Kristi and Erin popped by tonight to cuddle with Meryl and brought take-out Din Tai Fung for dinner. Fortunately for us, they happily held Meryl the whole night! Kristi is a talented photographer and gave us the gift of a photography session with Meryl! Erin (a nurse at Seattle Children's Hospital) is a baby whisperer and gave us the gift of time watching Meryl so that we can take a nap or do errands otherwise! Score for us! It was wonderful to catch-up with them and hear about life outside the house.

 Molly and Justin stopped by today on their way back from duck hunting in Alaska, and on their way to the Ray Lamontagne concert. Best yet was getting to receive Meryl's quilted baby blanket that Molly and my aunt, Lucy, made! It's of Lummi and is on point with her markings too. We're still in disbelief with how perfect it is, and with a honeycomb patterned fabric on the back to remember Molly by as well (she and Justin are bee keepers)!

Today turned out to be sunny and warm (summer is still hanging around in Seattle), so we made an outing to Golden Gardens beach for a walk and chocolate milkshakes from Little Coney. Bonus for Lummi, we also hit up the nearby dog park. Playing with new friends can be outright exhausting! (Also fun was our spontaneous meet-up with our friends, Valentina and Ryan!) And to celebrate going on another outing, Frank made pickle brined fried chicken. Yum!

You like my hair? 

Lorraine stopped by to meet Meryl tonight and brought a home cooked meal! She drew inspiration from Chrissy Teigan's lettuce wrap recipe, made Kenji's crab fried rice (from Serious Eats) and, in true Seattle style, also made a kale salad:) Frank pulled a Txakoli wine for the occasion, which brought back memories from our honeymoon in San Sebastián, Spain. It was so nice to catch-up over delicious food!

Lola and Tito Edward visited today, and Lola had a great time coaxing Meryl to show her dimple. Frank's Dad had a dimple on his left cheek as well, so we're calling Meryl's dimple a kiss from him.

Merry Christmas to us in September! Last Christmas, Lukas was our secret Santa and gave us venison and caribou meat that he had hunted in Alaska. Frank turned that around and made tacos tonight, augmented with goat meat from Matt...and got to work on his mise en place. Talk about a mixtape dinner!

Matt, Becca and McKinley stopped by to meet Meryl today. McKinley built pillow forts on the couch and Becca opened our eyes to the possibilities of our Ergo baby carrier. Hello to free arms and hands! But ultimately, the prospect of visiting a new toilet was the grand finale for McKinley:)  

Modern technology:) 

That's it. 

Lummi has been attached to Meryl's side ever since she came home, always ready to offer a nuzzle or slobbery kiss. 

Katrina, Jarrad, Evan and Cole stopped by for a pop-in to meet Meryl, who powered through her feeding to let us all remark on how Evan and Cole were once her size. Evan and Cole, however, patiently let us reminisce as the Lego exhibit at the Pacific Science Center was in their future. Katrina also brought by a number of onesies decorated by the kids, which brought back memories of when we did the same years ago at her baby shower for Evan! It was such a nice surprise:)  

First non-doctors appointment outing, a walk to the coffee shop down the street for some limeade. Meryl's there under the blanket, soaking in the fresh air.  

Allison, Sam, Noelle and Caleb came over for brunch and cuddles with Meryl. Can't believe we have two generations of cousins to take pictures of these days!  

No caption necessary, she's just cute:) 

Mallory, youngest cousin on Sarah's Mom's side, came to visit Meryl a couple days after she was born, while on her way to college at the University of Oregon. (Frank, "Go Huskies!")  Couldn't help but capture the youngest of two generations.

Happy Birthday, Frank! Less than a week after Meryl was born, Frank turned the big 40. While he's pretty excited about his new grill, Meryl is indisputably his favorite gift:)

Melanie and Gus, and their son, Liam, stopped by the hospital to meet Meryl. Couldn't help but swoon over this picture that Melanie captured during their visit.