Vivian Joy and Freesia Miles

Sisters!

2009-10-19T13:44:00.004-06:00

So now that Freesia is 6 weeks old I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of her. She is a happy, healthy little girl and we could'nt be more pleased with both her and Vivian.

Here's the sisters

Viv looking so cute and knowing it too.

Vivian loved standing a watching Freesia while she was in the bilibed. Freesia needed to stay in the bed for a couple days when she first got home from the hospital to help with her jaundice.

Freesia Miles

One of the first times Vivian held Freesia. She wasn't quite sure she liked it. Freesia is yawning not screaming, don't worry.

Vivian and Freesia "coloring together"

We had portraits done of the girls when Freesia was two weeks old. Here's a few of those shots. These are the unedited originals so you may notice some rough edges in them.

Maine!!!

2009-06-05T19:58:00.004-06:00

We took a trip to portland, ME in may. We were checking out the area to see if we would like to move out there. We loved it and have a goal set to move next summer. Here we are at the famous port head light house.

Uncle Nate, Aunt Rosemary, and cousin Guthrie were able to drive up from Mass to visit with us. Here's Vivian and Guthrie playing at the beach together. Both kiddos loved the sand and water.

Wheeeee!

A big smile from one cute little boy

Kristi is 6 months along in her pregnancy.

We visited Pineland Farms, a local dairy, where we met the cows and saw how cheese was made

Sure smelled bad but Vivian loved seeing the cows up close and personal

Here's the cousins swinging at a park in downtown portland. It was right on the water and just beautiful. Brothers and babies

Shopping at the Whole Foods in downtown Portland, where Jens hopes to find a job.

Vivian making goofy faces in the hot tub at our vacation house

A few long due pics

2009-06-05T16:17:00.004-06:00

We spent an afternoon at the local petting zoo. Here's Viv on a tractor just her size.

With the chickens

On a big full size antique tractor

pointing at the goats

Playing in her crabbie sandbox. She spends a lot of time here these days

Birthday balloons for her party.

1st birtday party at the Denver Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Teten, and Gamma LiLi. She had yummy blueberry cheese torte, but disapointingly did not make a mess of herself with it.

She loved walking in front of the windows all by herself and getting up close to the animals

She got to see two elephants getting a bath
The fam

2009-01-02T20:24:00.003-07:00

Okay so I only got one picture of this day but Viv and I drove down to Colorado Springs to visit because Joy and Noelle were in town. We got both the girls in the tub together that night and they had so much fun. Vivian playing the piano at Grandma Teten's

Our little snow bunny, sporting her new boots (which are way too huge this year), snow pants, jacket, mittens, and hat. I don't think she was cold at all. Except for her tounge maybe :)

Sage Bug

2009-01-02T20:10:00.002-07:00

Vivian's friend Sage has started coming over two days a week while her parents are working. She and Viv love copying each other, sharing toys, and chatting back and forth. Sage is crawling and standing on her own, I think she might teach Viv a thing or two in that department. Viv does walk at high speeds around the furniture now and lean forward from sitting to get on her belly to reach toys. We are still having to help her up from laying down or up to standing. Here's the girls reading some books together. I do have to keep a close eye on Sage as she loves to shred books with her four teeth.

Sometimes they end up eating a meal at the same time. Viv is so sweet she always trys to feed Sage some of her finger foods.

2009-01-02T20:03:00.002-07:00

Alright, the first birthay of any of the babies in Viv's play group. Elsa turned one and had a party. All the babies really enjoyed her new birthday present, a play center made for babies who still need support to stand. Here's Vivian and Oliver sharing it.
The birthday girl Elsa and her mother Elizabeth.

Look at how big all Viv's little friends are getting. L-R Claire, Oliver, Sage, Elsa, Vivian, Orion, and I can't remember the other girls name. It was the first and only time we've met her.

Thanksgiving and more

2008-12-02T20:59:00.004-07:00

We had a wonderful holiday weekend down in Monument, CO visiting with the Davis family. Jens did most of the cooking on thanksgiving but everyone else helped out here and there. Lindsy and Braden were married on Saturday so a lot of the extended relatives were in town. Vivian got to meet a lot of new people and overall she was very happy to do so. She was a little clingy to mommy and daddy but laughed and screeched to be around such a fun group. Nate and Rosemary made it out so she was able to spend some more time with Cousin Guthrie.

