One Post To Rule Them All...

Well it has been quite a while since we've had a post with excessive content and as you might have guess from the Lord of the Rings reference in the title of this one, this is Robert typing, not Natalie. She is holed up in bed fighting a mean head cold and I am going to try to fill her shoes. Hopefully she'll interject some comments and details here or there since I am prone to forget them. Whatever our reason, we have been remiss in about 4 weeks of goings on. We pretty much need to cover the entire month of June and a full month in "baby-lapse" is a lot of stuff. So sit back, grab an extra cup of your morning coffee and take this ride with us. We'll have stories and pictures and maybe even a new feature here on Team Sudar, movies.

Party 1
We'll start our journey at the beginning. On Saturday June 6th we all headed out east to Natalie's co-worker's house for his 40th Birthday celebration. Emerson got to mingle with many of Natalie's work friends and was able to practice his flirting with the many middle aged women in attendance. Quote of the night came from the guest of honor, Mike, who said to Emerson, "When you're 40, I'll be 80." Very true and a little hard to imagine.

New Mexico and a new Cousin!
The next morning (the 7th) the three of us packed up our things and set out on a little family vacation to New Mexico, mixed with a little work for Robert. Meaghan (Natalie's sister) would be staying at our house keeping an eye on things and watching after Gus. Thanks Meaghan. We knew it would be an exciting trip when, while waiting in the terminal for our flight, we saw a tornado off in the distance. Emerson's first Tornado! Actually, he didn't see it, because he was being changed in the restroom at the time, but nonetheless. We had an hour long flight into Albuquerque, which we felt would be a good test for how Emerson would do on longer future flights. A+ for him. He slept most of the flight which made mom and dad very happy considering all the glares we got from other passengers on the plane when they saw that we had a baby. In your face! Our flight was mostly uneventful and we rented our car and headed north on I-25 for a couple night stay in Santa Fe.

We arrived at our hotel, the Hilton Historic Plaza, and enjoyed Sangria and Lemonade at check in. After we got settled in the room we headed out to find some dinner. On the map we found a nice little restaurant called Cowgirl BBQ. Dinner was enjoyable and we worked out a tourist plan for the next two days. On Monday morning, we headed out to see many things. We went to the Cathedral which was beautiful and luckily had just finished their exterior resurfacing a couple of weeks before our visit. We also saw the Lorreto Chapel with it's amazing staircase.

And we saw the "Oldest House." We also had an enjoyable lunch at "The Shed" which was recommended to us by Natalie's dental hygienist. We did a little more shopping and strolling around the historic plaza. It is really a neat area, especially if you like jewelry and art. Then we headed back to the hotel to embark on a historic first for little Emerson. Going in the Pool! We got him all decked out in his swim gear which, not to sound lame, is totally adorable, and headed down to the pool. It was already getting a little dark and Natalie got in with him while I took some photos. Needless to say, they didn't stay in too long because of the temperature of the water. Natalie spent some time in the hot tub, Emerson got bundled up and we went back up to the room to contemplate dinner. Since we expected to eat a lot of Mexican food that week and didn't want to overload ourselves, we chose a rooftop pizzeria there and had a very nice dinner while the sun set.

The next morning, we got up strolled down to the Starbucks and did a little more wandering and shopping before getting back in the car and heading south to Albuquerque.

We got to Albuquerque, checked into our hotel and Robert touched base with his co-workers who were coming into town that night. Once settled in, the three of us met up with several of Robert's second cousins for dinner. The Robino's et al. met us at Gardunos for dinner and we had a wonderful time introducing Emerson to them all and Natalie to the ones she hadn't met before. It was a great evening and a great end of our day.

On Wednesday, Robert headed off to work teaching a class and Natalie headed out with Emerson and Jayme Robino to see old town Albuquerque. Robert's class got done early and he and a couple of his co-workers met Natalie, Emerson and Jayme for lunch. After lunch we headed back to the hotel for "Pool 2: Return to the Water."

Emerson got all decked out in his pool attire again and we headed down to the indoor/outdoor pool. This was a much better experience because the water was temperature controlled. We had quite a great time splashing around in the water with our little man and he didn't seem to mind it that much.

The next day started off with exciting news - our first niece was born! Natalie's brother Matt, his wife Windy and our nephew Kolby welcomed Kaya Breeze to the world. We are so excited she's here and even more excited that she's a girl. That's right, after 3 nephews (and one more on the way) we finally have a niece! We can't wait to meet her, although it will probably be a few more months before we can make it up to Oregon.

