The One About Oliver's Weeks 3 and 4 and a Gaylord Hotel Christmas

Oliver's first Christmas tree! (Notice the Christmas bicycle and Christmas grill in the background...soooooo attractive...)

Oliver and "Aunt" Candice, Jasmine's good friend from A.U. and matron of honor at our wedding! Oh...she's also Lili's Mom and of course, Travis' wife too! :)



Oliver in his "THIRD PLACE"...with Grammy Lou!

OliVER with OliVIA, Jasmine's good friend from work.

I really like black and white photography. Especially when shooting closeups. By removing the color, I think the viewer sees details they might have missed otherwise. He is so calm here, and so peaceful!

Even better with the eyes open, huh? LOL!

Olivers' first snowstorm, however this was BEFORE the big Washington, DC storm on 12/19/09 which has been named "The Shopper Stopper".

Same storm later that night, with an experimental camera setting. Personally, I like the results!

So, with all of the hard work I've been putting in learning about the new camera...light and so forth...along comes Jasmine, mother extraordinaire who snapped this self-portrait with her Sony point and shoot! I'm going to take SOME credit for gifting the camera...lol...

Bath Time! :)

Sleeping like a rock star in the Morrow family chaise!

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Ah, working on the operatic skills...Ok, not really...just yawning...SHOCKER, I know...

Sleeping in the light of the sunshine, while Mom and Dad bask in the light of the SONSHINE! :)

Sir Calm-A-Lot!

Riding on Grammy Lou!

This is my new "look"...I'm calling it BLUE STEEL!

But it's exhausting to do that...so now I'm tired...AGAIN!

Ok, I'm all ready to be on the set of "That 70's Show"! What? Cancelled? Unbelievable! HELLO WISCONSIN!

Oliver with Grammy Anne! Oh! The WONDERMENT of it all!

This quilt...This quilt was a gift...A gift! From the Queen...the Queen of AMERICA!

Thank you, "Aunt" Alex (another good friend of Jasmine's from A.U.) this is a special and important quilt to me!

Oliver with "Aunt" Kim! (Card carrying member of Jasmine's A.U. Crew!)


This was the first time Oliver went for a ride in his stroller. The Gaylord Hotel at the National Harbor in Ft. Washington, MD is at the foot of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge connecting the 51st State (Northern Virginia) with Maryland. They provide a free Christmas show to locals and guests alike so we went and made an afternoon of it.

This is a sculpture called "The Awakening" which was previously in DC at the end of Haines Point. This is Rob's favorite sculpture and he has vowed when he becomes "governor" of the 51st State and declared eminent domain on 5510 Kings Park Drive so that it can be restored to its 1970s "grandeur" and serve as his "Governor's Mansion" that he's also going to purchase this sculpture to remind the citizens of the 51st State of their "awakening" enabling them to break free from the "political tyranny" of Richmond, our current and not so future capital! ;)

For those of you on Facebook? It's well documented that Rob has an extremely vivid imagination...

For those of you not on Facebook? Well...now you know too! ;)

This is the Christmas tree down at the waterfront. Note the tree topping star which bears an incredible likeness to Cal-El's conveyance which brought him here from his home planet, Krypton. (For those of you who have not yet received your "Rob Decoder Rings", feel free to google Cal-El and/or the planet Krypton...)

The latest edition to the storefronts at National Harbor...Yes, Earth there is now a PEEPS! store in the DC area! (They also sell Hot Tamales and Mike & Ike's...) This is a photo of the manager's company car...I think they likely call it a "PEEP-mobile"...;)

The newly renovated Woodrow Wilson Bridge with the George Washington Masonic Temple in the background. Rumor has it there is an animatronic statue of George Washington inside!

Sunset over the 51st State. Either that...or my recently declassified photos from my time on the Manhatten Project at Los Alamos accidentally found their way into the blog photo "can"...

This is the interior lobby of the Gaylord Hotel. And ignoring the decorations for a moment...Hello, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Ritz-Carlton, Omni-Shoreham and the Mandarin-Oriental? This...this is a REAL hotel lobby! Notice how there are 20 MORE chairs than there are butts to fill them...

The atrium of the Gaylord Hotel.

Jasmine caught in the act of reviewing a play on the sidelines of an NFL game...ok, not really just a feeding in the lobby of the hotel...either way? Rob saw the whole thing and Oliver clearly had BOTH FEET in bounds! :)

Anytime I see a fountain with colored lights and the spray is set to music, I am reminded of summers as a child, riding with my Aunt Janet in her awesome VW Westie Bus to see the fountain shows at Grand Haven, MI!

Oliver, Grammy Lou and Jasmine watching the Christmas show at the Gaylord Hotel.

Christmas tree made of light strings outside the Gaylord Hotel.

The One About Oliver's Week 2

Rob's Bed and Chair at the Hospital...quite comfy actually! :)

Rob and Oliver sleeping in the nursery chair. One of Rob's favorite pics with his son!

Papa (Jasmine's Dad) meeting his first grandchild for the first time. But then, you could tell that from the picture...;)

The family has landed! The family has landed! Let the overflowing love ensue!

Jasmine and Oliver...self-portrait! Well done, cara mia! :)

Papa with Oliver after too much coffee...;)

Grammy Lou, Aunt Jade, and Papa Fran with Oliver.

Jasmine and Oliver unloading from the car upon first arrival home...sorry, these are obviously NOT in order! :)

Jasmine and Oliver. I don't know how Grammy Lou captured this light, but this is Rob's favorite pic of Mother and Child. :)

Oliver was born at 1:51pm EST. This is a picture out of his room of his VERY FIRST sunrise.

First time in the car seat. He is his Father's Son and he is his Father's Father's Son. Oliver loves the car! :)

This was a director's cut of his birth announcement. But now through the miracle of technology? You get to see it anyway! And keep an eye on your mailboxes for the real one! :)

Father and Son...sacked out...AGAIN!?!?!?!?

This is one week's worth of the Diaper Genie...it seemed appropriate to celebrate...;)

Oliver in his Pack and Play...currently serving as his crib in our bedroom. I think the anti-roll device looks like booster packs...not that he needs them...did you see the Diaper Genie picture above?

Sleeping again...this time on Aunt Jade's lap! :)

"Lammie" was a gift from Aunt Jade. He has become a critical part of Oliver's feeding time. Rumor has it an even larger one is coming via the North Pole. And oddly enough, one of the toys from my childhood that my Father recently restored to me was a fox hand puppet. The puppet's name? Foxy...go figure...

His eyes are lightening...hopefully not too much more. I like the deep darkness of them. When he was born? He had no whites! Very intense!

This may be his first smile that I captured...and no GAS jokes...please! ;)

First bath at home!