Guest Post: Grandma Cecilia!

Denny and I visited the Koorn family at the end of July and enjoyed staying with Freja while Kelly, Jan, and Vida went to California to attend a wedding.  We did some sightseeing along the way, visiting Colorado Springs for a few days to see Garden of the Gods and Pike's Peak, then Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park for a week.  Of course, the highlight of the trip was Carbondale and the Koorn House!!!

 

Denny was happy to meet the very smiley Miss Vida.  What a sweetheart she is, happy and cooing most of the time!  She had also figured out how to sound like a motorboat, as you can see in the video!

 

Freja is a busy little girl!  I had taken several books for her, and while she loves to play outside, she is still very happy to climb into a chair with you for storytime.  We were amazed at her bicycle skills; she is certainly her Daddy's daughter!  She loves buzzing around the neighborhood on her Strider! 

 

I was determined to potty-train Freja while we were there.  She was doing pretty well, IF I asked.  I'd say, "Freja, would you like to go potty?"  Her response was usually an enthusiastic "I WOULD like to go potty!" with the  enthusiasm I might have expected if I had asked if she would like a treat...  She didn't always go, but it was a start and she knows what it's all about.

 

Denny kept pretty busy while we were there.  He jogged most days, and hiked to the top of Red Hill with Kelly one day (he said "hill" was definitely a misnomer!).  He also repaired and replaced window screens, stained the backyard playset, set the mailbox in concrete, and we pulled weeds, mulched and planted flowers. 

 

One morning, Denny discovered a HUGE leak in the corner of our bedroom!  There was about a 5' square area of soaked carpet.   A hose bib had split inside the wall.  He got the water shut off, Kelly called a plumber, and within a few hours, there was a 12-14" hole in the wall that needed patched and repainted...  It took most of the week to get the carpet dried out, and before we left, the room was back to normal; Denny did a great job of fixing the wall, and touched up some other places in the house while he was repainting the repair.

 

While Kelly, Jan and Vida were in California, we took Freja to Meeker, CO, to visit my niece and her family.  Freja enjoyed playing with 3 yr olds Elijah and Bella.

Kelly's friend Rachel visited with 3 year old Willow and 6 month old twins, Brooke and Keira while we were there.  It looked like we were starting a nursery!  Freja and Willow really enjoy each other's company, and as Vida and the twins get older, I'm sure they will all be best friends!

 

We enjoyed our visit and being able to spend some time with those precious little girls!   

Vonderschmidt's "to the rescue"

With Jan headed out of town for a long camping weekend, we were called in for assistance.  Kacee, Zack, and I arrived the evening of the 19th and were greeted with cautious looks by Miss Freja.  By the next morning though, we were all playing and at home with everyone.  Freja is very chatty and often easy-going.  She does love books; we read throughout the day (every day).  When it was Vida's feeding time, Freja would offer to help Kelly out by saying, "Feed me the baby"...cute toddler sayings (Kelly, I hope you are finally writing them down).

We spent an afternoon at Redstone - enjoyed a picnic lunch, throwing pebbles into the river, feeling the cold water, and window shopping for unique crafts/gifts in the old, coke mining village shops.  While we were there, a tour bus of about 35 stopped by.  We learned a little about local water conservation efforts - Freja was more interested in the rocks.  On Saturday, we headed to Glenwood Springs to attend the Strawberry Days Festival Parade.  While Freja enjoyed her first blue-raspberry sucker, I had Vida in the Baby Bjorn - overwhelmed by sights and sounds, she was asleep.  We hit the Basalt Farmer's Market on Sunday, as well as the library.  Love the library - games (both computer and board/puzzle options), a play area, and built-into-the-floor dioramas!  

Vida is quite a joy.  She was sleeping thru the night (12 hours +/-), but resisted a morning or afternoon siesta.  We could get her to nap either in short snatches or a total of about an hour.  She just didn't want to miss out on a thing.  She coo's and goo's a lot, loves to look at the jungle animals on her musical play mat/arches, and was fascinated by her cousins.  Freja is an active toddler - absorbing everything she sees and hears.  She loved playing with Zack - he's big enough to pick her up/carry her around.  