After that news, Natalie and Emerson met Jayme again while Robert headed to work and plans were made to ride the tram to the top of Sandia Peak that evening. Several of Robert's co-workers joined us for a tasty dinner at the restaurant at the base of the tram, Sandiago's, where we had some great Mexican food. We followed dinner with an exciting trip to the top and a very windy but

beautiful view of Albuquerque at

sunset. Emerson got pretty fussy on the trip down but we think it's because his ears didn't pop. Overall, it was a very memorable experience.

On Friday, Robert headed off for a morning's worth of class while Natalie prepared everything for the trip home. Once Robert was done, Natalie and Emerson picked him up, we all grabbed some lunch and headed to the airport. We thought we timed Emerson's eating schedule just perfectly for the return trip, but alas, we were delayed an hour due to weather in Denver which made the last half hour of the flight a little tense. We were wondering if we had a hungry baby that was about to explode.

Fortunately, Emerson made it all the way to the baggage claim where he was able to eat comfortably and without a scene. We headed back to our house to conclude our fantastic week long trip and get some rest in preparation of the next day's activities.....

Wedding 1

We got up Saturday morning and relaxed a little before getting ready to head to

Natalie's cousin Nicholas' wedding to Jeana. Natalie went over to help her grandmother get dressed then headed home to join the two men in her life for the trek up to Arvada for the wedding. It was Emerson's first wedding and a beautiful ceremony. We got to use the cry room in the church even though Emerson did really well and never really cried, just fussed slightly.

After the mass, we had a little break before the reception and that fit in perfectly with Robert's Uncle Tom and Aunt Jetta's schedule as they were in town. So the three of us headed over to Jim and Carla's (cousins) house where a gathering of some of Robert's family was taking place. It happened to be on the way to the reception which was perfect. Emerson got to see Uncle Tom and Aunt Jetta, Jim and Carla, Antie, Uncle John, Shellie and Matt (cousins) and Dena was there with little Jack. It was quite the gathering and a great opportunity to get to see everyone.

After a little time there, we headed up to Mount Vernon for Nicholas and Jeana's reception. Oma Teresa and Sir were there with Auntie Meaghan and Auntie B too. Dinner, drinks and dancing. Emerson hit the dance floor to show off his moves and everyone had a great time. We headed home to rest and get set to relax on Sunday because our next life event was a big one....

Natalie Goes Back to Work/Emerson Starts "School" & a Rockies game

(Natalie at the keyboard for this section)... Monday, June 15th was the day I had be dreading for weeks. The day I had to return to work and leave my little boy at daycare. The entire week before I would get teary eyed whenever I thought about this day.

Months prior we had spent a day touring daycares and had chosen Little Chicks as the place our little man would go. So Sunday night I got out our packet of information and started gathering up all of the necessities E would need. I also spent lots of time holding him and telling him how much his mommy loved him, all the while with tears in my eyes. The next morning Robert and I got Emerson ready to go and packed him in the car for the 3 minute drive to LC (Little Chicks). We took him inside where we were met by the smiling staff. I began to cry while explaining Emerson's schedule to the director and then she started to cry. We each gave Emerson one more hug and kiss and then headed back to our cars. I sobbed in the parking lot while Robert held me. Then, after assuring me that we were making the right decision and checking that I had tissues, he sent me off to work.

The first day of work I felt like I was in a fog. I got really good at answering the question of the day "Natalie, are you glad to be back at work?" NO! No one who has had three months off of work would be glad to be back at work. Furthermore, when you have to leave your tiny baby that you've been with just about 24/7 for his WHOLE LIFE your answer is definitely no. LOL. The day passed quickly and it was time for me to pick up E. When I arrived Miss Jana was gushing about what a good day E had and how all the teachers were in love with him. This news and the smile E greeted me with made the whole day worth it. So, Emerson and I headed home where Robert made dinner so that I could play with my little sunshiney boy.

The next day I dropped Emerson off at school. We've decided this term is better than daycare plus it is like school, he learns, has teachers and makes friends. and went to work for the day. The director, Nikki was there and she told me that I'm the only parent in all her years of doing this that has ever made her cry before. What a title to have! With that said, I headed off to work. Day 2 was much harder than day 1. I felt all discombobulated and stupid. I would be given a task and think - I know I know how to do this but HOW DO I DO THIS?!?!? It's really crazy when you can't do a job you had been so good at just 12 weeks before. LOL. But, thanks to supportive coworkers and an amazingly patient boss I got back into the swing of things. That night Robert picked up Emerson from school and we went to the Rockies game. The weather was alright but the Rockies sucked and we lost terribly.

Wednesday and Thursday were about the same with Sudar family settling into a routine. I get Emerson up, ready and drop him off at school. Robert picks him up and takes care of him until I get home from work. Then one of us makes dinner (usually Robert) while the other plays with E (usually me). After dinner it's time for household chores and getting ready for the next day. The days definitely seem to have more of a rhythm to them now and are flying by. They were nice enough to give me the first four Fridays off of work to help me adjust back to the working world which has been very nice.

