ethan turns 27!!!!

we celebrated ethan's 27th birthday on the 22nd. we began the day by discovering, to our delight, at her two month appointment that naomi has reached the grand old weight of 11lbs 5oz! for all those busy-bodies roaming the streets of minneapolis who keep telling me that naomi is "tiny", i'd like to say she is firmly in the 50th percentile for weight, height, growth etc. we can't believe she is already two months old! how time has flown. we really are getting used to being parents now, settling in. for certain, nothing is predictable but it helps to know she recognizes us and can react to us with smiles and laughs. she "talks" with us when we ask her questions. its a wonderful feeling! and she sleeps really well at night and can now be awake and alert for up to 2 hours, which she decided to show us last night when we planned to take ethan out for dessert after she had fallen asleep. instead, she embraced the excitement and kept her eyes firmly open. she sat in her car seat looking like a queen bee! we changed our plans and ethan picked out a yummy red velvet cake to commemorate his birthday. here are some pictures from the day.

ethan's candlelit birthday dinner

the queen bee herself

happy birthday papa!

kati & jose ~ july 19th, 2008

they're married!!! we spent the weekend in eau claire, wisconsin for the beautiful wedding of my dear friend kati. the wedding took place in kati's parent's gorgeous garden, surrounded by colorful flowers. though the festivities were delayed for an hour and a half due to a severe thunderstorm, we had a wonderful time and celebrated in style. the delicious dinner was catered by el maison, a fabulous restaurant here in minneapolis, where jose is the head chef. we don't have a lot of pictures as i was a bridesmaid and ethan was the videographer but here are a few snapshots of the beautiful evening we shared with kati and jose as they started their marriage. kati's parents, paul and margaret celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary the very next day, and i've included a picture of them, so very much in love 40 years later. may we all live up to their example.

bridesmaids! my good friend deanna and me (notice naomi sleeping in my arms!)

a view from the garden at the candlelit reception

feeling the romance?

happy 40th wedding anniversary to lovebirds paul and margaret!

happy father's day!

today we celebrated ethan as the best dad ever, at least thats what i think and i am fairly sure naomi will one day feel the same way :) thats one thing i knew about ethan long before we dated, he would make a great father and the almost month that naomi has been with us has only further convinced me of that fact. he's so gentle and loving, he is so willing to serve and always encouraging. he is strong in hard times and always ready to laugh. he's a wonderful father and a fabulous husband.

we spent the morning as we usually do on sunday, sleeping in and eating coffee cake at isles. it was a perfect sunny day, so we lingered outside for a while. i had dreamed up a scheme for a family picnic/grill-out to celebrate ethan's first father's day. so after church, we headed off to lake harriet and naomi and i made ourselves at home on the blanket as ethan fired up the grill. naomi really enjoyed the fresh air and wriggled about learning what these new sights and smells were. she even graced us with a smile that i managed to capture on camera, something that we seem to miss every time she does it. i was pretty proud of myself! ethan did a great job of mastering the grill, we had yummy chicken tonight. and ethan sure enjoyed the strawberry rhubarb pie i made for him. all in all it was a great family day.

playdate

naomi enjoyed her first playdate yesterday. our friends ryan & kayla korpi had a little girl about a month before us and this was the girls first chance to get to know each other. kayla and i placed naomi and allison next to each other on a blanket so they could discover one another. it was so fun to watch them wriggle around not quite aware that there was another baby there, and then to watch as allison looked inquisitively at naomi. i really enjoyed the mommy time with kayla. its so encouraging to have someone who is going through the same things as you are.

happy june birthdays & graduations!!!

on sunday there was a family gathering to honor ethan's cousin Jo's graduation and to celebrate the birthdays of both his uncle dick and grandma doris. it was fun to see everyone again and for them to meet naomi. she was quite a hit! here are some pics of her with the rellies and one of the birthday girl herself!

with great grandma doris

with grandma gini

with great aunt nancy

birthday girl!!

guess how much i weigh now????

we were absolutely delighted to discover at naomi's check-up on tuesday that she has reached the grand weight of 8lbs 4oz!!! so very exciting. ethan and i figured out that means she is gaining about an ounce and a half EVERY day!!! i guess we weren't imagining things when we said that she looks bigger every time we look at her as she wakes from slumber in the morning...

bathtime!!!

naomi had her first real bath today! milestone in the life of a newborn and also in the life of the new parents! its one of those things, like cutting baby fingernails, that you sort of put off for fear of it going badly. we shouldn't have worried, naomi was a natural. though she hiccoughed the whole way through, she seemed to take to water quite well, and looked around inquisitively trying to figure out what was going on.