Tag Archives: Grandma Judy

Happy Valentine's Day

Claire and Juliet want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day. To celebrate, we’ve got some pictures of the past few days including Juliet’s arrival home, Claire opening the kid-sized guitar Juliet gave her as a thank you for being such a great big sister, Grandma Judy entertaining Claire, Juliet the lap baby with Grandma and me, and the girls’ first photoshoot together. Also this week Juliet had her first pediatrician appointment. She’s 20 3/4 inches (83rd percentile), 8 lbs, 1 oz (58th percentile), with a 36.5cm head (78th percentile). Click on the picture of the two of them in their heart-covered pajamas for a slideshow.

Juliet and Claire

Home from hospital

Katherine and Juliet came home yesterday afternoon. Everything went smoothly in the hospital, as Juliet ate and slept well while Katherine speedily recovered from the c-section. Like her big sister, Juliet had some jaundice and as a result spent time getting blue light phototherapy in an incubator in the corner of our room. With her velcro sunglasses on, stretched out on her back napping in the light, she looked like a comic book superhero having a day at the beach.

Claire came to visit Sunday.  She met her little sister and then took Katherine on a walk, including visiting a model train set down the hall in the Children’s Hospital. Other highlights included Stu bringing Peet’s lattes and pastries each morning (and once getting a small piece of the very outer layer of a cinnamon roll for his effort), and sharing a bottle of champagne on the last night to celebrate Juliet and an early Valentine’s Day. Grandma Judy helped out in many ways, entertaining Claire throughout the day, serving as chauffeur in both the car and stroller, and helping Stu with dinner each night. Click on the picture of Katherine and Juliet for a slideshow of pictures from  the hospital.

Juliet and Katherine at the hospital

Christmas 2008

We had a relatively quiet Christmas this year, staying at home and hosting Katherine’s mom.  Highlights included Claire trimming a tree for the first time, Grandma Judy taking Claire for long walks, Claire’s impersonation of her Daddy on his iPhone, lots of presents including a toy shopping cart, and the easiest Christmas dinner ever which we ordered and picked up in a huge box from our local market. Click on the picture below for a slideshow.

Claire holding her Christmas stocking

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving in Dallas this year. Katherine’s pregnancy made travel at Christmas iffy so we were lucky to combine two originally separate holiday plans (Thanksgiving with Katherine’s family, Christmas with mine) into one week-long trip to Dallas. Highlights include endless laps up and down the stairs with Claire, visiting Katherine’s Great Aunt Betty (one of the inspirations for Claire’s middle name Elizabeth), Claire’s cousin Susan in a leopard costume, playing with presents under the tree, and a piano duet from Claire and her cousin Will.  Click on the picture below for a slideshow.

Claire checking out her first snowglobe

Christmas 2007

We spent a wonderful few days in Arizona at my Mom’s house in Scottsdale with my sister Laura, her husband Rob, and their 7-year old son Will.  Highlights included brunch with my high school friends and their families, feeding Claire her first “solid” food using the Texas-themed bib Laura & Rob gave her, dinner at a fun Mexican restaurant, Claire trying on a cute pink dress that was mine when I was a baby, continuing a twenty-year tradition of homemade Chex mix, lots of fun presents for the kids including castle sets both for Will and for Claire, and Stu and I sneaking out for a really good movie. Click on the photo below for a slideshow.

Claire wearing a cute top saying Santa's Little Helper

Merry Christmas, Mona!

A few years ago my family started a tradition of giving creative gifts to each other at Christmas. This year, my entry was a short video recorded with Katherine’s family singing new words to the title song from the 1966 TV special, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” Click on the triangle Play button below to see the video.


Continue reading Merry Christmas, Mona!

Grandma Judy visit

Claire’s grandmother Judy came to visit this weekend and they had a great time together, including strolls around the neighborhood, three or four feedings a day (thank you Judy!), reading, and even some multi-generational shopping with Claire, her Mom, and her Grandma hitting the mall together.  Other highlights included Judy buying the first pair of shoes Claire has worn on the town, all of us going out for dinner at our neighborhood Mexican restaurant, and Claire’s first professional photo shoot.  Judy was kind enough to take an evening shift Saturday so Katherine and I could celebrate my birthday over a nice dinner and plan our trip to England which begins Wednesday.  Click on the photo below for a slideshow.

Three generations of strong women