Elie is 1 month old!

Ok ok, I didn't want to be the type that plastered their blog with photos of their baby, but come on! Ain't she just the cutest thing?! I know I'm biased. She's now officially one month old, and here she is playing on a fabulous playmat that the Bewyers gifted us at our Colorado baby shower. She loves it, and looks like she isn't camera shy either!
Also, Eric has finished cutting & placing the cool slate tile for the back-splash in our new kitchen, check it out! It's gorgeous & really looks great in the room.

Elie is 1 week old

We celebrated little Elie's one week birthday by playing the Beatles Birthday song & dancing & singing to her, all of which she soundly slept through! We took video of it though, so that we can show it to her on her 18th Birthday.
She pretty much has this "sleeping through the day" down pat, it's the sleeping during the night that she hasn't gotten the hang of yet. Neither has her momma.

It has been an unusually warm, sunny (no snow yet!) September here in the mountains, and we took advantage of it by taking pictures on the deck.

Eric and my folks have been steadily working on finishing the new kitchen in our house. Currently they have been putting together the backsplash. Here is a photo of how they are laying out the slate tile pieces after Eric cuts them.

We are thankful to all for your thoughts, gifts and help throughout this new period of our lives!

Baby Graves is here!!!!

Her water broke at 8am yesterday (9/18), as Laura was rolling over in bed. The contractions started 15 minutes later. By 12 they were only 3-5 minutes apart, and we were getting a little antsy since we live 45 minutes from the hospital, but we still had some guys coming over to correct the new kitchen counters that weren't installed entirely correctly. Laura wouldn't let me cancel them. They showed up, I told them to move quickly and they did. By 2:00 we were on our way to the hospital. At 3:00 the contractions started getting really strong, and four hard and fast drug-free hours later, little Elie arrived. Truly amazing. Laura did great.

Here's all the detailed statistics....

Eliea Kylyn Graves

(Elie for short)

Born 9/18/08 @ 7:18 pm

18.6 inches long

5 lbs 15 ozs

(long and skinny, just like her pa)

blond hair and dark brown eyes
with a birthmark on her head over her left ear (also like her pa who has one over his right ear)

And truly beautiful.

Thanks for all of your prayers and love.

Can't wait to introduce her to you.

E & L & el

House Update

We've been making some head-way in our shared living-room/ kitchen area in our mountain home. We were lucky enough to have Dale visiting again in July to help us put in the kitchen cabinets and the bamboo floors throughout the whole area! Check it out: first ont he right is Dale & Eric with the cabinets installed, and then on the left is a shot of the bamboo flooring next to the edge of the fireplace in the living room.
And as a bonus, here is a beautiful shot of the cool sunset I saw on the way home from work tonight!

Baby Shower!

Thank you to my dear family & friends back in the midwest for throwing us a most celebratory & fun baby shower! Here are some pictures. My cousins Katie & Emily really know how to throw a party!

Here are the proud grandparents!

I was so grateful to see everyone, and especially some high school friends I haven't seen in 18 years!! Cindy, Karen & Tracey.

And my sweet Andrea who played the bagpipes for us!








Lots of cool gifts, from all things useful from the registry, to neat
home-made quilts and blankets.

THANK YOU TO ALL!!!
We can't WAIT to meet our new little one.... two months & counting!

2 year Wedding Anniversary!

The return of the red canoe!
Two years after Eric & I canoed across Lost Lake to say our vows to eachother, we took the canoe out again on Sunday, July 13th, 2008, on the large reservoir only 5 minutes from our beautiful mountain home!
We're happy as ever, especially with the baby on the way, and can't believe that two years have already flown by. I'll be sure to post more photos of the work we continue to do on our house- we have done alot but hopefully more in on the way as Eric's dad is coming to help us put together the kitchen & living room.
Hope everyone is well & enjoying summer! Get out & play!

Listen to that strong baby's heartbeat!

Wow! That baby's heartbeat is loud & strong! And fast! That means it's a healthy baby in there. And of course, look at that growing belly... but most of all, look at that smile on my face! :) This was taken yesterday at our 25th week appt. All is well- size, weight, heartbeat, and still feeling great!
We had to download a trial program to get the video to upload, so please excuse the company watermark in the middle of the picture- Eric captured the moment on his cell phone!

We've also been doing some incredible house work with the generous help of my parents who have been visiting for the last few weeks- stay tuned for some more photos of the progress we've made on the living room & kitchen, we'll post those soon.

Love to all! - Laura (& Eric & baby Graves)

Meet the Newest Member of the Family!!!!!

That's right! We've got fabulous news! The picture you see here is of our soon-to-be baby girl (we expect) who is due on September 22.

We are currently trying to settle in on names. We are leaning strongly toward a first name starting with El... (for Eric and Laura) like Ellie, Ella, Eliana, Ellicia, etc. Our favorite is Ella, but that's a very popular name these days, and we'd rather have something a little more unique. Also, we're trying to avoid a name too close to Elena (my sis's girl), so that makes it even more difficult.

Our middle name will probably be some feminine variation on 'Kyle' (my cousin that we lost last year). Like Kylie, Kaylie, Kyla, Kyelle, etc.... I'm particularly fond of the last one, and Laura likes it, too, since it's unique and beautiful, and would go well with a first name ending in ie or a. We seem to be the only ones, though.

If you have any ideas, please shoot them our way.

Anyone interested into traveling to Newton, Iowa for a baby shower, it looks like that will be July 27. That's a Sunday, by the way. Or you can come to Colorado for one on August 16 and stay at our house if you like.

If you have any baby stuff around that you are not using any more, or you have friends with baby stuff they don't need any more, please let us know. Thanks!