Season's greetings

Merry Christmas everyone!

We have been getting into the Christmas spirit here in Albuquerque. Howard and I made a wreath to hang on the front door - we used an eclectic collection of dried bits and pieces that we found in our garden. It was the first wreath that I had ever made and I was quite pleased with it. [Do people make wreaths in Australia? It seems to be a bigger deal in the US.]

Then, I finally convinced Howard that Paloma needs a Christmas tree to celebrate her first Christmas, even though we will be in Taos on Christmas Day. After much nagging from me, we compromised and got a live pinon (from the wonderful Plants of the Southwest, just up the street from us). It's a little different to the pine tree that I'm used to, but it will grow over the next couple of years and we will be able to just wheel it inside in December. Besides, we don't have that many ornaments (yet!), so a small tree suits us just fine.

Finally, here is a photo of our little dove, snoozing in the afternoon. Peace on earth...

photo updates

It seems as though we never put up enough photos on this blog, so I'm going to try and fill in the gap with lots of photos and not many words.

Here are Howard and Paloma, getting ready for bath time! She's getting used to baths, and is actually starting to enjoy it. Now she isn't so keen on getting out, but we're mastering that with a few secret tricks (namely, drying her hair before pulling her out of the tub).



And here she is, wearing one of our favourite, favourite hats (sent to us from Lorraine in Wickliffe!). We can't decide whether she looks more like a Christmas elf of a gumnut baby.



We carry her around a lot in the baby carrier. She likes the motion and likes to peek out the side. It gives us the opportunity to get things done while still having her close - on sunny days, Semilla and I take long walks around the neighbourhood with Paloma nestled on my chest.



As we all know, there is nothing better than an afternoon nap... [Isn't it cute that they're holding hands?]



Every now and again, Paloma is entertained by the bouncer (aka 'neglectomatic'). Generally, she would rather be in someone's arms, but every now and again she will happily bounce away by herself. Notice how much she has grown since we put her in that pumpkin suit for her first Halloween!


Finally, we have been enjoying the festive season with lots of friends over the past week or two. Of course, Paloma gets to come along and party as well. Here she is, playing peek-a-boo with George and chatting with Aaron and Leslie over a glass of wine...

cousins and aunts and uncles and...

Last month, Paloma was able to meet most of her American family. What a treat! It was wonderful to see everyone and show off our new little daughter. There have been a few big family gatherings that happily coincided with Paloma's debut.

An early Thanksgiving in Taos

Our first gathering was in Taos, with many of the Brandenburgs. Brian and Sarah flew in from New York and Brittany and Tim drove down from Colorado, and the rest of us came from various parts of New Mexico.

As soon as we walked in the door, the paparazzi (Howard's aunts and uncles) were busy with their cameras, snapping the new additions to the family. Here Paloma is, less than a month old, getting to know her cousins. It's been a busy year for the Brandenburg clan! Ellias is three weeks older than Paloma and Abbie is about nine months older (wow!). Abbie seems pretty interested in her new little cousin...



A trip to Carlsbad

Our next trip was down south to Carlsbad, where the Wilson family gathered to remember Howard's Uncle Bill.

The drive to Carlsbad was somewhat reminiscent of our trip to Tibooburra, but with better roads and more cars. And antelope!



We didn't make it top the Caverns, but we did get to take a quick peek at the Pecos - a surprisingly big river in the middle of the desert. More importantly, Paloma got to meet more of her cousins and aunts and uncles. Best of all, she spent some time with her Great Grandmommy! Again, it was wonderful to be able to introduce Paloma to many of Howard's extended family.



The real Thanksgiving

Finally, Thanksgiving was a small affair at our house in Albuquerque. Howard's immediate family joined us and we all sqished around our little kitchen table. Thankfully, Cathy cooked the turkey. We were a little disappointed in our pecan pie - we will have to return to the original recipe next year (and hopefully harvest some pecans from our backyard tree).

Paloma had some time to get to know Auntie Cathy...



... and Grandpa...



... and Grandma!



And now it's almost time for Christmas. I can't believe 2009 is almost over...

