Two Sweet Girls

New Fireplace

2011-02-18T13:22:00.001-08:00

Almost everything is finished with the fireplace. It has been a long month with many hiccups, but in the end, the wait was worth it.

From the moment I laid eyes on the old fireplace, I have been anxious to redo it. The style just screams 1996:

This is how we lived for over two weeks.

Once the old fireplace was removed, we needed to re-frame the existing opening. The framing took a few days and then the new fireplace was set to be installed a day later. Unfortunately, the installation company ordered the wrong ventilation kit and waiting for the correct parts set us back another week and a half. We ended up boarding off the opening to make it a little safer for the girls, but it was still really hazardous and we spent most of our time upstairs or playing in the living room.

Here's the new fireplace insert after it was installed with tiles

And....the finished product with framing:

Although we had some frustrations along the way, we are thrilled with how it turned out. I am getting anxious to hang my new mirror and accessorize the mantel area.

Neglected

2011-02-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Blog,

Can you believe that I haven't visited you in seven months...oops! I seem to have forgotten about you and I was pretty sure I had given up on you, until my mom asked about you the other week and then I felt embarassed because I haven't done you right. Since we've been broken up for a while, I don't want to make false promises, but I do know that I won't be such a negligent owner. Sigh.

I can't even begin to summarize the past seven months, but I will catch you up with a few highlights.

Claire turned four! Hard to believe our little baby is getting so big.

Claire is attending preschool three afternoons a week at SCSNA. She has 13 children in her class, eight are girls!

In October, we went on an amazing vacation to Maui with our friends, the Hoseas. The kids adored playing in the sand and riding their boogie boards. It was incredible!

Our annual pumpkin patch visit was a hit! Claire proved to be extremely picky when it came to finding the perfect pumpkin, but her persistence paid off in the end.

Halloween 2010- Pinkerella ballerina and Pinkerton cat

Grace turned one! We experienced a surprise snow storm on her birthday, but thankfully everyone made it home in time for the party!!

The day after Grace’s birthday, we headed down to Yreka to spend Thanksgiving with Dave’s family. The girls enjoyed spending time with their grandparents, Uncle Nate, Aunt Miriam, Uncle Jeff, and cousin, Mabel.

Claire's Christmas Program

Even though it was nap time, Grace was LOVING the performance!

Christmas was beyond exciting for Claire as she was finally old enough to "get it." Grace was primarily interested in eating all forms of gift wrap.

Dave's parents came up from California to celebrate Dave's birthday with us. Claire serenaded her daddy with a special rendition of 'Happy Birthday' accompanied by the ukulele.

We’re almost finished with our final remodel of our home. We removed the old fireplace and we can’t wait to show you the finished product. The change is blowing our socks off for sure!

Boston

2010-07-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

The day after Claire's school year ended for the summer, we boarded an airplane to Boston to visit Dave's sister, Miriam, her husband, Jeff, and their new baby, Mabel. The flight was long, but the girls did great! Claire watched plenty of shows on Dave's computer and Grace was content to sit on our laps, play with toys, and people watch. I wasn't sure if Grace would nap on the plane, and I should have known she wouldn't want to sleep in an unknown setting. All in all, she slept 40 minutes throughout the entire five hour flight- which means she didn't really nap the whole day.

When we arrived in Boston and got settled into our hotel, Dave's parents came to meet us for drinks and appetizers in the lobby. Poor Grace was so tired that her face was splotchy and her eyes were red!! She fell asleep in Grandpa's arms while we enjoyed our cocktails. This is unheard of for our little sweetheart, so we knew that she was exhausted.

We had a fabulous time in Boston and we are so glad that we went! We spent plenty of time with Dave's family, visited most of the Freedom Trail, and attended Mabel's baptism (which was the primary reason for our vacation). All in all, it was a great time, but we are thankful that we don't need to travel long distances with our children on a regular basis as it is not an easy feat!!

Here are some photos/highlights of our trip:

On the airplane

Waiting for our luggage

Do these two look alike or what?

There was a fantastic park across the street from our hotel- YAY!