Ganny was so happy to spend some time with both her great grandchildren

Vivian made friends with two more dogs. Meg the golden retriever and a pomeranian/american eskimo named Ally

Bathtime in Gamma and Papa's ducky tub! One night both babies got in the big tub together and we snapped lots of pictures and took video so we can embarrass them later on in life :)In her christmas pjs with her best friend Gibblet

Fall Fun

2008-11-05T20:11:00.002-07:00

Viv watched us carve some pumpkins and really loved playing with the ewy gooy insides. She even ate pumpkin for the first time the same night.What a big girl helping rake the yard!And what fun sitting in a huge pile of leaves. She was thinking "wow my dada is a big strong man, with gorgous golden locks" Okay, so even though I agree Jens jokingly told me to write that.

Grandma Teten came and babysat Vivian for us on Halloween night. We were so pleased to be able to go on our second date since Viv was born. We saw Leftover Salmon down in denver and had so much fun dancing the night away and spending time just the two of us!

Quack Quack

2008-10-26T20:25:00.004-06:00

Happy Halloween! Vivian attended her first halloween party. We met up with our friends at a local farm pumpkin patch. All the babies dressed up and enjoyed some fall festivities together. Our little ducky dressed up as a ducky. Our little pumpkins!

L-R, Tate the teddy bear, Sage bug the bee, Orion the monkey, and Elsa the flower. You already know Vivian the duck.

They played in the corn kernel sand box and we only had to thwart a few tries at eating the corn.

Viv got buried up to the tummy
We ventured through the corn maze. Luckily Adam, Nick, and Dawn were navigating. The rest of us just followed along chatting.

L-R: Rachel and Sonya, Me and Viv, Kelly and Sage, Dreama and Tate, Dawn and Orion, Elizabeth and Elsa. The three dads that made it decided to opt out of the picture and be our camera men. Unfortunatly Jens had to work and missed out on the fun.

GO PRIDE MAYHEM!!!!!!

2008-10-26T19:57:00.003-06:00

Vivian attended her first live sporting event. And guess who was the star of the show. Yep, her aunt Amy. They won 3 - nothing thanks to her mad goal keeping skills.

Another great time with cousin Noey

2008-10-26T19:37:00.002-06:00

Hooray Aunt Joy and cousin Noelle came to visit agian. We spent most of saturday with them and then drove them to the airport on sunday. The girls really took notice of each other this time and spent quite a bit of time playing on the floor together surrounded by toys.

Grandpa was very entertaining and had both his granddaughters captivated.

Uncle Paul pulled out his drum so they could make music together.

Noey is so big she's loves to stand now.

After all that playing Viv had to take a nap on grandpa's shoulder.
A bright and early and delious breakfast

The Great Outdoors

2008-10-22T22:14:00.005-06:00

Viv's very first hike! It was a little cloudy but the fall colors were still amazing. We hiked up in the Red Feather Lake area. She had so much fun truckin' through the woods that she sang as we walked.

A bueatiful fall day at City Park. My first time in the swing!

We took a trip to the a local pumpkin farm. There were farm animals there. Viv giggled while watching the goats and sheep fight over who got to eat the pumpkin first. But screamed and cryed when we stood her up infront of a huge black pig.

Playing in a pile of leaves outside the library.

Another Round of Cute Pictures

2008-10-22T21:36:00.004-06:00

A day of learning how to take care of the earth at the sustainable living fair

Thanks Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Amy for my first set of wooden blocks!Why must mom and dad always make me wear these funny hats........sunglasses......and mullet wigs?

First Moehawk! and yes I do clean our shower regularly, the mildew is stained into the caulking. If we owned the house it would be replaced already :( My how Viv and Gibblet love each other. This is not an uncommon site in our house. Dada sure does make an afternoon in the yard complete.

Yum Yum!

2008-09-20T13:45:00.005-06:00

Viv started eating solid foods. Here is her first try of rice cereal. Daddy actually got to give the first bite since I've been feeding her regularly for 6 months. But halfway through I got to have a turn. She took really well to eating a semi-solid texture from a spoon.First vegetable was peas! We're moving on to pears on monday.
Now that she knows how to sit up that's all she wants to do. She was delighted to discover that she can have sitting play time everywhere she is, even in her crib.
She loved using this foot stool as a little table to bang her rock and shell on. Two of her souviners from Martha's Vineyard.

