I'm just saying...

Laker's Center Pau Gasol

Baby ostrich

Employment!

I'm just too excited I had to post. We've just heard that Ryan will be working as a summer associate at a firm in Lincoln called Cline Williams Wright Johnson and Oldfather (mouthful!). They also have an Omaha office (where he'll spend 4 of 5 days a week), and commute the 45 mins once a week. We're both so thrilled, and it's just nice to know where our summer will be! It's a great position because he'll also be able to work part-time during school next year. We may get into the green here!

I also wanted to post some pictures of Sadie. She and I are both looking forward to warmer weather, which will mean more time playing outside. Sadie loves being out in the cold! Every day she goes and sits by the window and looks longingly at the snow. When we do take her out, she just giggles. I don't know what is so funny about snow, but it's great to go out with her.

Saucy little pose

It's so fun having a little girl! It's like your own little doll to dress up.

Happiness is...

Sadie is so close to walking. She's able to stand for a second if she doesn't realize you've let go of her hands. And she loves to walk everywhere with help. And is actually pretty adept at the stairs, which I'm not sure makes me happy or nervous.

Some fun videos from the past few months.

I remember Claire used to do this little thing too, Erica.


Fake laugh and bedhead.

The other videos are taking too long, so I'll post them after youtube gets its act together. Hope everyone has been enjoying the olympics!

P-p-p-P90x!

You might have seen commercials for P90x, full of crazy sounds effects and killer rock music and a voice-over guy that sounds like a pro wrestler. I got the dvds for Ryan for Christmas, and am taking full advantage of them while it's way too cold go outside. It has only been day one of 90 days, and I am already dying!
The workouts are typically 45-60 minutes, and by the end you are so done with being motivated to "lunge, step, kickback, up, curl, press, down, and stand up straight" (one of the more technical moves). Sadie woke up from her nap right at the end, and I had trouble getting up the stairs to her! The general idea is that I will be in super shape for Laura's wedding (my younger sister), as I may have bridesmaiden (sp?) duties to fulfill.
Ryan has a little more difficulty dedicating a full hour in the day to exercising; he's smack dab in the middle of interviewing with firms for a summer clerkship. But he still finds time for pick-up and intramural basketball. It's been like a part-time job searching for a job, he says. Ryan has done extremely well his first semester, and he won't brag, so I will a bit. I'm incredibly proud of him! For all those wondering, I think this summer will keep us here in Omaha. Right now we're in the business of convincing potential employers that we want to be here. Ryan figures he has enough connection back to Arizona that we might do something there next summer. It's kinda fun not knowing, and we're both really happy with Omaha.
No cute pictures to post this time, sorry. Sadie is in such a happy stage right now, and it's been a blast to stay home with her. She's getting to a point where she'll actually pay attention when we read books, and notice things about them. She kinda has a "huh" for a "hi", and claps madly when we come get her from her crib in the morning or after naps.
I'm already feeling the soreness set in after sitting here and typing this post...

Christmas and New Year's

Sadie in her Christmas dress. Thanks again Mom!

Ryan had a merciful 3 1/2 weeks off from school for Christmas this year, so we really took advantage of our time together. We spent Christmas in Arizona (still getting used to 75 F on Christmas day!) with all the Sandstrom family there. Christmas eve with Ryan's family means the big dinner, a small talent show (Ryan and I played a duet), and a recreation of the nativity.

All worked up for Santa!

Christmas day. She cottoned on to the present thing pretty quick.

Sadie with Grandma Walker on Christmas day. The expression is the best.

Because we had so much time off from school, and because Mom, Dad, and Rachel were so close to us in Utah, we went up to see them for a few days (along with Laura and Ben), and got to stay at the Checketts' cabin out by Park City. It was amazing to be out there in such a quiet wilderness; it really was so beautiful. I secretly hoped we would get snowed in. It was a really nice, short, trip. We also got a chance to see Bri and Jess for a few hours, our friends in PG who just had a baby, as well as stop to see Grandpa Sandstrom and Lynn. Thanks again Mom and Dad! I'll leave it up to those responsible (Rachel) to post our pictures from there.

