Newborn/family/maternity pics

Grandma Noorda loving on her girls- Kaylynn and Grace

Bundled up and all ready to go

Bright eyed girl

Big smile :)

Dressed up and going out in her new sweater from Uncle Brandon (it says Disney princess on the side)... So CUTE!

Grace and Daddy always cuddling

All worn out from a big day

Dad just can't resist those kissable cheeks!

Pretty girl

Sweet baby Grace

Growing Up

Well we should probably start by giving you an update on the medical stuff. We got a call today from the the doctor and her blood numbers are officially in the normal range! We are so excited. She has been slowly turning the corner all on her own and is now right were she needs to be. We feel so blessed and happy she was able to do it all on her own and we never had to do any interventions.

Grace is growing up so fast. She is getting lots of cute baby rolls and we love every one of them. She is such a happy baby. She has the best smile in the world and she knows how to use it. One smile and she has mom and dad in the palm of her hand. She is quit the talker too. She always has lots of important things to tell us, if only we were smart enough to understand all of it. She has been doing a lot of firsts over the last couple of weeks. She had her first sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa Stokers, went to her first resturant, first time at church, first family vacation, and first family function. She has done great with all of them. We were able to go on a family vacation to Sun Valley for spring break. We didn't do much but it was so nice to just spend some time as a family and relax a little. We love being parents. She is truly fills our lives with so much joy. We feel so privileged to be entrusted with such a perfect little angel.

As for us, our lives are mostly consumed with figuring out parenthood, school and work. Chris is finishing up the last few weeks of school and is ecstatic to be done. He is going to take the summer off from school to help take care of Grace while Jane heads back to school. Jane is heading into another semester along with starting her internship. Nothing is set in stone but it looks like she will be doing it at Bingham Memorial Hospital in Blackfoot. She is nervous to leave Grace but hopes it won't be for long. Chris is still busy doing the National Guard. There is no news there for now. He is just working hard and looking forward to the future.

4-6 weeks old

Grace Jane

Bright eyes and all smiles!

Enjoying a little tummy time

So ADORABLE!!

WOW!!

Catching up on a little sleep... isn't she cute resting on her hand :)

It was a hard day.. but this seems a little dramatic

Our little angel

Sweet girl!

Things are looking up :)

Well, we thought we should update everybody on how Grace has been doing. We have been continuing to monitor her blood levels over the last couple of weeks. So far her numbers have been consistently dropping. This week is the first week her numbers have gone UP! We couldn't be happier. We have been talking weekly with our Doctor here in town as well as at Primary Children's. Both Doctors are thrilled to see this turn without any interventions. We are all hoping she will continue to increase her numbers on her own (which we think she will). She continues to grow and is right on track with her development. She is happy and healthy and now that she is turning this corner we have no reason not to think that things are only going to get better. I'm sure Grace will be happy to have people stop poking her with needles as well.

We are loving being parents. We have officially crossed over to the other side... you know when parents start to say "I can't remember what life was like before we had kids" and you realize they don't talk about anything but their baby (I will just apologize ahead of time for that-we can't help it:). It's a crazy place to be but we are loving it. Grace is such a beautiful little girl. She brings so much joy to our little family. Now, if you will allow me I have to brag just a little... She is so strong. Today during her tummy time she pushed herself up and moved her head to the other side! She is holding her head up more all the time and is getting better at steadying it. She is starting to focus on things and she will follow things with her head and eyes if you move it. She is really starting to get the smiling thing down too. She will focus on your face and smile back when you talk to her. It is so amazing to watch her grow. Everything is new and exciting. Everyday she is learning and growing. We are thrilled just to be apart of it.

The Boat

Not to take away from Grace's arrival, I thought I should involve the progress of my little hobby of building a sailboat. I love sailing but boats tend to be expensive and there isn't a huge market for them here in land bound Idaho. Jane's mother was gracious enough to let me use their shop room in their basement this winter to work on this little project. Above is the first step and it already starts to look like a boat.

Next came some reinforcement framing and the bottom. The boat is about 11' so an 8' piece of plywood was too short to cover the length. Also I added an extra "rib" in the middle to add stability and strength.

This is the bottom completed. I just had to cut some small pieces to fit. The white pieces in the bottom were an experiment in trying to find material that would bend to fit the curves of the boat. I tried this manufactured material and it was a total flop. Sadly, I had to make it work because of my very limited budget. Hopefully it holds later! ha ha. Also added is the keel box in the center and the mast stepping position towards the front.

This picture and the next show the attachment of small blocks that will be a part of the framed rail around the upper edge of the boat. They are glued and screwed into place.

See Above.

Due to the failure of trying to find a material that would bend with the curves of the boat I was forced to do some research on how to bend wood. I tried to strong arm some pieces but they just broke and cracked. I ended up building a steamer. I found a cheap PVC pipe, tea kettle, a hot plate and some old washing machine water tubing. The pieces of wood are put in the pipe, which is sealed up on both ends. The tea kettle is filled with water and brought to a boil on the hot plate and the steam runs through the washing machine water line into the PVC pipe and steams the wood. And it worked!

This is a picture with the steam bent pieces attached to the upper edge of the boat. There is another piece attached to the inside, making little handle/rope tying points in the gaps between the wooden blocks.

Close view of the bent wood and framing of the upper edge.

And this is about as far as I've got. I have really enjoyed working on it so far this winter and will put some other pictures up as it progresses.