Joyce's First Day at School

Joyce and I went back to school yesterday. Well, I went back and Joyce went for her first time ever. She was really popular. The graduate secretary held her for almost an hour while recounting her own daughters birth stories from twenty years back. Another one of the department support staff gave me a nursing pillow to keep in my office for Joyce. Any of my fellow classmates who saw her really liked her - one thought she might end up being very verbally precocious because of all of her exposure to graduate classes. We did have to leave once or twice because Joyce got a little fussy but all in all she did a great job and I was really proud of her because it was a long day full of new things.
In other firsts, Joyce also weighed in at a hefty 6 pounds 12 ounces packing on 1/5 of her body weight in two weeks. I'm just posting a few more pictures here of Joyce. One of the most recent bath we gave her where we created a luxurious reclining chair out of a towel in the kitchen sink. She kept sticking her feet up on top of the sink as she relaxed and enjoyed her bath. I'll also post just a few others of the little lady.

More Joyce

I recognize that not everyone may be as interested in our daughter as we are, but I thought on the off-chance that you might, I'd post some more pictures. Things at our house are getting more "normal" - if you call getting used to not that much sleep and a steady schedule of breastfeeding "normal." John took a job at the high school here as a Biology teacher for the rest of the semester and so Joyce and I stay home and breastfeed and listen to This American Life on the radio. I am posting a few pictures of the lovely lady. One of her in the bathtub - she loves baths. She sits there like a little empress and blinks up at us. Another picture of her in one of the outfits mom and Rebekah sent - clothes that actually fit her. And just a few more pictures of her. We are still trying to post some of the videos Dad took of her. But John's asleep and I don't know how.

A Perfect Day Snowshoeing in the Mountain

Today we celebrated President’s Day and so I did not have to go to work. The sky was perfectly blue without a cloud to be seen. It was a perfect winter day for Seattle or any place for that matter. Rosie and I decided we would go snowshoeing up by Crystal Mountain. We couldn’t talk any of the children into going with us and did they ever miss out. It was one of my best days ever in the mountains in the winter months. We started just below Crystal and rather quickly climbed into some steep terrain, mostly hugging the tree line as there is still some avalanche danger. The snow on the way up was a bit hard and icy but when we got higher and the sun hit the snow and melted it a little it became soft and better for snow shoeing.

As we climbed the views became marvelous with Mount Rainier and Mount Adams the two biggest treats. We climbed about 3,000 feet and were on the mountain about four hours in total and only saw three other people – one backcountry snowboarder and a couple that was skiing. It was as if we had the whole mountain to our selves. The temperature was in the mid forties and all I needed was a long sleeve tee shirt because we were working hard as we climbed. Portions of our trek were extremely steep – almost scary steep (Note the photo above with Rosie climbing the steep ridge). We were tempted to turn around but kept going and were rewarded with some truly magnificent views and a wonderful sense of accomplishment. It is impressive that a mother of eight who is fifty years old could make a climb like that. However, in the spirit of full disclosure I must say that we both are a bit sore this evening. (Click on the pictures to make them larger and get a full appreciation for the scenery)

Joyce--two weeks closer to her due date.

Joyce is keeping us entertained (as you can tell listening to this video and hear our high voice cooing). It really doesn't take much for us to think she's an amazing superstar. I'm convinced she's advanced at anything...from this smile at less than one week to being born four weeks early! Booyah. Below are a couple other firsts. Meeting her closest cousin-friend Decker Baum (he's only 2 months old, but HUGE compared to our little one, well, no...he's just HUGE). Another picture is just after Joyce's first bath. She loved it. Another of Joyce bundled and in her car seat ready for her first outing. Our friends, Spencer and Amberly Baum not only geared us up physically with warm clothes for Joyce, but also emotionally by going out with us for some pizza. It was quite the sight of our two families now taking up a huge booth with three little ones-two in carseats. Finally, Joyce's first sunbath.

Additional Photos of Joyce

Joyce Photos

This morning I flew into Indianapolis on a red eye and Rosie picked me up -- She has been here since Sunday -- and we drove right to Julie and John's house so I could hold our granddaughter, Joyce. She is beautiful. As I took her in my arms I was taken back almost 29 years when Julie was born. Joyce looks just like Julie did as you can see from these photos.