We headed home the day after Jan got back.  It wasn't easy to leave those bright, happy little faces.  So darn cute and bubbly.  But, it was harder to leave Kacee behind.  She's staying on to help out and so she experiences a little independence at the start of her teen years.  How quickly time flies...weeks become years become memories.  

Meow

Babies & kids love cats. Our cats don't necessarily feel the same way. These pictures were taken with great caution and in haste. Soclose!

The Koorns Come to Carbondale!

Guest blogger Grandpa Dirk here. Jeanne and I got to meet our newest granddaughter, Vida Evangeline (what a beautiful name!), and spend some time getting to know Freja better over the past two weeks. 

Freja, now two years old, is the most delightful little girl in the world. Jan and Kelly are so very fortunate to have two such wonderful daughters. Jeanne and I spent time almost every day taking Freja to the nearby park to play. In just two weeks we saw a remarkable increase in strength and coordination on the playground equipment, and a growth in self confidence in trying out new things. All the while we watched her vocabulary and language use increase by leaps and bounds. I found it interesting that she was generally more fascinated by sticks, bugs, leaves, flowers, trees, and other such marvels of nature than she was by the toys and equipment at the park. Sure, she pleased us by showing what she could do on the swings, slides, ladders and such, but then get distracted by an ant or spider or flower and run off to play with that instead, usually with a stick in her hand. Two-year-olds can be the most fun people in the world with their growing interest and awareness of the world around them.

Of course, Freja still loves her books as much as Grandma Jeanne and I love reading them to her.

Vida talks, but in a different way. She has expressive eyes that focus more and more on the people and world around her. Without getting out the photos, it's hard to remember Freja ever being this small, but she must have been. We're lucky to have lots of pictures of them both to remember the various stages of growth and development.

Attached is one of my favorite pictures of Vida, taken on my birthday, which I was fortunate to be able to spend with them.

Vida, at just two months, loves sleeping in Grandma's arms, and she is good at lulling Grandma to sleep too.

I am so proud of Jan and Kelly for what they've done to raise these beautiful girls of theirs. You couldn't find better parents than them anywhere!

Double Trouble!

We just inherited a great double jogging stroller, so I took the girls out for a walk today. How nice for me to be able to load them both up and go! We will get a lot of use out of the stroller this summer, especially now that we are in Carbondale. Lots going on here all the time!

Guest Post: Gene & Marsha!

Grandpa Gene and Grandma Marsha are blogging this time. We are visiting the Koorn family—the family that has not just one, but two young daughters! We were delayed a day by a spring snowstorm that canceled our flight, but happily we made it on Wednesday.

We have been having a super time here in the new house in Carbondale. We met Baby Vida, 5 weeks old, on April 10th. She is so small and warm to cuddle. Her smiles are very sweet! Sometimes she reminds us of Freja as a baby, and other times she is very uniquely herself. Surprisingly, she seems to be growing out of some of her clothes more quickly than her sister did. They are just not long enough for her. She has been very busy eating which keeps Mommy Kelly very busy! I guess Vida will look a lot different the next time we see her—little ones change so fast!

Freja is growing into the role of big sister. She talks to Baby Vida, gently covers her with her blanket, and one day quieted her by giving her her pacifier. I can imagine one day that Freja will be sharing her favorite books with her little sister. Way too much energy, doesn't stop asking “What doing, Grandma?” all day long.

Luckily, we were here to see the nice surprise package from Grandpa Dirk and Grandma Jeanne that contained some cute new “duds” for Freja. She looked precious in her fancy, lacy dress, and her hoodie with fur trim. She'll look cute in all the others things, too. It is hard for Freja not to look cute!

Of course, it's not all about Freja and Vida. Jan started his first batch of beer on Saturday, it took him and Grandpa Gene about 5 hours to mix, heat, boil, cool and add the yeast for a Blond Ale to the fermenter. Grandpa may have to come back in 4-5 weeks if he wants to taste the result. Actually, Grandpa may start a batch when he gets back to Indiana.

