So we finally got back and settled from spending the holidays out in Colorado. We had such a crazy year, we thought it would be good to do a little recap.

1/4 Positive pregnancy test - What a way to start off the year! We had been trying for a couple months, but this was still a big surprise for us! We were just through the roof with excitement! Shondi couldn't stop giggling for days!

1/8 Confirmed pregnancy at doctor - It was exciting to see the little blob of cells, even though Shondi wasn't far along at all. The due date was determined to be September 14th and we knew we were in for a wonderful, crazy ride!

4/1 - 5/1 Colorado - We wanted to get away to Colorado for a nice long trip to see groundbreaking on our house (which didn't happen), and to say bye to Josh before he left for the Peace Corps and we wouldn't see him for a couple years. Josh's birthday was 4/20 so we surprised him with a ton of his friends from Crown Point flying in to celebrate. It was such a wonderful month! We also remodeled the baby's bathroom - what a spoiled brat she was already!!





5/21-5/25 Jake in UK to pick out European distributor for Threadless - Biggest move since starting the company. While he was gone, Shondi got the baby's room painted in pale orange and yellow stripes.

5/28 Josh leaves for Guyana, where he will spend the next 2 years changing the world. We miss him and are so proud of him!



7/26 Break ground on the house - FINALLY! YAY! We were actually there to see it too!!!! This was the very last time Shondi could travel while pregnant and we were so stoked to be able to see the bulldozer going at it!



9/8 Ryan and Marcia's wedding - Jake was a groomsmen. Fun times! Ryan is Jake's friend from the good ol' days in CP, and we're very happy he married such a cool chick :)



9/14 Shondi's due date - Came and went with no baby and Shondi left feeling very miserable indeed. We also had the First Threadless Store Grand Opening! It was a huge success. There was a great turn out at the store - people even flew in from other countries! Shondi even made it out! Then Hey Mercedes reunited for a show at the Metro to end the event.



9/15 Bridget and Shoe's wedding - Jake was Best Man and Shondi was Matron of Honor. It was awesome! We're sooo happy Arli held out so that we could go to our bestest friends' wedding :) They were both so happy and the wedding was so beautiful, it still makes us smile thinking about it! It's a miracle Shondi made it, being the day after the due date and all.



9/19 At approximately 4:30pm, Shondi started having contractions. Serious contractions. Within a a couple hours they were over a minute long, and less than 5 minutes apart, but Arli was in no hurry to come out.



9/21 Arli was born! After 43 hours of labor and a c-section. She was/is the most beautiful baby girl ever!!! Very healthy and very happy!



9/26 Arli gets her Pavlik Harness on - She was born with Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip, which means her hip was able to be popped out of its socket. DDH is a very serious problem if discovered too late, meaning just a few months after birth. It could involve the child not being able to walk. Thankfully, it was discovered in her right away and we sought treatment as soon as we were out of the hospital. She had to wear this harness made out of cloth and velcro for about 12 weeks. It never bothered her, but it definitely bothered us. It was very hard to see her in it, and we did lots of crying. But since we caught it so early, we knew things would be okay and it would only be a nuisance for a few weeks.

10/20 Arli's welcoming party - We had some family and friends over for a meet and greet with Arli. She was such a little entertainer, everyone had fun! It was even more special because Paul flew in to meet his new niece. The only person missing was Josh. Hard to believe she'll be 2 years old by the time he meets her....



11/7 Copper condo finished - yay! Brian and Megan did a great job designing it for us, we seriously couldn't be happier with how it turned out. We can't wait to share this place with all our family and friends! We know we'll have tons of good memories to come! Also, the foundation for the house was poured - yay yay!



11/9 Jake and his business partner go their separate ways - This was a long time coming and the best thing that could have came from the situation in the end. Things had not been good between the two of them for a while, and it's nice now not having the stress of that struggling relationship and the drama that came along with it. Jake is now free to run the company without hindrance and nothing is bringing him down!

12/15 Arli's harness off for good! She got the clean bill of health in November, and we started weaning her from it over a period of 6 weeks. It was really nice to be completely free from it! We will continue to go to her orthopaedic surgeon for checkups until she's about 15 years old, but there's little chance that she would have any more problems.



12/16 - mid Jan 08 Colorado for the holidays - Shondi's parents and brother flew out for Christmas for about a week. It was a great first Christmas for Miss Arls and it was a great Christmas with Paul. Shondi cooked a couple superb dinners for everyone and the guys shredded some awesome gnar. We got snowed in a few times, and unfortunately our New Year's plans got shot when Jen and Jeffrey couldn't make it up the mountain because the highway got shut down due to hurricane-like winds. Jake's parents came in shortly after the New Year, but unfortunately had to leave early due to Kent's altitude sickness. Also out on this trip we saw the steel work on our house started, despite some serious weather set backs. We also picked out some rocks to use inside, and worked with our landscape architect on some key areas to focus on outside. This house is going to rock!!





Some concerts we went to: Justin Timberlake, Korn, Against Me (Jake went to the last 2 without Shondi)
Trips we went on: Vegas, many to Colorado, Jake to UK, SF, NYC, CO