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.