XMas Eve

Our family of four is getting settled in nicely at home, mostly with a lot of help from Grandma. We aren't sure what we will will do when Keri goes back to Portland as we have gotten used to the extra pair of adult hands to help handle the kiddos.

To answer to most common question we have received, Eleanor loves her new brother. She is handling the new addition better than we could have hoped and she really seems to enjoy Jack. She loves to watch him, hold him, help feed him, and kiss him

A couple times she has gotten upset because she wants to climb in his pack and play or wants him awake so she can hold him, but considering how I thought she might react these episodes are nothing.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Pollocks to celebrate Christmas and unlike most of the country we won't have a white Christmas which will make the drive much less stressful. Happy Holidays to all our friends and family around the globe!

More Jackson

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and love sent on behalf of our new family member. It is touching to know how many people care about our little clan. Here are some pictures of Eleanor trying to figure out who the little guy is.


Jack has been doing great so far, eating and sleeping like a champ, which is about all you are supposed to do at 36 hours old. He has made a good impression on all visitors so far, Grandma below.

Aunt Pam and Uncle Scott braved the slick conditions for a visit.



As did family friends Marv and Mary Lou Ward. They even brought a present for Nora, which I'm sure she will love. I'm sure we will love having something to distract her on her next visit. Thanks to everyone!

Here's Jackson

Today, Jackson Caulfield Grove was born in Columbus , Ohio's Riverside Hospital. A scheduled C-section, Dr. Vanek delivered. Weighing in at 9 pounds, 9 ounces and measuring in at 20 inches, Jackson is healthy by all accounts.
With a head full of curly blonde hair, this kiddo screamed his way into the world, but is sleeping peacefully after breastfeeding like a champ.
Dad and son.
Mama is doing well after a rather unpleasant bout of nausea about 6 hours after the surgery. The itching from the morphine is enough to drive me mad, but even that is subsiding now.
Today, he met his Grandpa Grove & Charlotte and Grandma Wehage, plus his big sister Eleanor. Nora really wasn't sure about him at first, but then balked at being more than a foot away. I think they will have a very special relationship.

Holiday Memories

As the Grove clan prepares to move forward with the addition of a new family member, I also find myself looking back. The Holidays are a natural time to reflect on the past year and previous Christmases. Having lost mom less than 3 years ago I find she still dominates my recollections this time of year. From the great food and of course presents to the comfy atmosphere with decorations in every corner of every room, I only have fond memories of the Holidays at the house on North Star Road. Mom's zeal for the season and joy in traditions made the time fun. I can still hear her singing certain Christmas carols when they come on the radio. I hope we can pass warm memories like these along to our children.


One of Mom's traditions was to collect Christmas themed Anna Lee dolls, which are known for having each face hand painted so no two are exactly the same. Admittedly they are an acquired taste. If I had never seen them before I'm sure I'd have no attachment to them, but unbiased opinions have no place in memories or tradition. Mom amassed such a collection that she gave me one of the larger Santas she had while I was in college. So he went with me too my stops in college and grad school and back to Columbus. I'd always set him out during the season, sometimes my only decoration, over the years he has been knocked over many times, been attacked by cats, and been stored improperly. Hardly the way to treat a fragile doll.


We didn't think anything of it when we were unpacking decorations and placed him on top of the TV, just another year of the mildly beat up Santa to look over us. But Eleanor wasn't going to let him sit there so easily. While ignoring many of the Christmas decorations we thought she'd like she started emphatically grunting and pointing at him and demanded we bring him down for inspection. Nora was a but scared at first but soon warmed up to him and spent hours looking at his stocking and candy cane and pointing over and over at his facial features and beard. The first night we actually had to put Santa "night night" (in a closet) because anytime we took him away but she could see him she demanded he come back down. Over the past couple weeks he is the first one she waves to when we walk into the room and he gets special "bye byes" when we leave. She still wants to play with him everyday and points/waves to him constantly. Even if she is playing with something else she wants him nearby.

One night Wendy said what I was thinking while Nora was obsessing over Santa, "That's her Grandma in her." It's incredibly sweet to see Eleanor takes to something Mom loved and cherished. It makes me sad they never met as I know Mom would have delighted in Nora and her antics and would have been tickled to no end that she loves Anna Lees. But I know I carry a lot of Mom in me as does Santa.

One Week

We are one week away from our family growing to a brood of 4! So I thought I'd give an update as to how everyone is doing. Wendy is doing well. As expected she gets tired from chasing around Nora and carrying around another. It appears that Foz Tone is doing great as well. He moves around quite a bit, especially after cereal or ice cream. Eleanor is blissfully unaware of how significantly her world is going to change, but she has shown an interest in babies recently. We will see how she reacts to a baby that is around 24 hours a day and taking attention from her Mom and Dad. And, I'm doing what I can to keep the three of them happy and healthy while not getting caught up in worrying about how we will handle two kiddos and instead enjoying the experience.

Here is our girl curled up on Wendy after a hard day at school.

We had our first significant snow this weekend (about 2 inches), so Sunday afternoon we went out to play. This is Nora's first experience with walking in and playing with snow. She was a little unsure at first, but once she saw Mookie tearing around the yard she realized there was nothing to be afraid of.


She was fascinated and most of the time she was staring at her feet walking through the snow and how the snow stuck to her boots. She had a couple wipe outs, as expected, but bounced right back up. Then I taught her to feed snowballs to Mookie.

Thanksgiving Pictures

Thanksgiving at the Pollock's house was great. Eleanor had fun playing with all the new toys and had lots of people to entertain her. Here she is with Lindsey.


Sitting on Grandpa's lap.


And playing with Skyler.

Of course she also had fun with Casey who was trying to relax in her cage. Nora would have none of that.