We're back! - Part 1

Hello to all. We're back after another hiatus. What can we say, it's a busy time.

We'll be posting the last month's (or a little over) worth of pictures and details in a grouping of updates over the next few days so as to not overwhelm anyone...so away we go.

At the end of June we went up to Grand Forks so Claire could meet Grandpa, Aunt Vi, and Uncle Art. We had a great time up there, and pictures will be in the next post put up tomorrow.

Tanya's update of the 4th: Tanya and Claire went down to her parents' place for the 4th of July weekend. Every year the family gets together under the huge maple tree to eat and celebrate. This year was extra-special as cousin Tim and Laurie from Alabama were able to join us! It was kind of muggy out on the 4th, but it was still fun to be with family. We watched Grandma Cheri play in the "Amazing" Worthington City Band concert that evening. Claire joined in by waving her little American flag! Claire experienced her first fireworks show that evening, which she watched with very wide eyes! She only lasted 3/4 of the show before she zonked out for the night. It was a huge day for her!

The 4th of July for me was less eventful as I was working every day over the weekend, but I still got to hang out with Craig that weekend and play some games.

Claire had her two-month checkup on the 6th of July and weighed in at 11 pounds, 14 ounces, and 22 inches long. She got three different shots at the doctor's office. Dad had to hold her arms and try to soothe her since mom was crying almost as much. Ok, actually Tanya wasn't crying, but I know she had a tough time watching her little girl hurt like that. She's got a powerful set of lungs on her!

The next weekend Erika got people together to celebrate her birthday - which also happens to be Al's and Aunt Harriet's birthdays as well. Actually, I believe it's also Bill Cosby's birthday the same day (the 12th). There's an interesting fact for you. Anyhow, we all went to Red Lobster and then to Erika and Joel's sauna...er, house I mean. At the time, the A/C wasn't working, so it was a tad warm. Luckily for them, it's all fixed and working great now.

Ok, that's it for now, more update and pictures tomorrow.

Claire holding her keys

Claire both holding her 4th of July flag and performing a touch-the-nose sobriety test - not sure what Grandma Cheri gave her...

Claire having tummy time...she doesn't like this a lot, but this is a rare fun moment

Sylva likes to lie down next to Claire's play mat

Sometimes we're lucky enough to get a really huge smile on camera...so here it is!

The past 3 weeks...

Hello hello to all. It's been a while since we updated, so I'll keep everyone somewhat up-to-date with a summary here. For those who just want to see pictures, scroll down.

We haven't updated since the beginning of June, and quite a bit has happened. June 2nd was our 3-year wedding anniversary, and Friedo and Robin had us over and cooked us a great supper. It got us out of the house and we didn't have to do any work - win win. Adam is very sweet with Claire also, and we were informed that he was calling all little babies "Baby Claire" a little while ago. If you haven't heard his response when you ask him "Who's Claire?" give it a try.

On the Friday after our anniversary, Erika and Joel brought the corgis over to play with Sylva, and unfortunately she got just a little too wild with running around and got her leg caught on the fence. She ended up needing sutures that had to be in for two weeks. I have a picture of her somewhere, but I figured there are enough pictures with this post already. Mikey was gracious enough to inform me that Sylva wearing the cone-of-shame (e-collar) has now surpassed a wet Klaus (his corgi) as the saddest looking animal he's ever seen. The sutures came out on the 18th, and Sylva has been great since then, running around, happy, eating more, etc.

The weekend after that was Claire's baptism (the 13th). A whole gaggle of Fargo/West Fargo/Moorhead people headed down to Worthington, and I'm pretty sure we doubled the attendance at church down there that day. Ryan and Robin Fried are Claire's godparents, and you'll find a few pictures of that day below. The Saturday before the baptism we had a grill-out get-together at Paul and Cheri's which was a lot of fun, even if it did sprinkle a bit. We made s'mores...but Joel is weird. Apparently a Joel-more is just crunchy chocolate on a graham cracker with no marshmallow. Yep, that's my brother-in-law. And he still doesn't play pinochle.

