Our Christmas, New Year's, MLK day card...

Ok, I got a little overwhelmed by our Christmas list this year—that’s what you get for living in 5 different places in 7 years of marriage, so if you didn’t get one and want one (because really, who doesn’t?), please send me an email.

Sung to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas”

In two-thousand and seven, the Curtises received
Twelve piano students
-This year, I’m teaching twelve very talented piano students. I really love doing this, even though I’m pretty sure my piano teacher, dear Mrs. Harvey, will have little rest in the afterlife as she continues to roll over in her grave.

Eleven recipes
-I’ve gotten lots of good recipes from my church’s cooking group, probably more than 11, but we needed something in the #11 spot. It’s been fun to be in this group with women of all ages and stages of life.

Ten Tom-Trains
-Asher loves Thomas the Tank Engine. Right now, we only have 5 “Tom-Trains,” but if you add the bubble bath and pajamas and underwear, we do indeed, have Ten Tom-Train items. And, my guess is with our attempts at potty training, we will have 10 actual trains very soon.

Nine am pickup
-Nate’s mom and dad pick-up Asher and Luke every Tuesday morning, so I can work on my classwork. They have them from 9 to noon. When those boys come home, they are happy, worn out, and take extra-long naps.

Eight Xbox games
-Nate continues to expand his Xbox 360 game collection. (He has an “in” with some bigwig in the company.) He can’t wait until Asher is old enough to join him.

Seven am wake-ups
-Asher and Luke now sleep in until 7 am. For a while, Asher would wake up at 4:30 am. Then, Luke thought 5:30 was a good time. Nothing had makes me much happier than having those boys sleep in until 7.

Six kinds of lettuce
-This year, we planted a garden with the help of Nate’s mom (a Master Gardener, literally). We had lots of delicious lettuce until the Arizona sun fried it in late May.

Five nights of sleep
-Yep, I think that’s how many nights Nate and I got to sleep through the night this year.

Four wheel drive
-Nate got himself a four-door Wrangler Jeep. He and Asher think they look pretty cool driving around in it. Luke and I think it’s too windy.

Three college courses
-Who says you can’t get a job with a theology degree? Thanks to my mom, I started teaching Old and New Testament courses at Grand Canyon University online. I love it; I just wish I could arrange it so that I’m not working from 8 pm to 11 pm every week night.

Two weeks in Peru
-Nate got to go with his dad to Peru. I got to stay home and have full access to his mom’s help since Luke was about 6 weeks old at the time.

And…
A baby boy named Lukey!
-Luke Thoreau Clyde Curtis was born in March. He’s so easy going, healthy, and enjoys getting down to disco music (we don’t know why, but he loves it!).

We’re so thankful for the gifts we got this year. Our relationships with family and friends are our most treasured!
Love,
Emily, Nathaniel, Asher, and Luke

This is why we won't be sending out a Christmas card this year...

Here I've had the cards (which require a picture), the stamps, and the mailing list for about a month, but I can't get a decent picture.

Hmmm...I wonder how long I could qualify the cards as Happy New Year's before I send them out as Happy MLK day cards.

Luke's Teeth

Luke is almost 9 months old and doesn't have a tooth in his head.

But, he wishes he does...

This morning, Asher and I were brushing our teeth, and Luke started screaming and crying. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, so to keep him occupied, I gave him an extra toothbrush. He quieted right down. I guess he wants to get a jump start on tooth decay.

My mom says that Luke has realized that you have to earn teeth. If you can't prove that you can take care of them, you don't get any.

He's also decided that he's done with baby food. I guess if you're old enough to brush your teeth, er, gums, you don't have to eat baby food.

This means that while I try to cut up our dinner into small enough bites, there's often a lot of choking and gagging, and well, sometimes, some throw-up due to my inability to get every bite small enough.

I keep looking for those teeth, but since I'm nursing, I'm not all that sad that they haven't come yet.

And, if any of my students have found this blog, please note that this is not an APA style college-level paper. So, it's ok that I'm using 2nd person and contractions all over the place.

Asher Hearts Tom Train

Asher loves Thomas the Tank Engine, or as he's known around these parts, "Tom Train."

We went to the railroad park for a fun family party on Saturday. Asher screamed and yelled until he got to ride "Tom Train."

And, then, he screamed and yelled as we carried him to the car. Charming...

Fortunately, my cousin got a picture of Asher on the train, and emailed it to us (thanks, Ale!). Every day, Asher will run to my computer and say, "Mom, watch Asher train."

Then, he'll look at the picture of him on the train in silence for a solid five minutes. Remembering those good times, long, long ago...

It's strang to see how Tom Train has permeated every corner of this house. Right now, Asher is wearing Tom Train pajamas, holding a Tom Train, and watching a Tom Train DVD.

We made a deal that he had to have a bath before watching Tom Train tonight (and in case you're wondering, yes, we washed him with Tom Train soap). For the first time ever, Asher handed Nate the washcloth and said, "Dad, go faster."

Happy Halloween (or the night our camera gave up the ghost)

This is the only picture we have of Luke and Asher in costume together (and this is the only picture we have of Luke as a hot dog). After this picture, our camera died.

Fortunately, my sister, Rachel, sent us a picture of Asher (aka Woody) and Evan (aka Buzz), so you can the theme we had going. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a costume for Luke that worked. Nate suggested Luke go as Jessie (the cowgirl from Toy Story 2), but Disney doesn't make a costume that little and well, Luke is a boy.

Yesterday, I thought, "Oh, he could have gone as the silly dinosaur." 1 day too late. Sigh...

Still, I think Luke makes a cute, if slightly traumatized, hot dog.

Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis on the Today Show

The family featured is from the UK, where they call the disorder, Eosinophilic Enteropathy. I'm always interested in hearing a "big kid" with the disorder because most of the patients I know are under 5.

Caillou's mommy and daddy and hummus

Just wanted to post a quick update (actually, I'm sick of grading papers right now)...

The boys are doing well despite me farming them out to anyone who even says, "well...maybe I could watch them for a bit," as I try to keep on top of everything I took on this semester. As I got each new too-good-to-pass-up-opportunity, I kept thinking, "This is probably a bad idea..."

Asher may be a little mad at me since I haven't been as available. He talks a lot about his new favorite parents, Caillou's mommy and daddy. Anyone (grandparents, friends, nursery leaders)hear about them. Now, Asher's speech isn't always super clear, so it usually sounds like, "Caillou's mommy and daddy mumble mumble orange juice." Or, "Caillou's mommy and daddy mumble zoo mumble moose mumble mumble."

I can't really blame him. I've never seen Caillou's mommy yell or not have dinner ready or refuse to take him to Grammy's house. She's a pretty rockstar mom from what I've seen.

And, Nate would like to point out that Caillou's daddy apparently doesn't have a job and stays home to play with Caillou all day.

I guess we should just be glad that Caillou and his parents are cartoon characters. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure Asher would find a way to take a bus to Canada.

Luke did his first real crawl last night. He was so pleased with himself; he just laughed and laughed.

The solids are coming along well for Luke, too. We were out at playgroup on Thursday at Arizona Mills. I brought hummus and pita bread for Asher and me, squash, applesauce and rice cereal for Luke. Luke ate all of his and was still starving. All I had was hummus, he's still pretty new to solids, and I thought with all the garlic and lemon, he probably wouldn't like it. I was wrong. He loved it. Now if we could just convince Nate to love hummus like the rest of us...

Ok, really, I better go grade papers...