Family Visits

We had a couple of fun family visits in the past week.

First we had taco night with Gramps & Jude, our old neighbors Barb and Debbie, my Aunt & Uncle Dick & Sandi, and cousins Chris, Amy, Nina Mae and baby Pearl. Pearl & Norah are only about two weeks apart. Stephan and Nina had a great time trying to recreate the opening ceremonies of the olympics with flowers and garden poles. They came pretty close, they were just missing a few other drummers...

For Labor Day, we went "up north" to see Granny & Jim and celebrate her 80th birthday! Stephan and Norah have FIVE great grandparents! My Aunt Barbara from Portland also came to visit. We enjoyed seeing all of Betty & Jim's paintings and prints in their home and on display at a local marketplace. We even brought home some of their beautiful art to hang in our new home. Norah was sick & I didn't manage to take one single picture!

One!

Yesterday afternoon we celebrated Norah's first birthday (which is tomorrow). Grandma & Grandpa were very gracious and let us host the grandparents at their house. (still no air here & it was hot, hot, hot)

It's looks like I took these first pictures all at once, but she was crawling around the floor most of the day. I actually didn't take many pictures (I forgot my batteries!) but I hope to get a few pictures from the other photographers.

Norah practicing her "One!"

Norah happily opened the first two presents, but then she was more interested in the paper and tissue...

Norah will be a fashionable little baby this fall. Everyone picked out such darling outfits in the greatest colors...dark plums, browns, green & pumpkin...definitely red head colors!

A little sax for your enjoyment...

This is a toy Grandma keeps at her house for Norah. She loves to dance to the music is makes.

We had fun picking out her cake. The bakery does such a great job! I always have a hard time deciding because all of the cakes are so cute.

(Below is Stephan's cake from last month.)

Mmmmmm....chocolate....

Let them be little...

Oh, just a few random pictures. None of them are particularly fantastic, but I find myself taking more pictures than usual. I am trying not to get too sentimental about the upcoming birthday....

Norah loves to "read" by herself. She takes all of her books off the shelf and looks at them one by one. She is drawn to the ones with real pictures or very realistic drawings. She is particularly fond of animal books, and when we ask, she can find the sheep & cow in her farm book.

Totally weird picture, I know! It's very much a "WHY are you taking my picture?!?" look, BUT they had their check ups on the same day & I was excited! Ten and One. Norah escaped her shots because she was not quite one yet, but Stephan took one for the team. (And he thought those days were over!) Stephan is in the 75th percentile for weight and 95th for height! I am pretty sure he will be as tall or taller than me next year. Norah is in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height. The doctor was very impressed with her body part identification and word recognition.

It's fun to see them grow and learn, but how does that song go..."Let them be little..."

they just grow too fast!

Let them be little,
'Cause they're only that way for a while.
Give 'em hope, give them praise,
Give them love every day.
Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,
Let 'em sleep in the middle,
Oh, but let them be little.

"hug, hug, snuggle bug"

Another weird picture, but Norah does this often. When she is crawling or walking along the couch or coffee table, she frequently stops and rests her cheek on the surface in front of her. It's very funny and sweet. One day I started saying "hug, hug, snuggle bug" when she stopped for a rest and she loved it.

Some people around here might say I frequently make up silly rhymes and songs, but I have no clue where they would get such an idea!! :)

This cracked us up all night. Norah used her hands and feet to hold her bottle.

One year ago today...

...Casey and I were talking about how much fun we had at Ben and Rachel's beautiful wedding the night before...
I was sure little Norah would come at any minute...
I started maternity leave the next day...
We had several "this could be it moments" in the week to follow...
But we would have to wait six more days to for our peanut to arrive...

The new crab crawl. (this just started today) When Norah crawls now, she does it on her feet & not her knees. She is half way to standing while she is on the move...

She also learned how to turn herself around to go down the stairs. I think she worked on this a lot at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It's a big relief because I know she won't go head first down the step between our kitchen eating area and the family room.

"It's my family, but ...

(this is actually from another year...no one wore their shirts this year)

It was time for the annual Young Family Cousin's Picnic! This year we held the picnic at our house. Almost 40 members of the Young family traveled from near & far to enjoy the gorgeous sunny day together. We had a FANTASTIC time with all of the aunts, uncles & cousins of all ages!

We took a wonderful group shot of the whole clan with the youngest (Norah) at nearly 1 and the oldest (Flo) at 92. I will add it as soon as someone emails it to me! :)

Little Norah did not want to miss the fun and decided to only nap for 20 minutes. Somehow she made it through the day. She really enjoyed meeting everyone and had a particularly good time with her cousins Grace & Alison.

Elise and Norah...she was eying a bottle of Wisconsin syrup (a wonderful treat from Gene and Christina), which is what she really wanted to chew on. She made do with the water bottle.

I did not get to take many pictures, but I did snap a few of the late night crew who stayed to roast marshmallows.

Helena enjoying a seat by the fire.

Stephan told me that Helena had the best marshmallows because she toasted them the color of a pancake. We'll have to ask her for tips next time.

Ethan and Stephan

Earlier the boys spent most of the day playing football with their cousins Brian, Erik, Patrick, Robbie, Taylor, Nick & Jack. Nick and Jack drove all the way from Ohio. And Robbie & Taylor--as always--do a great job letting the younger boys climb all over them!

Norah was still awake!

Brian, Erik, Ethan and Josh finding the perfect roasting spots

Pops & Liza after the festivities. They did SO much to bring the party together! I think we owe Liza a tank of gas and a lot of favors!

No party is complete without an adventure & Brad, Casey and Mark had one at the end of the night. Leslie and Jackie had a flat on the freeway on their way home. The guys raced off to change it. I tried not to listen to Casey tell me about the cars zooming by while he sat on the ground right next to the freeway...yikes!

Our beautiful flowers from Missy & Jackie

Around town...

Just a few pictures from around town while we were waiting for a table at one our favorite places to get lunch. It used to be a blacksmith shop. It's adorable inside and very accommodating of Norah.

A few quick pictures...

I have no fun stories...we have been overwhelmingly busy lately. But here are a few quick pictures & updates....

Bath time! Norah LOVES the bath & needs one often because she is one messy eater! We should buy stock in stain remover.

She has been saying mama in context for a while & finally started to say dada in the right context. It is very exciting for Casey! She has also started to call "mama" from her crib when she wakes up instead of just babbling.

This is Norah's favorite chair. In her room there is a chair with two dolls (they were both mine) and a very loved bunny that Norah received for Easter. Every time we go in her room, she crawls for the chair. She takes each doll & the bunny off her chair one by one. She touches each of their eyes, mouth and looks at their hands/paws. Then she kisses them before she plops them on the floor. When her chair is empty, she rests her head on it for a while & then climbs up to point at her flowers.

She is quite the pointer. She points at just about everything & says "mmmhmmm???" Especially light fixtures. Everywhere we go--someone's house or a store, she looks up right away to point at the light. Turning them on & off is even more fascinating!

Norah loves pillow tunnels!

Laughing at her brother...she finds him very funny!

We have been look at new child care options. When we visited one site, a little one year old girl crawled over to Stephan, crawled in his lap & hugged him tight. The teachers were surprised because she is usually shy of any strangers, even kids.

Norah is the look out when Lily goes out in the yard. If she thinks Lily is wandering away or taking too long, she taps on the window.