Paul Revere's house

Inside the Old North Church

Daddy/uncle extraordinaire to three beautiful girls

Dave's family- too bad Dave isn't in the picture!

Claire rode the swan boats with her Grandma- something they had been talking about for months!

Sitting on one of the Make Way for Ducklings duck statues at the Boston Public Garden

Thank goodness I introduced bottles and a little formula to this girl- it made our day trips much easier

End of Year Preschool Celebrations

2010-06-03T22:03:00.001-07:00

Claire wrapped up her first year of preschool on June 10th- can you believe it? We can't! ! We were extremely impressed with her school, the teachers, and the curriculum and we look forward to her attending SCSNA next year for the fours class. She's growing up so quickly and changing into a little lady right before our eyes.

Class picnic at Ebright Park:

The party proved to be exhausting for Grace

SCSNA had an end of the year celebration chapel for all of the preschool and elementary classes on June 6th. I was unable to attend, but Dave took Claire and my parents were able to go and watch, too. The celebration looked adorable (luckily Dave took plenty of videos) and I will definitely go next year!

On the last day of school, parents were invited to come and have a little ice cream in the classroom to kick off summer vacation. Each child was given a memory book, similar to a scrap book, filled with photos and keepsakes from throughout the school year. It was such a kind gesture on the teachers' part to make a book for everyone and I know that Claire will treasure the book forver because she adored her teachers and her class.

Claire with her lovely teachers! They were incredible and we will miss them dearly!!

Back in the blogging saddle again!

2010-06-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

Boy, blogging is sort of like that nagging voice in the back of my head-as much as I would love to be a witty, up to the moment blogger, I've come to terms with the fact that I just don't have the time or the drive to do so. Truth be told, I am a "fair weather" blogger. There are many days when I think about writing something, but then I find myself caught up in the chaos of life and sitting at my computer is about the last thing that I have time for.

I am in the process of trying to simplify my life whether it be editing my belongings, cutting down on errands, spending less time cooking, etc . Basically, I am weeding out what's important, and leaving the rest behind, because what I crave more than anything is quality time with my children- not having them watch me scurry around to check my emails, clean, fold laundry and cook. Thankfully, both girls are napping at the same time in the afternoon and I do have a little "me" time every day to cook and or work out (yay!!). Boy, with that being said, you'd think we were living in a pit and eating take out every night for dinner, but surprisingly, even with all of the minimizing, my house is clean, we're eating really well (more to come on that in a future post) and the laundry isn't piling up!! Sorry to rant and vent, but thanks for listening!

Here's a short re-cap of life over the past 5 1/2 weeks. Grace is now 6 months old. She weighs 15 pounds 15 ounces and measures 27 inches in length (Claire was 15 pounds 10.5 ounces and 26.5 inches). She is growing like a weed and delights us every day with her toothless grin and extremely happy demeanor. She laughs at the silliest things we do and she adores examining and eating her toes at all hours. She's eating solids and has even tried a little freeze dried fruit and Gerber Puffs. Her favorite foods to date are sweet potatoes and carrots. She's a wee bit skeptical of super sweet foods, especially bananas and apples, but she is slowly warming up to the idea of eating them. As for tricks and milestones, she's rolling over and can sit for short periods of time without assistance. She loves her mommy, daddy and sister and is constantly wanting to be part of the activity- especially if it involves Claire. She takes two solid naps a day and bedtime is at 7 pm or there will be a meltdown. This baby is very ROUTINE. She craves a schedule and if we put her down too late for a nap, she struggles like crazy to fall asleep. I love the predictability, however I feel like we are married to our house these days. Here's what a typical day in our house looks like:

7:00 am- wake up, nurse

9:00 am- nap

10:30-11:00 am- wake up from nap, nurse

11:00 am-1:15 pm- run errands, play time and lunch

1:30 pm- nurse, nap

4:00 pm- wake up, nurse

4:00-6:00 pm- play and have dinner

6:15-6:45 pm- bath and wind down

6:45 pm- nurse

7:00 pm- bedtime

4:00 am- wake up once to nurse- this is definitely a habit, not a necessity, however, when we try to let her cry it out, we lose hours of sleep and I would rather feed her and go back to sleep than be awake. This will probably come back to haunt us later, but for now, we are okay with it.