Grandparents, Take Two

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in posts! We're pretty busy here now with two babies. Luckily all the grandparents are coming to meet Vida & help us this spring. My dad & Marsha are here now and will get a guest post up soon. Until then here's a pic of Marsha & Freja at the park this afternoon. Freja sure loves having new playmates here to keep her busy!

WELCOME, BABY VIDA!

Grandma Cecilia reporting...  I was very blessed to get to spend time with the growing Koorn Family during March!  I arrived a few days before Vida, helped get things together in anticipation of Baby’s arrival, and became familiar with the new home and Freja’s schedule.  Kelly, Freja and I met my niece (and Kelly’s cousin) Candy, her husband, and their 2 year old twins for lunch in Glenwood on Saturday before the big day too.  Unfortunately, while busy with 3 toddlers at a restaurant, no one remembered to get out a camera or phone to record the event!

Seeing how much Freja has changed since they were in Indiana in October was something!  She turned two shortly before I arrived, but has quite a vocabulary!  She speaks in sentences (“No, I don’t want to!” being one of the most-used), and knows how to spell her name, as well as recite the entire alphabet and count past ten.  She recognizes most numbers and letters when randomly shown.  And, she uses the words “Oh, shoot!” very appropriately and with just the right emphasis when she drops something or has difficulty performing a task.  She still enjoys reading and plays quite well by herself for long periods of time.  She’s very familiar with games that can be played on the iPad or iPhone and can navigate both much more proficiently than I can!  I could have used her during the Chicago layover en route back to FL…  I couldn’t figure out how to get out of “Airplane Mode,” something she was able to easily do at her home, as we found out when she called Kacee on Facetime when we thought she was playing a game!

Baby Vida Evangeline arrived Wednesday morning, March 6^th.  She is tiny; weighed in at 6#, 10 oz and was 20” long.  Like most newborns, she is somewhat confused about days/nights, but is precious just the same!  She has quite a bit of black hair, similar to her Aunt Julie’s when she was a newborn.   We kept thinking she resembled her Mother much more than Freja did/does, but when we looked back at Freja’s newborn pictures, we realized they are very similar, except for the hair!

Jan started his new position with a new company less than a week after Vida was born, and needed to be in Vail for most of that week, so I stayed during that time to help as well.  

Jan and Kelly are both very conscientious parents who will learn a LOT as they raise these two beautiful little girls!

Ch-cha-cha-Changes!

It's been over a month since the last post but there is good reason for our neglect of the blog which is we've been BUSY.

The most important change came on Wednesday March 6th at 7:58am with the birth of Vida Evangeline!  She was born at Aspen Valley Hospital the same as her sister.  Unlike her sister, however, she was born with a head full of dark hair (hidden under her newborn hat in the photo below)!  Hair aside, her facial features are very similar to Freja's during her first week.

Kelly and I spent 3 nights in the hospital before coming home with our new bundle of joy.  During that time Freja got to hang out with Grandma Cecelia which she has enjoyed immensely.  Freja 'seems' to love her new sister asking her "Baby Vida, what doing?"  The answer is usually sleeping.

So, if having a newborn at home wasn't enough we also moved into a new house in Carbondale two weeks before Vida was born.  We loved our townhome in Basalt but the layout wasn't conducive to raising two girls.  The move itself wasn't too bad and we are now feeling cozy in our new home.  Freja even likes to say "This is my house."  (everything is her's these days :o)  I don't have a good photo to share yet so those that want to see it will just have to come for visit.  Below is a photo of Freja 'brushing' the driveway.

Finally, the addition of Vida to the family and moving to a new house wasn't quite enough for me, so I added a change in jobs to the mix.  After 9+ years with Aspen Skiing Company I left to take a Director of Finance job for Timbers Resorts (http://www.timbersresorts.com/).  The job is primarily based in Carbondale which means it is a short bike ride to the office, but I will also be traveling to Vail often to oversee an accounting staff at the hotel Sebastian at Vail.  This was my first week at the job and I'm excited for this new challenge and opportunity.   Best part of the new job so far was a spontaneous lunch date with my lovely wife.