Sadie and Great-Grandpa Sandstrom

Sadie and Lynn

New Year's Eve at the Checketts' cabin. I'm ashamed this is the only picture we have inside the cabin.

After we got back from Utah, we still had a 10 days to relax. Ryan and I had a checklist of things to do, and I think we hit all of them, except go see Avatar and play some tennis. Ryan got in his round of golf, I got in my returns and shopping.

This was taken in Arizona. I came in to get Sadie from her nap, and I found her giggling madly, lying on her side like this. She thought it was "haha" funny, I thought it was worth a picture.

I'm going to throw on this last picture because I think the crooked smile in it is hilarious! Enjoy the video below.

I try to reserve the overwhelmingly eye-rolling posts to this blog, so I don't bog down the family blog. You're here by choice, I figure, so let me indulge. I've got a lot of videos to post (why do I always leave it to one post?), mostly Sadie's new tricks and stuff. It's fun that she's now starting to communicate.
Ryan is finally done with his first semester at Creighton, and it's incredible to have him around! We leave for Arizona tomorrow for Christmas, and it's starting to feel like the holidays suddenly. Huge congrats to Laura and Ben, who got engaged just the other day--pictures are on the family blog. Merry Christmas everyone!

Cute huge flower! One that I made with Erica when we had a bow night during Thanksgiving. Sadie has so many of these over-exposed pictures, because she's always trying to get the camera.

Sadie's been on a tough schedule lately, and bedtime has been a bit of a battle. The other night I let her cry it out, and she did. When I poked my head into her room to see how she was doing, I found her asleep sitting up in her crib. Pff, and I thought those bumpers were too big!

Huge snow storm the other week in Omaha. Ryan buried the shovel in the snow to give people a sense of how much we got. It was hard to gauge exactly how much it was, because as soon as it would hit the ground, the wind would scuttle it everywhere! The snow looked really cool, like undisturbed sand underwater in the ocean. You know how it gets those neat little ripples?

Cheesy smile

Snuggles with Dad during finals week. See, he was here.

More fun with Dad. Thanks mom for the great jammies!

Sorry, maybe one too many playtime shots?

It's been a while, and I have no excuse

Sorry, I know it's been a while. No wait, I do have an excuse. Ryan's computer has all the pictures on it (I don't trust my '05 Dell. It was out of date before I bought it!). So here are some of those pictures. I'll post some videos when I get them uploaded.

Justice Antonin Scalia came to Creighton to give a few lectures. Ryan didn't want to pass up the chance to go to a dinner with him, so we went. He gave a really good speech, and he's a pretty funny guy too. It was interesting to start and end dinner with prayers from professional pastors. It was a really fun, grown-up dinner with cocktails at the beginning and stuff. The whole time there, I just kept thinking, "this is what Mom and Dad usually do!" It was the first time we've left Sadie with non-family babysitters, and they said she was amazing and went to bed right after we left her. It's good to know we are so essential to her!

We had a quiet halloween. We weren't going to make a big deal out of it, but thinking back maybe we should have. Here's Ryan with Sadie, both in their last minute costumes.

Here we are in Arizona for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be in warm weather, and so nice to see Ryan for such large chunks of time! I wish now that we had a few more pictures to show, but we really just relaxed the whole time. He's going headlong into finals tomorrow, so good luck to him!

I did a mini photo shoot with Sadie in her cute hat and sweater from mom. I couldn't resist... and I've got to fill my time with something. I always get compliments on these clothes; thanks again mom!

Happy girl!

Sad girl! Sadie was playing with the baby tylenol, and no responsible parent is going to trust that baby seal. She seemed to be enjoying herself until I came along. She was about this mad for 2 minutes.

Sadie is still getting used to all the restrictive winter clothes.

All bundled up. The cold here is unlike anything I've ever felt before. It's just so chilling, you really have to make sure that nothing is exposed. It makes me appreciate the pioneers a little more.

Sadie is becoming quite the little climber. For a while she didn't know the stairs existed. Oh, those good old days where she would just sit there.

Peekaboo?

Here's a video we just took yesterday. I'm not sure if Sadie appreciates the part that's supposed to be fun about peekaboo, but she's enjoying herself all the same!