Long overdue update

I know it's been a while, but life has been very busy. I'm finishing my master's degree program (I am officially done Dec. 19); Steve is finishing his fall class; Midterm grades were due this morning; Jack is eating real food; Jack is walking with his push toy; Thanksgiving was a blast; I took students to St. Louis for a journalism convention; and I am sure a few more things happened or are going on that I can't think of right this second.

Since it's officially the holiday season, I will start with news of our 2008 Christmas Tree. For the second year in a row (now called the Annual Christmas tree Outing with the Nustras) we went to Richardson's Farm with Susie, Peter, Nicky, Cathy, Connie, Kim, Pepere, Nancy, Nick, Paul, Brent and Dawna. Steve found our tree right away; in fact, I think he spotted it before we got off the tractor. Jack seemed to approve with lots of smiles, so Steve cut it down. The good news this year, it was quick and Steve did not freeze to death. After that five minutes, we spent the next half an hour helping everyone else pick out their trees. The weather was great, which made the entire day nice. We girls even walked back to the main farm instead of riding the tractor. Part of this was so that we didn't get knocked off the tractor by all of the trees. Self-preservation is fairly strong with an infant.







Check out the reflection in Steve's sunglasses!


The other big news around here is that Jack is starting to eat real food. Last night we had our first Barrett family dinner, all four of us. Steve made spaghetti and meatballs. Jack had some plain noodles along with a Biter Biscuit and some baby food veges. Breyer got Jack's leftovers. It was lovely. He successfully eats graham crackers and other such cookie items. Tonight we tried some adult vegetables: sweet potato, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots. He liked chewing on them, but he didn't swallow much.





The end result


Really, there is no place in the house that he can't get to on his own. I caught him tonight trying to go downstairs to the basement without me. He got down the first stair without me realizing. Ahh! He can go up and down the stairs safely on his own (even though is scares his grandmas). I can't believe Jack is just about 11 months. We are starting to think about his first birthday and how we will celebrate. Where did the time go? Here are some more cute pictures of the guy getting around.





I know this is becoming the longest post ever, but if you are still with me, I will make it worth your while.

Before the snow hit, Steve was busy clearing the leaves from the yard. Not to let a fun sensory activity pass us by, we took Jack out to play in the leaf pile.





My favorite




In case you are wondering, yes we have taken Jack out to play in the snow. We went out this past Saturday and lasted all of about 2 minutes (It took us a good 15-30 to get bundled up to go out). As Jack and I sat in the snow, he tumbled forward and face-planted. Turns out babies don't like faces in the snow. Before he fell, he was enjoying the snow falling around him, so I think there is still hope that he will like the fluffy stuff.

For his 10-month photo, I didn't get the bear. However, I am still happy with the result:



Here's another action shot.



Okay, so here is where I make it worth your while. One of my grad classes this fall was an advanced photography independent study. I did a documentary project on downtown Dundee, IL. I have published my first photography book. If you are interested, you can check it out (and order it!) at this link: Dundee by Karen Barrett. If that doesn't work, just go to www.blurb.com and search for Dundee.

Okay, I think that's it. Hopefully I will be able to get back to posting more regularly after I finish one last paper for grad school. Until then, enjoy this holiday season!