Ringing in 2010 with Zoo Lights

When my sister had Owen, my mom tried to think of something that would be a good excuse for their new family to get out of the house. She came up with the great idea of giving them an annual family pass to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma. They used it so much and everyone had such a good time that my mom followed suit with us and treated us to a pass to Salt Lake City's Hogle Zoo. It's a short 5 minute drive from our house, and even though they are somewhat of a competitor to the Aquarium (Kelly's work), I'm sure we will visit often.

We decided to break in our new pass by going to Zoo Lights. After all, if there is one thing we have figured out that Audrey likes, it is lights. After getting through the ticket line and the entry gate, she loved it, at least for the first 5 minutes before she fell asleep. The rest of the time was spent with one of us carrying her and the other pushing the stroller.

I grew up going to Zoo Lights at Point Defiance but I will have to say, Hogle Zoo gave them a run for their money. Between the Salt Lake LDS Temple and the Zoo, it seems that Utah really knows how to do Christmas lights.

We are both excited to take Audrey to the Zoo in the new year, especially as Kelly's love for animals starts to wear off on her. We hope 2010 brings many exciting adventures for you all. We are definitely looking forward to all 2010 has in store for us.

Coming Home to Winter

The trip home from our Christmas adventure was fairly uneventful. That is, as soon as we made it on the plane. We had a few minor mishaps before then.

They say mothers lose their brain when they have a child. I don't know if it is age or fatherhood, but I am starting to lose mine too. I have always prided myself in my airport security savvyness, laughing at the casual travelers as they go back and forth through the metal detectors 12 times before they realize they are wearing a huge belt buckle. But this time it was me being laughed at.

For the longest time, I have traveled with my trusty brown Eddie Bauer duffel bag as my only carry on, dutifully placing my shoes, my coat, and my computer in the provided bins. I would empty my pockets of anything metal long before I reached the security lines and I wouldn't wear clothing that was too baggy.

With a new baby, the days of one carry on are gone. After I put the stroller, car seat, car seat base, camera bag, quart sized bag with her medicines, small duffel bag with breakable presents, shoes, Kelly's jacket, Kelly's shoes, and diaper bag through the x-ray machine, things started coming back to me one at a time...

"Uh, sir, do you have a computer in this bag?" Doh! Forgot about the laptop. Rescan.

"Is there a water bottle in this bag?" Shoot. Yes. We were supposed to empty that before we got to the airport. Rescan.

And a new one for me: "Do you have a summer sausage in this bag? We need to put it through the machine by itself." Yes, my mom surprised me with one of my favorite foods in all the world--a ginormous salami from Salumi Salami in Seattle. Apparently those are dangerous items to someone.

So, after the salami made its solo journey down the x-ray conveyor belt, I was free to walk through the metal detector. "Sir, since you left your sweater on, I'm going to have to pat you down." Ugh! Forgot about that one too. And all of this as Kelly's whole family watched, probably snickering at us amateurs, especially as I am being manhandled.

Finally through security, we still had some time to kill, so we were able to get Audrey to sleep and snap a few pictures. At some point, Kelly handed me her ID and asked that I put it back in her wallet. I opened up the diaper bag (which doubles as Kelly's new purse) and there was no wallet to be found. After a few minutes of frantic searching, I made my way back to the security checkpoint.

Long story short (if this could be considered short), the wallet found its way into a garbage bin and some nice sanitation engineer found it when he was emptying the bags. The wallet made its way into a police officer's hands and they were just about to make an announcement when I walked up. The money was there, as were the credit cards. We're still not quite sure what happened.

The plane ride was a piece of cake. The car ride home included a fairly big meltdown, requiring a stop on the side of the road to calm everyone down. But, we arrived home in one piece.

Our time since we've been home has involved having our own small Christmas celebration, unpacking, shoveling snow, unpacking, shoveling snow, unpacking, shoveling snow, etc. We're still not finished with the unpacking or the shoveling. In fact, today we reached a milestone--the snow shoveled from our driveway now reaches 3/4 of the height of our neighbor's fence. Yes, we've seen our fair share of snow this winter and the flakes are still coming down as I write this. Luckily one of the presents under the Salt Lake Christmas tree was an adorable winter hat from Grandma Vicki.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day at Kelly's Parents' house started out early, at 4:30am, when Emma arose from her slumber. Kelly and I happened to be up, changing and feeding Audrey when we heard the first stirrings in the house, so it was really no bother for us.

