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.