So, that is the update from the Koorn family.  We are enjoying all of our changes and looking forward to a great 2013. Lots of love - Jan.

A Day at the Farm

Freja & I met up with Sawyer, Julie & Julie's mom Sandee at Rock Bottom Ranch this morning for a fun winter farm tour. We saw lots of chickens, a few goats, one turkey, several big rabbits, lots of ducks, some sheep, plenty of pigs (including 3-month-old and 6-month-old babies) and this lone snapping turtle. Whew! It was quite an adventure. We are lucky to have such a fun & family-friendly nature center nearby.

Baby 2.0 - 36 Weeks!

Here are a couple of ultrasound pictures of the baby taken at this week's checkup. Again we think she looks like Freja - and we'll find out in person soon enough. I'm 36 weeks pregnant now, which is a milestone, in that I can have the baby in Aspen. (Had I gone in to labor before 36 weeks, I would have been flown to Denver to deliver, because the "rural" Aspen hospital doesn't accommodate preemie births.) So it's a huge relief, needless to say! And obviously it also means we've got just a month to go.

My mom (Cecilia) went back through old blog posts and saw Freja's last ultrasound pictures (see December 2010), and she also thinks baby 2.0 looks a lot like her big sister.  I'll let you decide.

Wonder how big the baby is now, and what she's up to?
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement. See what your baby looks like this week.

I Splashing!

She was splashing around a lot today, and having a lot of fun doing it. xo

Sad Face

Freja. & I met some friends at the park today for some sledding. It's a common theme this winter! Here she is watching Julie & Sawyer load up in their car. You can just see the disbelief on her face that we were all headed in different directions. Definitely a "Mommy how could you!" moment. So so sad whenever it's time to say goodbye.

Sled Heads

After several weeks of cold, cold weather (think lows below zero, every day, for weeks!) we're getting some warmer sunny days up here in the mountains. Freja & I have had a little cabin fever with such cold weather, so we were so happy to get out & about and soak up some vitamin D today. We met up with Willow & Brian at the Willits Park for some sledding and as you can see from the picture above, all the fun led to some big smiles (and a few tears when it was time to leave the park).

We've finally got an official closing date on the house, February 19. That week will be extra busy and extra special, as we celebrate Freja's big #2 birthday, close on the house and start the moving process all within a few days. Baby 2.0 is due just two weeks later, so we'll have LOTS to keep ourselves busy & distracted unpacking and getting settled before she arrives.

What's the baby up to at 33 weeks?

Your baby's crown-to-rump length is about 17 inches. She weighs about 4 1/2 pounds (about the size of a pineapple) and gains about eight ounces every week.

Your baby has probably moved to the head-down position and may descend into your pelvis at any time in the next six weeks and begin to press into your cervix. This position not only prepares her for birth but allows blood to flow to her developing brain. The dark quiet of your womb is perfect for this activity. Right now, your baby is also in the process of receiving your antibodies. If she were born right now, her immune system would be immature, and extra care would need to be taken to keep her in a sterile environment.

Day at the Park

Freja & I ran a few errands this morning, so while we were out we stopped at Crown Mountain Park to burn off some energy. It was pretty cold, with temps in the teens, but with the Colorado sunshine it seemed quite a bit warmer. Freja really doesn't like walking in snow, even with those big burly boots on, so she'll stop where the cleared-off sidewalk ends and the snow begins, and say "Mommy, I carry you." I gave her a lift once in a while but am trying to get her used to snow. We do live in the mountains after all.

Baby 2.0 is moving so much, big roly-poly movements that stop me in my tracks sometimes, and are usually visible from the outside. I've said before that it's reassuring feeling her movements, but, uhhh. I'm getting to a point where I could do with less powerful punches! She really keeps me up at night, if not from all the kicking and rolling, from using my bladder as a trampoline. Wonder what else she is up to at 31 weeks?

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

See what your baby looks like this week.