Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it's already time to think about Christmas! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my parents and Aleks' dad. In the week surrounding Thanksgiving, Pullman had a record snow storm. We saw about 2 feet of snow.

We were so grateful to my dad who shoveled the driveway and sidewalk several times for us. Aleks and I now know that if we buy a house in the future, it shouldn't be a corner lot. A corner lot in the winter= double the sidewalk to shovel!

Aleks BBQ'd the turkey this year. It was an organic, grass fed bird from a local farmer in the Palouse. Aleks brined it 2 nights before, then on Thanksgiving Eve covered it in herb butter and put it in the fridge to dry the skin out. It ended up being very juicy on the inside and had very crisp skin. It was a 25 pound turkey, so we just finished eating the last of the meat.

Here's the chef with my mom, who made the pies! Yummy!

Ruby got to spend the holiday being held by her Gramps and Papa. What a huge help to me, since I have get to hold her all the time!

And of course, here's Maia on Thanksgiving. That week she also spent some time in her tutu.

Ruby is 2 months old & an update on Maia's head

Ruby is now 2 months old! It's hard to believe. We had a great doctor's visit and Ruby handled her shots like a champ.

She weighs 9.4 pounds and measures 22 inches.

Just for comparison, Maia weighed 11 pounds 7 ounces and was 24.75 inches tall at two months.

It appears that Ruby is going to be a little peanut! We'll see, she does have some large feet to grow into.

We've been getting more and more smiles from Ruby. She was pretty gassy and so our doctor recommended that she take probiotics. We've been giving them to her and it seems to help.

The big sister is doing well also. Here's an updated picture of her forehead. Our doctor said that with head traumas like this, the tissue get displaced and so it takes awhile for the dent to fill in.

Yesterday is snowed between 3 and 4 inches. It's mostly melted now, but Maia is ready for winter!

Halloween

We had a low key Halloween this year. Our mommy group friends came over for a pictures. We went to a Halloween party, then came home and had Maia in bed by 7:00.

Here is the motley crew!

We have:

The Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, Alice, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Goth Boy

Ruby and her friend Sage

Maia and her friend Alden hugging. Us parents will be talking, then glance over and these two will be hugging or kissing. We have to keep our eyes on them!

Ruby as Tweedle Dum

Maia as Alice in Wonderland

Maia

So this weekend the entire family took a trip to the E.R. because Maia got a bad cut on her forehead. She was running around after her bath, tripped, and went head first into the corner of a toy chest we have. We immediately went to the hospital and thankfully there was only 1 other person there. The cut was pretty deep, but it was clean so they were able to glue it together instead of using stitches. Maia was a trouper through it all. It was pretty traumatic for mom and dad, but she seems to have already forgotten. (She's going to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland for Halloween, so this cut is going to add a spooky touch to her costume...)

We kept a bandaid on it all day yesterday.

Here's what the cut looked like today.

Red Barn Pumpkin Patch 2010

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Red Barn Pumpkin Patch. My friend Chelsea said that this is our first "repeat" activity with our oldest children. We have a second annual event people! Halloween is next..

Chelsea and me with our new babies, Sage and Ruby

Sage

Owen

It was a fun afternoon!

One month old & other happenings

Ruby Ann is 1 month old today! It's amazing how quickly the time has gone. By our unprofessional measurements, she's about 8 pounds and 22 or so inches long.

It's hard to take good pictures of babies!

Aleks turned 30 on Oct. 3! I got him a chef's jacket for his birthday. He decided that he wanted to cook meat to celebrate. I'll let you ask him about his methods and menu. It was a fun day for him and a good day of eating for me!

(I think he's holding a lamb shank here)

Ruby finally got her first bath at home at 3 weeks old. It went as expected: it lasted about 3 minutes and Ruby cried because she was cold. (Now that I think about it, I should give her another bath today...)

I pulled out a step ladder for Maia to play on while I was nursing Ruby. I was looking for a distraction during the first days after bringing the baby home. Little did I know what an important part of our lives this ladder would become. She's been known to go to sleep and wake up from naps asking about the ladder. I've stationed it in the kitchen so that she can climb up and down it to eat and be with me in the kitchen. She's only fallen off a handful of times.

This is the new face that Maia makes while I take her picture. She's discovered the other end of the camera and likes to see herself after the picture is taken.

(In this photo she's wearing a sweater that Aleks' mom crocheted for him when he was a baby.)

Maia likes to finger paint. Enough said.

2 Weeks Old

Ruby is about 2 weeks old now! It's been a nice 2 weeks with its ups and downs, but it's mostly been wonderful. Ruby is still a sweet, sweet baby. She really only cries when she has gas or is hungry. She's spending more time awake with her eyes open watching everything that is going on.

Here she is on a gorgeous quilt that Emily's Aunt Gretchen made

Maia's been adjusting pretty well. She definitely loves her sister, and gives her kisses and hugs all the time. She likes to say hello to Ruby and watch Ruby having her diaper changed. Maia has been acting out a bit; I think it's a combination of being almost 18 months, breaking 4 eye teeth, and realizing that Ruby is here to stay. Aleks and I know that right now things aren't very fun, but in about a year, it's going to be so amazing to see these two little girls play together.

Here's Maia in a hat and sweater that Aunt Gretchen crocheted. So cute!

And here are the two girls in matching outfits that Grandma and Grandpa Kyhn bought for them. Maia calls Grandma "Baba" and Grandpa "Poppy".

Maia meets Ruby

Here's a little video of Maia meeting Ruby for the first time in the hospital.

Ruby Ann

Ruby Ann Sternfeld-Dunn is here!

She was born Sept. 9, 2010 at 10:26 am.

Weight: 7 pounds 4 ounces

Length: 19 1/3 inches

Ruby has wonderfully big feet with long toes and beautiful, long, slender fingers. We are looking forward to introducing her to the piano and organ.

We've been home about 5 days now and are adjusting to our new four-some. Aleks' parents were here for the days surrounding the birth, and Emily's parents arrived just after the birth. Tomorrow marks the start of doing it without any help!

The good news is, Maia loves her sister and is generally a great help.

Ruby sleeps really well, eats well, and has the sweetest temperament of any newborn I know. She truly is a blessing to us.

Here I am the night before Ruby was born.

Once I can figure it out and am not so sleepy, I'll post a video of Maia meeting Ruby for the first time in the hospital, it's pretty cute!