Just for Ella!

Greetings from St. Louis --- we brought Ryan on her first out-of-state trip this past week. She was a dream on the 13 hour drive from Denver to St. Louis - slept the whole way! Ryan has been enjoying time with her cousins; Anisten, Nolan and Jack --- even if Jack does try to claw her little face. A few pics from this past week:

Ryan and Jack

Ryan loving Grandma & Grandpa's house

Taking a nap with Grandpa

Jack trying to play (or eat) with Ryan

Nolan, Anisten, Ryan and Jack -- say goodbye to peaceful, quiet nights when these four are around each other:)

7 weeks old!

Time is flying by - hard to believe it has already been seven weeks! I suppose it was appropriate that we had to retire Ryan's coming home outfit today --- daddy dressed her in her cute little green frog ensemble only to find out that should she desire stretching her legs out, she can't. So, with sadness, we say goodbye to the frogs as we put them away for baby number two (wayyyyyyy in the future).

Tummytime isn't all it's cracked up to be

Taking a nap after kicking off my pants (just like dad)

Fun Photo Saturday!

It's a cool, rainy day here in Denver.

Just us girls!

I might like Karate or at least the cool gear.

This past week, we wanted to expose little Ryan to a local favorite -  The New Belgium Brewery!  I thought she would be a Sunshine Wheat fan, but true to form she surprised us all and really took a liking to the Fat Tire brew!  NBB was a very cool place in general and we found out that after 5 years with the company, all employees are taken on a beer tasting tour in Belgium!   Much better than a gold watch or gift certificate to Beningans - oops, they're no longer (RIP).

Being parents has also lead to interesting birthday gift requests.  Leslie recently celebrated her..umm, 25th birthday, and what did she want?  iPhone....perhaps a new handbag...nope - an ORECK Vacum was the birthday gift of choice.  Thanks to Pegs and Mr. B for the super slick vacuum.  She also received a great new toy - Apple TV - thanks Grandma Ella (mom) for the great gift!  Thanks also go to my brother Barclay for setting it all up!  Such a fun way to share photos, watch movies and stay entertained during that 3 a.m. feeding.

See the ORECK and Les in action below!!  That's hot and efficient!

A long over due shout-out to our friends and loyal readers - Tiffany and Chris.  They were kind enough to come meet our little lady and catch up with us earlier this summer and their post is long overdue.  When you only have 2 non-family members who read the blog, you would think shout outs would come faster - sorry Tiff.  Life with a newborn is crazy.

Good morning!

Ryan wanted to address her readers.....

PS - sorry you have to tilt your head to watch the video. As smart as mom is, she wasn't able to figure out how to rotate the video.

Can you get any cuter?

Ryan's cousin's Jack and Nolan


Ryan's cute new shirt from Aunt Barbara

A mid-day nap

Exciting Friday night!

Here are the highlights of our Friday night (and mom's birthday) ---- a nice, warm bath and watching the opening ceremonies on the couch.

Daddy's girl?

Let's re-visit Ryan's first few moments along with her dad's. The girl was the spitting image of Grant when she first arrived. You be the judge:

Stiff - circa 1976


Stiff - circa 2008

Smilin' Ryan

The best birthday gift a mom could ask for..... a smile!

Ryan and Jack....

Just for fun, I noticed some adorable comparisons between Ryan and her equally precious cousin Jack.

10 pounds and growing!

Our little Ryan is finally gaining back all that weight (and thensome) that she came into this world with. She continues to be a good baby (knock on wood) and is starting to smile and talk to herself. Her little personality is slowly but surely coming out.

We just said goodbye to our last out-of-town visitor yesterday afternoon. Grant's brother Barclay came out to meet Ryan and was a huge help in tackling a number of technological tasks around the house. A big thank you to Grant's mom (Ella as the grandkids call her) for buying us an Apple TV for my birthday. Now she and my folks can watch our fun Ryan slideshow from the comforts of their own homes hundreds of miles away. Another big thank you to Barclay for setting up the Apple TV and having the patience to deal with my 1,001 questions on how to use it.

Last weekend our friends Mark and Nicole got married (CONGRATS!) - it was a gorgeous ceremony and reception - Ella was sweet enough to come out from Dallas for the weekend to babysit Ryan so mom and dad could enjoy the wedding weekend fun. Ella made Ryan the cutest quilt (pic below) - thank you Ella!!!