Halloween

The whole gang including Opa went trick or treating on Pearl Street. We managed to bring no candy home from the event. Between Princess Jasmine I and Princess Jasmine II, the candy barely made it into the bag. Hayes went as the genie and Leo was Abu...quite the festive bunch.


In honor of Reeder and Hayes' attendance at Halloween, we threw a pumpkin carving, cupcake decorating, apple bopping, funny clothes wearing party...

Papa was in charge of the giant pumpkin.
Yep, this is the funny clothes part of the party. Reeder insisted that we looked like Princess Jasmine, I had my doubts.
Hayes is very afraid of his likeness, created by his loving mother.
We bobbed for animals. Reeder had practice at a CA party and taught everyone else how it is done.
I learned from Reeder...she is standing behind me coaching my every effort.

Lakshmi Puja

Every year, Namaste Solar Electric (my papa's company) honors its Nepali roots and celebrates Lakshmi Puja. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and the company makes offerings to her in the hopes of another prosperous year. And, of course, they have a huge Nepali feast which is delicious!
Papa gave Reeder and me chalk for...
decorating the mandala. Lakshmi comes down to the mandala and...
follows the red path to the offerings. Reeder and I helped fill in this mandala!!!

Obama Rally

Whenever Aunt Wee and her kiddos come to town, you know it is going to be a party. And this time the party took us to the Barack Obama rally in downtown Denver. Yep, our posse was 7 of the 100,000 people who attended this historic event. As we were enjoying a calm Sunday morning our neighbors headed to the bus stop talking about the Obama rally - and Aunt Wee rallied all of us out the door in 15 minutes to go. As you can see, we met Barack....or at least I thought it was Barack.
Here we all are enjoying the event. You cannot tell from this picture, but Reeder and I ate our way through the entire rally...
Here I am eating and my Papa is ecstatic to be at the rally...
And, Leo, well he slept through the whole thing...quite the party animal.

Hanging Out with the Kappels

Reeder says 'So we bathed - big deal - but not often.' and Hayes says 'Whose in charge of these crazy chicas' and Eden says 'What crazy chicas, Hayes?'

Notice the size differential...Leo is diligently working to close the gap.
Sometimes we even took breaks (albeit short ones) from all the chaos.

We also built forts, tunnels, pits - and threw ourselves off the couch, hoping for a soft landing.
We even cooked with Aunt Wee and Mama. Although, the rules about not tasting were not strictly followed - or followed at all for that matter.

I had a pretty big weekend. Grandma Irvin arrived on Friday and spent the whole weekend snuggling me, rocking me, changing me, and just giving me lots and lots of love.
I did sleep through some of the festivities but considering the weekend high was 40 degrees, I did not miss much.
I open my eyes now and look around...it is a crazy busy place where I am.
Here is my beautiful sister dressed for the circus...She went with Papa and Opa. Her favorite parts were the elephants and the cheeseburger she ate at intermission. I think I will go take a nap now and dream of cheeseburgers....

Life Plus Leo

As the youngest member of the Irvin family (this is Leo here), I qualify for certain perks - including being held while I sleep. This is quite the royal treatment and I hope it lasts until I start high school.
Of course my sister gets lots of other perks, like watching videos on "my c'puter". Her current favorite is Finding Nemo - she even has a Nemo bandaid on her arm (which is a real bandaid, not a cheap Target one, so it is stuck on her arm for the forseeable future).
Here is my first bath. I have a bit of a spit up issue - I really like to overeat, spit up, and overeat and spit up - well you get the idea. The point is that my mom thinks that after repeated spit ups I deserved a bath. Thanks mama!
My sister the fashionista...our Aunt Wee is sooooo proud!
And here I am being adorable and ignored. If any of you would like to come visit and save me from sleeping in a boppy or worse, in my own crib, please feel free to do so. Obviously, my parents have grown tired of pampering me and I am only 8 days old. Love you all!

Leo is Home

Leo is home!!! This is the amazing sign that Reeder, Hayes, the neighbors Frances and Clara, and I made for Leo's homecoming. I guess Aunt Wee would like some credit...but all the really hard work scribbling and decorating was done by us.

Here we are waiting for Leo to arrive.
And here they are...my favorite parents. With Big Mama's help I got my mama some beautiful red roses.

Leo is hiding in the back of the car. He was not quite ready for the welcome he had waiting for him.

I was the first to poke him in the face but definitely not the last. Our neighbors, Big Mama, and the crazy Kappels all welcomed the little man home.
I really wanted to hold him - of course, since then I have pretty much ignored him - but this was a loving moment.

My story

Eden just finished explaining to me all about what a blog is, and how we have relatives and friends near and far that need to know what we are doing. So I hope you all enjoy my first entry. But please be kind, for I was just born 24 hours, 45 minutes ago. Thank goodness I have such a great big sister to teach me all sorts of important things like how to type. You will have to read thoroughly to get the details of my birth, like my name, because, you see, I have to tell you this awesome story chronologically.

First off, here's my gorgeous mom. She wanted me out, I wanted in. Looks like I lost that first battle. Here she is last Friday, heading to my dad's party. They rsvp'd no, since I was due on September 21, and surprised all at Namaste.

Here shows my incredible parents. My mom is actually CONTRACTING in this pic. Isn't my Papa just a bit awesome? That's support, folks. I'm told I have an Aunt TT, she has a matching tattoo.
Sorry, I uploaded that last pic out of order. Forgive me, please. So, this is earlier in the day at the hospital. I'm being monitored down there. I wish they could have heard what I was really saying-leave me be! I want to stay in this nice, warm, oceanic space!

This is what would later be my birthroom. You can't see the beautiful mountains out the window, but I thought it was nice. Oh, and I didn't come until after that sun went down, way down.Can you believe what my Papa is reading? Thanks for the focus, Papa.
Some of the support team.
I have arrived! Leo Ald Simmons Irvin. October 1, 2008. 8:05 pm. You don't know my measurements yet because I wanted some key snuggling before anyone started messing with me. Thanks, Mom, for all that hard pushing, and thanks to my Papa and family/friends encouraging my strong, tough, amazing mom. Oh, Ald-like Gerald, Ronald, Donald. Hey Granddads and Great Granddad! I'll meet you all soon!

That's Janel. She's one of my mom's bff's and also our doula. She did a great job. Thanks!

That's Mom on the phone with Papa Jerry.
Isn't my mom absolutely gorgeous? I think so. You can tell by my long head all the work my fantastic mom had to put in just to get me out!
Ahh, hi Papa! Hi Mom! Here I am!


So, now I've been measured. 8 pounds, 8 ounces. 20.5 inches long. Maybe my lucky number is 8? Big Mama was there for the whole thing! I love you, Beam. Great leg support on those final pushes!

Now that's my Aunt Wee. She is pretty great, too. She gave some leg support at the end, too.
Now, this is today and I FINALLY got to meet my incredible sis, Eden. Love you, sis!
The Great Smirvin Family.
Oh, I also got to meet two of my many cousins. There's Reeder sharing that nice big bed and Hayes is somewhere too, probably eating.


I like my mom's chest the best. But don't worry Eden, I'll play with you after I rest for a little...

And here I am, resting up to type my first blog entry.
There's all my info. Too bad no one is holding me.
There's my sis, getting some much needed tv.
This is me thinking about all I still have to do before bedtime... And I haven't even watched the debate yet.

Love to you all-can't wait to meet you!