Overall I'd say that starting work has been harder than I thought it would be while dropping off Emerson has been easier. They love Emerson at Little Chicks and he already seems to be happy there. By his second day he had a girlfriend - Lily, who's a cutie by the way. He eats well for them and only cries when he's hungry, just like at home for us. I know they care about our son and I feel better leaving him at a place that I'm comfortable with. Work is a little overwhelming. I am out of practice being in the fast paced setting where I used to thrive. However, each day gets a little easier. I know this is the right decision for our family and in time all will settle down.

Wedding 2 and Grandpa Ace & Nonie Ger show up for Baptism 1

On Friday the 19th, Grandpa Ace and Nonie Ger arrived from Dallas, by way of Walsenburg, and spent some time with the three of us before heading off to Dena, Scott and Jack's house for the evening. At which time, Natalie and I (this is Robert again) took Emerson over to Oma Teresa and Sir's house to hang out with them while we attended the wedding of Sarah Flick and John Ciasto. We had a great time at the wedding. That combo of dinner, drinks and dancing always seems to satisfy. But it was nice to go and pick up Emerson at the end of the night. We start to miss him since he's usually with us whatever we happen to be doing.

The next morning, the three of us, along with G.Ace and N.Ger met Dena, Scott and Jack at The Egg and I for a delicious breakfast to celebrate all of the fathers in attendance. We really enjoyed the time together for all 8 of us (that family has grown in leaps and bounds in the last 5 years) and the two little men did great while we were there.

On Sunday, I rolled out of bed to let the dog out and sat down on the couch to relax and watch the end of Stripes and the beginning of Ghosbusters. It was a great start to my first Father's Day. I feel like this more low key Father's Day was a great option to take. I was surprised with cards from Emerson and Natalie and the promise note of a new tool chest for the garage which I am super-excited about. A little later, we needed to start getting ready to go to mass at noon which would be followed by Jack's baptism. Natalie and I were honored when asked to be his Godparents so we were excited to go. The Baptism was nice and we were very happy to be involved. We all went back to the Christensen house afterward for a little get together and some lunch. Then headed home to get ready for the next week.

"Simple Week" and Emerson turns 3 Months!

Although nothing is truly simple anymore now that we have Emerson in our lives, this week was by all standards "normal." Grandpa Ace and Nonie Ger headed up to Idaho to see Uncle Tom and Aunt Jetta on Monday and I had softball Monday night. Natalie worked some pretty long hours each day that week but still made it out to Parker to see her co-worker's new bundle of joy, Brinley Rose, on Wednesday. That was also the day that Emerson turned three months old. A lot has changed for him in the last three months as you can see in this latest picture. He is such a little man and growing all the time. On friday, our friend Jamie, who was in town all week from Arizona, came over and we went to dinner with him. He is in the Broder Patrol so we don't get to see him too much and that made dinner with him a lot of fun.

Party 2

On Saturday the 27th, the three of us headed up to Loveland to help celebrate our nephew Brodie's first birthday. Natalie and I contest that first birthday parties are more a celebration of the parent's accomplishment of making it through the first year than of the actual person turning one. We got to see Cerissa and Markus which was fun. Grandpa Mark and Grandma Monica and Auntie B were there as well. We also got to meet Cerissa's Dad and Step-Mom so that was nice too. Markus barbequed and had made a special "pink cake" earlier in the week. He baked an angel food cake from scratch with a pink italian meriungue frosting. This may sound like a weird choice for a little boy's birthday but this cake is a Stevenson family tradition. It was delicious and Brodie managed to be wearing much of his piece when it was all said and done. He headed for a nap and we headed back south to start getting ready for our own little shin dig the next day...

Baptism 2

Lastly this weekend we had Emerson's own Baptism. It was a vary special occasion, not only because it is very important in our faith, but because it was a great opportunity to spend time with many family and friends. Emerson was Baptized at Our Lady of Lourdes in Denver, which is pretty special because that is also where Natalie was Baptized and her father, Emerson's Sir, too. Emerson did so well at his Baptism, as you can see in the video, he was quiet as a mouse and even the Deacon commented on that fact. Many people showed up for the Baptism and we really appreciate that since it isn't easy to get yourself going on a Sunday morning. Afterwards, we headed back to Casa de Sudar for some BBQ and fun. We had a great turnout and really enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone and we know Emerson enjoyed getting to meet more and more people who care about him so much. That winded down and we just relaxed the rest of the day because it was Sunday and that meant starting all over again tomorrow...

So, after reading all this we think you'll agree that while our posting is long overdue it is definitely understandable why we've gotten so far behind. Again, we commit to our readers that we WILL do better. AND now you know why Natalie is sick....