Ryan James Shaha was born on 24 October at 1702 hours.  We changed his name because both Lucy and Hailey have been calling him Ryan for months and one of his nurses had a very strong Irish brogue.  Joe was the only holdout for the name Aaron and Lucy and Hailey finally convinced him of the error of his ways. Despite a few issues early on that landing him in the NICU in Savannah, Ryan is now gaining weight, eating a ton, and being doted upon. His sisters won't leave him alone and unless Joe is around to intervene they will soon be dressing him in pink and putting bows in his hair. Thank you all for your prayers - those and the Priesthood blessing he received right before being evacuated to the NICU made all the difference. He will learn how to box before kindergarten. We tried to post a video but it didn't work. We may try again in the future although he doesn't do very many exciting things in it - just kind of lays there, looks at the camera cross-eyed and drools. Not terribly entertaining.

Happy Halloween

I am looking forward to seeing all the pictures of the little tykes from Halloween, although I have no little tykes of my own I would still like to contribute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeWNNiuhL_8&list=PLE6EA4795AB12C4E1&index=197

I think you will all agree with me that the Dad's costume is the best.  Happy Halloween...BWAH HA HA!

Grandpa Shaha Pictures

At long last. Grandpa Shaha's pictures are up. Thanks for putting these together Pop.

Peter!

Hey everyone! You've all heard by now that we have another Shaha running around... or at least drooling around. It all started on Monday when we casually came to the hospital for a repeat ultrasound. Wendy had been measuring small so we were getting ultrasounds to check on the little guy. Turns out he looked really small on ultrasound so they decided to induce Wendy. Although it was a little shocking at first, Wendy got amped up for it.

 

Plus they gave us a room with a view... ignore the ceiling. :)

After 8 1/2 hours the little guy was born. Wendy did an awesome job. Everything went so smoothly. It was a real blessing since Oakley's delivery had been so difficult.
So without further ado, Peter William Shaha!

 

Born 10/14/13 at 9:29 in the PM. Weighing in at 7 lbs 4 oz and measuring 19.5 inches.
This was just a half hour after birth. He didn't like the lights. :)

Here's Peter when he was just a day old.

 

This is Oakley when she was 4 days old. They look so alike! Even down to the hair.

 

 Peter the pumpkin eater.

 Oakley warmed right up to her little brother.

She shared all of her toys with him and insisted on keeping him in his car seat so she could play with him.

Oakley eventually found other interests. Like sipping on Mama's water and watching "Ku Fu Paka!" (Kung Fu Panda).

 

Pretty good family picture but Wendy's gown is a little risqué. What can you do? Hopefully she leaves this picture up and doesn't beat me. :)

 More Oakley toys for Peter.

In other news, Oakley got her Halloween costume in the mail. :)

Ben, Marinda, Emily, Caroline and James Host Gramma and Grampa



Before I get too far, recall the blog-challenged entries from the recent past, and bear with me on this one. Gramma and I received an awesome reception from the pictured committee as Ben delivered us to Robinson Barracks, Stuttgart.




Among the many great activities we visited this palace in Stuttgart--the grounds were beautiful and the bratwursts were hot.




We attended the pumpkin festival and found these two babes hanging out amongst the pumpkins.




We got to attend James' blessing. If you haven't already heard, James was a perfect baby at all times except for the blessing--not much was heard over James sounding off during Ben's blessing pronouncement, but he was very calm and collected immediately following as Ben held him up for the congregation to see--big smile and plenty of drool for all in attendance.




We got to go to the Tripsdrill amusement park and the girls showed off their boating and driving prowess, among other skills (like the caterpillar roller coaster).





We got to visit Strasburg, where Marinda served as a missionary--and did some tree climing in one of her favorite parks, and . . .




checked out the moat around the old city and all the flower be-decked homes on the water . . .




and the awesome cathedral that, as Caroline pointed out to us, turned orange as the afternoon wore on.



We got to see lots of cool castles.




and cool people . . .




peeking out of cool turret windows.




We got to travel the Route de vins (the Wine Route) through the Alsace region of France and Marinda took us to the town of Riquewehr (I think that's right) which is reportedly the model for the Disney creators of Belle's hometown in 'Beauty and the Beast'





Emily and Caroline are carousel gurus--can't pass one up; this little plane actually rose up and down while the carousel was going around, using a button on the Caroline's control panel.




