Halloween Pics

Queen Elena

Wicked Eva

What a pair!

Happy Halloween!

Max William

Christopher now has a fellow male Kramer cousin (granddaughters: 9, grandsons: 2). On Wednesday, Emily gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby boy: Max William Chambers. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz., and was 20 inches long. Both mother and baby are well.

Since she thoughtfully posted a few pictures of Christopher after he was born, I thought I'd do the same for her. Here are two adorable close-ups my mom and dad took at the hospital (I have bronchitis, so I can't meet him yet---AAAAAAAAAARGGHHHH!)

Christopher's Favorite Things

Christopher is now 9 months old. Here are some of his favorite things:

Reading with daddy.

Playing with dolls.

Mowing the lawn

Being adorable.

Demonstrating his army crawl.

Hike to Stewart Falls

Erin, Christopher, and Chris at the base of Stewart Falls.


Chris, Christopher, Erin, and Geoffrey on the trail.

One of the first views of the falls from the trail.

Stewart Falls

My department offers the opportunity for faculty members to bring colleagues from other institutions to BYU to collaborate on research projects. This week I finally took advantage of the opportunity and brought another young professor to BYU. Aside from brainstorming and doing some initial data analyses, we took some time off to enjoy a hike in Provo Canyon to Stewart Falls. Chris and I originally thought it would be a perfect family hike, but my sister Eleanor convinced me that Elena and Eva might not do so well given some of our time constraints. Emily graciously offered to watch the two girls so we could still go. Since Christopher is still really stranger anxious, we brought him along in a hiking back pack.

The weather was fantastic--sunny and clear, but still cool enough for a hike. I had forgotten how enjoyable the hike is, how beautiful the view is, and how refreshing the mist from the falls is when you hike down to the base. After the hike we had to gert back to work, but not before we enjoyed a little Cafe Rio lunch.

Dance Recital

Preparing to pray with the other dancers before the show.

The flower barrette we made for the recital.

A congratulatory kiss from Mommy after the show.

A congratulatory kiss from Daddy after the show.

Eva, Christopher, and Elena

Elena loves to dance. Even when she was only 3 years old she loved to try new dance moves. Remember her salsa dance?! This past year she thoroughly enjoyed taking a creative dance class at BYU. The big dance showcase was Saturday May 16th. Elena's class performed a dance called "April Showers Bring Dancing Flowers." To accessorize her costume, Elena asked me to help her make a little flower barrette. We chose a coral color flower we already had in our craft drawer, and added a little yellow center because yellow is Elena's f avorite color. Grandma and Grandpa Kramer, and Grandma and Grandpa Holmes came to watch. Elena danced beautifully. We were so proud!

Happy Mother's Day!

I would like to wish all of the wonderful women I know a belated but very Happy Mother's Day.

I had such a wonderful day yesterday. Chris woke up at the same time I did and made me breakfast (he's not much of an early riser, and despite his many wonderful domestic skills, he doesn't usually prepare meals at our house). After I nursed the baby, I handed him to Chris and got to enjoy ample time to shower and get myself ready for church. By that time, Chris and the girls prepared me a scrumptious plate of gluten free/dairy free blueberry pancakes, with a beautiful strawberry flower garnish. They even bought a spray can of non-dairy whipped topping to make the plate look especially marvelous. How thoughtful!

After church, Chris prepared clam linguine, fruit salad, and brownie sundaes for dessert (here we did eat dairy). We then went over to Grandma Kramer's house to celebrate with her. During our visit Syd, Gustavo, and baby Ella also came over. It's always so fun to celebrate and relax with each other.

Trip to Boise

Last weekend we accompanied Chris on a trip to Boise for an audition with Opera Idaho. We discovered that we're not the best travelers (what should have been a 6 hour trip took us 9+ hours). Despite the length of the trip, we really enjoyed our time with each other. We ate lots of fruit snacks and rice quakes (gluten free and dairy free of course), drank lots of capri sun, stopped at many rest stops for potty breaks and mommy milk for Christopher, listened to music, and tried to watch Mary Poppins and High School Musical on a portable DVD player. Our kids got along well, and for most of the trip, Christopher was able to relax well in his carseat.

We stayed with Chris's Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Brad. Their home is beautiful, and they were excellent hosts. Rosalie made scrumptious waffles for breakfast. She even made her own maple syrup. Serena (their daughter) lives in the area, so when she came over to go running with her dad, we got to meet her adorable little boy Lincoln.

One of the other highlights of the trip was a visit to the Discovery Center of Idaho. That Saturday happened to be free to the public, so the kids and I went there while Chris auditioned for Opera Idaho. Among other things we went grocery shopping in the center's market, pretended to be veterinarians, made a tornado, road an air-brake chair, blew gigantic bubbles, and watched Irish dancers perform. We had oodles of fun.

We learned from the first leg of our trip that we DID NOT want to make so many stops. The return trip took about 7 hours.

Beads Glorious Beads

No, this post is not about jewelry. It's about my children's recent fascination with beads.

About two weeks ago, Elena came into the office where Chris and I were chatting. In a frustrated, verge of tears tone she announced, "I have a bead in my nose and it won't come out." This was an unexpected turn of events. Since Elena is practically 6, we thought we had avoided the bead-up-the-nose scenario. Chris and I turned to each other, unsure if we should laugh (it is kind of funny, right?) or cry (how the heck do you get a bead out of your kid's nose?!). It was 4:30 p.m., so I hurriedly called the pediatrician's office before we would be re-routed to the "after hours" clinic. The nurse said that if we rushed to the office, she would be willing to help us. Chris took both Elena and Eva, thinking that this would be a natural deterrant for Eva. With the help of some large tweezers to dilate Elena's nostril, and some very tiny tweezers for grasping, the nurse retrieved the bead. Elena proudly stores the bead in a specimen cup from the doctor's office.