Sophie's party

2008-09-20T13:01:00.004-06:00

Okay so this was before our vacation but I still wanted to post these cute shots. Sophie (one of Jens' co-worker's baby) had her first b-day party. They had a pool out for the little ones to get in. Vivian had so much fun splashing with the older kids. Shopie is the one looking at the camera. Riley is in the polka dot suit and of course you know Vivian and I. You can't see her really but Garrett is sitting in front of Vivian sharing the rings. And if you can make her out Rosalynn is in the background drinking some water. Meadow just loved Vivian and played with her for quite awhile. She has a brand new sister so she is really into babies right now. She's 2.
Here's Sophie eating her cake.
Vivian was riding the blow up turtle and decided to taste him.

Martha's Vineyard

2008-09-18T14:01:00.006-06:00

We had a wonderful vacation visiting Uncle Nate, Aunt Rosemary, and cousin Guthrie. Vivian got to experience so many new things. She went on a plane, and a ferry boat. She saw the ocean, sand, crabs, lobsters, shells. She even got to shower in an outdoor shower. She loved her cousin, they really enjoyed looking, smiling, and talking to each other. She took very well to her new enviroment. She did need to sleep with us most of the night to be reassured that we were there. She also went through a little mommy seperation anxiety when we returned home. All and all though we are very proud of her. She also mastered sitting up by herself while out there. Now she always wants to be playing from a sitting position.

Playing in Guthrie's room

First look at the ocean and first time playing in the waves and sand.

First swim in the ocean.

Guthrie coming in close to snag her binky out of her mouth.

Viv even happily watched us shell the crabs freshly caught by the men.

She's not even scared of crabs and lobsters. Interesting sea creatures sure look like they are fun to play with.

On the fishing docks at Menemsha, where we bought the lobsters.

Brother's carring their babies for a walk on the beach.

All of us posing at the Mytoi Japanese style garden on Chappaquiddick.

What a fun trip!

We even had fun on the plane ride home.

New developments

2008-08-27T10:57:00.003-06:00

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted anything but here are some new exciting developments!

Vivian learned to roll over. She can get onto her belly and then actually enjoys her tummy time for a minute or so. Look at this big smile full of pride in her new skill.

Daddy is so proud. Vivian learned how to play the bass. Well, she still has the notes to learn but she figured out how to get it to make noise!

Okay, so not a new skill but we realized her hand-me down sunhat was part of an outfit.
We call this picture Zen baby. She looks so at peace in her peace shirt.
We went to New West Fest to enjoy all the goings on. Daddy carried her in the wrap for most of the afternoon. She loved watching all the people and kids running around having a blast. She was talking to everyone, even though they weren't stopping to talk to her. We watched Little Feat perform but since Viv was tired by that time she complianed every time the lead singer started singing. Guess she didn't enjoy her voice :(
Her friend John came over the other day while his mommy was working. Vivian loved watching him play with all her toys and roll all over the place. They spent a lot of time smiling at each other and grabbing at the other's face and hands.

Cousin Noey!

2008-08-14T13:44:00.007-06:00

We all went to Colorado Springs this weekend because Joy, Joe, and Noelle were in town visiting. Noey is now 3 months old and a lot more interactive than the last time we saw her. Vivian and Noelle both took turns watching each other as well as making a lot of eye contact. It was so neat to see the two cousins playing together.

Here they were watching their mommies and grandma preparing a meal.

They spent lots of time sharing toys on their play mats!

We even made them dress up like twins so we could take pictures.
Noey is the same height as Vivian even though she's two months younger. We all think she's going to be tall like her daddy.

Once it finally stopped raining and the sun peeked out we got out the pool and filled it with warm water. Here they are enjoying it together. Once Noey had had enough and got out Aunt Amy climbed in with Vivian to give Jens' back a break and let her enjoy the bath toys (Thanks Grandma for pulling those out).

We all had a blast ejoying everyone's company. The Davis family including Ganny, Lindsy, and Braden even came over for a few hours to meet Noelle and play with thier little Viv. While we were there Uncle Paul and Grandpa came home. Paul just finished an internship with Senator Wayne Allard out in our nations capital and Bill picked him up while out east during his travels. We are so glad we had this awesome time to share with family.

Cute Pictures

2008-08-04T22:33:00.002-06:00

So here's some cute shots of our little girl.

This was one morning when I woke up next to her and she just looked like a model the way she was laying there. I had to capture it.
Perfect little round gerber baby face :)

Here she is at 3 weeks and then 4 Months in the same position. Look how much she's grown!
Hanging out with her doggies

Playing in her johnny jumper. She hasn't quite got the hang of it yet.

