Be My Little Valentine

Happy St. Valentine's Day! Tuesday was a long day of work, followed by my Sign Language class through the county. However, at 7:00 it was a great feeling to be driving home, knowing that what awaited me was not 1, not 2, but 3 Valentines! This year we celebrated Valentine's Day as a family and Jon, Lisa, and I enjoyed a feast of Chinese food after Kira went to bed. When I walked in the door, and came into the kitchen, this is how Jon and Kira greeted me:

There's nothing better than coming home to my family and beautiful roses! And when I said, "Will you be mine, Kiraline?" she reached for me and gave me a great big hug. I'll take that as a yes. :)

Kira turns one!

Well, we can hardly believe how fast time has flown by, but we had a great time celebrating Kira's first birthday on Sunday January 8 with family and friends. The party started at 2:30pm and Kira was in awe of the kindness and generosity of everyone who came to play with her and showered her with presents. We had three kinds of cupcakes made by Jon and lots of finger foods. I tried to display some of the cupcakes in the shape of a number one. Can you see it?














We played in the basement for the first time and Kira got to bat balloons around with all the kids and play pin the tail on the donkey with her cousins. When it came time for her first taste of pure sugar, Kira very daintily ate her cupcake and seemed to enjoy the icing, but it definitely made her thirsty for milk!

One day, she will ask me: "Mommy, who came to my first party?" (aside: I can't wait until she says mommy) and I will want to tell her, so I will list them here:
Aunt Lisa
My parents (Omi and Opa)
Aunt Alisa, Rachel and Annie
Aunt Becca, Uncle Matt, Hannah, Eve, Maggie and Eliza
Dawn
Sarvin, Lilia, and Natalie
Kim and Noah
Erin, Chris, and Colin
Matt and Amanda
Greg, Amanda, and Hayden

We had lots of fun and now I have tons of thank you notes to write! :) So until then, thank you to everyone who was with us in person and in spirit. My aunt Eva even sent Kira (but really me) a German Chocolate Hazelnut cake in the mail!

Later that evening, Kira fed herself like a big girl. For dinner, she had macaroni and cheese for the first time and chunks of sweet potato (one of her favorite foods). For dessert, she had puffs and whole milk. Yum! She was so tuckered out from her party that she went to bed early and slept like a baby (ha!)

Now to figure out when to clean up and take down the decorations... I have a feeling there will be balloons in the basement for a while! :)

First Mother's Day

For my first Mother's Day, I celebrated by going to Sears a few days before and having portraits taken with miss Kiraline. I wasn't expecting to love the pictures as much as I did, but the photographer was excellent and somehow managed to make Kira smile in every picture. So... I splurged and purchased the overpriced disk. You only have your first Mother's Day once, right? :)

Kira and Jon gave me a beautiful sapphire and diamond necklace and they each both gave me a dozen roses and some other goodies. Later that day, we went for a beautiful walk around our neighborhood. The temperature was perfect and the sunset was gorgeous over the mountains. Only a few more weeks until summer vacation and I get to spend all of my afternoons with my Kirabug! Here are my favorite shots from the studio:

Little Kirabug

At Kira's first appointment with the pediatrician, we discovered that she lost a few pounds and has jaundice. To help her gain weight, we will be supplementing with a few mL of formula.

The solution for the jaundice is to go home and have Kira rest on the "bili-blanket," which makes her glow like a little lightning bug. It does not seem very pleasant to lay on, but she is a good sport and it seems to be helping.

Luckily, with the help of my mom and the boppy pillow, Kira is more comfortable.

Chillin with her feet up.

Beautiful big eyes.

Welcome Kiraline Grace!

At 4am on Friday January 7, 2011, the 25.5 hour journey began and on January 8, 2011, our lives were forever changed for the better. Born at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring MD, Kiraline Grace was delivered by Nurse Candice and Dr. Anderson. Kiraline, which means "little lady," was born at 5:21 am weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and measuring 21.5 inches "tall." My parents, who will probably be called Omi and Opa, were Kira's first visitors. She is the first grandchild for my parents, and the 16th grandchild for Jon's parents.

I was so tired, that we never took an actual family photo in the hospital. :( Then on Monday, I guess we looked like we knew what we were doing, and they sent us home. We left during rush hour and Kira slept the whole way. It is a pretty amazing thing that just a few days earlier, we left the house just the two of us, and now we are a family of three. :)

So for the first time I can say...

Love, Kirsten, Jon, and Kira Tippets