Long time, no blog...sorry!

Holy Shiite Muslim, this holiday season is a busy one! Sorry it's been so long since the last blog, but we've been all over the place. Where should I begin?

Well, we had my holiday party Saturday at the Golf Club of Dublin. NBBJ goes all out for these occasions and this wasn't any different. There was a great spread of food, live music, 12 gaming tables with dealers, a picture booth, and most importantly, an open bar. What was most odd was not having a baby strapped to either of us. That's right, it was Mom and Dad's first real night out on the town without Tenzin! Woohoo! Don't get me wrong, we missed the little bugger like crazy...but it was definitely nice to get out and be adults for a night (actually, four hours and seven minutes). Rachel looked stunning as usual, while I donned my least embarrassing (for Rachel) pair of Vegas shades and tux. Unfortunately, she wouldn't allow me to get my afro wig out of coat-check. Per usual, we had a great time.

We've had some great days with Tenzin lately (greater than the usual great). We are slowly weaning him off of the co-sleeping and working him into his crib. It takes some MAJOR coaxing, but he's finally starting to get into it. We're averaging about 2 hours at a time before he starts grunting and groaning. You can tell that he's finally gaining some independence from his ability to recognize people, and he's no longer freaked out to be by himself. If he gets nervous, usually just the familiarity of our faces will pacify him and he'll calm back down again. Rachel's much better at it than I am, though. He LOVES his mama.

Here's some sample videos for you:

The Waking Up Dolphin Coo



The Unsure and Nervous "Help Me" Coo



We also just recently bought our first FAMILY Christmas tree! This is the first year we didn't meet up with my parents and the Rayo family. We usually go out to a local tree farm and cut one down "old school." The farm is awesome, supplying everything from the handsaw to the hot chocolate. Sadly, the farm has been over-chopped and there aren't many mature trees left. We tried to sync up schedules and head out to a different farm, but our calendars just didn't work. So on Sunday, Rachel, Tenzin and I went solo to a local garden nursery and found a nice 6 footer. Tenzin enjoyed it so much he tired himself out and slept…pretty much the entire time. A part of me almost wishes he HAD been crying. That way, it's easier to persuade Rachel that it's time to go. That woman could live in a greenhouse!

Lastly, the webcams are officially working! Aunt Ashley and Grandpa Thomas had their first webcast with Tenzin (on Yahoo Messenger...download it and we'll conference you in!). He performed for the camera like movie star, making faces and busting his patented "Electrorock" dance moves. I think Aunt Ashley could have watched for hours even if he wasn't doing anything. Have no fear, Ash, we'll be out in Orange County at the end of February! You'll get your Tenzin time in no time : )

Here's some pics to tide you over till I can think of more to write. I'm running a little low on mental creativity.