As you can see, we are running a tight ship here these days and Miss Grace is the captain calling the shots. It's very different from Claire who would nap out and about and be okay with an occasional dinner out or at my parents' house. Oh no, not Grace! We have no time because she doesn't take naps at the store or in her stroller! Occasionally, she will fall asleep when we are running errands, but this is pretty unusual. It's pretty tough to stay on track, and we've been spending quite a bit of time at home as of late, but I know that her sleep is important and that it's just a phase.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to complain here. I adore my baby girl and she is about the sweetest little baby I could ever dream of. :)

Here are some photos of my sweethearts:

Claire's Mother's Day program at school

Grace after her bath- notice the drool dripping down her chin? She is a drooler!

Mother's Day 2010

First bites of rice cereal- we tried it twice and then moved on to the better stuff!

Claire pushing Grace in the new swing in our backyard

Six month "chair" photo

Claire's version of a highchair- never one to be left out

Hanging together in Grace's crib

Sisters shot...Claire would like to do this daily ;)

Parading around to Disney's Electrical Parade music

Feet!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2010-05-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

Dave took Claire to her very first Mariners game on Monday night. My dad has been a season ticket holder for as long as I can remember, and this year they offered him a suite for family and friends. Grace and I would've loved to join everyone, but it was best for us to stay home and allow her to go to bed at a decent hour.

Claire adored the festivites and I've been told that she consumed outrageous amounts of Kettle Corn. She didn't sit still (no surprise) and wanted to leave beginning around the second inning. For a kiddo who never wears out, she was exhausted when they got home!

5 months never looked so good!

2010-04-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Grace is already five months old-where does the time go? She's as sweet as always, constantly smiling and never in a bad mood! We are so very thankful for our little Gracie, or as Claire would say, "Grace heart."

Claire continues to amuse and challenge us- who'd have thought that our happy, complacent baby could be so opinionated?! My mom is right when she says that she is full of "Vim and Vigor." When I went to pick her up from preschool yesterday, her teacher pulled me aside to let me know that Claire had been sent to the office for a 'special' time out because she pulled the stool out from another little girl while she was standing on it. When I asked her why she did it, she said, "The teacher called me to wash my hands and I wanted to stand on the stool." Today when she was brushing her teeth, she proceeded to spit on the floor of the bathroom, which resulted in a time out with plenty of drama and tears. After things calmed down, I asked her why she spit on the floor and her response was pretty cheeky, "Because I wanted to see what you would do to me."-- I suppose she knows what she wants, and she won't stop until she has it. She keeps us on our toes for sure, but she has a heart of gold and is the best big sister we could ever hope for.

Monthly "chair" photo

I put Grace down beside Claire on the sofa when she was watching Little Bear- looks like they're both pretty interested!

Enjoying the beautiful Spring weather

Claire's special reading bed- she made this one night and sat for at least 30 minutes looking at books by herself

Trying to get a photo with both girls is pretty tricky

Grace adores bath time!

Week in Review

2010-04-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty low key week after our visit last week with Dave's mom, Grandma Nancy. It was so nice to have her here, especially while Dave was traveling! Unfortunately, both girls came down with colds during her visit and by the time Nancy left, she was coughing and sneezing, too. Even with her sniffly nose, Claire loved spending time with her Grandma, and I definitely enjoyed the extra set of hands.

Gracie and Grandma

The girls with Grandma

Sisters shot- Claire LOVES to pose with Grace

We had a great Easter Sunday! Once everyone was dressed and ready for church, we ventured downstairs as Claire cautiously searched for her Easter basket. She was a wee bit concerned that a mysterious bunny had somehow entered into our house, however, she was delighted by all that she received from the Easter Bunny- pink gardening tools, a floral kneeling pad for the garden, an owl kite, Hello Kitty DVD and more. It was so cute to watch her peek around different corners and doors in an attempt to find her basket. This was by far the first Easter where she actually understood what was going on and even though she enjoyed her basket (and Grace's), she was equally as excited to go to church and put a flower on the cross!

