Parents first child still alive! Public in disbelief

One year already? No way!

Yes way!

Rigley made it through one year on the planet with us as parents. I'm really celebrating US this birthday. Two yahoos who really don't know what they're doing, kept a baby alive for a whole year. Pretty soon Rigley will be independent and then we can start crediting her with her own survival.

Its actually been a pretty amazing year.

Looking back I am so surprised with how much fun we've had. Before Rigley was born I would tell myself, "Ok, these first 5 years are going to suck. We just have to make it through and things will get easier." This first year has been a blast. Way better than I could have imagined. We've had two hospital stays, breastfeeding was awful for a while, and we still don't sleep much. With all that, the pro's still outweigh the con's by a mile!

That's what we can really credit Rigley for. She is hilarious, easy going, and feisty. She makes all the work fun and worth it.

For her birthday we bought a brand new bike trailer. So far she seems to like it. And she better. She'll be in it A LOT.

Feed Me Seymour!!

We are full blown into real people food now. This kid will try anything. As you can see in the photo above, she loves her beets. Also as you can see, beets get kind of messy. And, if you ever give your own baby beets, give the day care lady a heads up. Red diapers tend to cause a stir at day care.

I wish I could make a list of her favorite foods, but there really is only one. Black beans. When other food ends up on the wall, black beans are the "go to" item. If she won't eat her kale, spinach, or lentils (hmmm... i wonder why), we can out a black bean on the spoon and she'll pound it.

The biggest drawback of having a kid who loves black beans...

...the diapers. OUCH!

We're Back!!

Yeah, I know. It has been a while since the last post. And yes, I remember saying I would be better about this in 2010. Maybe this time its for real!

Things just seem to be pretty smooth around here. As you can see in the picture above, Spring is in full swing here in Colorado. Sorry if that's not true where you live, but no one is forcing you to live in Minnesota. Hiking on weekends has been a new addition to the routine. Breakfast with friends and then a quick hike in the foothills. We continue to discuss what spirituality might look like for our family in the future, and this is our favorite option so far. Connect with people and nature. And watch out for snakes too.

Its chow time at our house as well. Big Rig will eat whatever we put in front of her. Jen even caved recently and let Rigley have some banana. I know, I know, banana sounds safe, right? Well, you know Jen. She's pretty concerned that Rigley will develop a taste for anything sweet and may some day, when we're not watching closely, and the world is about to end... have a piece of candy. GASP! Or some ice cream. DOUBLE GASP!! We all know that Jen tends to live on the fringes in certain situations and she'd like some company.

Finally, Jen and Chris got a little break from any responsibility and jetted off to Las Vegas for a weekend. Thanks to Oma (Rigley's Grandmother) and the Fort Collins Support Staff (Linder, Dora, Meredith, Tim, Camonica, and Josie) for helping this happen. I can't say much about the trip because apparently what happens there, stays there, but I think the picture below sums it up.