Bolder Boulder

Norah completed her first 10k this morning. She loved the Blues Brothers, belly dancers, Elvis, and the frat boys in Speedos, but, most of all, she loved Mariah's Slurpee and fiery Cheetos from the 7-11 rest stop. (It's a totally different kind of race when injuries and 14 lbs of baby in a Bjorn are involved.) She was so keyed up after all of the stimulation that she didn't sleep for the rest of the day.

A Day at the Beach (er, Pool)

Norah was completely fascinated by the water during her first swim but wasn't entirely sure whether she could trust it. While the jury's still out on swimming, she was quite at ease with playing in the grass in her swimming suit.

Happy Birthday to Nick!

Nick had an extended birthday celebration. The festivities began with the U2 concert last Saturday and ended with dinner and the theater on Thursday. While the theater show was lackluster, the concert was amazing and dinner was pretty great too. In fact, the neighborhood joint we went to for dinner - Bang! - will be featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" on June 6th.

Baptism Rescheduled

Due to a conflict on the church calendar, Norah's baptism has been rescheduled for Sunday, August 21st. We hope everyone can still join us.

Too Funny!

Steven babysat Norah last night while we went to Billy Elliott. He had her up way past her bedtime giggling and giggling. The video is proof that our daughter laughs like a drunken sailor with emphysema.

On a Billy Elliott note, during the performance Billy got sick, and they had to switch Billys mid-show. The show was super delayed and ran late, so we kept Steven up way past his bedtime. Karma.

Book Worm

A little light reading....

A Somber Occasion

Since I work from home on Mondays, Norah tags along with me for whatever work I may need to do. This last Monday included meeting with a family to plan a funeral. Before leaving for the meeting, I was changing Norah's diaper and talking her through the afternoon by saying, "We're going to get in the car and go plan a funeral." At which point, Norah began giggling. She has yet to master the art of solemnity.

The New Babysitter

Thanks to Merle for babysitting Norah on date night. (Merle's in heat. That's why she's wearing that ridiculous underwear.)

Time Flies

I spent the morning putting away Norah's 0-3 month clothes which she has thoroughly outgrown. The hardest outfit to put in the box was the darling onesie Campbell gave us, the one Norah wore on her very first day of life. I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to stop time.

The onesie may not fit anymore, but at least the Baby Legs still do!

Norah's Baptism

We just set Norah's baptism for Sunday, August 28th at 10:00am at Central. We would love to have anyone and everyone join us for worship that morning. If I get my act together, I will send out formal invitations. If not, consider yourself invited.

Smart Little Whippersnapper

Don't underestimate a baby. They're smarter than you think. That's what we've learned. After a mere ten days on my back-to-work schedule, Norah realized that if she ate right before I left and only had a snack with a bottle mid-morning, she could eat twice while I was home for lunch and still get full. Apparently, she prefers her milk straight from the tap.

We Have a Winner!

After spending the first couple of months sampling all of her fingers, Norah's narrowed in on the middle two and has spent the last month faithfully turning to those two for comfort. Sometimes the fingers get rascally, though, so she often uses her other hand to hold the first in place. It's a complicated system, but if something's worth doing, it's worth doing well!

Mother's Day

Since the day I became a mother, I have been meaning to mention the beautiful necklace Nick gave me after Norah's birth. Mother's Day seems like an appropriate occasion to finally do so. Certain that Norah would be born in January, Nick bought me a necklace with a January birthstone in it. When he gave it to me on Norah's birthday, February 1st, he suggested we return it for a necklace with a February birthstone. Norah's delayed arrival was such an important part of her birth story, though, so we decided to stick with January's stone. (Sorry we don't have a better picture of it, but this gives you the idea.)

On my first Mother's Day, we celebrated with church, a brunch that included bottomless blood orange mimosas (now that makes for a happy Mother's Day!), an extended nap, and an evening of planting vegetables in the garden.

Con"grad"ulations Rick!

Jealous of Mariah's M.R.S. degree, Rick decided to get his M.S. degree. Today he became a software engineer, the third generation of Decker men to be an engineer. (Popos I was a civil engineer. Popos II is an electrical engineer.) As if this wasn't exciting enough, Rick and Mariah filled out their eventful month by buying a home in Idaho (happily, they will still winter in Colorado), completing their first marathon, and jetting off to Hawaii.

More Easter Photos

A Big Week

I have approximately one million hours of tummy time video footage in the hope of capturing Norah's first roll from tummy to back. Little did I know that I should be filming back time since she decided to start with an inverted roll. Happily, Nana was quick with her camera when Norah made her rolling debut this morning. Enjoy the step-by-step photos.

Norah's week has also been significant because she celebrated her three month birthday by meeting her first member of the Vanderpol family (besides Nick, of course). On Sunday, she met her Uncle Jordan. Unfortunately, she slept through nearly the entire visit, but hopefully there will be more visits to come.

Happily Ever After

Well, maybe we haven't made it to happily ever after (yet), but we have been happily married for the last seven years. In honor of our anniversary, there were snow flurries on April 30th. It brought back great memories.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho

Norah made her Central Church debut today on my first Sunday back and on her three month birthday. She was definitely the belle of the ball. Many people told us she was particularly cute (Who cares if they were just being polite? We totally agree!), one person said she was husky, and one gave me a minute by minute report of how Norah spent the worship hour (first awake but quiet, then sleeping, then eating, but "never making a peep"). When I was pregnant I joked that my belly was public domain since I didn't mind people touching it, but I realized today that the church still views Norah as public domain. It's sweet how much pride and ownership the congregation took in her. Let's just hope she's an extrovert!