How we've spent Beck's first week

Elle hanging out on her mama's hospital bed. She stayed with Miles' parents Monday night and Tuesday night and with us on Wednesday and Thursday while Sarah and Miles were still in the hospital with Beck. Rich and I had fun taking care of her and I got in lots of "Gigi time."

Here's our cute girl on Thanksgiving. We got up early and watched the Macy's parade on TV. She had never seen such a thing and loved all the huge balloons, the floats, the bands with dancers and twirlers (she tried to dance along with them), and especially the characters of Dora and Boots. We then had an absolutely delicious Thanksgiving meal with Miles' parents, his grandmother, and his brother and wife.

What a beautiful dining room at the Durhams', all set for Thanksgiving dinner!

Rich made four desserts, including pecan pie.

Apple-butterscotch crostada

Miles' parents Bob and Suanne in the kitchen. We must have been too busy talking and eating because we didn't take many photos during our visit.

Pumpkin cheesecake with candied ginger/pecan crust and sugared pepita garnish

Vanilla bean pots de' creme with candied orange zest

After dinner, we took Sarah a plate and visited in the hospital for a bit.

Sweet family of four

There's not much better than holding a baby!

This was Friday, when we were waiting for everyone to get home. Elle was having lunch and making me laugh with various "looks."

Other than a couple of cold or rainy days, we've had wonderful warm weather just about the whole time I've been here. Love it! We played outside while watching for Mommy and Daddy's car.

Yay! They're home!

Here's baby brother!

Our handsome little guy on his first day at home

Elle loves to sing and dance and is a little bit obsessed with Taylor Swift. Sarah happened to record Taylor on the Ellen DeGeneres Show one day and we have to replay the performance at least once a day so Elle can perform along with the singer. It's very cute. She sometimes dresses up in her mother's old dance costumes as demonstrated here.

Look at those big eyes! Beck has been very calm and laid back most of the time. We think he hung the moon, of course. I don't know how I managed to get the five cutest grandkids in the world, but I am sure that I do have that honor. :)

I'm not sure where our days and weeks have gone but we have stayed pretty busy. Rich has cooked us some fabulous meals and caught up on his reading. I think he's on his third book and I am not sure how many magazines he's finished. We've made many trips to Target, Barnes and Noble, Whole Foods and Central Market. Oh, yeah, I was not happy to see that Sarah Palin was going to be signing books at the B&N near the house. I SO wanted to stand outside with a sign that said, "Vacationers from Alaska against Sarah Palin," but I didn't want to get beaten up or arrested so I held myself back. I am not sure why she followed me to Dallas but I did not appreciate it one little bit. :)

Yesterday Grandpa and I took Elle to the Galleria for a couple of hours. She was just perfect and we had a great time. There's a kids' play area so we started there, then had some lunch and wandered around.

We found some riding toys and had to try them all. Here are two of them.

We checked out the ice skating rink and watched some skaters. We were impressed with the huge Christmas tree!

Mostly we've been hanging out at the house and helping where we can. Sarah and Miles are doing great as the parents of two, even though it's hectic and it never fails that both kids need something at the same time. Pretty soon it will all seem very normal and they won't remember what it was like to have only one child.

Here's Beck after a sponge bath. One week old already! Bonnie and Emery arrive tomorrow night and my sis and some of her family are coming in on Sunday. As always, the time flies by and we will be heading home on the 8th.