Life in New Mexico

How can it be March already? We have been so busy since leaving Maryland!  Settling into our new life in Los Alamos has completely absorbed all of our time. We arrived in New Mexico on December 28th, after spending Christmas with our family in Clemson, SC. It was so nice to break up our move with good company and some relaxation. It took us three longs days and two nights from Clemson to reach our new home. This is the kind of trip that Colin and I normally look forward to, but with two full vehicles, two babies and two dogs our previous road trips could not compare. Having said this, the kids and dogs travelled nicely and we had no problems along the way.

Our first impression of our new home has become our lasting impression. We love it here! The landscape is absolutely amazing and we couldn't be happier living nearby our friends and of course traffic is nothing compared to what we left behind on the East Coast. Colin jokes about his 10 minute commute saying the biggest concern is watching for elk on the road! Everyone tells us that Los Alamos is a great place to raise kids, so we feel that we are in the best place we can be for our family with incredible outdoor opportunities literally just around the corner from our house. Colin started his new job on January 2nd, and is happy to be working with like-minded colleagues. He has worked with many of the people on his team at some point during his career in the military.

Finn and Lilly seem to be adjusting well to our new environment. It is so dry here, both have been battling dry skin and have had a few colds, which haven't been much fun, since we are living at such a high altitude.  Finn has become a full-fledged toddler learning new words everyday. His latest favorite word is, "NO," but we are very pleased to report that one of his first words and a word he uses regularly is "HAPPY!" He runs instead of walks everywhere and loves to be outside wandering the yard with Annie, or in the garage with Colin. He also loves to read books and play with toys. I'd be lying if I didn't share that he also loves to watch tv. He will take the remote control and point and say, "HEAD" indicating he would like to watch a show that includes singing. One of his favorite tunes is "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

Lilly is growing like a weed. She is already 5 and a half months. At her 4 month check-up she was 12.5 pounds and small for her age, but growing well. She rolls over, smiles all the time and is such a nice baby! She will continue to deal with hypothyroidism for the rest of her life, but we have been able to manage it quite easily. She loves her brother and Finn treats her very well for the most part. She still feeds during the night, but it isn't difficult to get up with her as we cherish the quiet time we have together and she is always full of cuddles as she falls back to sleep.

My parents drove out from Canada and spent two weeks with us in February. It was wonderful to see them and of course for them to meet Lilly. They drove three days each way on icy roads, so we really appreciated their effort to get here to see us! We look forward to seeing more of them and of course, we hope all of our family and friends will have the opportunity to come out for a visit!

We miss you and will do better at keeping in touch!

Christmas in Clemson 2012

Finnian and Auntie Trisha in front of the Christmas tree.

Colin and Lilly wearing her Christmas PJs.

Finn playing with his present from Santa. He loves Thomas the Train!

Lillian with her Aunties and cousin Raney.

Finn with his cousin Will. They had so much fun together!

On our way to New Mexico...life on the road!

Views of Los Alamos

The Rio Grande snaking through the canyons.

 Snow in the hills.

The sky is almost always blue here.

This is the bridge that takes us into Los Alamos.

Me taking a picture...we are at the bottom of a canyon. Many trees were destroyed during a forest fire a few years ago, but this canyon was untouched.

A Day in the Life of the family...

Lilly...such a smiley girl!

Finn sitting on his Dad's motorcycle. He can't wait to go for a ride!

Finn and our friend Rachel. We love to go for walks and play at the park together!

Finn and our friend Sarah. He loves her and we are lucky to have Sarah babysit the kids!

Finn taking his car out for a drive between a change of clothes.

Lilly is sitting in her chair. 

Finn is pretty proud that he gets to sit in the driver's seat with his Dad. You can see we have stopped at Sonic for lunch.

Lilly sleeping. I love how they pop their bums into the air!

 Mom and Dad's Visit

Mom, Dad and I at a scenic stop down the hill from the city of Los Alamos to our subdivision of White Rock.

Dad and I at a scenic stop on a Sunday drive.

Grandma working her magic with Lilly.

We celebrated Dad's 77th birthday.  Finn hoping to share Grandpa's birthday cake.

