The Swedish Ballard Babies are 1!

When I was pregnant, we went to a "Centering Pregnancy" group at our local hospital midwifery group (Swedish Ballard). The group was composed of parents-to-be who shared a due date in the same month. In the case of our group, everyone was due in August of 2010.

I affectionately call our Centering group the "Hippie Vagina Love Circle" because I suspect many people who are unfamiliar with the Centering Pregnancy model think it's a little weird. The fact that we are all Seattle progressives who chose midwives over an OB/GYN for our prenatal care is just icing on the HVLC cake.

Since having our babies, we've gotten together regularly to catch up and have a few drinks. You may remember the Halloween party we posted about last October.

Last weekend, we celebrated the 1 year mark at a garden party hosted by one of the families in our group. Before you get distracted by the adorable babies, I have to tell you that I made homemade Hostess cupcakes (gluten-free and glutenous, of course) for the party, and they were di-vine.

YUM!

It's funny to see Arlo's personality emerge a little more everyday. He's shy and observant, like his father. Goofy and stubborn, like his mother. He's also curious and very loving toward people he knows. At the party, he was a little reserved around the kids he doesn't know well, but when he saw Vivian (the little girl he hangs out with 4 days per week due to our nanny share), he was positively giddy.

Arlo with dirt on his face (yes, he was eating dirt, it isn't chocolate) and Miss Vivian.

Arlo, Jude, and Milo.
I wonder what they are looking at.

The baby line up.
From left, Jude, Vivian, Lucy, Milo, August, and Arlo.

August performing for Arlo.

The families one year later!

Sun, Family, and Bears

The Nonericks just returned from a fun week in Montana visiting family and introducing Arlo to his cousins for the first time. It was a great trip! We went on a hike in the Jewel Basin in the Swan Mountain Range and just north of Flathead Lake. Arlo got up to his highest elevation yet at between 6500 to 7000 feet above sea level. The record snowfall from the 2010-2011 winter left patches of the white stuff that blocked some of the trails, which was incredible for early/mid August.

Arlo gets some assistance from a binkie when at altitude.

The view over the Flathead Valley.

We need to work on taking pictures of ourselves (ok, I need to work on taking pictures of us).
I love this picture because Arlo put his hand on my shoulder as if he knew it was a warm gesture for a photograph. In reality, he was probably saying, "Mom, I'm here. Pay attention to me."

Arlo didn't like the sun shade on his backpack. He's too big for such baby-ish things.

Arlo and his sun shade.

In addition to hiking, we took the family on a float trip on the Middle Fork Flathead River right outside Glacier National Park. We did the same reach of the river a couple of years ago when my brother, John, and sister-in-law, Ellie, got married.

This time, we left Soma at home and brought a bunch of kids and adults. It was a great afternoon, and we saw loads of wildlife including a black bear on the shore, a bald eagle, trout, ducks, and the list goes on.

Amelia saying, "Cheese!"

Mike and Mama Nonemacher = The Motor/Paddlers

We forgot Arlo's hat so Ryan generously let him wear his grimy old thing.

Amelia and Her Mom, Emily

My co-guide, Lucy. I put her to work!

Lucy taking a break to enjoy the view and smile for the camera.

Finally, we spent a lot of time hanging out around the farm feeding my parent's cows, pigs, and chickens and visiting Arlo's great-grandma. I was adamant that we put Arlo in my favorite childhood bathtub in my grandmother's house. I loved this tub. It had fancy wallpaper and curtains and the best smelling soaps ever. Funny how you get very nostalgic after you become a parent.

Arlo in the world's best bathtub.

Of course, Arlo spent a lot of time with his cousins: Lucy, Amelia, Ingrid, and Lucas. The big kids taught him a lot.

Amelia teaching Arlo the finer points of avant-garde hat wear.

Lucas is deeply troubled that we're the other half of his family.
Well, he's either deeply troubled or smarter than us and casting judgment on our antics.

Cousin Lineup

Amelia feeding the pigs some corn stalks.

Lucy makes sure the cows have full bellies.

Let's just say we aren't going to show this picture to Grandpa Tom.

Very busy.

Arlo thinks feeding the cows is the best (and funniest) thing ever!

I took a video of Arlo feeding the cows with help from Papa, Lucy, and Amelia. Uncle Matt has a little offensive commentary in the background, so consider yourself warned.