Coming soon to a theater near you....

http://web.me.com/kyle.viele/Blog/Welcome.html

A blog shower and communication tool dedicated to our new arrival. (Complete with a live baby count-down!) This is the brainchild of my mom, sister, and adoring husband. I will be updating it to go live in early February. It includes chances to vote on names and due dates, updates on the baby, and links to our registry. Check back often for updates!

Swapping

Lately, driven by a desire to save all of our pennies for Baby #2 and to chip away at our debt, I've been delving into the idea of making old things new again. I guess it kinda goes along with the green movement of repurposing. I love it! The idea struck me last weekend that perhaps some other little one out there would love to read the books that Eva chooses to read with us (over and over and over again) and maybe we could trade with that little one so that we could relieve his or her parents of the books that they have been reading (over and over and over again). Thus our first attempt at book swapping was born. Today we went over to Adam and Carrie's house. They have elementary-age girls and an 11-month-old. Sitting among new friends and good food, we swapped our books and watched some football. It was wonderful! We came home with a whole bag full of books to explore together, Eva was exhausted, mom and dad got a break because the older girls loved taking care of Eva when we were there, and our bellies were full. It was so much fun to hear the kids talk about what books they liked and those they wanted to swap. Eva is too little to articulate her thoughts yet, but she kept pulling her "tried and true" favorites out of the swap pile to squirrel away. As sweet as that is, I know that Kyle and I will be grateful not to read the Crayola colors book another time. I think we may be on to something with this swapping idea. Toys, babysitting, a dinner club? What I enjoy most about it is the opportunity it provides to connect and share with neighbors. It almost feels like a lost art.

Number Seven

The number 7 has great historical significance. God created the world and rested on the seventh day. In most world religions, the number 7 has special significance related to perfection and completion. The 7th day of the week is a holy day of rest. If you believe in numerology the number 7 represents the "scholarly and esoteric" forces of magic. For Kyle and I, seven now has its own special magic. On December 31st we celebrated our 7th year of marriage. I remember thinking to myself as a newlywed, "When we've been married seven years, we will officially be an 'old' married couple." Seven years is the median marker for marriages in the United States according to the research summaries I've read, hence the "seven year itch." On our anniversary this year Kyle and I talked about whether or not it feels like we have been married seven years. We both concluded that we feel like we have been married much longer, and much shorter, than 7 years. In so many ways the time has flown by! Our memories of our first days as a married couple and our wedding are still so vivid in our minds. When we look back at all we have accomplished together, it seems impossible that we haven't been married even longer. One thing is certain, we haven't had time to get bored or itchy. Our lives have become an interwoven fabric of lazy days, doing the dishes, putting a grumpy baby to bed, working late, climbing mountains, finding new jobs, laughing until we roll on the floor, cooking dinners, sitting atop the Roman gate, moving to one state, then another, and then back again, grad school exams, student loan payments, more exams, dinners out, breakfast for dinner, chasing run away dogs, and holding hands as we fall asleep listening to our little girl sing her ABC's. What more is there in life? Why would we want anything else? I never would have, or could have, predicted the adventures that would lay before me walking toward Kyle that day in a church seven years ago. I don't think I would have understood the meaning each small moment would hold then. I should only be so lucky to celebrate 70 more anniversaries with my best friend. Cheers to us, Kyle! I cannot wait to experience the new adventures that lay in store for us in the next seven days, seven months, seven years.....

A New Year, A New Resolution

Over this holiday break, I have been learning to feel comforted by the small, meaningful rituals that make this time of year especially special. A few of my favorites are:
- curling up and reading a good book
- having a cup of coffee while chatting with a friend
- baking goodies, especially with Eva
- walking through the neighborhood to admire all of the lights
- singing along to my favorite christmas music

All this got me thinking about the rituals I want to incorporate in my day to day life. One of the rituals I enjoy most is writing. (A close cousin to reading.) I am making a new year's resolution to blog at least once a week. I think this will be a good starting place considering my current blogging rate is zero, nada, nuthin'. I also realized I wanted to incorporate not only parenthood topics, but crafting, funny inspirations, and thoughts on marriage, work and home.

My first order of business is to share a new holiday tradition that my family has begun this year. From now on, after Christmas day, we will create a memory jar for our favorite memories of 2011. We will add to it the whole week after Christmas and New Year's Eve will be the perfect time to remember, laugh, and feel grateful for all the things we did the previous year. My hope is that instead of feeling sad the holidays are ending, we may feel excited and hopeful about the coming year. I got the idea from Kiwi magazine: http://www.kiwimagonline.com/
Here is a sample of some of my favorite memories of 2011:
Signing the mortgage on our first home
Celebrating Eva's first birthday
Eva's first steps
Coming home after a long day of work to find Kyle painted our bedroom to surprise me
Going horseback riding on our sixth wedding anniversary
Swimming at the neighborhood pool
Landing a wonderful job
Having all of our family visit at one time or another
Sleeping all together in our living room during Hurricane Irene (and not having any major damage)

I know this year will hold so many more wonderful surprises. I can't wait!

Asheville, North Carolina

Our gracious hosts, Will and Adrienne

 Every restaurant had their own garden. It was amazing and it smelled so good. Here is Eva giving it a whiff.

 This was the giant fireplace at the Grove Inn. It was amazing and this picture does not adequately capture it. It was more like a cave.

 The magnificent Grove Inn. Check out the link: http://www.groveparkinn.com/Leisure/

 The mountains of Asheville

 Eva did not inherit her mother's fear of heights. She had no problem looking down the mountain-side.

 Burritos all around!

Adrienne and I

Fun with the Cousins

Making "chicken nuggets" with Audrey and Aunt Krissy

Cousin Abbey- so pretty!

 Audrey hanging in the sunshine

 After eating watermelon (Roxy's hoping for some leftovers)

 Uncle Zach, Isabella and "power-tongue" Kiera

 Being a trooper at Busch Gardens

Loving her some toast with jam!

Visiting the Ver Eecke Family in Cape Cod

 Did I mention Eva ran naked on the same beach the Kennedy's vacation on?

Proud to be with daddy

There's Eva and my god-daughter, Rogan!