Friday, November 23, 2012

Better Late Than Never

Having the missionaries over
for "dinner in a pumpkin" has become
a tradition here in the Deines home.

In the past, we've done it around
Halloween (see 2010 and 2011).

However, this year the missionaries
were booked on the days we were available,
so we decided to do it a few weeks late.


This may have been the biggest
pumpkin yet. We invited the ward
mission leader and his wife to join us.


We've gotten to know some awesome 
missionaries this way. And rumor has it 
that our mission will be receiving quite a few 
sister missionaries in the months to come,
so who knows? Maybe we will have 
sisters at our dinner next year.

6 Month Mark

The little guy is 6 months old!



November has been filled with
milestones for Corbett, 
including cutting his first two teeth
and sitting up all by himself.


We also started him on solids,
which he seemed really ready for.
Here is how that went:

He tried it.

He thought about it.

He liked it.

Then he DEMANDED more.

And proceeded to make a mess.

So far, he has been introduced to
rice cereal, avocado, sweet potato, and 
winter squash (which he went to town on). 
He loves holding his own spoon and 
decorating himself with his food.

His favorite time of day is when his 
daddy walks in the door. He loves getting 
hugged and tickled and tossed in the air. 
These two are thick as thieves.


His least favorite part of the day
is putting on his pajamas. He 
protests pretty much every time.

For the most part, he is sleeping
better at naptime and in the night,
and he loves snuggling with his monkey
and/or his blankie before he falls asleep.


His mobility and newfound skills 
have contributed to a much happier 
baby these days, which is nice. It is 
fun to watch his developing personality.

We love our sweet baby Corbett!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thanksgiving Memories

Since Jake is at work today
and the little one and I have no plans,
I've had time to think about 
Thanksgiving from years past.

I'll never forget my Thanksgiving 
in China, and how I made pumpkin
pie in a toaster oven using layered
tinfoil as a makeshift pie tin.

I always chuckle about the
Thanksgiving when my younger
brother fell down some stairs and split
his head, and my dad refused to take
him for stitches until after dessert.

I spent TWO Thanksgivings in
Belize, where I relaxed by the pool
and ate the most American food
I could find: a hamburger. 

But my most memorable Thanksgiving
was the one in 2009: the one that
changed my life.

It was the year I moved to DC.
I wasn't planning on going home for
Thanksgiving, but my mom surprised me
and offered to buy me a plane ticket.

My flight was the last one 
out of DCA to SLC on the night 
before Thanksgiving. As I was waiting to 
board the plane, a curly haired fellow walked
up and said hi. He told me he remembered
me from a singles ward Thanksgiving party
the week before. I can't say I recognized him,
but he was nice and we chatted until it 
was time to board the plane. 

His name was Jake.

I spent the whole flight studying for 
the GRE. Upon landing, I made my way 
downstairs and camped out near baggage claim 
to wait for my ride. Jake saw me there,
and once again he stopped to chat.

I was flattered that he sought me 
out twice, and I couldn't help but notice his 
great smile, dimples, and of course that
curly hair. Finding out that he was older than me
didn't hurt either! Jake had left his impression,
and was on my mind the rest of that
Thanksgiving weekend.

I didn't see him again for three weeks,
this time at an Institute fireside back in DC.
I turned up the charm, and after 45 minutes
of chatting he finally asked for my number. 

One thing led to another, including our
first date in Park City and a cross-country road 
trip that I'll have to write about another day. 

And the rest, as they say, is history!

So this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for all of 
the events that brought Jake and I together, 
and for the wonderful life we now share.

And here's hoping that we'll spend
Thanksgiving together one of these years!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Slade-capades

We sure had fun when the
Slade family came to town.

Andrew and Corbett picked
up right where they left off.


And Corbett made a new
friend in Andrew's big sister Livy.


On Jake's day off,
we journeyed to the coast together
to check out the Kennedy Space Center.


I especially enjoyed seeing the 
space shuttle Atlantis up close, after watching 
its final launch into space last year.
It will soon be turned into a museum piece.

We loved showing the Slade's
around Orlando, and only wish they
could have stayed longer!

A Harley Halloween

We did not do a great job of 
documenting Corbett's first Halloween.

Luckily, a friend took these
pictures at our church Halloween party.



As you can see, we were a biker family,
per Jake's request (after seeing this
picture of a Harley baby online).

A few weeks before Halloween, I called 
my mom to ask if she would make a 
baby biker vest. She reminded me of the 
many times that she tried to teach me how 
to sew, and how she'd tell me not to come 
crawling back to her someday to make
my kids Halloween costumes.

Oops.

Well, she was a good sport 
and made the vest anyway.
I did sew on the patches myself,
sent to us by Grandpa Don.


Corbett got a lot of attention
in his costume, including a Target
pharmacist saying it was the best
costume he'd seen all day and the
customer service lady at Publix (pictured
above), who asked to hold him.

In addition to our church party,
I took Corbett to a party at a 
mommy and baby class that I attend
each week. We got such a kick
out of propping these cute Halloween 
babies up next to each other
for some pictures.

I've always enjoyed Halloween,
but it turns out having a kid to dress up 
adds a whole new level of fun!

We've already got ideas for next year.
Stay tuned...