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids.

Finn eating with a fork. He's getting good!

Lilly in the Jumperoo. She's a little small, but enjoys looking at all the activities.

Out and about with the family.

And the Adventure Continues!

We are in the midst of so many big changes!

After spending 25 years of life in the Army, Colin is retiring and beginning his second career, which is taking us to New Mexico. So, we are packing up our lives in Maryland and are set to travel on December 22nd with a pit stop for Christmas with Colin's family in Clemson, SC. We will leave the family on Boxing Day and head west to Los Alamos, NM. It will be a 3 day road trip with the babies in my car and the dogs and all our important possessions in Colin's vehicle. Even though it was challenging having Lilly early, we are really lucky that Lilly and I are both ready to travel longer days, which may have been a problem if she was born on her due date. Another potential glitch that we have been lucky to overcome was Colin's knee surgery on November 30th. Fortunately, it went well and he will be able to travel without causing too much pain or difficulty. So, this week we are tying up loose ends so that we can pack up and be ready to go when the movers pull out of our driveway. We have our house up for sale and have had plenty of interest,  but are still no bites. The market is looking better in this part of the country, but I don't imagine many people will be looking to buy a house this close to the holiday season.

Finn and Lilly are doing really well. I am amazed at how well Finn can understand, even though he is only saying a few words. The other night I asked him if he was ready for bed and he got off the couch, blew a few kisses and walked to the gate, waiting for someone to open it. When it was open, he walked to the stairs, climbed them and crawled into his room. He went to bed without another word. Tonight he did the same thing when I suggested he take a bath (but crawled to the bathroom!).  He's becoming a little boy!

Lilly is growing like a weed. She had her two month check on Thursday and weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces, which is over a 4 pound increase from birth! She was skin and bones when she was born and now she has lots of baby fat around her arms and legs, so cute!

Due to all this chaos, we have decided not to mail out holiday wishes this year, but we do want to wish everyone this blog reaches a very Merry Christmas and a most fruitful New Year! We will hopefully be settled in Los Alamos/Santa Fe area by mid-January, so may be out of touch until then.

Peace and Love Always,
Karen, Colin, Finnian and Lillian

Colin and Finn in front of the White House Christmas Tree

Finn and Lilly in the only good picture that we have of them together by themselves.  Finn still cannot be trusted!!

Annie babysitting Lilly. She is so good with the kids!

Just the three of us.

My friend Marybeth made these shirts for Finn and Lilly. I love them! This one says, "Finn loves his little sister Lilly"

This isn't the best picture, but this shirt says, "Lilly loves her big brother Finn"

Colin's retirement luncheon with Kristen and the boys celebrating with us.

Colin receiving his retirement gift, a lithograph of the White House, from the Director of Security.

We did a two month photo shoot of Lilly. Here are some of the keepers:

And an outtake:

Finn test driving a mini cooper...he was a very unhappy boy when we pulled him out of the car. 

An Early Surprise!

Lillian arrived a little bit earlier than we expected.  She was due November 9th and came into this world on October 6th, not by her choice.  On Thursday, October 4th, I wasn't feeling the best. My blood pressure had been high and the doctors were testing me for pre-eclampsia, but so far the tests were negative. I decided to call the hospital and they asked that I come in for a check-up. So, Colin, Finn and I packed up in the car for what we thought would be a routine trip to Bethesda. Instead, I stayed at the hospital and Colin returned home with Finn in hopes to come back to the hospital the next day to bring me home for another two weeks before Lilly would be delivered.

My blood pressure was under control for most of the next day, but in the early evening things began to change again, so they made the decision to induce my labor.  Baby Lillian arrived at 35 weeks 1 day.  Colin had the foresight to bring a playpen for Finn and we all moved into the delivery room to labor through the night together.  Fortunately, we were all able to get some sleep and Finn was completely unaware as to how his life was about to change.

