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Who says babies can’t sit up! This cool bumbo chair is holds the little bean up in the perfect sitting position. She is still skeptical but when I told her all the big kids were doing it – she was… Continue Reading →

For Fathers day we had the Richau crew over for Brunch. We made crepes – when I say we I mean mostly my dad and mark (and my mom too). Elsie got mark a new shirt (she’s already able to… Continue Reading →

Shelley, Heather and Lisa threw a meet and greet for Elsie while we were in Billings. Here are a few shots of the fun: the four generations – Ruby, Pam, Mandy and Elsie Carol, Karen, Shelley and Me: Heather and… Continue Reading →

This weekend we traveled up Montana for fathers day, an Elsie meet and greet and Riley’s 4th birthday. Heather is the ultimate entertainer so this event is known as Riley-palooza throughout Billings. This years theme was Pirates and there were… Continue Reading →

Today was elsie’s 8 week doctor visit (she will be 9 weeks tomorrow) and it was the dreaded vaccination day. Mark conveniently went to California to avoid any association to the shots. As usual Elsie loved having her clothes off… Continue Reading →

Working hard with dad, originally uploaded by markandmandy. who says you need a nanny?

We went to the google picnic on friday and Elsie wanted to fit in … We only stayed a bit, enough time for some pulled pork sandwiches and a beer – and time to introduce Elsie to the googlers. Lola… Continue Reading →

elsie is skeptical of hats and dresses … but she is excited about summer!

Elsie and I decided we really needed a rocker in her nursery – we looked at gliders, but felt that the sleek design of the Sleepy Time Rocker was right up our alley. Just sitting in it makes elsie very… Continue Reading →

Daniel with Elsie, originally uploaded by markandmandy. Last week Mark hosted dinner for his co-workers. I was out with Amy so Mark (with the help of uncle josh) had baby duty as well as cooking duty. The boys did great… Continue Reading →

We took our first outing without Elsie this past Friday … We asked our neighbors the Jost’s (Jost like toast) to watch the bean. Cheryl is a NICU nurse so we figured if anything went wrong she would know more… Continue Reading →

and I will CRY IF I WANT TO! We actually got this pink tu tu for Olivia Lu Kodama – who when born was actually Miles Kodama. When Elsie was born they sent the sea of pink back our direction… Continue Reading →

On Wednesday we headed down to Dorset (Alison’s Country Home) for a relaxing last few days. As we were driving we happened upon Stonehenge – so we had to do a quick walk around. Stonehenge is quite a site –… Continue Reading →

Today was a very relaxing day for us. We are staying with Alison in Clapham and woke up to a beautiful sunny (yes there is sun in england) day! We had tea and toast in the back garden and elsie… Continue Reading →

We drove into London this afternoon (after a quick stop at the Dragon School for Boys in Oxford) to have dinner with Glynn, Cindy, Peter and Anika. Elsie was named for Elspeth (Mark’s Mom) and Elspeth was named for her… Continue Reading →

On Sunday we headed to Steeple Aston to visit the Kewley family (Jan is Mark’s godmother). We didn’t get a photo of the B&B we were staying at in Badsey until now and Mark wanted everyone to see that we… Continue Reading →

Today was our very first English Wedding – We arrived at the church in Badsey and walked in with our pram seated right by the videographer (a great way to ensure that Tom and Lucy hear Elsie’s cries over their… Continue Reading →

Today was a day of relaxed touring of lots of little villages around the cotswolds (cotswolds refers to the type of stone used to build the villages). We went for tea and scones which were served with this butter-esque stuff… Continue Reading →

Well we made it to London in one piece and actually the flight was a big success! Our seats weren’t ideal because the plane was packed and the guy next to Mark was clearly an eastern european wrestler, but Elsie… Continue Reading →

Mandy, Elsie and I are on a stopover in Chicago on our way to London for the Miller family wedding. As I am a Premier something or other from traveling last year, we get to go into the Red Carpet… Continue Reading →

Elsie has been a great baby – for the first three weeks she was sleeping close to 18 hours a day and just happy as can be. We kept quiet about it hoping not to jinx it – but somehow… Continue Reading →

She loves baths just like her mom! Sorry I don’t have photos of her in the tub (Grammie those are on your pink camera!) but this slippery little sucker requires 2 sets of hands to wash and hold on to…. Continue Reading →

whoever invented snaps is brilliant – and whoever decided to make baby clothes that completely unsnap and then snap back up is even more brilliant. These fantastic jammie suits are just what the middle of the night pants changer ordered…. Continue Reading →

Michael has been visiting us and taking little miss elsie in, and just like us, he thinks she is cute as a button. Of course when Michael is around you will also always have shiny silver! 🙂

this is definitely a life skill when you have a munchkin.

Its official! We received Elsie’s passport this morning so we are set for our England Holiday. I still think its crazy she needs a passport, but the US government thinks she could be a terrorist. I guess some people could… Continue Reading →

elsie and I have transitioned my office down to the masterbedroom – she hasn’t learn to type yet, but we will be working on that next week.

This weekend we had two visitors … Grandpa Kevin and Aunt Chloe. Grandpa was here for Elsie’s birth but went home while Grammie Doula stayed for a couple weeks – he flew in on Friday to spend the weekend and… Continue Reading →

Our first dinner out with Elsie was to celebrate Aunt Amy’s birthday. It was a success – with only a quick feeding between dinner and dessert.

In the cutest little onesie from Meara and Jarret that says it all!

Today we had our first visit with Dr. Kamon, our pediatrician. Elsie was up to 7lbs 4oz (up from her birth weight at 7lbs) – she is a little piglet and they are very happy with this weight gain. Before… Continue Reading →

taking after julie…

The Moby Wrap Rocks!! Elsie stays snug as a bug while dad eats dinner.

We have been calling my mom “Grammie Doula” – she is cooking, picking up and of course snuggling the baby whenever she can. Here are some of her masterpieces … Home made mac and cheese – Yum! Apple Pie –… Continue Reading →

Lola has been doing great with Elsie – but we can tell that she is a bit jealous. She steals little things – pacifiers, sockies – but very deliberately so that we catch her. We found her snuggled in the… Continue Reading →

what a kissable smudgekin ….

We decided to go with the Orbit Baby Infant Travel System and we are extremely happy with it. The system has a car seat that fits on a stroller base or a car seat base (pretty standard). The nice part… Continue Reading →