Checking out their loot- don't mind the icky background of cords and dog toys!

Surprisingly, this was the first Easter in many years where we were actually early for church (which is pretty hard with a three year old and four month old when church begins at 9:00)!! We even heard the opening hymn from the choir, which was a big bonus to say the least. After church, we headed to my parents' house for an egg hunt and some kite flying time with Daddy before company arrived. The kite was a big hit, especially since Easter was such a windy day. I don't think that Dave had flown a kite in years, but I'm pretty sure he had just as much fun as Claire.

Egg hunt

The owl kite

After a yummy dinner with our family friends, the Rosenows, Dave and Claire headed out for a little more kite flying, but that is when our real Easter drama began. Claire was wearing a plastic canteen around her neck and running like a wild woman in the grass (in rain boots nonetheless), when she fell face down pretty hard. She's usually pretty tough and quick to calm down, but we think the fall knocked the wind out of her because she cried and carried on for about an hour. After making many agonizing faces and screaming about pain, we decided it was best to have her checked out. So....Dave packed her up and off they went to urgent care at 5 pm. It turned out that she was okay, just some deep bruising on her chest, but it was a long day for sure. We left the house at 8:45 am and didn't return until after 8 pm. I was dying for a LARGE glass of wine!!

Taking a family photo was quite the ordeal- this was the best we could do

Grace posing with her mini basket

Life returned to normal on Monday and we've been pretty low key all week. Claire is on Spring Break, so we've had plenty of home time as well as a trip to visit my mom for a shopping excursion and lunch out (Dave even joined us for lunch). We've also been to the library for story time where we just so happened to run into Leah and Lachlan-yay! For all who know me well, you know that I LOVE schedules for my kiddos. It has been nice to have both of them on a solid nap and bedtime schedule once again. It's boring, but everyone is much happier with sleep!

Crashed after Claire's sports class

Happy girl!

Claire had to jump in for a photo op!

All things Claire

2010-04-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel as though Claire has taken a place on the back burner when it comes to blogging, so I decided to dedicate an entire post to Claire with photos to show all that she has been up to over the past few weeks.

At the dentist

Taking X-Rays

Checking the film--Houston, we have a cavity!!???!!!!!!!!! I love how she eats well and barely drinks juice, yet here she finds out that she has a "kissing cavity" between her molars. Her teeth are so close together that a cavity was able to form- hence the term kissing. Her teeth are kissing each other. Lovely.

Working on chopstick skills

Goofing off with Daddy on the Dora bike

The look on her face says it all! Complete adoration!

Always kissing sister

Claire convinced us to get her pool out, but we told her it wasn't for swimming. We turned around and she was taking her clothes off to get in. She declared it to officially be "pool season." Hmmm....

Messy hair and all, I LOVE this girl!

Shooting hoops at sports class

Waiting for her award-such a good participant. Not at all like her Mommy when she was little. ;)

Checking it out...when we got in the car, I asked Claire if we could put her award on the fridge. She said, "No, I would like to color it or throw it away." What?!

Story time with Daddy and Grace

Pajama Day at school- Claire got to bring the snacks, too. Her class watched the movie Cars and had pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. Lucky girl!

Gymnastics class at school. Parents were invited to attend and see what the kiddos have been up to. It was so cute to see Claire in action and Grace adored watching just as much as Grandma and Mommy did.

Ever so careful

Dying eggs with Grandma. It was amazing to watch Claire this year versus last year. She was so careful and interested as opposed to last Easter.

Grace is Four Months Old!

2010-03-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

Sweet little Grace turned four months old on the 22nd and we can hardly believe that she has been with us for one third of a year. Although she has only been alive for four short months, we feel as though she has been a part of our family forever. We adore having her in our lives and she enriches our family in many ways. We truly can't imagine life without her!

Four month stats:
13 lbs 14.5 ounces
25 1/4 inches

Surprisingly, Grace is pacing almost exactly with Claire's growth. Claire weighed 7 ounces more at birth, they were within 10 ounces at 2 months and Claire's 4 month weight was 14 lbs. 2 ounces and 25 1/4 inches, so if I could predict Grace's growth, my guess is long and lean, just like her big sister. Looks like we may have some future basketball players on our hands!

