Poppas and Cora's 5-month Birthday!

Cora's 5-month birthday gift was a visit from her Poppas!  We enjoyed a wonderful visit together, including...

a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo,

celebrating Poppa Mark's 56th birthday,

reading (these were taken June 26, when Cora turned 5 months),

a walk through the Formal Gardens at Miami University,

and frisbee golf.

Of course, no visit from Mark and Rich is ever complete without delicious food!

Thank you so much for making the trip from Seattle, Poppas Mark and Rich.  We love you, and we're so grateful for your visit!  Cora is one lucky grandbaby.  

Reading

There are few things I feel particularly dogmatic about when it comes to how other people *should* raise their kids.  To borrow from a spot on blog post: "I'm confident that most mothers [and parents] are doing the best that they can for their kids, even if their choices are different than mine."  

That said, I *do* feel strongly about the importance of reading to every child.  Some of my earliest and favorite memories involve reading, and the transcendent power of the written word.  I'm thankful to my parents for fueling this love, and I have no doubt Josh feels the same about his parents.

Today, I'm feeling grateful to Cora's poppas for helping to stock her growing library.  We love the stories, your thoughtful messages to Cora, and the time and care it takes to package and send each book.  Cora's favorite right now is In My Tree.  In the future, we know she'll appreciate the sweetness of On The Night You Were Born... or she'll identify with The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses... or she'll learn from That's Why We Don't Eat Animals.

 Thank you, Poppas Mark and Rich!  We love you.

Summer Day

With Cora, it's all about the simple pleasures in life.

First Father's Day :)

For Josh's first Father's Day, Cora and I wanted to make sure to do something special.  Being a parent is the most rewarding... exhausting... incredible thing Josh and I have ever done together.  And, I couldn't imagine a better dad for Cora than Josh.

Hueston Woods State Park is directly north of Oxford, so seemed like a great option.

Saturday night, we enjoyed a swim in the indoor pool.  Mom hopes that Cora will inherit the strong love of swimming genes from her Clerkin side of her family.  So far, it's looking that way!   

Josh enjoyed a good night's sleep and relaxation at the Lodge Saturday night.  Sunday morning, we reconnected for a morning breakfast of bagels and fruit, followed by a hike around the park.

Happy Father's Day.  We love you!

And Happy Father's Day to our wonderful dads, and to Cora's Grandpa John and Poppas Mark and Rich!

Happy Anniversary!

Last night, we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary.

Grandma Mel gave us the best gift of all: a night away from Cora! (sweetie, if you're reading this, mom and dad love you very much).  Cora was finally able to enjoy the long-anticipated "monkey basket."

She also tried on her adorable new Buckeye headband.

Meanwhile, we ate a fantastic dinner at Stella, where the server gave us free dessert after learning it was our anniversary.  We then saw Prometheus at the Princess Theater in Oxford.  We were flattered when the cashier asked us whether we wanted the student discount, although we're pretty sure he was under the influence of something :)  All in all, a wonderful celebration!

Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Patrick visit Cora!

We just enjoyed a great visit from Patrick and Jennifer.  We were thankful to them for making the trip in the midst of their incredibly busy summer (marriage + 2 graduations + cross-country move).  Patrick and Jennifer both have a natural talent with young children, and it's wonderful for us to witness Cora interacting with people who love her.

First meeting, in our new apartment:

Hueston Woods State Park:

Video: 

Cincinnati Zoo

Last week, we took a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo.  While I'm not always a huge fan of zoos (animals in cages = sad), this zoo seemed well-maintained and was a lot of fun for Cora.  She was definitely more interested in the people than the animals, though.

First, some photos:

Now, videos.  Let's see how many times Momma says, "Here we are at the Cincinnati zoo" :)

Kisses!

Elephants...

Condor...

Gorilla...

Lemurs...

Hugs!

Daddy captured a great photo of Cora giving Mom a hug :)  It would be impossible to love this little girl any more.

Bon Voyage, Providence

Saying goodbye to Providence was very difficult - much more difficult than I could have imagined when we moved 2 years ago.  In addition to the general aspects that make Providence a cool place to live, our time there holds many unique memories given that it's where our beautiful daughter was born.  Providence is/was also home to two of our very best friends, GT and Meghan.

A few videos and photos of our last few weeks in Providence...

Commemorating Cora's first nursery:

Neighborhood walks in the Pouch:

Auntie Meghan and Flying Cora:

Dancing with Momma after bath time:

Cora and Max:

With the cats, getting ready to move:

Just before saying goodbye to GT and Meghan (*boohoooo*):

Grandpa helping with the move:

Grandma helping with the move:

Goodbye, Providence.  We will miss you!

Grandparents

There is nothing quite like having our parents to help with Cora and provide support during this time of transition.

Thank you, Mom and Dad!  We already miss you... and, we'll do our best to "pay it forward." :)

Happy 4-month birthday!

These photos were taken April 26, 2012.  I realized when I was lying down to sleep that I'd forgotten to take Cora's "X month-old" birthday photos.  She was already asleep for the day, but truly, there is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby.  As my dad says, "I love you in the morning, I love you in the evening... but, I love you best when you're sleeping!" :)  So, these capture her 4-month old birthday well.

Cora's first swim

Grandpa John captured some great photos on his cell phone of Cora Ann's first swim, in Oxford, Ohio.  (thanks Aunt Kirsten and Uncle Darren for the adorable swimsuit!)

Cora Moves to Ohio

Cora was a wonderful baby on her first cross-country flight.  This photo was taken by our friendly flight attendant, just before we deplaned.  

I was so thankful to be greeted by Cora's Nana Beth and Grandpa John at the end of our long day of travel.