As a side note, holiday traditions are an interesting phenomena. The predictability and familiarity can be so comforting when you celebrate them year after year. Strangely, what is so familiar to you can feel so foreign to new participants. Even though I feel like a family member at Kelly's house, I have 30 years of my own Christmas traditions under my belt, so I couldn't help feeling a bit like a visitor this past week. However, it was one of these new family traditions that saved our butts in the wee morning hours:

House rules dictate that all children, young or old, must stay in a holding pattern downstairs and are to walk upstairs (where the Christmas tree is) at the same time, only when they have been given the clearance to do so. In order to pacify the impatient, Santa also puts a few items in a small secondary stocking hung on the outside of the bedroom doors. These gifts helped, in part, to distract Emma until the pre-scheduled wake up time of 7:00am. Brian must have been a little anxious as well since our wake up call came six minutes ahead of schedule, but who is counting, right?

When we were given the go ahead, we made our way upstairs and we all had fun watching Emma find the Nintendo DS Santa left for her. Apparently Emma only had one thing on her wish list this year since all of her older cousins have one already. She declared to her parents that "This is the best day of my life." I remember the day I got the original Nintendo as a kid. It definitely was high on my list of days until that point.

The Steffen family was spoiled rotten. Santa brought Audrey a number of bath toys, a teething ring, spoons, and a rubber ducky. She also got a number of outfits, a crib music/lights player, and several toys, including a car seat toy that she loves and her first "musical instruments". Dad and Audrey might just form a band so we can drive Mom crazy together.

Shortly after opening gifts, my family traditions were indulged by having my family's "Christmas Eggs" for breakfast. This recipe from a long since out of print cookbook was originally named "Fancy Egg Scramble" but the artery choking butter, cheese, and 16-18 eggs meant we could only indulge once a year. Hence the new title. Laura and I must have been fairly persuasive kids because at some point they became known as "Holiday Eggs", at least until we were old enough to make some healthy choices on our own.

The rest of the day was spent wading through our new toys, visiting with family, eating cookies, and trying to pry Emma's face away from her DS for a few moments now and again. A delicious Ham dinner and an early evening showing of "White Christmas" finished off the festivities.

A big thanks to Kelly's family, especially her Mom and Dad for being such gracious hosts over the past week.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at Kelly's family's house is traditionally celebrated in part with a huge spread of appetizers and cookies for dinner. A large part of the day was spent putting things together (or sitting around and watching people put things together, as the case was with me).

Everyone is now all snug in their bed, waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.

Grandma Vicki's Christmas Visit

Grandma Vicki made the long drive over "the pass" (Snoqualmie Pass) from Western Washington to visit Audrey at Kelly's parents' house. I think she spent more time driving than she actually did visiting with her granddaughter, but I think everyone would have done it again, given the chance. Audrey was definitely thrilled she made the trip.

Kelly's family was gracious enough to host yet another person in their house for a short while. Twelve people was finally the bursting point for the dining room table (at least with the current dining room furniture arrangement) and we had to use the kitchen counter for overflow seating.

Between lunch and dinner Grandma Vicki, Kelly, Audrey, and I escaped to visit Santa Claus. Santa was on a 15 minute break when we first arrived and we were lucky enough that Audrey didn't fall asleep or start crying before he returned. As expected, and as evident by the picture, she was a bit ambivalent of her first Santa experience, but apparently she told him she wanted "one of everything". He also assured us that Grandma's credit card was up to the task. Judging by the amount of presents under the tree both here and back in Salt Lake, I'd say Santa was right and Audrey is getting exactly what she wished for (from both Grandmas).

And in case the "official" Santa picture from the official "photographers" doesn't clearly show the cutest outfit we special ordered over the internet, Kelly and Audrey modeled it for dad's camera. There is a matching hat, but hats are touch and go with Audrey right now so we went without this time.

So, thanks again to Grandma Vicki making the big trip, Kelly's family for hosting, and Santa for spending some time with our little daughter on a very fun filled day!

Tree Decorating

I'm a few days behind here on the blog, trying to catch up.

Sunday saw the tree decorated by all the "children" (both big and small). It's amazing how fast all the ornaments go up when all hands are on deck.