After we got home, life went by a bit normally until Thursday. West Fargo got hit with a giant downpour of rain that day, and as luck (or lack thereof) would have it, we ended up getting water in our office and bathroom downstairs. At least it was rain water through the wall rather than sewer water through the drains. I called up Mikey and he came over to help me move everything out of the office, much to my delight. That was really a lifesaver for me, so thanks again Mikey. The carpet has gotten dried out, both on top and the bottom after flipping it, but I'm still considering breaking into the drywall to get a look at the wall behind it in the office. Mark across the street has said he'll help me get new sheetrock put up if I do, so I think it might be a good idea. Any suggestions are welcome of course!

This last weekend we went to Hazelton on Saturday for Community Days and a small Beseler Reunion. It was great to see everyone, and even better, everyone got to see Claire finally! I heard just today that Uncle Darmo was taken to the ICU and had surgery, so we're hoping that he recovers soon and feels much better than he was before.

So after a hiatus of no computer or internet, and my mancave sadly overrun with bookshelves, boxes, and a veritable ton of books, things are moving forward a bit. Computer is setup in the mancave now, and we're really liking the location. I even cut through the wall to install new plates and ran all kinds of cabling and such...maybe I'll become somewhat handy after all.

Ok, that's about it for now, work just called and would like me to come in early, so off I go. Take care all, and enjoy the pictures.

On our anniversary at the Fried's
Little Guy giving Claire a kiss...she's not sure about it
Claire in the papasan. She likes to look around.
Claire and her baptism dress
Us, Frieds, and Pastor Gordon
Ryan and Robin - Claire's godparents
With Aunt Harriet and Claire at Hazelton Community Days
Aunt Janice and Claire in Hazelton
Mom helping my niece, Meghan, hold Claire in Hazelton
When we got home around 11 Saturday night, Claire was TIRED...and cuddly
Happy Father's Day!

A quick picture update...

As promised, here is another batch of pictures. We had a good Sunday - it was nice outside, so Sylva and I took a walk then played outside for a while. Claire got some good kicking and stretching done inside, and then had a visit from great-grandma and great-aunt Pam in the evening.

So without further ado...

This is Claire's "I'm not tired, I want cuddles" face.

"Mommy + Daddy = Me"

Claire's exercise time - Sylva likes to watch.

A quick self picture of the two of us - note the strong resemblance.

Tanya's latest sneak-attack picture. Claire was a little fussy one morning, but it turns out she just wanted some dad time.

Things are kind of getting back to normal...

Hello all. It's been another chaotic week, but things are calming down finally. I got hit with food poisoning, which is a huge pain by the way, and that knocked me out of commission for a few days so Tanya picked up the slack there while I was moaning and curled in the fetal position...you know, between trips to the bathroom. Along those lines, I just want to take a quick moment to say that Tanya is an amazing wife and mom, and has been incredibly strong with everything that's happened.

There are a few pictures below of Claire and three of her uncles. Yes, technically I only have two siblings, but that doesn't mean she won't have more than two uncles to look after her. Brian and Mom came to Fargo last weekend and it was the first time Brian met Claire, so of course we got a picture with him. Al also came to visit and stayed for about four days, so that was great. After having him live with us for months it's kind of sad that he's about 3 hours away now.

Claire continues to have other visitors as well, such as Tanya's friend Chelsey, my aunt, uncle, and cousins (the Sabols/Rings), and my Aunt Alice and Norm, but we don't have pictures of quite everything at this point. No worries, though, as I'll have more pictures to post tomorrow as well.

Uncle Joel & Claire
Uncle Al & Claire
Uncle Brian & Claire

A middle-of-the-night update...

