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!

Playground fun

With the new baby coming in only 10 days, I've started to feel panicked that I haven't been taking enough pictures of Maia. So, I've been taking the camera with me when we go to the park.

This is my absolute favorite picture. She's so gorgeous and dirty and perfect all at once!

We got some new shoes, which Maia has been adjusting to pretty quickly. They're helping her climb up and down the playground stairs really well. However, they slow her down on the slide.

After going down the slide 20 times, her hair usually looks like this.

Blackmail

Here's a little video that I'm going to keep and use as blackmail when Maia is a teenager!

And a cute picture I took the other day while we were at work.