A few of my favorites:
Piper at one week in her stroller at the Ridgedale Mall
How about those rolls? Adorable? Yes! Why don't they look that good on me?
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Piper is a true-blue Vikings fan just like her parents
Piper and her cute friend, Nate
She was a sport and endured being photographed in the tutu Nana made her.
You'd think since I've been so busy and have so much to post about that I would in fact, post! I spent December in Louisiana and had a wonderful Christmas season with friends and family. I was thrilled when Brad "surprised" me by replacing my engagement ring that I lost about seven years ago. It's beautiful and I love it and I love him! After Christmas in the 28th, I deserted ship and headed up to Minneapolis to be with Ivy when she had the baby. Brad, Whitney and Evan were left to take down the Chistmas tree and decorations and pack for Saudi. Packing for Saudi is a huge task in itself. I had a good flight from Lake Charles to Minneapolis. It was 0 degrees when I landed and didn't get much higher than that the whole two weeks I was there! So a very-pregnant Ivy and Calder picked me up at the airport. She looked exactly like she had a basketball under her shirt. I know people use this example alot, but that's really just what it looked like. We chilled that evening and the next morning, the three of us head to her doctor's appointment. We had planned to head straight to the Mall of America afterwards to walk, and walk, and walk but that wasn't necessary. They came out all smiles with Ivy announcing, "I'm having a baby tomorrow!" She had said going in that she planned to beg...guess it worked. We went back to the apartment and took down the Christmas tree. It was so prickly and sharp that they called it the "Tree of Death". We finally got all the lights and ornaments off and Calder, covered in a coat and heavy gloves, tossed it from their third story balcony. Then he went out and drug it around to the dumpster. The rest of the day was packing bags, charging cameras and cleaning stuff. We head to Abbott hospital at about 5:30 the next morning. It was a snowy day and we had a beautiful view of the city from her room. We watched tv and played Phase 10 all morning until things got too uncomfortable for Ivy. It was a long day but Ivy and Calder both did amazingly well and at about 9:30 that evening, Piper came into the world. That was December 30th, 2009. She is beautiful and healthy. Eight pounds and one ounce of adorable, chubby little girl! We stayed in that room for several hours until Ivy could get around enough to move to post-partum. By the time Calder drove me back to the apartment, it was 3:30 in the morning. He went back and stayed with Ivy. We spent the next day, New Year's Eve in the hospital and they came home on January 1. She is just a wonderful, sweet little girl who loves to sleep and eat. On the 4th of January, PawPaw (Brad), Uncle Evan and Aunt Whitney came to visit on their way back to Saudi Arabia. The kids got in some shopping and all got their turn at holding Piper. We took Piper on her first outing, a steakhouse not too far from their house. It was fun to get her out and have a wonderful meal beside a roaring fireplace. They were sad to leave but had to fly out the morning of the sixth. I spent the whole next week. Ivy, Piper and I enjoyed several trips to the mall and a few trips to Target. Piper loves to shop! All of us also accompanied her to the pediatrician twice, to church, to Chili's and to the movies. A girl on the go, that's for sure! I had to fly back on the 12th. It was hard to leave. I only cried a little and was proud of myself for staying composed. Ivy and Calder are wonderful parents. They work as a team and are obviously crazy about Piper and each other. That made leaving easier. They will do just fine! I had an ok flight. I did have to stay on plane for three hours at Heathrow waiting for the plane to Bahrain to be de-iced. It was fine though because the plane wasn't full at all and I had three seats to myself. I threw back those armrests and slept. It's nice to be back with Brad and the kids. We are eagerly waiting for Taylor to fly in Tuesday night!! The jet-lag is yucky as usual but will pass soon. I'll try to do better at updating. Sorry about this marathon post!
Here's a couple from our first night home. MaMa and PaPa along with Chris and Lindsay, the Zachary's, Jace, Jenny, etc. met us at the airport. We came home and they brought crawfish etouffe and chicken and sausage gumbo. The Wyningers came over along with Don and Susan, Jennifer and Chris and Matt. Matt and Taylor were in the MTC at the same time so he's just gotten home, too.
Have to show off bit.....how about these cute letter wall hangings I made for Miss Piper?? They are bigger than they look here and super cute. I know she'll LOVE them...well, at least her mom will.
Taylor's new ride! He loves it. He and I were a good team going into the dealership to buy it. I was proud to get it all done without any help from Brad at all. We negotiated, bought it, got insurance, the whole nine yards.....he would have been proud! (of course we made a few calls to him for advice but not too much)
We're enjoying being here in Louisiana! Whitney will join us next week and so will Ivy and Piper. Brad's parents are also coming for a couple days so that'll be fun.
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