Standing with support to show off her new outfit Splishin' and a splashin'
Daddy's happy little girl

New Fun

2008-08-04T22:18:00.004-06:00

Well Vivian now loves to nap on her play mat. She will play with her toys until she is too tired and passes out. When she wakes up she's right back at it. She has been rolling onto her side a lot more to play with toys not attached to her mat. We are having her do "tummy time" everyday to get her ready for crawling. She is starting to tolerate it for about 1 minute (which is a huge improvement). She is begining the stage of wanting to touch everything she sees. It's fun to see her so amazed with everyday objects as she discovers their texture and shape.

Here she is holding her monkeys banana while sleeping. It's the first time she's actually fallen asleep with an object in her hand.

BBQ

2008-07-30T13:28:00.003-06:00

We hosted a BBQ for Vivian's friends and their parents (okay our friends) Four of the families made it. Vivian recently had her vaccinations so she seemed a little overwhelmed to have her house busy with people. She still did enjoy herself some of the time. We all had a good time sharing good food and talking about our babies. The lighting was off in these shots so all the babies have scary eyes even once we touched up the red eye on the computer.

L-R: Oliver, Vivian, Elsa (who is 7 months old, we all met her downtown one day and she joined our group), and Orien

Water Baby

2008-07-21T19:05:00.004-06:00

We went swimming at City Park pool today.

Vivian really liked looking at the fountains and the other kids playing and splashing around.

She especially liked swimming with Dada, even standing and splashing in the baby pool.
The colorful playground and water jets made it very exciting. She even made motorboat sounds with Daddy as we zoomed around the pool, grinnin the whole time.
What a Joy to experience these new discoveries with her!

Thanks Aunt Joy

2008-07-19T14:00:00.003-06:00

Thanks Aunt Joy for the St. Louis baseball cap. Vivian's first ball cap, guess now we have to take her to a Rockies game to show it off. Maybe we can get some free stuff too :) Vivian waves HELLO to you and Noey!

Favorite Dog

2008-07-14T17:43:00.008-06:00

Vivian just loves Brutus. She enjoys watching and touching all the dogs but Brutus is her favorite. Everytime she sees him she'll stop whatever she's doing (even crying) and stare at him. When we play fetch with him she gets so excited when he is running back towards us. She will smile and start swinging her arms open and sometimes even call out in excitment. Here is a video that shows some of her excitment whenever she first sees him.

Brutus doesn't seem too aware of Vivian. He is more concerned about playing than adoring the baby. He does tolerate her petting him and likes to sniff her diaper. I have noticed though that when he first comes inside he will find Vivian and sniff her before he settles. I wonder if he is making sure she is still there and doing okay.

Papa Gregg and Gamma LiLi

2008-07-13T16:06:00.002-06:00

Papa Gregg and Gamma LiLi stayed with us this weekend. They had so much fun playing with Vivian Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning. We spent the day at Horsetooth Reservoir Saturday and Vivian got her first touch of sunburn. Her nose and cheeks were a little rosey, nothing serious. It was kinda chilly so no one got in past their feet except for Jens. Even Viv stuck her toes in (no crying but she sure did scowl at how cold it was). She took a nice nap under an umbrella and tree. Vivian really enjoyed watching the waves and just looking at the beauty all around her. Papa and Gamma babysat Vivian Saturday night so we could go see Sam Bush Band up at Mishawaka ampitheater. It was our first time out together without the baby. Thanks Gregg and Lisa for giving us all such a great weekend.

Ball

2008-07-04T09:40:00.003-06:00

Vivian has been playing with her first ball. She will roll it (by accident) across the table to Jens. When he rolls it back to her she gets so excited that her arms start flying about and she can hardly sit still. She will always reach out for it, but only catches it some of the time. Here's a picture of her holding her ball while sitting in her pod chair. She can't quite hold herself up in the chair yet, but will get there soon.

Giggling Girl

2008-06-29T12:11:00.003-06:00

Okay so this video didn't turn out the best lighting wise but crank up the sound. We captured Vivian's first giggling session. Jens was ducking from one side of my head to the other when he first got home from work the other day. She was so happy to see him and just thought this game was hilarious. She was laughing for quite a while before we got the camera out too. As you'll hear at the end she finally got so scared of this uncontrollable emotion she was having that she started to cry. We were teary eyed too, So much fun.

Noelle

2008-06-22T17:01:00.002-06:00

Cousin Noelle came to visit this weekend. She is almost two months younger than Vivian and it was so much fun to get them together. We are so happy that the Maschhoff family made to Colorado on this last minute trip. Noey is so adorable and Vivian loved looking at her and sitting next to her for their photo shoot.