Claire had to get in the four month pictures, too!

Sometimes she makes me smile so much that my face hurts

2010-03-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

Grace is a precious baby (not that I'm biased or anything)! I find myself smiling at her almost all day long and there are times when my face hurts so much from all of the smiling. She is an unbelievably happy baby, very similar to her big sister Claire. There are no words for my love of my girls. They are my world.

After bath time

Crashed on daddy's legs

Checking out the mobile

Love this face!

A favorite snuggling position

Blue eyes!

Long lashes just like her sister

A definite thumb sucker

All smiles after nap

Chunky monkey

An early arrival of spring

2010-03-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

We've been experiencing beautiful weather in the Seattle area pretty much all winter long, which has been a pleasant and welcome change to say the least. This past
Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day with clear skies and temperatures hitting the low to mid 60's. Dave and Claire spent a good majority of the day trimming hedges, mowing the lawn, cutting back plants and beautifying our yard in every way possible(our attempt to keep up with the Joneses- most of whom have weekly gardeners).

While they were busy working, I bundled Gracie in the Moby Wrap and went around taking some photos of the beauties of spring in our backyard. I've been toying with my camera and am finally trying to demystify all that I can do to make my photos better and a wee bit more artistic. I still need to invest in a Photoshop program, such as Photoshop Elements, but thanks to my fabulous friend Leah, a trusty camera guide and numerous photography websites, I am beginning to make sense of it all.

Mowing with daddy

A much needed water break

Magnolia branches that we cut from the front

Ladies luncheon

2010-02-27T21:11:00.000-08:00

My forever friend, Megan, hosted a "meet baby Grace" party today with her mom, Priscilla, and sister, Sara. It was so great to get together, catch up and enjoy a delicious lunch complete with chicken & avocado sandwiches made with buttery puff pastry bread, peppery butternut squash & arugula salad, sweet potato oven fries and mango cheesecake with a scrumptious basil drizzle-are you hungry yet?!

Sara the chef!
Megan's daughter, Avery, is 4 1/2 months older than Grace and my hope is that the girls can be as good of friends as their mommies are. Considering that Megan and I met when I was three and she was four, Avery and Grace already have a few years on us!

I didn't get a shot of the girls together, but here is Avery with her beautiful mommy:

Leah and Megan:

Grace and mommy before the party:Thank you so much for such a lovely afternoon! I am incredibly fortunate to have such amazing friends. I am only sorry that Claudia, Tina and Marie couldn't be there to join us!

Family photos

2010-02-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

My friend, Rebecca, is an amazing photographer and we had the pleasure of working with her take our photos in mid-January, shortly before Grace turned eight weeks old. We are so pleased with the results and wanted to share the gallery with you:

http://www.tootsietoesphoto.com/Proofing/Krueger-0110/11273760_8Uzam#790934041_5zgvX

password: babygrace

Enjoy!!

Hello again, my friend

2010-02-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

Well, most embarrassingly, this post is almost exactly a month after my last post, which was a sad attempt to get back into my "blogging" routine. I have felt extreme guilt every time I sit in front of my computer and don't work on the blog, but as you can either relate or imagine, my life is nothing short of busy these days. Other than a random hour here or there in the evening, I literally have no time to write. It doesn't help that I admittedly have a horrible case of "mom guilt," and even though Grace is a content baby who would be fine to sit in her swing and watch me on the computer once in a while, I am 'not' okay with it.

I've frequently had stories that I've wanted to write about and share with you, but as the days passed, the list grew longer and my desire to try and catch up lost its luster. So, here is my promise henceforth - I will blog once a week and maybe more (gasp!) if there is time. I cannot catch up on the past two months without going into too much detail, so I will begin anew in the present.

Here are my thoughts from the past two months in a nutshell-

Life is good and we feel blessed to have such wonderful daughters. Grace is now three months old and delights us every day with her beautiful smiles and adorable coos. She is a very well behaved baby, rarely crying and just happy to be along for the ride. Claire is almost three and a half and she is amusing, kind, empathetic and ridiculously exhausting. We are constantly amazed at her absolute zest for life!

