Early Fall 2009

Fall has officially (kind-of) begun. It rains more and instead of being grateful the temperature lows are the the 80's, we're grateful they're in the 70's.

Tor is working - still with roasting coffee, owning the coffee shop, but also is selling high end pools and backyard landscaping. He is insanely good at selling anything, especially expensive things. He makes Clare want a negative edge pool with a waterfall, flagstone deck, and a spa - and we live in an apartment. Hello. Clare has to remind herself of that when the visions of pools and spas flash before her eyes.
Part of our pre-engagement counseling was discussing how couples - instead of trying to come to a mutually beneficial solution - will try to "sell" the other spouse on how great their solution is. Clare just laughed and said,

"Ha! Tor excels at that skill."

He has since excelled in separating Clare from customers. For that she is grateful. Coming to solutions became much easier.
All said, he is an excellent salesman - and could sell literally anything.
He rocks.

We just initiated our "date nights." Last night was the first one since Josephine was born. We left her with a babysitter (ahhh!! small scary) and set out to enjoy the presence of only each other. We had a fantastic time and were again reminded how glad we were we found each other. We had a blast eating White River Fish Market's whole fried Flounder with the world's greatest hushpuppies, then followed fish with Dulce de Leche cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. Josephine was quite alright when we arrived home (asleep!), and we found the babysitter watching Pride and Prejudice. Peaceful and fun night. We are looking forward to making this a tradition once or twice a month.
Clare is tremendously enjoying working part-time. It's amazing how much difference removing one day of work can make in the life our small family. Food is cooked and on the table, the refrigerator is full, the bills are paid, the laundry is always done and house stays decently clean. Clare is almost finished with all the projects she's had on the back burner...some for a long time! The baby book is almost completed, the garage mostly cleaned out and Josephine's 0-6 month clothes are packed away with 9 months clothes in the drawer. The wedding memory book is next to call out for completion. Maybe it will be finished before our 5th anniversary in March. :)

Josephine is crawling around everywhere - requiring all breakables to be removed from grasp- level. We had some close calls with the crystal vases before Mom caught on.
She stands next to the table and wants so much to go from hands and knees to standing position on her own. She has almost mastered the task.
She eats with her hands now, and she and Cheerios are fast friends.
She has had a blast visiting with the Miller grandparents in Arkansas and meeting the Miller Aunts Bekah and Tiffany and Uncle Neil.
We look forward to several fall trips:

-Seattle - for Nordstrom/Ilvedson family time.

-Apple Festival - Johnny Appleseed left a legacy in Lincoln, AR that is so much fun to enjoy.

-Branson - Mike, Corinne and cousin Anders will grace us with their presence down south for a fall vacation. The Ozark trees will be at their prime and Big Cedar Lodge is calling our name. Anders and Josephine will have a big time. We'll need a red wagon and some rockin' family pictures.

2009 Summer Life


Tor is:

- GREATLY enjoying being a father.
- Working extremely hard lately in
1. the coffee business
2. helping his friend with his pool business
3. starting a natural gas sales job
- Missing Vanna Girl, who is in Seattle with grandparents Pete and Joie to stay cool.
- Getting excited for hunting season, beginning with dove season September 1st.
- Obtaining unspeakable joy from watching Josephine grow and change.
- Working hard being Mr. Mom while Clare works.
- Looking forward to more grandparent time soon.


Clare is:

- GREATLY enjoying being a mother.
- Relieved to be working a busy 24+ hours a week as of last month vs. the hectic 36+.
- GRATEFUL for a husband who works hard for his family.
- Enjoying being a housewife and racing around to do housework while Josephine naps.
- Loving this season of life.
- Obtaining unspeakable joy from watching Josephine grow and change.
- Working hard being Mom while Tor works.
- Looking forward to getting Vanna home!
- Trying to stay cool in this awful Tulsa heat.



