Fun Times with Aunt Tarami!

Thanks for visiting us Tarami! We love you and miss you. You left us with lots of great memories...

Getting to know her newest niece.

Tarami made another incredible book for the girls. We will treasure it!

Enjoying Peach Daquiries at the Palisade Peach Festival

Flying a kite on the Grand Mesa

Aunt Tarami has the touch. She could always get Claire to sleep.

Reading to Avery and Elise at Main Street Bagels

A nighttime walk to calm a tired baby

Off to the pool...

At the farmer's market

Elise's first taste of cotton candy :)

Making homemade pizzas

Thanks again Aunt Tarami. Our girls are so blessed to have you in their lives. :)

4 Granddaughters

We just ended a wonderful 12-day visit with Toby's sister Tarami. It was sad to say goodbye, always harder when you don't have the next visit on the calendar. :( But we were blessed by her presence and enjoyed lots of great moments together. I'll post pictures soon.

In the meantime, I promised my mom a picture of her 4 granddaughters. We finally got a photo of all four! So here they are...

Avery (6), Claire (6 weeks), Elise (3), and Linnea (4)

Claire's first hike

Last night we took the girls on a hike on the Tabeguache trail near the Colorado National Monument (which is pictured in the background below). Toby carried Elise in a backpack and I carried Claire in the Sleepy Wrap. Elise also walked some of the trail once it leveled out a bit, although she was way more interested in playing with the soft sand on the trail. Claire did great as well, although she required a short dinner break at our mid-point stop. :)

Claire slept almost the entire time.

Sleepy Wrap is the perfect name for my new favorite kiddie carrier.

The first half mile or so was a steep climb up. Once we were near the top, Toby got Elise out the backpack and she was thrilled to hit the trail.

Beautiful sights in the distance: the Bookcliffs on the left and the Grand Mesa on the right.



I wouldn't normally pose for a breastfeeding shot, and I wasn't posing here. Toby took this picture without me knowing it, and I have to admit I think it's pretty sweet (and blog-appropriate). :)

While I was with Claire, Toby and Elise did some rock climbing.
Above: Elise celebrating a successful first climb. :) Below: What she climbed (with lots of daddy's help while I turned away and said prayers for her safety). :)

Claire is one month old!

I quietly celebrated my baby's one-month "birthday" today. And while I wish I had a new picture of Claire today to show everyone (I don't, Toby has the camera on his residency's men's retreat - bummer), I would like to tell about our newest daughter...

- She seems pretty big for her age, although I really don't know what she weighs right now. What I do know is that she's getting a pretty adorable double chin. :)

- Her sweet little head is so soft. I love it when she nestles into my neck when I'm holding her up on my shoulder. It's definitely her favorite position to be held.

- She's a good sleeper! Last night was pretty typical... she slept from 11pm to 4am and 4:30 to 8am! I think that's pretty amazing for a newborn. She also still sleeps most of her day away, especially in the afternoon.

- She usually has a fussy time sometime between 8pm and 11pm. Other than that, she really doesn't cry much, even at night. Instead I wake up to the sounds of her grunting. She grunts all the time!

- She has the sweetest little hands and feet. Today while she was nursing I held her tiny, bare foot in my hand. Made my heart melt it was so cute.

- She knows my voice. I love to watch her respond to my voice. Oh, so sweet... a mother's simple joy.

I'll get new pictures up soon. Here's one from a week ago...