Friends

2008-06-19T17:17:00.004-06:00

Jens came along today when we met up with the moms and babies from our birthing class, so he was able to get some cute shots of us. Vivian loves looking at the other babies and especially flirting with the boys (ha ha). Today she was so talkative she didn't let any of the other babies get a word in edgewise. It was funny to hear her chattering away to the other babies. Left to Right: Emily and Fiona, Dawn and Orien, Kelly and Sage, me and Vivian, Erin and Oliver.

Smiling at Oliver

Talking to Sage

Flirting with Orien, he loves holding her hand :)

Jira

2008-06-17T16:19:00.003-06:00

At first our new bird Jira was afraid of Vivian. Now she is interested in checking her out. Jira loves to have freedom of the house and will spend time exploring it. Today Vivian was on her play mat and Jira must have thought it looked like fun. She walked over and was picking around on the mat. She even picked at Viv's toes a few times. Vivian didn't even seem to notice, she was too busy playing. She has tried to touch Jira in the past but Jira always fended her off, which usually results in a dissapointed,pouting Vivian

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-16T12:14:00.002-06:00

Thanks to Uncle Dave for doing a photo shoot with Vivian so she could give these pictures to Daddy! We had a great day and rode our bikes downtown for the Taste of Fort Collins. Vivian enjoyed watching all the people and taking in the new sites, smells, and sounds. We got to see Shawn Colvin perform and Vivian fell asleep while dancing with Daddy.

Biking

2008-06-13T22:03:00.003-06:00

We finally got a bike trailer for Vivian. She is not quite strong enough to sit by herself yet so we have to put her in her carseat and strap that in. She was a little scared the first time she went in it and kept swinging her arms like she was falling. After a few minutes though she realized she was safe and just enjoyed checking out the bright yellow canopy overhead. In this picture I had taken her out for the first time (usually Jens pulls her) and for some reason decided to go pick up a 50lb bag of soil from the garden center. It was quite a feat getting back home but luckily we didn't have to go too far.

Sleepy Baby

2008-06-13T21:50:00.003-06:00

When Vivian is sleepy and we give her brown bear. She will rub him on her face and snuggle with him. She has played with her other blanky that she got from Grandma LiLi, and enjoys sucking on the leapord print silk part of it. Sorry no pics of that yet.

Here she is sleeping with Daddy one morning. She will come share our bed for her the last few hours of sleep on a lot of early mornings. She is always so happy to come into bed with us and will give us one huge smile before passing back out. We never sleep that well with her there though, becuase we are so aware of her and don't want to let the blanket creep up on her. It is a good bonding time for all of us.

Tetens

2008-06-10T17:31:00.005-06:00

Grandpa and Grandma Teten came to visit this weekend along with Aunt Amy. Uncle Dave and Aunt Pamela also came over to spend the evening with us. Everyone got time to hold Vivian and she was all smiles for them. She especially loves the faces Aunt Amy makes at her. We all went for a nice walk, grilled some yummy foods, and just enjoyed everyones company.

Thanks Uncle Dave for capturing all this great moments!!!

June 9th

2008-06-09T12:21:00.004-06:00

Vivian has been working really hard to learn how to reach out and grab her toy off the table. We've been practicing every day and her concentration is amazing. She has one good session where she repeativly got her toy and dropped it on the floor. Jens luckily was able to capture it on video!

June 3

2008-06-03T21:28:00.004-06:00

So Vivian is finally sleeping soundly in her nursery. We have been transitioning her from the bassinet beside our bed to her crib. She now goes down without a problem. I can lay her down awake and she will usually be asleep within 10 mins. She didn't even wake up when I took this picture. She has even been sleeping for 8 hours every once and a while!

We introduced her to her brown bear blankey today. She loves holding onto any fabric she gets her hands on and also loves stuffed animals. So here is a video of her first encounter with brown bear.

June 2, 2008

2008-06-02T10:23:00.007-06:00

We've tryed numerous times to get a cute picture of her with her puppy hat on. She starts to complain as soon as we put it on her. She does fine in other hats but just doesn't like the puppy one. Here's our best yet.

Vivian is growing and learning everyday. She is working hard on learning how to reach out for toys while she is sitting up. She has mastered grabbing them from a laying down position on her mat. She will spend tons of time everyday grabbing hold of her jingle monkey and pulling him until her motion activated musical star goes off. She is learning new noises and talks a lot now, especially to her dad. Here she is pulling her monkey until "whoops" she gets a little to excited.