Dave has begun traveling for work again and we have survived many long nights at home without him. As painful as it is for him to be gone, we are beyond grateful that he has a job in an economy when many are suffering. It also makes me appreciate him all the more when he is home, because he is hands down, the most helpful daddy and husband in the world!

Grace was baptized on January 24, 2010 - a very cool date because it was the day after my brother's birthday. She wore the same baptismal gown that my mom, Claire and I all wore when we were baptized. Dave's dad performed the Baptism and it was a special family celebration.

Here she is snoozing at church shortly before:

There are many other tidbits that I could include, but I really need a little "me time" now. Lost is on and I actually have some time to sit and watch it. I do promise to be better at blogging and I will see you in a week or earlier!!

Bad Blogger

2010-01-25T22:15:00.000-08:00

I am constantly reminded that I haven't updated the blog for a month...seriously? A MONTH. I. AM. BAD. That's all there is to it. I will attempt to get on here in the next few days and upload some photos and share a few stories. In the meantime, however, please know that I am listening to the nagging voice in the back of my head telling me to get my act together and write something. Soon, I promise.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

2009-12-25T14:18:00.001-08:00

The family on Christmas Eve plus Hugo (my parents' dog) We couldn't get Claire to look at the camera!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2009-12-24T15:35:00.000-08:00

I will try to get a better photo of the tree tonight, but all of the presents are wrapped and believe it or not, only a handful are from us. We didn't even buy each other gifts this year, but who could ask for more than two beautiful children to love and a house to call home.

Dear Santa

2009-12-24T15:22:00.001-08:00

Here is Claire's letter to Santa (she dictated, without prompting and I wrote)--

Dear Santa,

I've been really good. Please come to my house. I love you. I would like a horn that toots, a drum, a candy cane and treats for my stocking. My sister, Gracie, wants a rubber duck, baby toys, new shoes and a book. I put my Christmas tree up. I left you some cookies, Santa Claus, on the coffee table. I laid some carrots under the holly berry bush for the reindeer. I left a slice of my favorite cheese in the fridge for Santa Mouse. Open the fridge so Santa Mouse can get inside and find his cheese.

Love,

Claire

Visiting Santa

2009-12-17T15:47:00.000-08:00

Dave and I took the girls to U Village today to see Santa and to have their pictures taken with the jolly old man in the big red suit. It has become a holiday tradition of ours to go to the same place each year and to round out the trip with a delicious lunch at Zao Noodle Bar.

Claire was quite hesitant at first (new this year, as she's had no qualms about Mr. Claus in the past) and needed some coaxing from Mom and a little bribery with a candy cane to go near him... Look closely and you will see that Grace is attempting to nibble good ol' Santa!

This was about as close as Claire would get, whereas Grace just sat there, blissfully unaware of what was going on

We LOVE Zao!

Gracie out to lunch...literally!

Cloudy with a Chance of Snow!

2009-12-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

Claire and I spotted some random snowflakes falling from the sky on Sunday evening, so of course we had to go outside and try to catch them in our mouths. The task proved to be much harder than it sounds, but at least Claire was able to feel the snow fall on her face.

As I watched my sweet girl, I was reminded how magical snow is for little children, and it was exciting to watch Claire run around the yard trying to contain her utter glee.

Here is what happened once she'd had enough with the snowflake catching -- she went to her play set, grabbed her toy lawnmower and exclaimed "It's the perfect day to mow the lawn," and thus proceeded to pretend to mow the grass. Gotta love the mind of a three year old!

Our Little Angel

2009-12-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

Claire had a Christmas program at her preschool on December 10th. Three classes performed together--all three and four year olds, with the girls dressed as angels and the boys as shepherds. Needless to say, it was beyond adorable and my heart swelled with love when I saw her up on that "big" stage!

Here are a couple of video clips from her show...

What's In a Name?

2009-12-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

I have been asked by many about how we came to decide on the name Grace Aryn for our little girl. After many months of going back and forth between names we liked, we chose Grace because it means 'blessing' or 'God's favor', and we feel as though Grace is just that, a blessing- a true gift from God.

