Sunday, January 1, 2012

Christmas in the Rockies

Grandma and Opa Hanou were struggling with what to buy their adult children for Christmas this year.  At our age, if we want something we just go out and get it.  Plus, most of us are trying to "de-clutter" our lives!  So, they came up with the best gift idea, they rented us a cabin in Silverthorne for the week between Christmas and New Years.  Unfortunately, some of my siblings couldn't come up for the whole week, but Mike, Lillian and I took FULL advantage of their generous gift!  Here is a photo gallery of our week:

The patent leather shoes doubled as a toy during church!

We wanted the fireplace as a backdrop for our family photo but Lillian was too distracted by it.
This was the best shot of her face we could get!

And this photo proves how mesmerized she was by the fire...

The 1st night in the cabin proved to be a little too exciting for Lillian, after the 3rd time she woke up, I caved into Grandma's requests and let Lillian come "back to the party"!

Christmas morning we awoke to a surprise: a momma and baby moose out our back door.  They almost came right onto the porch!  We watched them for over an hour, and we looked for them every morning after.  Unfortunately, our "Christmas Moose" didn't return.

Lillians 1st Christmas morning (the tin lid from the box of chocolates was more fun than any toy this year!)

A visit to "Royal" the buffalo cheered Lillian up whenever she got fussy!

Our family hike on Christmas Day, this year no crazy lady yelled at us for having our dog off leash, but we had to turn around when Casey's foot fell through the ice into the creek.....Brrrrr!

What a sweetheart....

Lillians 1st sleigh ride......a lot of work for Daddy!

Even MORE work for Daddy!

But well worth it for that smile...

Rocky Mountain High

We wish we had more snow to play in, but afternoons sunning ourself on the deck sure were relaxing.

As usual, we loved having Uncle Tom and Sue join us.  They left us a couple of days after Christmas and headed north to Wyoming and Montana in search of more snow, can you blame them? 

Lillian has really taken to eating food.  She really prefers feeding herself and we've already transitioned to more and more finger foods.  She proudly exhibited that to her Uncle Severin!

Grandma and Opa with their two granddaughters.  Lillian already really looks up to her big cousin Holden!!!! It was so fun to watch them interact this week.

It wouldn't be a family get together without a bathtub picture!

Opa and Grandma with their squeeky clean grandkids!

Playing in their PJ's....that's what vacations all about!
After the out of town family headed back home, we invited Erica and Darren (Lillian's Godparents) and their daughter Liliana up to stay with us for New Years.  Liliana is only 2 months older than Lillian but what a difference 2 months makes!  Liliana was all over the place, crawling, pulling up on furniture, walking around furniture and even taking a step after letting go of the furniture!  Mike and I got a glimpse into the next couple of weeks with Lillian and we can't wait! The girls had a really good time together, when Erica put Liliana in her pajamas, we couldn't believe our eyes, not only do the girls have similar names, they have matching pajamas!

Of course, we couldn't resist the photo opportunity!

And the girls played along "hamming" it up for the camera!
It was a relatively mellow New Year's Eve for Casey, Rob, Erica, Darren, Mike and I but a wonderful, relaxing one! 

Friday, December 9, 2011

Lillian at 7 Months


Lillian is sitting up so well all on her own!  She isn't crawling quite yet but we're pretty sure it's coming soon.  She has 4 teeth now (all within a 4 week span!).  She's mastered the art of swallowing her pureed diet and is moving on to "puffs", yogurt melts and teething biscuits. 
She and her daddy continue to have special games they play with each other.  The latest is a little hard to explain in words (I suppose all baby talk babble is hard to spell out!).  The five minutes before bedtime are the fussiest few minutes we have with Lillian all day.  She seems to know it's bedtime and we can't get her ready fast enough!  I struggle every night to try and get her changed into her pj's as fast as humanly possible while Mike tries to distract her.  Through trial and error, Mike has come up with the best distraction yet!  He put his hand over her lips and made "pow wow" Indian motions while she's crying.  It caused me to laugh out loud and made Lillian giggle and giggle.  So every night we've been playing "Indian" before bed.  Well, last Tuesday night Mike wasn't home.  As I put Lillian to bed alone she was crying.  I only have so many hands and I was unable to pat her mouth while changing her.  In the middle of a good cry she took her tiny hand to her lips and made the motion herself.  It soothed her and brought tears to my eyes.  She was thinking of her daddy even though he wasn't there.  What a good girl...
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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Gobble Gobble

For the fourth straight year, the Colorado Kerschens travelled to East Lansing to join the Michigan Kerschens for Thanksgiving.  And for the fourth straight year Grandma and Opa Hanou and Great Grandpa Lerch joined us as well!  I love this tradition, and so does everyone else.  Our families seem to fit together so well and that's what Thanksgiving's all about.  Being with family and thanking God for the family you have.  We are so blessed.
I love my Thanksgiving pajamas from Na Na Nancy

All Grandma Kerschen wanted was a decent picture with her 6 grandchildren...apparently that was too much to ask for!

When I grow up I want to be just like my big cousins!

"Baby Lily kissed me"

I wonder what life will be like for Lillian when she's great grandpas age.
Going for a hike with daddy....you can never be too safe!
 
Especially when Grandpa Kerschen is teaching Johnny to hunt!

The growing Kerschen family

Another great bath picture, this time in Grandma Kerschens kitchen sink!
 I can't wait for Christmas, hopefully there will be lots of shiny ribbons!

I can't take my eyes off the pretty lights!

 Can't wait for Christmas!
 

Friday, November 11, 2011

All I want for Christmas...

Today, we discovered Lillian has her first tooth!  It crept in silently.  Sure, she's been drooling a lot for months, but what kid doesn't?  I guess we should be grateful that this new body part didn't wreak too much havoc on our lives, let's hope the next 19 are as gentle on her gums as this one was.  I tried to get Lillian to show off her pearly white tooth but she wasn't into modeling this evening.  Here's a photo gallery of my attempts...

Just in time for turkey!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Lillian at 6 Months

Posted by PicasaLillian is 6 months old today!  She is almost sitting up by herself.  She does great as long as you sit nearby or prop up the boppy pillow right behind her.  But as soon as you think she's got it and turn your head, she nose dives into the floor!  She's eating (and enjoying) food now. She's had cereal, acorn squash, green beans, peas and carrots.  She likes to hear mommy sing (she must be tone deaf), reach for & touch everything and she really enjoys watching older babies and kids play, but most of all she loves playing "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall" with daddy.