Back to normal

Well, Vivian and I are parents now, and we're slowly adjusting as life gets back to "normal," whatever that is now. Hannah seems to be a pretty good sleeper, able to zonk out for a couple hours when we drop into a chili party. We've both gotten pretty good at changing diapers, making bottles, and figuring whether our baby wants food, changing, or cuddles. It's been a joy, but now that Vivian's recovering, we're slowly returning to the real world outside our home in Bellevue.

On Friday night, I took a much-needed trip up to JNO for some swing dancing. (Vivian was still not up for it, but hopefully will be in a couple weeks, just in time for the Christmas party.) We have live music courtesy of The UNO Big Band, and I had the chance to play with my new camera some more and capture several snapshots that I never could with my smaller point-and-shoot.

On Sunday night, we brought Hannah out for her first public appearance at Eric and Ben's annual Chili Throwdown event. Vivian and I have attended this culinary competition for the past three years now, so we knew we couldn't miss it. She slept like a pro throughout the entire event, but it was fun to introduce her to everyone who happened to stop by her little car seat/carrier

I created my own last-minute entry — a concoction I dubbed "bacon cheeseburger" chili. Naturally, it contained everything a good cheeseburger would have — cheese, ground beef, onion, mustard, relish, tomatoes, and one special ingredient for one special person: KETCHUP! I tailored this chili for the "most unique" category, which I'm sure it could have won if it hadn't been eliminated. Eric said it sparked a lot of "discussion as to whether it was actually chili or not. I mean it contained all the usual ingredients, save for one: chili powder. It didn't win any awards either way, but it was fun to make (and eat).

This year's winners were Bri for best non-chili entry (potato soup), Adri for third place, Julia for second, and C.J. for both spiciest chili and first place. Congrats, guys!

Oh, did anybody notice that it's December already? That means Vivian and I had to run out and grab a Christmas tree. We're in the process of decorating now. We also had to get our Christmas letters taken care of, and that meant getting a new family picture with Hannah! Tamra was kind enough to take some picture of us when she was over for a baby-holding session on Sunday.