Christmas and a trip (a little out of order)

We had a quiet Christmas at home with Miri. She received a bouncy chair from both of us. She also got 2 books from Daddy (How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Winnie the Pooh in Latin) and a baby memory book from Mommy. Miri started sleeping through the night and smiling a lot around Christmas. We stayed in for new years and went to bed early.

In mid-January, Nana, Grandpa, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Joel, Matthew and Audrey came to Florida so they could go to Disneyworld. We came along and had a great time! We went to the Magic Kingdom on Friday (Miri especially enjoyed the Safari jungle cruise, though that might be because she was eating the whole time), then Aunt Ashley ran the half marathon on Saturday and Uncle Joel and Grandpa ran the full marathon the next day. It was very cold; it even sleeted on Saturday. Sunday it was icy and when Aunt Ashley went to go see the boys finish the race she slipped on th e ice and broke her arm! Fortunately she found an urgent care clinic and got it taken care of pretty quickly. We went back to the Magic Kingdom on Monday and had dinner at Cinderella's castle. Miri got her picture taken with Cinderella and met the Fairy Godmother and some of Cinderella's mice.


We went to Animal Kingdom on Tuesday. Miri slept for most things, but had a great time with Aunt Ashley while Mommy and Uncle Joel rode Expedition Everest. We also enjoyed the taking funny pictures while waiting for the parade. Then Mommy and Miri stayed home Wednesday to try to catch up on rest. Audrey and Uncle Joel stayed home also because Audrey wasn't feeling well.

On Thursday we went to Epcot and Miri had her picture taken with Daffy Duck. She also got an adorable Minnie stuffed animal from Nana and Grandpa. The family dropped us off back in Gainesville after the trip. We had a great time, but were happy to be home.

"What the Greek really means here"

Several people have asked me what the Greek quotation on the page means. It is the text from Luke 2:19, "  But Mary (Greek: Mariam, Hebrew Miriam) treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart." We didn't choose Miriam's name from this verse (just thought it was a pretty name), but this is our prayer for her, that she would learn and treasure God's word and God's promises.

Miriam has started "conversing," usually when she is laying down or sitting in her chair. She likes to sigh loudly or squeak. Not sure when the actual cooing will start, but it's really fun to listen to her. She is VERY interactive these days, and is always ready to throw a smile your way if you look at her right.

Pre-Christmas Adventures

Miri met her grandpa (Grumps) last week, and it was definitely love at first sight. I was up with her one morning, and when Grumps came in she gave him a huge grin. I haven't even gotten one of those yet. Miriam has definitely begun showing more facial expressions and cooing more deliberately (or grunting out of frustration).

We also took her to our wine and cheese party last week. We had wines and cheeses from Southern France, all of which were a hit. It was an awesome party until Erin slammed her finger in the door. We thankfully have great friends, though, and people helped with Erin, cleaning, getting the right cars in the right place, and everything else. What could have been a pretty crappy night ended up with low stress (and a non-broken finger). On that note, if anyone has any pictures of Miri from the party, please send them along, we were going to take a picture together, but got a bit distracted.

Grumps and Miriam

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was cleaning up all the wine bottles and folks thought that this would be a classy picture. I was happy to oblige.

 

See more pictures at www.flickr.com/dheinen

Busy First 2 Weeks

Miriam is progressing well these days. She is over her birth weight now, and eating well. She sleeps very well (usually wakes up two times at night to eat, but sleeps the rest of the time). Mom is in great form and recovering well from the surgery.

 

Nana and Pawpaw (sp?) came for the first week and met their new granddaughter.

          

 

The next week, Yaya visited.

 

Miriam had a number of firsts these past two weeks: first bath, first trip to church, first meal at a friends' home, first party (pictures later), and first gator game (TV). I guess in this family you have to be ready to go!

 

Welcome to the world!

Miriam Ashley Heinen
Born 4:20 pm, November 18, 2009
7 lbs, 12 oz, 19 inches long

Mommy had to have a c-section, but is recovering well. Miriam is healthy, very alert, and absolutely perfect.

Many, many more pictures to come, but I need to get back to the hospital!

Ready, Set, . . .

Miri should be here any day, now. Erin looks about ready to pop (pictures later this evening), and her room is ready to go. We have also assembled the cradle in our room and have car seats buckled and ready.