather to Fresno, though some days are still hot enough to swim. Since it's never too early to start embarrassing your kids, I thought I would share these pictures of Norah in the pool. She's grown a little bit since last summer:) After her swimming lessons at the beginning of the summer, she has loved being in the pool. Now we've packed away our pool toys for the season, so she'll have to wait until next year to practice her swimming skills again.

Summer 2009 and 2010

Dan and I are working hard to get our yard under control- a project that has been ongoing since the spring. Weeds have overwhelmed the lawn and flower beds (I guess that's why we shouldn't have ignored our yard last summer!), so we spend our "free time" on weekends trying to reclaim those spaces. We also recently started a bathroom remodel on all of our bathrooms. The walls had strange texturing when we moved in (along with colors that were not exactly our style), so we brought in some professionals to re-float and paint the walls. Even they are having a tough time removing all the old texturing, so Dan and I are glad we didn't take it on ourselves. Next up- new mirrors, faucets, and towel bars. As with all of our projects, we tend to move pretty slowly, so it may be Halloween before we're done with everything!

Finally, the Irish football season is once again underway. Dan's Saturday class is getting in the way of his ability to watch the games, but luckily he can catch up online when he gets home. (Of course he would never consider watching the game during class- he is much too responsible for that!) Norah has her own version of "The Shirt" this year, so she and her Daddy had matching outfits on to celebrate Notre Dame's first game. So cute! Love to all!

Go Irish!

Happy first day of school to Dan!

Today is Dan's first day of school! He's now officially in his last year of his MBA program. Norah and I are so proud of how hard he's working to finish his degree- we'll all be glad when he's done!

Sandbox time

Norah turned 15 months old on Monday. She has had a wonderful summer- visiting the beach, seeing her family in Missouri, showing Pop and Granny her house, and playing with her Aunt Laura. Since it's back to school time, she has started a gymnastics class and goes to story time. What a big girl! Now she's looking forward to her second Notre Dame football season. Go Irish!

Pop and Granny McCoy come to Fresno!

What a great weekend! Dad and Fran came out to visit, so we tried find some ways to beat the August heat in Fresno. We spent some time swimming in the pool, had a day at the beach and a day in the mountains at Bass Lake. We were ready for a lazy day at home on Sunday. Overall it was great family time. It's always nice to have visitors, but Norah really loves to see her grandparents. Thankfully, she got to spend lots of time with them over the long weekend.

The coast was great with lunch in Santa Cruz and some beach time in Capitola. The weather was great and we had plenty of time to soak up the sun.

Posing at the Santa Cruz Harbor

The time at the lake was a great time for everyone. We were glad to have Jim, Janis and Laura join us for an afternoon on the water. By Sunday, though, we were ready for easy time in the pool.

The trip was over with too quickly, but we hope we can have them visit again soon. Norah likes the way they read stories.

Come back soon Pop and Granny. I love you!

Missouri Vacation

Last week we had the opportunity to take a trip back to Missouri. It was so much fun, and the highlight had to be Norah getting to spend some quality time with her cousins and grandparents. Norah doesn't get a lot of time around other people her size, so she made the most of it, spending lots of time with Ember and Autumn. They had a lot of fun.

Norah and Ember got to spend lots of time playing together

Great Grandma McCoy and her girls

The family time was great during this visit. Between the barbecues and the family outings we had a fantastic time. We even (almost) got used to the humidity.

Pop, Granny and the girls... family picture in Grammy's garden

With all of the activities, it was easy to keep Norah entertained. Her trip to Grant's Farm was eventful. She got her first carousel ride and her first time feeding goats!

The Carousel was a big hit, the goats... not as much :-)

Higher Mommy!

Norah's other big first was her first Major League Baseball game. It looks like we have a Cardinal's fan on our hands. Sorry Grandpa Jim. At least they beat the Dodgers.

Root, root, root for the Cardinals!

Thanks to everyone for making the visit so special. We can't wait to have you all out here in the next few months.

Celebrating the big 3-0 at the beach

Norah and I just got back from a two-week vacation at the beach with my parents- what a luxury! Dan (and Maggie, Jake, and Laura) got to join us for some long weekends, including time to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was nice to have everyone around to usher me into my 30's, though I honestly don't feel much different than I did when I was in my late 20's (it just makes me sound older!).

This is pretty much the way Norah looked every time we got near the beach - her whole body moved with excitement!

We also got to watch the fireworks on the beach on July 4th. It was a cool experience- everyone brought their (illegal) fireworks down to the beach and set them off, creating a great light show over the water. Other than spending time and the beach (which is all that you would think that we did by looking at the pictures) and taking a few walks and runs, we just relaxed, ate, and enjoyed the cool beach weather. It was a great summer vacation!

Patriotic Baby

Why does my mom insist on dressing me up in silly outfits and then taking pictures?

Happy Father's Day and other odds and ends...

Happy Father's Day (a few days late) to Dan! Norah is so lucky to have Dan as her Daddy! It's really a lot of fun for me to watch the two of them together- playing in the yard, running around the house, going to the park- it's like Dan gets to be a kid again himself. Norah loves to follow her Daddy around and watch him do his work. She'll sit at the window for ten minutes at a time (which is a super long time for her to be in one place) if Dan is working out in the yard or go running to the garage door when he gets home from work at night. Very cute! I love both of them very much.

Father's Day last year and this year - Norah and Daddy on the hammock

As Norah is getting a little older, she is definitely starting to show her likes and dislikes. For example, getting her face wet at swimming lessons = dislike and being outside = like. She would spend all day outside if she could- playing in the sand box, looking at the flowers, playing in the water, etc., etc., etc. She knows that she needs to wear shoes when she's outside (since our grass is kind of spiky [read dead] in places), so she has started getting her shoes and bringing them to me when she wants to go outside. She is definitely a summer kid!

Playing with the hose and watering Grandma's flowers


Swimming lessons and running through the sprinkler

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Toddler Adventures

Now that Norah is one, she's having all kinds of adventures! She got a new bike seat for her birthday, so she has enjoyed some nice rides with Dan and I. She doesn't particularly love the helmet (or really any other hat at the moment, either), but she seems to forget about it once she gets going. Now that Dan is done with his classes for the semester (another 4.0- congrats Dan!), and as soon as I get my bike tires fixed, we can start going on some family bike rides in the evenings.

So stylish in her pink helmet...Go faster!

Norah also got a sandbox for her birthday- some assembly (by Dan) required. Norah definitely appreciated her Daddy's efforts, and now she likes to dig and sift the sand from one pile to another. She only tried to eat the sand once- I think she got the idea pretty quickly that it wasn't something she wanted to have in her mouth!

Norah loves her new sandbox!

Last weekend, Dan and I took Norah to the zoo. While she wasn't all the impressed by the elephants or tigers, she did love watching the ducks and prairie dogs. I guess she can relate to the smaller animals better, and they definitely move around a lot more. She also enjoyed having a few bites of the ice cream cone that we bought!

Fun day at the zoo!

Finally, Norah had her first real swim in the pool last night. We had a pretty cool spring, so the pool is just now getting warm enough for a swim. I think she'll like the water even more when it's hotter outside, but she had fun kicking and splashing around in her ring. Those are our updates for now. Hope everyone is having a great start to the summer!

Floating around