Singin' and dancin'

So, Paloma is here and she is keeping us busy! (That's my excuse for not updating the blog sooner - but now I have worked out that if I sit on the exercise ball with her in the baby carrier, I can bounce up and down to keep her happy and type in between bounces.) Of course, she is growing and changing every day. I'll have photos soon, but today is a quick post so you will just have to be patient...

Paloma loves to sing and dance. Howard loves to sing too, and does a great rendition of Pony Man (Gordon Lightfoot) every night at bedtime. It's very relaxing for me to listen to him singing, and sometimes it works for Paloma too.

I, on the other hand, have to resort to the radio or our CD collection to keep her happy. Every morning, we listen to classical music on KUNM. Sometimes, we listen to the lullaby CD that we have and I attempt to sing along (although I'm not sure that being out of tune is particularly soothing to Paloma!). I also recently introduced Howard to this song about A little ray of sunshine - maybe one day he will learn to sing this one too. {Incidentally, can you believe that is Glenn Shorrock in the video with all that hair?}  

Sometimes, Paloma doesn't like such quiet music. Sometimes, she really likes to rock out. That's when we turn to Axl Rose and Sweet child o' mine. I am totally fascinated by Axl's midriff t-shirt in the video and Paloma really enjoys singing along:

... or else she just needs to have her diaper changed...

Introducing...

CLICK ON THE IMAGE IF YOU WANT TO MAKE IT LARGER

the first Halloween...

This year, it was my fourth Halloween in Albuquerque and the first for Paloma and my Mum and Dad. Australians don't really celebrate Halloween, although trick-or-treating is apparently gaining popularity amongst Australian kids.

Mum and Dad seemed to enjoy Halloween. We gave out candy to the kids who came and knocked on the door. Once again, we didn't have as many trick-or-treaters as we had catered for, so we had to encourage the kids to take big handfuls of candy so that we wouldn't be left with too much the next day. Even so, we did have quite a big bowlful left over - but the sugar hit was most appreciated by those of us who were a little sleep-deprived and old enough to eat treats.

Mum carved a pretty darn good looking jack o' lantern. Those big eyes make it look scary, hey?


Even though Paloma was only a few days old, we dressed her up and tried to get into the spirit of things (ha ha ha). We didn't really have a costume, but we did have a bright orange jumpsuit and a pumpkin-ish hat, so that seemed good enough for this year. No trick-or-treating for Paloma, but someone did give her a lolly that she seemed to want to hang onto. I think Grandma grabbed it off her later (she was rather fond of those taffy lollies).


Here's Grandma, after she has stolen the taffy from her grand-daughter (she does look rather pleased with herself):


Paloma didn't seem to mind the Great Taffy Theft - she was just as happy to snooze and suck on her fingers.

On All Hallows Day, two silly jack o' lanterns were found in our front yard. Time to go smash some pumpkins? (Actually, we're going to feed them to the chickens.)

Paloma Lois Brandenburg

Bugalugs is here! After months of speculating and wondering whether it will be a boy or a girl, we now know.

Paloma Lois Brandenburg arrived on Sunday 25th of October at 10.35am. She weighed a healthy 7lbs 13oz and measured 21.25 inches. Apparently there was plenty of baby crammed into my little bump! I can now play with the feet that used to be jammed into the bottom of my rib cage.
We think that she's pretty darn cute. Howard keeps looking at her and then looking at me and saying, "She's so cuuuute!", even when she is crying. Semilla is adapting to being a big sister and is getting used to not being the center of attention all of the time.


Howard is really enjoying being a dad - he has been in charge of most of the diaper changes, particularly the late-night ones. Here he is, warming up Paloma in front of the fire after a bath.

And we have had lots of visitors! Aussie Grandma and Grandpa flew in the afternoon before Paloma arrived, so they had a chance to see me pregnant (for one night) and they were at the hospital as quick as they could hail a taxi the next day.


George came to visit too...
... and Auntie Cathy learnt all about the Australian definition of 'nursing' (holding the baby, rather than feeding).

Grandma Claire came from the Northern lands to visit the little baby Paloma.....


and a little plum tree was placed in the ground with the help of the Burdetts. In the foreground is the container that had the placenta which was placed under the plum tree to provide lots of nutrients to the new tree. WELCOME TO THE WORLD LITTLE BABY PALOMA!!