Big Girl Beds

It seems like the last few months have been filled with milestones. One big one is that they moved from cribs to "big girl beds" (really, just their crib mattresses on the floor for now). Noemi started the trend of climbing out of her crib and Zora soon copied her so it was time to make the switch. There are been some ups and downs; some nights better than others. If they stay asleep, we count that as a victory, even if they don't stay "in" their beds:

Zora on the left, Noemi on the right (taken with our night-vision video monitor)

Happy Birthday, Katy

Happy birthday, Katy!

Thanks for your unending patience, cheery disposition, and ability to always keep things light and help me to keep it all in perspective.  Thanks for being such a wonderful mom, wife, and partner.

A Visit from Gram & Gramp

Mom and Dad came to town for 10 days and we all had a blast around the house, at the Tracy Aviary, the Children's Museum, the zoo, and celebrating two birthdays on one day.

a walk in the park

At the zoo

stroller races!

Looking at photos with Gramp on Dad's phone

Denver Weekend

In addition to visiting Evans family in Colorado, we also spent some time with a bunch of friends from college who have moved to Denver in the years since we graduated.  We saw Jacob, Althea, Henry and Rhaea, Ben, Jamie, Dylan, and Sadie; Mike, Diane and Hunter; Will, Lauren, Eleanor, and Patrick; Jules, Abbie, and Cece; and Jamie Hozack.

It was just like the old days. 

Except we all were more tired and more responsible.  

It was a great visit.  And, of course, too short.

With Sadie

Mike, Diane, and Hunter

In the bath with Hunter.  (I'm sure we could have fit a few more.)

Hoz, Lewi, & Stuff

Mike, Hunter, Noey, Katy, & Zozo

Mike, Hunter, Mike, Zora

with Will

The Last Free Flight - A Denver Trip in March

It's been a wild and crazy last couple of months.

The girls turned 2 at the end of March and we decided that we a) needed to take one last plane flight before we have to buy them their owns seats and b) we didn't want that plane flight to be very long.   

So we headed to Denver in mid-March to see Evans family and college friends.

First, Uncle Rick was gracious enough to put us up and the girls discovered that they had really been missing out on stairs.  We were worried that they would have a hard time with these stairs, but they loved them.

Then Mike's Aunt Loie, Uncle John, cousin Lynn and her husband Mark and their girls Zoe, and Spencer drove in for lunch on Saturday.  It was great seeing family and having some older second cousins once removed (?) to teach the girls the finer points of tossing socks down two flights of stairs.

With Uncle Rick 

Zoe and Spencer read to the girls, played on the stairs with them, and helped to put on their shoes.  Our girls were smitten!

"Birds!"

Today we popped into the aviary to see how the birds are enjoying spring. We saw ducks, owls, peacocks, and much more, including a very forward Canada goose who was just there for the free food. If you ask her, Zora will now tell you her favorite birds are ducks (although, frankly, we don't need our aviary membership to see those!).

Being silly at the aviary 

Noey was more interested in looking at her feet than the camera

We're Two!

Today, March 28, is the girls' birthday. Two years ago today they slid into the world at 12:06 and 12:08pm, weighing 4 lbs. 14 oz. and 5 lbs. 2 oz. respectively. What followed was almost two weeks living in the hospital while Zora built her strength to eat on her own. Those two weeks felt like an eternity and we couldn't have made it through without all the support from family and friends - food deliveries, visits, late-night skype calls, movie nights in a hospital room (Amelie with sub-titles is probably not the best choice as you're trying to figure out breastfeeding). But now we see that time as just a blip at the start of these wonderful two years watching Noemi and Zora grow and develop into the little people they already were on Day 1. Happy Birthday N & Z!

Noemi (L) and Zora - Week 1

Zora and Noemi - 1 year

Zora and Noemi - 2 years

Sorry this last photo is so blurry. I don't have a good one of them recently since they're always on the go (or trying to take the picture themselves).