Happy Holidays!

We are cruising onto Ruby's first month birthday. It has flown.
We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus next week! Aunt Lacey helped Cory pick out an awesome Christmas tree up in the mountains last weekend. Here's a photo of Cory helping Scout.
Bathtime is a funtime for little Ruby. And she needs it quite often since she is seriously the Queen of making a big ol' mess the minute you get her diaper off (and I am not quick enough while in the process of putting on a new one).
We were also fortunate to have a visit from Grandma Karen, which was lovely. Now, all our help is gone for a while, so we'll have to hunker down and get to learning how to parent TWO kids.
A photo of me and the Rube-ster.

And in other news, we want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We'll be here in Denver, a first for the whole family. Take care, be well.

It's a girl! Ruby Jean arrived November 19th

We are thrilled to announce the safe arrival of our sweet new baby girl. Ruby Jean Harper was born on November 19, 2009 at 8:56 pm weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20.5 inches long.A photo pre-Ruby:

A photo of our little bundle at the hospital. For the record, I was (and still am a little bit) completely shocked that we had another girl. I brought a blue blanket to the hospital because I was so confident.
A little burping action:
With Aunt Lacey in the kitchen:
Our little girls are getting to know one another.

Here is a video of when we brought Ruby home (on Saturday, November 21).



We're adjusting to life with a newborn about as well as we possibly could. Our little Ruby has been a good sleeper, and we have been lucky to have a fair bit of help. Grandma Margie stayed for about two weeks, and Cory's family has paid us visits. Cory will return to work tomorrow (Friday, December 4) and then we'll have the weekend together again. Late Tuesday, Grandma Karen will arrive, so we have help on the way.

We are truly blessed. At Ruby's two-week check up today, she weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 21 inches. Her color looked good, and we'll go back to the doctor on December 22.

Halloween and a few stragglers

Happy Halloween!
Despite many inches of snow (12-15, not exactly sure...), we had a delightful Halloween. It was in the fifties during the day, and high 40s by the time Scout returned from Trick-or-Treating (her first time!).
Trick or treating from Mom. She's starting to get the hang of it.
Trick or treating from our neighbors Ken and Michelle. Now, she's really starting to enjoy herself.
Oh, so proud of her haul!
She spent about an hour out with Dad collecting all sorts of goodies. And now she's apt to run around the house saying, "I need some CANDY!" Today she wanted to take a walk, and mentioned Halloween, and I had to explain that we only get to do that once a year. Fortunately, since she's two, she's not devastated by the news that she has to wait an entire year, but clearly she caught on to the whole thing and LIKED IT A LOT!

And here are some old ones from the first weekend of October when we went to Rock Creek Farms and picked out two pumpkins.

An October post... just under the wire!

Here we are, it's almost the end of October, and I have been a lazy blogger.
Scout post-chocolate chip cookie. We've been making A LOT of those around here lately.
Scout's friend Olivia's b-day party--I stole this from my friend Rachel's facebook photos, that's how much I loved it!
Some of the mamas, too! Pizza, yum. Cupcakes (not pictured) were also de-lish. Can you tell I'm very pregnant?
Cory and me, also stolen from Rachel's photos. But I like this one because it doesn't make me look nearly as "big" (as Cory would say) as I actually am. Like, if I was a celebrity, this would be a baby-bump photo that I wouldn't mind having posted in US magazine. Of course, I am eating in the photo, so maybe that says more about me than the size of my bump...
Scout was quite taken with the balloons. As in, I think she popped every single one of those but one. Sorry, Olivia.
Here's Scout and Olivia, or "Liv" as she likes to call her.
A little pile of leaves in the backyard.
Poor neglected Beamer wants in on the action too!
A trip to the zoo with the Goodmans and Lace. You can't quite see Lacey's face, but she's wholly responsible for the fun that Scout had on that cheetah (or is it a leopard? I'm not a zoologist, sorry folks.)On the train (also with Aunt Lacey), and Jon and the girls in the seat behind them. You can't quite see Addy's face in this one, but you can in the NEXT one...
With Cory. What a little lady!
Auntie Lexie took this photo... I stole it!

And here we are with the first big snowstorm of the year--10/28 and 10/29.
Here we are in the front yard. I must say, my snow pants were not made to fit a nine-month pregnant belly, but somehow I managed. Scout LOVED it so much outside that I had to think of something clever to woo her back inside. Um, big surprise, I chose chocolate. That worked.

Oh--and in other news, as of 10/28 at our ultrasound, little bumpkin Harper is lying transverse, but other than that, every one is doing well--we anxiously await the due date of 11/18/09!

September already?

Well, we had a busy summer and things are finally getting quiet around here.

In early August, we had a visit with some of Jayme's volunteer friends. (See previous posting of all the adults!)
Here with Auntie Anne on the back porch.
And with Auntie Mary at the park near the house. Because both Anne and Mary are faithful blog followers, how could I not honor them with a photo of appreciation?
And here with Liam (Kerri's little guy), in the wagon.

We had a visit to Sundance in mid-August. Scout and I were there for over a week, and Cory was with us for the weekends, but flew back to Denver in between so that he could work. Lexie brought her kids up as well, so the cousins all got lots of time together.
With "Papa" reading the Halloween bugs book--quite the popular one.
In play-dough heaven.
There were many trips around the yard in the wheel barrow. Papa was very generous.
The little painters.
Addy and Papa, with one of the many apples from the tree in the backyard.
Here's Scout helping dad mix up the waffle mix in Grandma's kitchen.

Then we had a visit in early September from Grandma and Grandpa Reichert. The trip was nice, but there was an event--poor "Papa Matty" (as Scout calls him) went to the ER with breathing concerns and they admitted him overnight. But despite the uneventful trip to the hospital, there were lots of good times!
Here with Grandpa munching crackers at the park.
Here with Grandma in her tent.
She would ONLY let Grandma come in the tent.
Here showing Grandma her coloring skills in addition to her fabulous fashion sense.
In the sprinkler!
With Mom playing with the sidewalk chalk. (Photo by Grandma!)
A trial run of the Halloween costume. It was supposed to be her costume LAST year, but she wasn't having it. If Scout has anything to say about it, I don't think she'll be a bumblebee this year either. "I DON'T LIKE IT! TAKE IT OFF!"

On Sunday during Labor Day weekend, we had an outing to Cheyenne to attend cousin Addy's FIRST birthday party.
Here's the birthday girl with Papa poolside.
Here with the girls and the cake.
A festive photo of the party-hatters.
Birthday girl with Auntie Lacey.
And me and my Dad.
Back in Denver, before the Reicherts took off, I took a few good ones of Scout and Grandpa Matty.