A friend of ours told us that the
weeks start going by like days after you have kids . . . you can
kind of relate to something like that when somebody mentions it,
but after living it for the past few months, we understand. Whew,
the time flies to the point where it's a major deal to even find
time to do something as straight forward as post some pictures on
the web. I apologize for keeping you waiting this long, but the
89 pictures on the page below will hopefully help you get your Mara
fix for a while. And I'll do what a I can to keep it from being
another month and a half before I update the page again.
The summer has blown by and we're
now seeing changing colors and snow on the peaks around Crested
Butte. Stacey has been back at work for three weeks now and we're
adjusting to our new routine as well as possible. The new mom misses
her precious little baby, there's no doubt about that, and understandably
so. Mara continues to be a dream of a baby . . . I could blather
on about her for paragraphs and probably will in the photo captions
anyway. I'm having a wonderful time continuing to get to know "Mars"
(that's the nickname that has started to stick), what works and
what doesn't as far as the daily routine, what makes her smile and
giggle, as well as how quickly she learns. She's constantly changing,
constantly learning and (just remembered to pull a bottle out of
the fridge--she's napping now and will want to eat immediately when
she wakes up) constantly smiling. What more could we ask for?
Mara's grown to like both sitting up more than being on her back.
She's been holding her head up well for the last month and continues
to gain ground there. We're at Peggy Malone's in Fruita, CO, this
shot--Mara's cute as ever.
Still a good sleeper, Mara usually sleeps through the night and
takes two or three naps during the day. How are lucky are we for
that? I actually believe that it has a lot to do with Stacey following
the book, "On Being Babywise." It lays out a logical way
to help baby get in to a good rhythm with sleeping and eating.
We're afraid she's going to grow up thinking her name is "cute"
or "precious." That's all she hears when she spends time
with grandmas, whether they're hers or not.
Stacey and Mara with Stacey's best friend's mom, Peggy Malone.
A mid August wedding family picture.
Weddings make for tired babies.
Mars generally likes the water--she might be taking after her daddy
that way.
Blue Mesa is just a bit too cold for her . . .
And now daddy's in trouble.
But all's warm that ends warm.
Mara's gotten a good amount of beach time this summer. We've done
well keeping her out of the sun, both on the boat and beach, so
we've been pleased with that. Here she is with Stacey and our friend,
Andy.
Mara likes to swing. We stop at the park with her for a little back-and-forth
action when we're out on walks.
She doesn't seem to like it at all.
Cute.
Enjoying a sunny August morning on the quilt that Aunt Rebecca made
for Mara.
Mara likes to play! Dancing, singing and flying . . . she's into
it all.
Here's the big sunflower that bloomed out next to our driveway.
It was quite a surprise, as we didn't plant it.
The lake continued to be a big part of our summer. With the both
of us off for a couple of weeks in August, we tried the weekday
scene at Blue Mesa and found the absence of other boats and tons
of glass to be to our liking.
Bottle for baby.
Two good-looking women enjoying a day on the lake.
This is, of course, Mara and the guy I think she probably thinks
is "that crazy man who I spend my days with." We were
up at the Paradise Warming House that day, attending some friends'
wedding.
There's our good-looking little family for you. Notice Mara's shiny
little patent-leather shoes.
We took Mara for her first hike to the 12,162' peak of Mt. Crested
Butte in late August. Here's the lift ride . . .
Here's Mara in her front carrier providing Mom some extra hiking
weight to improve her workout.
We ski by this sign a lot in the winter time.
Here's Stace and Mara enjoying the view from the peak of Crested
Butte Mountain.
This was Mara's take on the whole adventure.
The following shots were taken as we hiked down. It wasn't exactly
paved, so we took our time.
That gives you a pretty good idea of what the peak of the mountain
looks like. It's just a big ol' pile of rocks.
Stacey's part mountain goat, for sure.
"I'm going to crawl away soon!" Mara loves her "tummy
time" and is remarkably close to being able to get around.
I'll need to get a new pair of running shoes when she does figure
out that she can get around on her own.
Pretty on pink.
Conked out, obviously getting her beauty sleep.
Dancing with Stacey and Aunt Lyn-Z.
Here's Mara "reading" a magazine showing off her daddy's
eyes.
If I had a buck for every time Grandma uttered the words, "pretty
A-Mara," while visiting us, I think we'd have the cost of diapers
(for as long as she uses them) taken care of.
A thoroughly-loved baby.
Remember how I was telling you that Mara likes the water? Here we
are at the pool (much warmer than Blue Mesa) having a good time.
We want Mara to be as comfortable around the water as possible,
including not getting upset when she goes under water. I usually
take her for a quick dunk or two during the middle of our swims--you
can see that I'm blowing on her face so that she'll scrunch up her
nose and not try to inhale when she goes under.
Hmmmmm . . . not too sure, Daddy. But there's no crying or even
fussing, and with a couple of coughs, we're having fun again.
Okay, so have you heard about the "Mommy and Me" lunches
that the local new moms have been enjoying? It's newborns and their
new moms hanging out and enjoying each other for a couple of hours
once or twice a month. Talk about funny stuff . . .
Female bonding.
Look at the baby line up. Mara's 3rd from the left.
Here they are . . . the Crested Butte class of 2023! Mara's third
from the right.
Baby blossom.
Holding hands with "Blue."
"Hey buddy, quit leaning on me!" Mara's fifth from the
left.
Uncle Brean's a good place to wind down for a nap.
We don't have any fun together!
Stacey's beautiful flower garden.
Another day at the lake with a little girlfriend whose name I can't
recall..
Mara's a regular book worm.
Daddy's last day of work.
Taking apart my cube on the last day in the office.
Enjoying a grin with Jana.
Getting ready to go for a jog.
An evening of dancing . . . Mara's not quite sure what to think
of her partner.
Maybe Daddy has some moves after all.
Ahhhhh . . . the wonder of the world around us.
Actually Mom was washing Mara's hands. Good habits form early (ha).
Yes, our perfect baby has tears, too. But she's pretty good about
using her voice to let us know that she needs something.
Big Air.
I'm still out mountain biking when I get the chance. Seems like
I'm still out crashing when I get the chance, as well. Stacey likes
to take pictures of the crash evidence. I got hung-up going through
a single-track switchback and couldn't get out of my pedals before
I tipped over. I guess I was more angry than hurt . . .
Kisses at the lake.
Ray and Lyn-Z showed up for Labor Day weekend.
We put Ray to work right away.
Ray understands babies pretty well. I won't elaborate.
Aunt Lyn-Z holding the precious one.
The Roman girls.
Mara's a big fan of her book and takes her book reading pretty seriously.
She seems to like turning the pages and thinks they taste pretty
good.
Remember the shot of Mara's hands not making it over her head? Look
at how much those little arms have grown!
Ham.
These last four pictures are recent addtions and taken on Saturday
night while we were in town having dinner. The Vinotok festival
was happening in Crested Butte--Vinotok's pretty much just another
Crested Butte excuse to get dressed up in costumes and drink. But
lots of Buttians enjoy it. Here Mara's got on her Vinotok head piece
and is being held by our friend Shelly.
Mary holding Mara, Mara wondering when she can lose the head piece.
Mara, ready to lose the head piece.
Mary was in town with her friends Joan and Deborah for the weekend.
It was a quick visit, but they enjoyed the gorgeous fall colors
and a fun hike up West Maroon Pass.
As always, thanks for stopping by!
As you can see, our baby is beautiful and life is good. I'm being
"paged" from Mara's room, so it sounds like nap time is
over. Drop us an email
any time and stop by if you're in the neighborhood!
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