New Niece

Sorry I have not blogged in so long. I was busy getting a new niece.  Actually, the wonderful thing about nieces (and nephews for that matter) is that we have this wonderful new little person in our family through no work of my own.  I think this must be a little what it's like to be a grandparent.  I love having access to a newborn I can hold and cuddle before going home and getting 8 solid hours of sleep.  Sorry, Steffi! I hope by the time you read this you are getting better sleep too!  I miss my own kids being that tiny, but all ages have their own challenges and perks I guess.

The kids have not met baby Robin yet, but here is a picture of the Gerow granddaughters less than 48 hours before Robin got the big eviction:

They are about 9 months apart and should start Kindergarten the same year.  What fun!  I babysat Robin last night, and she smiled in her sleep right when I said something about Christie.

And here is a picture of me holding the sweet girl in the hospital, when she was two days old:

I know you can't see much, but I thought I should let her mother reveal her in detail on her own blog.  We'll see when she finds the time. :)

My mom was in town for the big event, of course.  Her birthday is only three days after Robin's.  Here we are having cake with her:

Did anyone notice how short it was??  The other layer was sent to the hospital for Steffi and Austin since they weren't released in time to partake in the celebration. 

Here are some pictures of Christie.  She looks so darn cute in her sunglasses, but she will only leave them on for about .5 milliseconds. 

And here's a picture of Dominic in his "Chuck" shirt, being silly by wearing underpants on top of his shorts.

End of July Update

Christie is looking so much older lately. Here are some pics I took today while she ate some puffs. She loves puffs.

Showing off her two little teeth.

Dominic found this winter hat in one of Christie's dresser drawers tonight. I bought it for her online but didn't realize how large it was going to be. It actually fits him perfectly so I guess we have a few years before she wears it.  It might never make it to North Dakota - hopefully Aunt Emmy and Uncle Josh will be living in Texas by then! On another note, potty training is going great.  We went to the new P. Terry's by our house for burgers tonight.  Dominic went sans diaper and it was his first time using a public restroom.  Last weekend he went to a friend's house without diaper and used their potty.  There may be no looking back now.  The one side effect of potty training is that the boy strips down to his underwear the moment we get home and doesn't want to wear any other clothes in the house.  He loves being nakey boy. 

His "Brrr!" looks almost exactly like his "Muscles!!!"

Papa Bear and Cubs

Marcos and the kids were being silly tonight after dinner.  The lighting was great so I grabbed my camera and shot these:

Possibly my favorite.

I love this one too.

Like father, like daughter.  Marcos made this face because of something I said and when I snapped the pic, I didn't realize Christie had the same expression!

Happy Fourth!

Just a few years ago Marcos and I didn't have any family in Austin.  I know it's not Thanksgiving or anything, but today I felt really grateful for all the family we had around to help us celebrate Independence Day.  Steffi, Austin, Migs and Andy all came over for a low-key burger cookout.  The kids went swimming in the backyard, then we ate, and wound down the evening with a couple episodes of Cash Cab.  One day the kids will stay up late enough to see fireworks.  They are both asleep now and the sun is still out.

Here are some pics I took today.  Dominic will rarely let me take his picture these days. I'm going to be seriously low on blog material once Christie hits this stage.