Josephine is:

- Blowing raspberries continually from her lips. Especially if she's mad. LOL. :)
- 14.5 lbs.
- Two inches longer than when she was four months old.
- Rocking back and forth on her hands and knees so fast we just know she'll take off at any minute.
- Crawling backwards.
- Learning to crawl forward.
- Missing her doggie.
- Laughing hysterically when Daddy plays with her or when she is tickled.
- Taking Diaper Dolphin classes because she loves the water so much.
- Eating and drinking everything in sight.
- Being Mommy and Daddy's absolute delight and center of their world.

Hopefully that catches everyone up on summer activities. Activity has been so continuous I haven't blogged at all. We are looking forward now to the fall that has quickly crept up on us; enjoy the last of the summer!

Adventures in Eating

Josephine is eating. Alot. She LOVES to eat! And, she is so adorable when she eats, we had to get pictures. So, brace yourself, here is an eating, growing, precious little girl! And after the cleansing bath. :)

Shots of cuteness

We had a photo shoot remaining of Josephine and the three of us that came with our maternity pictures. Enjoy and buy some - they're really cute.

Here is an appeteaser:





chrishumphreyphotographer.com

Go to "photos online"
Choose "Nordstrom Newborn"
Have some fun.

Memorial Day

Josephine had her first official lake day! We had SUCH a blast with Timothy and Rachel on their boat out at Lake Skiatook. After packing up lunch, supper, drinks and fishing poles, we set out for a fun day. Considering what day it was we should have been more prepared for the lake police, because of course, we got "pulled over" and didn't have an infant life jacket on board! Ah. Tickets, tickets. All was well, though, and we recovered quickly. :) The next day we went to Target and fixed that problem promptly. Not that the enormous life jacket would fit tiny Josephine, or save her from drowning, but the principal is what the cop was after apparently.



The guys caught several fish, the gals sunned ourselves and Punki screamed when we stuck her feet in the cold water. I guess we'll wait for the lake to warm up before trying the swimming thing again.

Ode to Branson

Branson has been a fantastic getaway for us over the years. We usually stay at Big Cedar, play mini-golf, shop at the Branson Landing, walk around smelling the fresh air, fish, and a million other things.


Last weekend, Clare got off work (at 7 pm), and we called some of our best buds, Timothy and Rachel Wallace. We informed them we had just decided to run up to Branson for 24 hours to pick up some coffee equipment - they should come, be ready in 30 minutes and we'd vacay. We threw stuff in a suitcase, made sure we had sufficient diapers and took out at 9:30. After a mandatory McDonald's stop on the turnpike we set out and had a blast. We got in at 1:30 am and slept - after Tor worked an inexpensive deal on a Big Cedar fishing cabin for one night. We slept in, ate French Toast room service style, drank Starbucks, shopped, ate again at Cantina Laredo (presently our favorite restaurant in Branson), watched the cool water show, shopped, drove down 412 through the mountains and Eureka Springs, AR, ate Italian and fried chicken in NWA at the Venesian Inn, then called it a night back in Tulsa at 10:30 pm. We all decided that had been way fun and felt much longer than 24 hours! It was a spring celebration of good friends and what a wonderful stage of life we are all in.

May Love

We spent a week in in Seattle because Taryn Ro Nordstrom, Tor's sister, was married May 9th. The wedding was beautiful, as was the bride. Tor and I were both in the wedding, so Josephini was watched by family and friends while we rehearsed and did our weddingly duties! Josephine could not have been a more peaceful travel companion and made many a fellow plane passenger smile with her coos and smiles. Being in Seattle is always fun and the beauty of the surroundings and fresh air is incredibly refreshing. We reconnected with lots of Tor's friends and had some wonderful times introducing Josephine to the "Northwest" family members. We left Tulsa's 80+ degree weather for the 40 and 50 degrees in Seattle. Thankfully, Clare packed jackets for all.