Well, it's 3:30 in the morning, and Claire is up, so we are too. Figured I'd post a quick update while she's feeding before I get to put her back to sleep.

First of all, a GIANT congratulations to my sister, Erika, and her two friends Jane and Amber. They all completed the half marathon yesterday, a 13.1-mile stretch of running. Jane even did it with a broken toe (which she broke the night before ironically enough). Erika has been training for it for about 12 weeks if I recall correctly, and looked awesome. We're all insanely proud of her, and I know Dad is loving it that his little girl has been doing so well lately.

Second, my brother, Brian, became a father for the second time at the end of April, another little girl named Isabella. I managed to snag a picture of Brian, Meghan, and Isabella when I was in Dickinson helping him with a couple things, so you'll find that below.

As a closing thought, I've been watching the NBA playoffs, so I try to catch most of the games when they're on, but occasionally I'm just tired enough that Tanya gets to catch me in a pose like the one at the bottom of this post....ah well, what're you gonna do?

Erika with Claire after the marathon!

Brian, Meghan, and Isabella - Isabella really has a lot of hair.

It's been pretty warm lately, so Tanya put Claire in a cute shorts outfit the other day.

An experiment with the color accent feature of the camera...Claire's bored with pictures already though.

I know, this is a terribly flattering picture of me...so don't look at me, look at the cute baby...Tanya likes to sneak attack with the camera.

Quick update and more pictures.

Today was a good day. We went up to NDSU to have lunch with Erika, then came back home. Took Sylva for a walk, finished up the yard mowing, and took a little nap with Claire.

The pictures below aren't from today, but they're from the last few days at various times.

Since Claire's cord fell off, we can give her tub baths now, which she seems to like a LOT more than before...I'm sure she'll also love the embarassing pictures we've taken of her later on.

After her bath, in the duck towel.

Me and my two little girls...my chest happens to be a prime napping location for Claire.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe we have Tari to thank for the "My Mom Rocks" outfit.

All three of my girls relaxing in the living room yesterday.

Well, it's been about a week since the last one...

...so I figured I'd do an update with some pictures.

Howdy all. For those who didn't know, having a baby is kind of a big adjustment and doesn't always let you go by your schedule. "The best laid plans..." and all that. Along those lines, I want to give a huge "Thank You" out to everyone - our friends, family, co-workers, etc. for helping us so much during this time. I know it's not an individual thank you for each and every one of you, but I hope no one minds too much!

Anyway, things have been going pretty well so far, although Claire has definitely had her fussy moments. Tanya has also had her fussy moments...you know, with things like worrying about whether Claire "got your (Aaron's) weird pinky toe!" or making sure her ears are covered by her hat if I take her outside. I'll admit I have my little peculiarities as well, especially when it comes to Claire possibly scratching herself without mittens on. I also like to sneak attack Tanya by dressing Claire in pink clothing when she's not paying attention. Hahahaha!

Sylva is still having a bit of a hard time adapting and has been pretty sad at times, but we've been trying to spend more time playing with her when we can, and I've been taking her out on walks. She's settled down on walks quite well so she doesn't try to rip my arm off every time another dog barks at her.

Anyway, I have some more time off work for a bit thanks to the great folks I work with. I know a couple of them probably check in for new pictures and the like, so I'll say thank you on here as well for all the schedule juggling and compromises they've made to get me time at home right now. It's very much appreciated. So you can all expect a healthy dose of pictures in the coming days, but I won't overload too much at once, so maybe just a handful for tonight. Without further ado...

Claire's first day of work, at Aunt Erika's work. We went up there for lunch the other day and Claire did great.

This was taken right after Adam bent down to give Claire a kiss while Friedo was holding her.

I was teaching Adam all about taking pictures.

While Friedo, Robin, and Adam were over, the little guy was saying he wanted to hold Claire, so he got to, with a little help from his mom.

Tanya, Cheri, Robin, Friedo, Adam, and Sylva sitting around visiting.