Welcome Baby Zumbiel #2!

Congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law on their new baby girl! Yet-to-be-named Baby Zumbiel (they are still debating between a few names, including Beyonce, Taylor, and Chipotle) was born on Sunday morning and weighed 8 lbs 4 oz. Everyone is healthy and happy! Here are a few of the first pictures.

UPDATE: We have a name--welcome Megan Jane Zumbiel!

New barrettes

Myla's new cupcake and sock monkey barrettes, found on etsy.com. Coming soon: a french braid.

That's it--ten posts in a row! And though this "event" is over, we'll try to keep posting regularly, so come back often!

Five inch vertical!

Here's some video of Myla gettin' some air in her jumperoo. She isn't even doing her best work in this clip, but you can get the idea.

I actually think the photos capture it better, in a way. I love the blur of motion, and the looks on her face.

Okay, can't stop posting these . . . there are some great ones from this photo session.

It's a rough life

I gave Myla a little massage the other day (she's been storing her stress in her shoulders). She was so relaxed that she started to drool. Or maybe that was just her usual drool. But I do think she enjoyed it.

Five things I love right now

It's tough to make 10 posts in a row! So here's another non-Myla one. These are five media-related things I love right now:

1. Club Trillion. This is a blog by Mark Titus, a benchwarmer for the Ohio State basketball team. It is truly hilarious. This post is a classic.

2. Sirius Sattelite Radio's 90s on 9. The other day I was driving home and heard "Better Man" by Pearl Jam, followed by "Let Her Cry" by Hootie, followed by "Hypnotize" by Notorius B.I.G. I felt like I was in college again, rolling in my two-door '96 Saturn coupe.

3. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I know I'm coming to this party about 8 years too late, but it is awesome.

4. http://www.etsy.com/. This website makes me want to quit my job and handmake all of Myla's toys and clothes.

5. 30 Rock. If you're not watching this Emmy-winning, Golden-Globe-winning show featuring Tina Fey and the unbelievably good Alec Baldwin, you should be.

(#6, confidential to Kristina, Allison, Stephanie, Kelly, Nick Johnson, Laura McNally, Tim Buckles, and others--you know who you are: Two more days!)

More Myla pics tomorrow!

The Exorcist!

After Myla got the hang of rice cereal, we moved on to vegetables and fruits. Her first was peas, and she gave us her best Linda Blair impersonation.

Favorite toy

Myla got these simple but fascinating stackable bowls for Christmas. It's amazing how many different ways one can play with them. And by "one," I mean Matthew and me. We love them. Myla pretty much just licks them and bangs them against one another, but she does so enthusiastically. And sometimes naked.

Rubber ducky, you're the one!

A while ago, we moved Myla out of the little tub for her bath and into her inflatable duck in the big tub. It's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen, especially when she gets to kicking.

Monthly Update

We've been taking a picture of Myla on the 5th of every month to have a record of her changes (see past photos here, here, and here). Here are updates for 6 and 7 months--it's getting harder to keep her from eating the sign!

Snow Day!

We got a lot of snow this weekend, much more than we expected. On Sunday, however, it was pretty sunny and warm out (I pause to cry about the fact that 27 degrees is considered warm in my world), so we thought we'd take Myla out for a few minutes to see what she thought of all the snow. As you can see from the pictures, Myla is as enthusiastic about the cold as her mother.

"Whatever it is we're about to go do, it can't be worth this ridiculousness."


Myla and Matthew


Myla and me on our deck.


"Myla lay there like a slug. It was her only defense."

10,000 hits--let's celebrate!

A few days ago our blog ticker rolled past the 10,000 hits mark. As I discussed in this post, we certainly don't think there have been 10,000 unique visits, but it's a big moment all the same.

To reward our loyal readers, we will have a new blog post every day for the next ten days! That's right, a new post every day until January 21.

To start it off, I'm posting some atypically non-Myla photos from a dinner Matthew and I had this weekend. We decided to make the most of being snowed in to cook two of the grass-fed beef filets I gave Matthew for Christmas. The steaks were incredible, as was the rest of the meal. I also took advantage of the occasion to appease my inner amateur photographer.

Target Photos--Downloadable!

In the beginning of December, I had Myla's six months photos taken at Target. She really put on a good show, so there are some great ones. Here is a link to the complete set: MYLA PICS. Once there, enter the Customer Name "Casey Buckles" (note the misspelling, Target did that).

Once you're logged in, you can click on the "Download Images" link on the left and download these to your own computer!

We gave some of these out as Christmas presents, but there were some great ones we didn't get. My favorites of the unpurchased photos are P3, P7, and especially this one (P11)!

As promised . . .

. . . here is a slide show of our Christmas. Click on it to see it larger; you may need to restart the show from the beginning.

It was wonderful to see our family, and Myla was unbelievably good during all of our travels. It was also great to hear so many of you say that you are enjoying the blog. We'll try to keep the posts coming!