Blessings

Ethan,

I know your dad has already begun a journal of sorts for you, but I already have this blog and I may as well write in it, right? Three months late. :) Or months or years late, if you want to take into account how long I've had this and how long it's been since I wrote in it.

Today seems like an auspicious day to start up again since it was the day of your baby blessing. I read somewhere once that in Bali (I think), babies are carried by their parents for the first 180 days of their lives, no part of them ever never touching the ground. They aren't named and are simply kept alive, carefully. It isn't until the end of that 180 day period that they are celebrated with a grand party, given names and allowed to touch the earth, the rationale being that if a child that young was to die, it belonged to the gods anyway, not to their human community on earth. Once that period of limbo passes, the babies then belong to their families and are tied to the land. While I wouldn't ever say you belonged to the gods at pretty much any point past the moment you left my womb, I thought it a good parallel to begin writing to you today, the day you were celebrated and officially "sent off" onto your great journey of life. Plus, several local people I admire (Lara, Princess Lasertron, your dad of course) write monthly letters to their babies and I want that record for you, too!

We aren't religious. We both grew up Catholic but left the church for varying reasons, the explanations of which I'm sure you'll be subjected to throughout your life. I feel more spiritual-agnostic, personally, and I think your dad feels the same (although he'll gruffly say he's atheist-agnostic. Get a drink in him and he'll soften up). Regardless, we both felt it was right to have some sort of ceremony officially welcoming such an amazing addition to our lives--you-- and speaking to the hopes we have for and promises we make to you as your parents. Plus, it made your Grandma Magnuson really happy to have something slightly resembling a baptism. ;) So we planned this totally personalized, non-traditional gig with secular readings, a Beatles song, a pagan ritual, Christian oil to rub on your body, and invited lots of people who love you.

It was great. It was a beautiful, cool and sunny fall day out. I filled your tummy ahead of time so you'd be content and quiet throughout. You wore this ADORABLE hand-woven jumper and booties we bought in Guatemala in 2009 (we figured we'd have a baby someday). Your grandma and great-grandma Magnuson made some little hors d'oevres and I bought cupcakes and pumpkin whoopie pies from my friend Joni. Your Mimms (Grandma Lawson, just in case that nickname doesn't stick) listened to the ceremony via Skype; unfortunately, the video feature wasn't working. What can you expect from a free service, right? Several of our closest friends came, some with their own babies. Everyone spoke some words of blessing or wishes for you, and wove a ribbon onto a wreath for you to represent their sentiments. And we, your mom and dad, were humbled and pleased to find ourselves surrounded by people gathered there for a common purpose-- to show love and honor to our greatest joy, our first child, our unbelievably perfect boy. You.

Welcome to this life, Ethan. You're going to love it.

Time speeds up in the fall.

The surprise arrival of our four-year anniversary has stopped me in my tracks and reminded me to take a breath. It is, after all, my most favorite ever time of year-- time for brisk, hay-scented fall breezes and light corduroy jackets; the trees flaunting their parting love affair with summer and making me yearn to learn real photography; freshly-fallen leaves crunching underfoot, though I know I should rake them before they turn to crumbs and elude all attempts to get them into a yard bag. Time for meeting new friends in new favorite bars with new favorite drinks, or sitting with old ones to plan tradition-honored festivities; time for cool nights of open windows and soft breaths of wind on my face in bed. It's fall, has so fully been fall that I have been eating up every day and leaving no appetite for blogging.

We kept busy in October with our friends' annual Hayrack Ride, pumpkin carving, the zombie walk, and our own Halloween party. This past weekend boasted a house packed to the hilt with pretty well everyone we know, a bigger party than any we've ever had before. Just for this one time a year, we embraced the chaos and added to it with an overly ambitious menu (many thanks to the Magnusons for saving us...again!) and probably too many drinks than was wise. We actually floated the keg before midnight.

Just this once....til next year.

New ink

Oktoberfest

The Omaha Fashion Show

Successful broiler pizzas

2nd annual Zombie Walk

Los Artes Día de los Muertos art show...

and the house band, The Prairie Gators. The guy in the middle, Buffalo, is something of an Omaha urban myth.

The Duggars and Johnny Depp enjoy our Halloween party.

A bar straight out of the Sopranos-- Josephine's.

Our wedding photographers' Halloween party

Birthday time!

I turned 28 on the 14th. It was a lovely Thursday! A bunch of family and friends met Eric and me at the Crescent Moon for dinner and beers, then we went with the friends to Sullivan's for some karaoke and more beers. It was kind of a late night (as in, the-bar-closed-late), but surprisingly, I had no trouble getting to work in the morning. I still got it! :D

I didn't manage to take any pictures, but Melissa did. Here's one of me, Eric and our friend Anne:


Two more years til the big Dirty Thirty. Eeesh!

Jeesh, I am great at updating this thing, aren't I?

So the Magnusons haven't been doing much of anything exciting, which is one reason why this blog is sooo dead! I have been studying for my Series 4 exam for work (options strategies and blah di blah) and it's a rather grueling process. Eric has been sick with what appeared to be salmonella, then we figured out was a crazy violent flu virus, then that regressed into a cold, and now it's bronchitis. Delicious. We've made some progress in the kitchen but I'd prefer to take pictures of it when the pretty morning light is shining--I'll post those sometime soon.

In the meantime, here are pics of our traditional Lenten Friday night jaunts at the Holy Name Fish Fry. Eric inducted me into this giant club of rabid fish fans when we started dating nearly ten years ago (holy carp). This fry is the most popular one in Omaha, often serving over 2000 dinners each Friday, and represents my absolute favorite time of year. It's so great I've never even been to another fish fry. What could top this?? I NEVER have more fun than I do at fish fry time!



Here is the entrance to the moderately crowded entrance to the main hallway underground. In nice weather, this line usually stretches over at least a couple city blocks. Our line last Friday wrapped around the building and doubled up in the parking lot. It's one of the best parts though! Hanging out in line with some of your family, best friends and a cooler of drinks is a fabulous time, and if it takes a couple hours, it's a couple hours definitely well-spent.

Once underground, the church provides each thirsty adult with two free cups of beer from strategically placed stations.






We run into people with whom we haven't been able to catch up in a long time--and sometimes we run into people we only ever see at the yearly fry.



It's crazy and crowded, your clothes hold the fish fry stank until you wash them (and sometimes the reek still perseveres), the fish is hot, crispy and juicy, and the beer is cold and perfect.



It is an excellent way to start the weekend.