Computers suck

Just wanted to let everyone know how much computers suck. We came back from our fishing trip this weekend to find that our computer wouldn't turn on. We took it in to have it looked at and the verdict is that it's fried. We are going to start collecting donations for the possible hard drive retrieval in hopes that we can recover all the pictures and files that we didn't save. This happened to our friends Matt and Jacci a while back and we've been discussing how we should back up the computer, but never got around to it. Lesson learned. Then when I (Karen) was at work yesterday my PDA decided to give it up too, which really stinks because I've become dependent on it and Epocrates. So made for a bit of a crummy day. We've been using Dad's laptop for the last few days and when we get back in business we'll share the great photos and details about our [Edited by Barry] "Unspecified Alpine" Lake fishing trip. So take a tip from us and back up all your stuff.

Father's Day

Barry celebrated his first Father's day on Sunday. It started off by Barry waking up early with Elena while I was raking hay for my dad. I would like to add that he considered it waking up early, while I felt that it was sleeping in. When I got home, I made Barry breakfast. Because of a little oversight on my part, he didn't get his favorite meal and had to settle for bacon and eggs. Later in the morning he went over to his parents' and helped with their horses. We had a BBQ in the evening and got rained out. This is during the height of the down pour.Here his Barry with Elena during a break in the storm.
And his new baby...

Elena decided that Barry must be an ok dad and got him a Beeman pellet gun that he'd been eyeing. I think she's starting to become a little jealous of the time he's been spending with this new toy.

Hope that all the dads out there had an equally enjoyable day.

Four Months

Elena turned four months old on Saturday. Here is her official picture(s) with Puppy. It's amazing how much she's changed in the last month. She is sitting up better, rolling over and getting more vocal.

Gardening

Elena and I decided to go outside and enjoy the sunshine this morning. I attempted to weed garden beds, while she was content to chill in the stroller. Elena really enjoys being outside taking in the sites.
It was a little chilly at first, so she was happy to be bundled up a bit.

Later, we went for a walk with Oma and spent some time visiting with Grampies.

New Friends

Our friend Amber is visiting from California with her daughters, Kayla and Jaylie. Jaylie is two months older than Elena and is recovering from open heart surgery for a heart defect that she had repaired a few weeks ago. She's doing amazingly well.
The girls are modeling the lastest in infant summer fashions.

The two became fast friends and enjoyed spending the day cooing, playing with rattles and seeing which one could cry the loudest.

The Supersaucer

Barry has been slacking in the blogging community, so lax that he hasn't even posted about his last 3 fishing trips. It's been way too long since cute baby pictures were posted, so I decided to put up a few of the most recent ones. Elena has recently discovered the joys of her "Supersaucer", courtesy of friends Mike & Laura.

It's also known as sensory overload, with all its bright colors and noise makers.
Barry's personal favorite is the rolling rattle on the left side. He especially likes to spin it and watch Elena's near epileptic type response, usually goes something like this-- Barry spins rattle. Elena has massive startle response with flailing arms and wide eyes. Barry laughing so hard he's crying. Repeat.

I think that this is acutally more entertaining for him than the baby.

Sprout's grandmothers are sew talented

Elena's grandmothers made her a quilt (Marlene) and a sleep sack (Mary) a while back and I have been slow in posting. At the time of posting this, she now has 2 quilts and 2 sleep sacks. Here is a picture of her posing with her quilt:And here are a couple pics of her enjoying the sleep sack on Mom and Dad's bed.

News

In world news today, there is a giant sink hole in Guatemala City, Al and Tipper Gore are separated, and Sprout rolled over.That's right, Elena has figured out how to get out of doing all that horrid tummy time. Wow, here's a post that I never imagined actually posting prior to fatherhood... So here are a couple of pics of her attempting roll#3:
Here she is after admitting defeat on roll # 3. We're starting to think she is going to inherit my blue eyes.