I was hoping to deliver during the early hours of the morning, while Finn was still asleep, but no such luck. Colin decided to call on his friend Spence to come and pick up Finn so that Colin could focus on the delivery.  Spence picked Finn up at noon, and Lilly was born at 13:07.  She came out screaming, a sound that has never been more welcoming.  She scored high on both Apgar tests and was placed into my arms. She was so small, only 5 pounds 7 ounces, like a doll. It wasn't long before the pediatric team took her back to continue their assessment. That is when they decided to move her to the NICU for further evaluation.  It seemed as though she could not regulate her body temeperature well, and her blood-glucose levels were not very good. These things are not uncommon for a baby born prematurely. So, Lilly went to the NICU, Colin went home to Finn and I was stuck in bed with an infusion of magnesium sulfate (yuck). By noon the next day, things were much better for all of us. Lilly was back in my room, I was off the magnesium sulfate, and Colin and Finn were back to visit us both! We were finally released from the hospital on the following Tuesday, and aside from a few doctor's visits we are getting into a routine at home and I am very grateful that Colin has two weeks of paternity leave.

Finn is interested in Lilly and has only been jealous when he sees her getting a bottle. But, as life sometimes happens, he has his first ever cold and cannot get too close to her right now. We'll see how he fairs in the upcoming weeks.

 Lillian Morgan Steed

13:07, October 6, 2012

5 pounds, 7 ounces

18.75 inches long

 Colin, Finn and Lilly watching Mom on drugs

 Look at how tiny she is, compared to Colin's  hands

 Getting ready to go home!

Dressing Lilly for the first time

 Lilly ready for the fall weather

 Our tiny girl in her car seat

 Finn (our new puppy) trying out his new jacket from Auntie Susie

All dressed up and ready to go!

Finnian's First Birthday and other Firsts!

We celebrated Finn's birthday on Sunday, August 19th, so that we could enjoy a family day instead of just a dinner party, which is all that would have happened on his actual birthday, the following Monday.  Colin and I checked out the weather report and chose Sunday as the perfect day to visit the National Zoo. This would be Finn's first trip to a zoo, so we were kind of excited. As you can see by the pictures below, it rained...hard. Finn took it all in stride though, and splashed in the water and perhaps enjoyed the day a little more with the rain. He didn't seem too excited to see the animals. We did see the giant panda exhibit and were sorry to hear that Mei Xiang's baby died last week. It was only one week old, but we did see Mama bear when she was expecting.

The day after Finn's birthday, he had his one year check up. He weighs 21.02 pounds. We were so surprised that he didn't weigh more that the doctor weighed him a second and then a third time. He feels much heavier than he apparently is! He is in the 25th percentile for weight and 30th percentile for height at 29.5 inches long. He had 4 teeth on his birthday, two on the top and two more on the bottom. However, on September 5th, I noticed that he has two more teeth on either side of his top two teeth...so now he has six and is teething further back, perhaps he'll get molars next.  He walks along furniture and will stand for a few seconds by himself, but has no interest in walking just yet. I'm ok with that as I have little interest in chasing him these days!  Along with his usual checks came the vaccinations. I hate seeing him get those darned needles!  Fortunately for me, Colin was there to wipe away Finn's tears and he never really has any serious reactions that cause much disruption.

The next week, Colin and I took Finn for his first haircut. We were nervous to get this done, but his hair was in his eyes, so it needed to get done. We took him to a children's salon (paid twice as much for his trim than Colin does for his buzz), but he really enjoyed the experience. He was full of smiles and there was so much going on, he had difficulty staying still during the cut.

It's hard to believe that Finn has been in this world for an entire year already, though I can't really remember what life was like before his arrival.  What does the next year hold for this little guy? Well, probably the biggest change will be adjusting to having a baby sister, but we are pretty confident that he will take the new addition to our family into stride when she gets here.

 Mama bear holding Finnian at the zoo. He didn't like this very much!

Utterly exhausted after the zoo, metro ride, not to mention all the rain!

First birthday cupcake!

Fingers first, then...

mmm...pure deliciousness!

Finn's first haircut

Loving the entire experience!

Opening his birthday gift from Auntie Katherine that came in the mail. He loves opening presents!

Another first: finally holding his own bottle of milk!

Finn enjoying an afternoon snack. He is getting so big!