Here's Gramma at the top of the Zugspitz--the highest point in Germany just outside the town of Garmisch. We took a cable car to the top and . . .




if you look closely you can see the car emegering from the clouds; Gramma commented she was lucky the clouds obscured how high we were or she'd probably have lost consciousness on the way up.



And we saw lots of fountains with hot chicks hanging out.




And we stopped in a wood carver's shop in Ettal, near Oberammergau, and saw some amazing creations--even bought a few.


We


We got to see the Neuschwanstein castle of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria . . . it was very cool.




The day before we had to leave Bavaria it snowed during the night, so we made a Belle snowperson--can you tell which of the three princesses in the photo is Belle? Hint: she's the one with the M&M necklace and pretzel tiara.



And we got to see plenty of celebrities in their shades . . .




and spend lots of time with Ben, Marinda, Emily, Caroline and James.   Thanks again for your generosity and hospitality!! And for all the training on making marble mazes and dancing to the countdown.




A couple more of those celebrities I mentioned.




Yes, the Bavarian scenery was spectacular and we had a fabulous vacation with Ben, Marinda and their family. And we kept very busy so that when we finally got back to Stuttgart . . .




there was no problem taking a rest. Thanks again to the Stuttgart Shahas for a most excellent visit and vacation.
Love, Grandma and Mister Gwampa



Normandy Sculpture

I heard about this on the radio and thought it was worth sharing.  This was done by a sculptor to commemorate the D-Day invasion and is on one of the beaches in Normandy where it occurred.  I read that visitors were moved to tears.

How General Authorities Eat Their Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

I just showed this to Katie and she mandated that I share it on the blog. Enjoy :)

chill out baby

Oakley is confident she can handle her new baby brother.

Kaiser James

I can hear you laughing now, Pat

I

Natalie started Kindergarten and other ventures!

Mom gave Natalie this outfit for starting school. check the shoes! I had to get the necklace and hair thing to match. Isn't she swank! This is actually what she wore to meet her teacher at a pre-Kindergarten assessment thing. Based on previous posts about the alphabet game involving European nations, I think that Emily will slam-dunk this assessment thing.

                                        

Note: She has to have a bag, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and a bear, and several books. You must admire her taste in books: Cowardly Clyde and Diary of a Worm (very graciously given by Lucy, who had an extra copy. Thanks!)

This is Natalie the morning of her first day of school. Shea took this before she went to her babysitter's house. Unfortunately I had to work the whole day and didn't get to see her until that night. She loves it, though. She kept telling me, "When Ms. Shmits rings the bell, you've got to put your hands on your head!" We also repeatedly need to play school, a game in which she is the teacher and I am the student.

Here we are at Costco - still working on our family picture skills. 

Jack's going for cool and hip in this one. . . 

and brutally delusional in this one.

Natalie's got skills though. 

I went to get a drink and Natalie had placed this on the refrigerator. Some NRA weenie must have sent it to Shea. Don't worry - he hasn't joined - but he still repeatedly fakes me out that he has. It irritates me every time - and pretty much works.

Natalie's bed on a regular basis. Notice the small rubber chicken (who lays an egg if you squeeze her) lying on the doll bed with a blanket of stickers. Natalie's doted toys continue to be quite random and change daily.

She remains very magnanimous with the comfortable doll bed though. Sweet dreams Woody!

Jack is in Heaven right now - hucking dirt all over himself with a Barbie helmet on. Word to those with new little boys - if you let them - they will be content to throw dirt on themselves or kick it at inanimate objects  for hours at a time. It's a double-edged sword really - it keeps them happy and occupied, but daily baths are royally lame.

So fashionable - umbrella chairs in the rain.

Dad's working and Jack is perusing  the Veggie-Tales Bible - another favorite library find. I can't tell which man is more concerned about his salvation. . . and stuff.

Natalie recently rediscovered this bear. It had been hypernating in a toybox for about a year and a half. Mom gave it to her as a baby and I love how she has been totally obsessed with it like it was her lost treasure. I don't know the bear's name, but all Natalie's play things - no matter how masculine they appear, are girls and most are named Adra. She still loves the bear Mom!