Meeting first cousin Anders was so much fun for Josephine - and fun for the parents! They gave each other a friendly hug. Good signs for beginning a relationship I would think. :)

Tor is working out the Mr. Mom role like a champ, and even managed to give Clare a Mother's Day card that made her cry, along with the most gorgeous Northwestern peach tulips ever grown. Josephine goes to work with Dad and loves to sit in the carrier on Dad's back. She has also been sighted on the docks with a crappie rod in her hand.


Josephine now weighs 12.4 lbs and has received her third round of immunizations. She is a dainty little girl and still feels like a little feather until you try to lift her in her 10 lb carseat. You might as well be lifting weights. She has an amazingly sweet temperament; she is truly a gift to us.

Tummy aches


The other day, Josephine was fussy, fussy, fussy. Genius Dad figured out a position where she was comfortable and she fell sound asleep. View the cuteness.

March 2009




We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary this March! We couldn't have had a better one. Granted, we were a little more sleep deprived than previous years and our anniversary fell during spring break so a babysitter was nowhere to be found. So Josephine just went with us to Bodean's Seafood restaurant where Tor had the delicious San Francisco-Style Cioppino and Clare had tempura Orange Roughy. Top it off with a nice white Riesling, stout brew and chocolate dessert and we had a wonderful meal, anniversary celebration and celebration of the first year of our marriage with Josephine's presence! We had a delightful time and enjoyed an EARLY bedtime to catch up on lots of lost sleep.

Here in Tulsa summer is on its way...with a large snow here and there. :) We are still laughing about our eight inch snow! We missed it, because Clare and Josephine packed up and went with Tor to sunny California for a business/fun trip. This was Josephine's first plane ride and she did wonderfully! No ear problems whatsoever and she didn't cry once unless Clare took too long to attach her to the boob when she got hungry. :)
We loaded for shipping two fantastic old coffee roasters that are now ours. We were in Chico, CA most of the time and enjoyed immensely the fruit, nut and olive orchards we passed on our drive from Sacramento to Chico. We passed thousands and thousands of beautiful, blossoming trees. These roasters, circa 1945, are vintage jewels that roast coffee better than any new roaster out there. We are so excited! Big Ben ( the Red one) can roast easily 3000 lbs plus per day. After finally getting them loaded and banded down we headed to Redding to Bill Johnson's church. It was really wonderful. We also drove around and ate like pigs. Since Clare is breastfeeding there is a very high calorie consumption on her behalf. However, Tor has had sympathetic eating pangs and has put on a justified 7 extra pounds to boot. Eatin' is great right now.



Josephine is two and a half months old now! She's a petite little one weighing in at 10 pounds for her two month Dr. appointment. She was droopy after her first immunizations and cried every time you touched her little leg. She had fun in California - getting lots of time with both Mom and Dad. She snuggled Dad in the mornings and hung out with Mom during the day while Dad worked. She LOVES showers! She just sits there and chills as long as she's in the warm water. She doesn't even mind her face getting wet and just lets the water run over her. Tor thinks she will be a good swimmer, and we're looking forward to giving that a go in the pool this summer. She has finally learned the pacifier has some tiny value to her occasionally. Thank goodness, I think it really helped her ears on the flight. She still isn't a huge paci fan, but will suck it for short periods of time and if we repeatedly stick it in her mouth.



Vanna girl is doing well and somewhat adjusting to not being the only baby. Big adjustment for her! Her bird dog skills are improving every season it seems and she is growing very obedient to Tor. Tor's training skills have alot to do with this I'm certain. It makes her even more pleasant to have around.


Josephine's Development:

Well, according to the books, Josephine should be smiling in response to our smiles, blowing bubbles, recognizing our voices, cooing and holding her head up for short periods. She does all these things and more! She smiles so adorably and we think she's close to laughing because when she smiles really big her mouth goes open wide and she gurgle coos in her throat. The bubble blowing she has down pat and she will talk and coo all the time. She's working on the three months developmental objectives by stuffing her whole fist in her mouth and sucking, turning to the sound of our voices and turns from her side to her back. No more couch laying without supervision!



We are really looking forward to the summer and the warm fun it will bring.