As for her middle name, we decided to use a form of my late brother's name, Aaron. While we could have opted for the always popular form 'Erin,' it didn't seem to have relation to my brother's name. I searched the Internet for alternative, feminine ways in which to spell his name and found the spelling Aryn. What drew us to this name was that it used similar letters, except for omitting one 'a' and replacing the 'o' with a 'y.'

We are so pleased to have Grace carry on Aaron's name, and one day when she is old enough to understand, I will share with her how unbelievably special her uncle was to me. I truly feel as though the bond between siblings is irreplaceable and my wish for Grace is that she and Claire will be friends for life, sharing secrets and stories about their kooky parents for years to come.

Not a day goes by that I don't miss my brother and wish that he could be here to watch his little nieces grow-- but I know that the girls have a special someone watching them from above.

Aaron and I--1979

I love this photo--it was taken on a family trip to Norway in the summer of 1995, seven months before he died

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-04T02:30:00.000-08:00

I decided to decorate a gingerbread house with Claire as a special activity that the two of us could do together. It was quite the experience given the fact that Claire ate candy the entire time and there was nothing that I could do or say to make her stop stuffing her face full of gumdrops, icing and itty-bitty rainbow hued candy balls .

Initially, I was planning to make the houses out of graham crackers, homemade icing and a plethora of beautiful candy decorations, but after pricing everything out, knowing that I would be left with gobs of candy that would be calling out to me saying "eat me," and given the fact that Claire is only three and wouldn't appreciate the aesthetics of a lovely house, I decided to go for a pre-fab boxed kit instead. This ended up being a very good idea because my patience was running pretty thin by the time we finished the house (thank goodness I was able to drink a nice glass of wine while working on this project).

Next year, I will let someone else tackle the icing of the windows and roof...or maybe I will ice them before arranging the house as it was impossible to get the icing piped at peculiar angles. I have decided that four is probably a more appropriate age for tackling this wonderful holiday tradition, but next year, a one year old will be thrown into the mix, which could get very interesting!

The beginning of the end for me...mental note, ice the windows FIRST!

The finished product- very obvious that we are not professional gingerbread house decorators!! Also, any hints for getting Claire to open her eyes for photos? She closes them every time as she thinks it is part of smiling. Christmas card photos are going to be a nightmare this year!

Meanwhile, over in 'Graceland,' visions of decorating gingerbread houses next year were dancing in her head...

Late November and Early December Happenings

2009-12-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

We've had a lot going on since Grace's arrival, including Thanksgiving, Christmas preparations and visitors. Here are some photos showing what we've been up to...

Thanksgiving Day:

Grace had to go on the light table for her jaundice...:(

Thanksgiving dinner was delivered to us, compliments of my wonderful parents and grandma!

Claire dressed up in her Indian costume that she made at preschool

Dave relaxing with some wine and football watching

Our family, sitting around Grace who had to stay on the light table

Post Thanksgiving:

Claire baked dozens of cookies with her Great Grandma Elizabeth

C decorated her mini tree

Grace slept through pretty much everything

Our first visit to dinner at my parents' house

Claire loving her baby sister

The girls

The girls with a very tired mom

Family time

A very sleepy baby...we hardly see the whites of her eyes these days

One Week Out of the Womb

2009-11-29T14:24:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little Grace arrived Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 1:19 am weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces and measuring 18 inches in length.

Grace decided to make her grand entrance one that we would never forget! Aside from coming 20 days early, she decided to come into the world like a cannon...literally!

On Friday, November 20th, I went to bed feeling exhausted, although much to my dismay, I barely slept a wink. Saturday, I was up early and ready to tackle the days' activities. We went to Costco and stocked up on all sorts of meals that we could stick in the freezer for "after baby." We bought a Christmas tree that I had been eyeing for two months- yes, we decided to go artificial after spending well over $100 each year for our tree and then paying the boy scouts another $15 to haul it away. I rested during Claire's nap, resisting the urge to sleep so that I could sleep better that night. After Claire's nap, we went to Home Depot to get a snow globe for Claire and bought a mirror for our new bathroom at Bed, Bath and Beyond. The days' events were ended with a pizza dinner, games and music. Dave and I joked during dinner that maybe the baby was going to come on her due date and not be early like her sister, Claire, who entered the world 19 days early. I did mention to him that I felt as though the baby was pretty low and maybe we would see her in the next week or so. Claire went to bed and I started to do silly things, like put pictures in photo albums and write a few missing items in Claire's baby book- late, definitely, but thoughtful nevertheless!