It's been fun to watch Emma's enthusiasm for Christmas festivities while we have been here. She is just about to turn 5 years old, so she really is a perfect age to fully embrace all of the holiday magic. It really makes us look forward to years to come with Audrey.

Daily Exercises

Audrey's daily exercises continue, even when she is on vacation. Lately her main exercise involves being pulled up from laying down to a sitting position. She seems to enjoy it and she's doing a great job. She also is good about posing for pictures between reps.

Her aunt Sarah was nice enough to be a cheerleader during her nightly routine.

Audrey's Baptism

Saturday was our second day with Kelly's family in Richland, WA and it was a big day for everyone. Audrey was baptized in Kelly's family's church in a small private ceremony. Audrey's Grammy (Carol), Papa (Bob), Uncle Brian, Aunt Sarah, Cousin Emma, and Great Grandma were all there. Even more special was that Audrey was the 16th person from Kelly's family baptized in the gown she was wearing in the ceremony. We figure the gown is 98 or 99 years old and Audrey's Great Grandma was the 3rd person baptized in it--88 years ago.

The priest who performed the ceremony did a very nice job. He was very open and understanding of Kelly's and my differing backgrounds. He also did a great job explaining things and allowing Emma to participate in many of the tasks.

We are very thankful that Brian and Sarah agreed to be Audrey's godparents. We can't think of anyone more well equipped to help guide her through her own spiritual journey, especially when she is old enough to ask questions we might have a difficult time answering, and when she starts making choices on her own.

Smiles

It's a two-for-one blog post Wednesday today!

After bragging about her smiles a few weeks back, I realized how elusive those smiles were to our camera. She also refuses to perform when video-chatting with family. So, when I finally captured one on silicon (that doesn't sound as good as "on film") I thought I'd put at least one picture up of her tongue out, eyes lit up, cute smile. They are coming more and more frequently now. We can't wait for family to see them too.

Puppy Shots

I have been met with a lot of blank stares recently when mentioning to my friends that we had to take Audrey in for her "puppy shots." I think my family is the only family to use that term with respect to babies. Oh well, I think it's cute and I like it, so I'll keep using it!

Like I said, Yesterday was Audrey's first big round of shots. We were originally planning on taking her in on the 17th--the day after her 2 month birthday--but we started reading the baby books which were loaded with all sorts of horror stories about bad reactions, fevers, etc. Since we are flying to Kelly's parents' house on the 18th, we decided we needed a bigger time buffer.

I called to switch her appointment to the 15th--the day before her 2 month birthday--and the receptionist hemmed and hawed about how they weren't allowed to give shots before their 2 month birthday. I thought about launching into an argument about if she were born on February and got her shots on her 2 month birthday, she would be younger (day wise) than what we were trying to do. Before I could get into it, she checked with the doctor, and he approved the change.

So, at 10:15am yesterday morning we were at Dr. Swensen's office. He was super nice and answered all of our naive first-time-parent questions and gave her a clean bill of health (even though she has her first cold). She is now 11 lbs 1 oz, and 23 inches long. That means she's put on 3 lbs 8 oz and grown 3.5 inches in the last two months. It constantly amazes us how quick she is growing up!

Next came the nurse with the shots. She had an impressive technique, pinning Audrey's legs against the side of the bed, then giving the oral vaccine and all 3 shots within about 20 seconds. Of course Audrey hated it, but at least it was quick. It took about 10 minutes to calm her wails down to a whimper which lasted until we got home.

I decided to work from home expecting to help with a grumpy baby, but she pretty much hibernated for the last 24 hours. I'm still not sure if there is anything better than holding your own little sleeping baby.

First Flight

We stressed about it for weeks, but both Audrey and Kelly survived Audrey's first airplane flight. Moreover, Kelly pulled it all off by herself. I only drove her to the airport and back. Yes, that means dad missed her first time through airport security, her first time on an airplane, her first time getting de-iced, her first trip outside of Utah, her first trip to Idaho, and her first flight delay, among other things.

I'm not sad at all. I really enjoyed hosting a couple Ph.D. students from the Netherlands for seven whole days. Seriously. I did. I'm not kidding. I have no regrets about missing her first trip so I could get a few brownie points at work.

Ugh...parental guilt is tough.

