Dominic Gets a Christmas Visit

Dominic’s friend Dalitso came for an after church Christmas visit on Sunday. While Dalitso loved being in front of the Camera, Dominic was less than happy to be seeing the flash go off again. But whether they are crying or smiling those both still adorable.

Early Opening

Dominic begged and begged, so we let him open a few of his presents early. Just before bed time on Christmas Eve Mom sat down with the boy in front of the tree and picked out a few gifts to unwrap.
It’s a good thing Dominic has four sets of grandparents. Since they all spoiled him this year, there will still be plenty of surprises for him on Christmas morning.

Dominic sits with Mom by the tree on Christmas Eve.

His hands work at a ribbon around a pretty box.

Dominic and Mom look pleased with a toy that hooks onto his car seat.

Dominic lays on a nice quilt and sends a raspberry to all of the blog viewers.

Funny Faces Part 3

Dominic is almost 3 and a half months old now. Here is a new collection of faces that we've seen from him lately.

Presents Under the Tree

Dominic hangs out under the Christmas tree with his presents.

First Spoonful

We tried out Dominic on some highly diluted rice cereal. It was messy but he did seem to like it.

Post Thanksgiving Visit

Dominic spent the Sunday after Thanksgiving with family at Uncle Hal’s house. We had good food, laughs and more good food. Here are some of the smiles we shared.

Hanging with Uncle Hal

Making faces with Dad

Smirking at Uncle Rob

Giggling with Grampa Ritchie

Musical Appreciation

We’ve found that Dominic loves just about all types of music; Jazz, Classical, Hymns, Rock, and everything else we’ve let him hear. His favorite CD right now is from a group called Sweet Honey and the Rock that our friend Bill gave us.

The other day Dominic sat against the side of his dad’s acoustic guitar and felt the vibrations when the strings were plucked.

Beautiful Boy

Dominic poses at home last week.

Two Months, 1,000 More Faces

We can't believe how fast the time is going by. We hit the two month mark today. Dominic, gives us new faces to adore everyday, here are a few more of our favorites.

Family Visit

Dominic's Grandma and Grandpa Ritchie, Uncle Hal, Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Walston and Great-Aunt Doll and Great-Uncle Mark came to visit him on Sunday. As you can guess, it was a "Great" day. Here are a few pictures from the visit.

The E.T. Tradition Continues

When we heard noise on the baby monitor and went to check why the boy wasn't sleeping we had no idea that we were going to have to break up a party. We hope he calms down before he's a teenager.

Big Head Dadd & the Monster

Dominic wanted to get his portrait taken in his new outfit. Isn't it cute?

Cat Wrestler

Even though Sam outweighs him by about 7 pounds, Dominic decided to take him down to the mat after watching some ultimate fighting on TV.

After showing Sam who was king of the cage, the two made up and layed down for a nap.

Baby Barcalounger

One of Dominic's favorite places for a nap is his Boppy. He usually wears more than a diaper though. Mom takes these chances to catch up on the housework.

The Great Pumpkin Hunt

Dominic paid his first visit to a pumpkin patch Monday as we looked for the right gourds for Halloween decorations. Our tiny tot, just shy of six weeks old, kept his eyes moving, looking back and forth from the grey sky to the bright and colorful landscape all without so much as a whimper.
Monica stopped to give Dominic a chance to feel the textures and look at the forms of the various squash, corn and pumpkins available at Sharp Farms in Sugar Grove.
We found a grouping of pumpkins deep in the field where we could take a portrait of the boy. I pray that he will always be this patient with the photo shoots. Dominic soaked up the sights sounds and smells of the environment while we placed him between a trio of bright orange
pumpkins. He didn’t even mind when Monica positioned a fresh vine leaf on top of his head.
After finding a couple of pumpkins that we hope will yield a good number of seeds for baking, and we know will make for good jack-o-lanterns, we took a walk around to the other sites on the farm.
Like us, families from our area go to the farm for a time away from the hurried, noisiness of town. We found a couple of silly cut outs to stick our heads through, and a nice straw bench for a mother son photo.
On the way home I thought about what it will be like when Dominic is a teenager or even an adult and looks at our family as we were when we first started down this road together.
I don’t know where he will end up or what he will become. Whatever the future holds for him, I hope that he will always look back and see the love that we have been gifted with.
God bless. Go hug your kid, or your parents.

One Month, 1,000 Faces

Dominic is now just over one month old and here are just a few of the many faces that he makes on a daily basis. (His eye’s are too well coordinated for any more cross-eyed shots, so we might not see that one again ;)

No More Pictures!

When Dominic is in a good mood he sometimes looks just like his dad did at the same age. But, when we tried to show off that fact with one of my photos displayed on the computer next to him, Dominic let us know that he wanted no part of the demonstration.

Sleeping Dominic

We just thought he was looking to cute to ignore while taking a nap.

Dominic Gets a Visit

Dominic’s Grandma and Grandpa Bluml came in from Iowa for a visit last weekend and stayed through Wednesday.

When I opened the door Grandma said, “Where’s the baby?!” and rushed into the living room to hold him. As soon as she held him the waterworks started. Dominic has that affect on a lot of us.

Needless to say, there is no doubt of the love that his grandparents have for him.

Dominic's First Week

Dominic looks out the living room window while resting his arms and head on Dad's hands

Hello, friends and family.

First, we want to thank everyone who has sent us warm wishes and congratulations. It’s nice to know that we have so many people who care about our family.
Here are photos from Dominic’s first week as a part of our family.
We have been trying to get a sleeping, feeding, changing and hanging out together schedule down. But, Dominic doesn’t really have much interest in schedules yet.
We will not be updating this every week, but we will add new photos and stories as things happen that we want to share with all of you. So, check in once and a while and see what Dominic is up to.

Dominic and Mom take a short nap together
Dominic looks up at his proud Papa
Dominic's tiny foot sticks out of his gown
Dad reads Dominic "The Large and Growly Bear"

Welcome to the World

Hello friends and family.
Our son Dominic was born on Wednesday, August 31. He was 6 pounds 5 ounces and measured in at 18 3/4 inches long.
We stayed in the hospital with him until Friday afternoon and just made it through our first night alone with him.
The first round of pictures here are from his first day in the world.
God has blessed us with a beautiful boy and we will share moments here as time goes by.