The very next day Eva approached me while I was doing laundry. She too announced, "I have a bead in my nose." I practically screamed, "What?!" That obviously wasn't the right response because Eva looked up at me and said, "Nevermind." She does like to imagine things, so I finished up with the laundry and then went to investigate further. While we played, I noticed that her right nostril did seem a little bigger than her left, so I asked for more details. In a matter-of-fact voice she said, "I found a little bead on the floor, so I put it in my nose." This time I restrained myself, and simply asked "Can I take a peak?" Sure enough, a little pearl was stuck just beyond my grasp in her right nostril. I called the doctor's office again and scheduled an appointment. Fortunately, we spared ourselves another co-pay because during lunch Eva had a big sneeze and the bead came out.

If anybody else has some great bead (or other object) experiences, post a comment. I'd love to hear about it!

Hot Pink

Finding clothes to wear with a cast can be challenging . . . .

Even princesses wear casts sometimes . . . .

So, I suppose I can't just tell you all that Elena broke her arm without sharing a few details. On Thursday night (Feb. 12th), I returned home from work to find Elena whimpering on the couch. Grandma Holmes was comforting her.

I asked, "What's the matter sweetie?"

And Elena said in her most pained voice, "I think I broke my arm."

I thought perhaps Elena was being a bit melodramatic (hmmm, from whom would she learn that?) especially since we were all still getting settled into our new routine while Chris was away. I asked Margie to tell me what happened. Apparently, Elena decided to do some gymnastics moves off the side of the couch--with her arms fully extended. I realized then that I should pay more attention to her complaints.

I called the after hours line at the pediatrician's office.

We scheduled an appt., kissed Grandma Holmes good-bye, took Christopher and Eva to Grandma Kramer's house, and went to the doctor's office. The doctor confirmed that Elena needed an x-ray and sent us to the radiologist at UVRMC. After x-rays, Elena and I shared a grilled cheese sandwich at Kneader's (gluten and dairy are a rare treat for us these days). The doctor called my cell phone to invite us back to the office for a splint. Turns out that she had a buckle fracture of both her radius and ulna. Her arm was in a splint until Valentine's Day, when she selected a glorious hot pink cast.

It's been 3 weeks. Her teacher tells me that she's very impressed with how well Elena has adapted to using her left arm to write. She really has been a trooper. Though she did submerge her entire cast in the bathtub seconds after I told her to rest it on the edge of the bathtub (despite the grocery bag wrapping, I had to blow it dry for about 15 minutes), we've had very few cast-related incidents. Now we're counting down 'til Friday when she gets her cast removed.

But it is . . . but it isn't

This morning at 7:51 Eva came storming into my bedroom shouting "This is your last warning Mister!" Having no clue what infraction I committed, I quietly asked, "It is?" She then replied, "But it isn't" and gave me a sweet little kiss. After the kiss, she yelled "but it is!" and then ran back out of the room.

Catch Up

Here are a few brief updates from December, January, and February.

December

In December, Christopher had his 2-month-old check up and got a clean bill of health. Despite the coughs and colds that his sisters keep picking up, he continues to stay healthy.

We mourned the loss of my Grandma Kramer. She passed away a few short days before Christmas. Though I continue to miss her, I have felt great peace about her death. It was the first time I actually got to say good-bye to someone I loved before they passed away. It was beautiful to hold her, to tell her how much I loved her, to hear the same words from her to me, and to receive a calming confirmation that she was going on to a better place.

Of course, we also celebrated a wonderful Christmas with almost all of our Kramer and Holmes siblings. It was great to see each other! We went to Kangaroo Zoo, played at the dinosaur museum, made and ate lots of delicious treats, played Harry Potter Clue, and shared a lot of great conversation with each other. Chris and I also loved the chance to see some of our old high school and college friends who were back in town visiting relatives for the holidays.

At the end of the month, on December 28th, we asked Grandpa Kramer to give Christopher his name and a priesthood blessing. Chris was blessed by his Grandpa Holmes and he thought this would be a nice tradition to extend with our own children. Here are some pictures that my sister Megan took at the event.

January

In January I went back to work. My schedule varies a bit from week to week, but I'm finding ways to do some work from home so I can still be close to Christopher and the girls. I'm continuing to publish my work and complete manuscripts to submit for publication--both an exciting and frightening part of life as a professor.

We also celebrated Chris's 35th birthday.

February

In February, Chris performed a recital in the Temple Square Recital Series in Salt Lake. It was a great success thanks to his accompanist Jane Galloway and his fellow recital performer Monte Belknap on the violin. The day after the recital, we took Chris to the airport to begin rehearsals for Bizet's Carmen.

While Chris has been away Elena has broken her arm, I have melted a plastic baby bib in my oven (requiring me to evacuate my home so my kids and I didn't inhale too many plastic fumes), and I have learned how to replace the rear brake lights in my car. I have also enjoyed extra cuddle time with my children, some quiet time in the evenings, and lots of wonderful love and support from my parents, parents-in-law, and sisters who live in the area.

We also welcomed two new nieces into our family this month. Sydney gave birth to Ella Marie, and Taliatha gave birth to Ann-Marie Wren.

Finally, back to where we started, Christopher had his four-month-old check-up last week. He weighed almost 16 pounds, was 25 1/2 inches long, and his head is 43 1/2 cm around. He is getting so big! He loves to giggle, coo, smile, eat, poop, and sleep. He is also getting used to Eva's high pitched squeals, and her (sometimes) gentle hugs and kisses.