Anyway, enough about my issues--the trip was pretty exciting. Kelly's longtime good friend, Marnie, is getting married to "The Chad" in May up in Boise, ID and Kelly is going to be in the wedding. While Kelly was pregnant (remember, due date was October 22nd), Marnie put forth an October wedding as a possibility. Apparently, getting married in October is somewhat of a family tradition for Chad. Kelly and I were relieved that they came to their senses and changed the date to May. So, this was the bridesmaids dress weekend getaway and a chance for some quality girl time.

Kelly and I briefly thought about driving to Idaho, but we came to our senses as well once we started imagining a five hour drive (at best) with a screaming baby strapped into her car seat. Actually, it was the thought of the five hour drive turning into a twelve hour December adventure that really sealed the deal for an airplane ticket.

All the worries were for naught as the traveling was fairly uneventful. Audrey did great on the plane, sleeping most of the way. On the way out of Utah, Kelly had an entire row to herself, which helped with the nursing aspect of the flight. On the way back, a nice old business lady in her row was impressed by all the fancy toys moms now have. She really liked the nursing cover and the Moby Wrap.

This trip going so well really makes me wonder...if Kelly can push a stroller, carry a baby, carry a diaper bag, and pull a carry-on bag through an airport and onto a plane with zero issues, does she really need my help for anything? I think she just humors me now and again.

Parenting Mishap #1 - Results

Since most of the regular readers have chimed in, we'll cough up the story. Here we go...

Things started innocent enough. We decided to sterilize all the pacifiers on the stove in a pan of boiling water. And of course the next part is fairly obvious...we forgot about it.

The water boiled, boiled, boiled, until it was no more; the pacifiers melted, melted, melted, until the plastic was no more. Next came the black, nasty, smelly, disgusting smoke.

We probably would have been alerted to it earlier had we returned the kitchen smoke detector to it's rightful home on the ceiling, but since that thing goes off about every third time we cook, it often lives on top of the kitchen table. Instead we had to wait until the smell made it all the way to the back of the house where Audrey was being fed.

Now, you'd think smell of even a little smoke would cause us to jump into action, but unfortunately that smell isn't all that uncommon here. Our downstairs neighbor is a very nice guy, but he has two habits that aren't our favorite: he plays video games until 3:00am with the volume turned up to eleven, and he sits outside and has a few cigarettes every day. So, normally our first whiff of smoke is met with a roll of our eyes and a few snide comments between Kelly and I. However, this time the smell got worse and worse.

We quickly quarantined Kelly and Audrey in the back bedroom where the air was the cleanest, opened all the windows and doors, and turned on all our fans. Unfortunately "all our fans" consists of two weak fans that look pretty, but don't do much. I tried to drum up a few extra fans from our neighbors, but nobody seemed to be home on a Thursday night. There must have been a block party that we weren't invited to.

There was one fan that we had yet to turn on, but that was a bit of a logistical difficulty. A quick panicked phone call to our friend Dave netted us a huge box fan and a ladder to get up on the roof and uncover our winterized swamp cooler. With a flick of a switch, we had massive volumes of 20 degree air rushing in from outside. The smoke cleared out and our house cooled down extremely quick. Hence, us dressing Audrey in the warmest clothes we could find.

Lessons learned:

1. Smoke detectors live on the ceiling, not on the kitchen table.
2. Table-top sterilizers live on the table-top, not in the closet.

So, that's it. No harm done, just an eventful evening. Needless to say, we felt like great parents and Audrey slept good for the rest of the night.

Parenting Mishap Competition #1

I apologize for the quick snapshot, but this picture is part of our first of what will most likely be many "Guess the Parenting Mishap" competitions.

What you see is Kelly holding our little one in a blue outfit, gloves, socks, leg warmers for crawling babies, and the thickest, heaviest jacket we own (3-6 month size, even though she is just 7 weeks today).

Leave a comment with your guess about what happened, and you might win a prize. I'm not promising it will be good, but the bragging rights can't be beat.

Pictures from Bethany

Our good friend Bethany Hoopes has a small photography business in Salt Lake and photographed Audrey when she was two weeks old. It was Audrey's first portrait session and she was a natural model. That is of course if peeing on the backdrop, pooping in a towel while undressed, and general wailing is something models do naturally.