Dave went to bed around 10:30 and I decided to follow suit at 11:00. I had just drifted off to la la land when I felt a little trickle of water around 11:30. Mind you, this was nothing like when my water broke with Claire, so I assessed the situation and decided it couldn't be my water breaking, so I chalked it up to the possibility that I was leaking fluid, but that it wasn't serious. I laid back down in bed, wishing that I could go to sleep and not wanting to wake Dave for the fear that it was a false alarm. About thirty minutes later, I felt another trickle, so I checked again, but this time I noticed light bleeding, too. I contemplated for a few seconds before waking David to tell him we better call Labor and Delivery and ask them what to do. Dave was pretty calm about the whole situation, going downstairs to find their number and still a bit groggy from being woken out of a deep sleep. When the nurse answered the phone, I told her that I thought I was leaking fluid or that my water could have possibly broken and that I was bleeding a little. She asked if I was having contractions, which I wasn't, and told me to come in just to be safe, but that we didn't need to rush as it didn't seem too likely that I was in labor. I immediately hung up the phone and called my mom to ask her to come and stay at the house with Claire while we went to the hospital. I told her not to hurry, just as the nurse had said to me. After getting off the phone, I started to get dressed and Dave loaded our bags in the car. My first contraction was at 12:15, and it wasn't too painful, but then they kept coming closer together and stronger than anything I had ever felt when in labor with Claire. At this point, Dave was getting nervous and he called my mom to see when she would be here as we both sensed that things were becoming urgent. At 12:48 my mom pulled into our driveway and we ran out to get into our car. My mom wanted to take a picture of us on our way, so we quickly posed before hopping in the car. The rain was so heavy and the winds so strong that the windshield wipers were on full blast and Dave was averaging 80 mph most of the way. Once we got onto I-405, I told Dave to pull over because the baby was coming, but he kept telling me to hold on because we were close- thank goodness he was right!

We made it to the hospital shortly after 1:00 am when Dave pulled up to the ER entrance because the garage was too far away. I was rushed off in a wheelchair by a nurse and Dave ran out to move the car to a parking space (little did I know that a police officer was waiting to reprimand him for running a red light near the hospital, tying him up for an extra minute or two with a lecture about being a responsible driver). It was at this point that I knew the baby was ready to be delivered and I was scared out of my mind because Dave wasn't with me. I tried my hardest not to scream as we were racing through the back halls of the hospital, but I was literally doubled over in pain. The nurse kept telling me to hold on and not push. After five minutes of racing around, we (the nurse and I) made it to L&D. I was immediately whisked into the closest room where the nurses were scurrying around and Dave still wasn't there. One of the nurses checked me and said I was ready to push. Dave came rushing into the room just in time for the birth...I pushed twice and Grace was born. There was no time for an epidural or to think about what was happening as the time that I was in the birthing room from arrival to birth was nine minutes. Dave left the camera in the car, which was a bummer, but thankfully I was able to hold Grace right away, which wasn't the case with Claire. I held her, in total disbelief of what had just happened and absolutely in awe of the newest member of our family. True love is the best way to describe my feelings for Grace.

In hindsight, the way in which Grace decided to enter the world was a blessing to us, as we had spent five and a half months worried about her growth and potential delivery problems. We had no time to worry about anything- it happened too fast!

We are absolutely head over heels in love with our new little girl. What surprised us the most about Grace was how our hearts could love her just as much as we love her big sister, Claire.

Welcome, Grace Aryn, we are so happy to finally meet you!

Heading to the hospital...in a ton of pain, but still putting on a good game face

Getting cleaned up

Snuggling with Daddy

Claire meeting Grace for the first time

Claire's big sister shirt!

Our family of four