Bethany was patient enough to grab a few precious snapshots between the outbursts:

Thanksgiving

Audrey's first Thanksgiving was spent in Salt Lake City this year. We have a big trip planned to visit Kelly's family over Christmas, so we decided to keep things mellow and stay at home for Honey Baked Ham Day--that's what I would like Thanksgiving renamed to. Forget the turkey.

Mmmm...Ham. Delicious and nutritious. Well, at least delicious.

Audrey was very thankful that her Grandma Vicki could come out to visit for the weekend and provide yet another shoulder to sleep on. The two definitely seemed to hit it off.

We are now entering our longest stretch by ourselves without any planned visitors. It is going to be fun settling into our own little routine.

Performance Reviews

We finally got our first positive performance reviews back this week, and we are just thrilled!

From day one, Audrey has definitely let us know when we are doing things wrong. This past week, she decided to finally bless us with favorable feedback in the form of heart melting smiles.

It's wonderful to know that she approves of the job we are doing...at least some of the time.

Parental Bias

Isn't this the cutest thing ever?

Parental Bias? Yeah, I've got it. So what. Sue me.

We spent hours today on the couch just looking at each other. I won't ever get sick of that. Too bad she will, though. There are plenty more interesting things for her to look at than me.

It Takes A Village

We are so fortunate to have such caring and loving friends and family. We can't believe the lengths and expenses people have gone to in showing their support. We've had people visit by car and travel from afar; buy her new clothes and knit beautiful throws; donate old wares and send us their prayers (I'm practicing up for Dr. Seuss books).

Whatever you have done, even if it is just keeping up-to-date with us on this blog, we are so happy to have such wonderful people in our lives. Thank you all.

Get some sleep now!

We received the following advice more than once or twice: "Get some sleep now, because you won't be getting any soon!"

But why didn't anyone give us this advice too: "Clean your carpets now, because you won't have time to do it anytime soon!"

Or...: "Fix that squeaky clutch on your car now, because it won't even make it on your to-do list soon!"

And let's not forget: "Write some blog posts now, because there will be more pressing priorities soon!"

I guess that was a long winded apology for the recent silence here. I will try to be better, but no promises. In the meantime, I got a new camera toy so here are a few pictures:

First Halloween

Audrey is a little too young to go trick-or-treating, but we did get a chance to drag out the photo gear and take this.

She did help answer the door for a record 31 little ghouls and goblins (yes, we kept count). I tried to talk her into shutting off the lights and hiding in the back room so we would have some leftover candy, but she liked the costumes so much that we nearly gave out every last piece.

Cousin Emma

Audrey has a very special cousin who sent her a very special note after she was born. Even though they live very far apart, they get to see each other this Christmas at Grammy and Papa's house in Washington. Aunt Kelly, Uncle Mike, and Cousin Audrey can't wait to see Emma in just a few short months!

Dr. Swensen

Audrey had her first doctor's appointment on 10/22. She gained three ounces since she was born - up to 7lbs 12oz. Not bad for six days old. Dr. Swensen was very nice and didn't even make her cry once.

However, drawing her blood in the lab for a jaundice test was a different story. I don't know if it was cold, or if the lady didn't know what she was doing, or if Audrey's blood is super-clotting, but it was a good 20 minutes of screaming. Sucking on my finger both kept her quiet for a few seconds and gave me a new appreciation for what Kelly has to deal with! A few minutes nursing in the women's restroom and all was right with the world again.

Later, Audrey told me the lab tech is no longer invited to her first birthday party.

Audrey Elisabeth Steffen

Audrey Elisabeth Steffen arrived at 4:31am on 10/16/2009. She was 7lbs 9oz and 19.5in long. Audrey and Kelly are doing great. We feel so blessed.

Hurry Up and Wait

Since we got everyone excited last night, we thought it would be worth posting an update. The big news is...there isn't any!

Kelly slept well, I slept well, and I'm off to work. We'll definitely keep everyone who usually reads this informed if things change. In the meantime, it might be time for Eggplant Parmigiana Alla Scalini's tonight.

Leftovers

Mission accomplished!!! Our freezer is completely and totally full.

In the weeks after the little one arrives we'll have a lovely selection of frozen ravioli, turkey chili, stovetop chicken, a pan of chicken enchiladas, frozen breaded cod, and enough Costco lasagna to feed a small army. Yum.