Sephira is Walking!!!

Sephira is officially walking, having taken her first steps last week (at 12 and a half months old). She is rapidly picking up the pace and showing her skill!!! See here in this short video.


Sephira is growing up SO fast...but into such a beautiful girl, inside and out. She is able to share her world with us through Baby Signs which we have been teaching her since birth. She currently uses and understands 36 signs and is able to communicate her preferences with us every day! Her favorites signs are: book, frog, duck, swing, milk, all done, more, eat, potty, diaper, wash, bath time, water, kisses, ball, and flower! Her verbal skills are also rapidly picking up and she is saying "Mama", "Dada", "Baby", "Booh" (book), "Hi", "Wawa" (water), "Bubbles", "Baa" (ball), "Nana" (Effie's Mom), and "Iddy" (kitty). She loves to eat fresh strawberries and flowers from the garden and sand on our visits to the Oregon Coast.

Sephira's 1st Birthday and Dedication

We celebrated Sephira's 1st birthday by dedicating her to the Lord with family and friends. Our friend, Reverend Wesley Schlenker, performed the dedication for us in our home.

MANY could not be with us, so here is a short photo slideshow to share the day with you!!!

Family Self-Portraits in the Park

We have decided to make our self-portraits in the park an annual event. Our first was taken just two weeks before Sephira was born, up at Hendricks Park in Eugene, and we thought it would be fun to repeat the setting, wearing the same outfits with her at (around) the same age as when she was in utero!

Sephira is now 9 months of age, and an absolute joy and angel to behold! We are sooo blessed!

Dirk celebrating his first Father's Day!

The Amazing, Mobile Sephira!

As of May 13th, at 8 months old, Sephira is officially on the move. Not only did she start crawling that day, but she also started pulling herself up on anything she could.

She is loving her new found abilities, and also loves to walk while holding on to Mama and Dada's hands.

Here is just a little peek into the new, mobile Sephira!

Look at me! I'm standing all by myself!

So proud of herself!

Out on a stroll to the park.

Swinging...Sephira's favorite past time!

Self-portrait by Mama

Christmas in Colorado!

We visited Dirk's side of the family for Christmas in Colorado!

Our flight out was Sephira's first, and she did GREAT - especially considering we had to sit on the tarmac for 4 hours in Salt Lake City. We had trafficked around the tarmac so long, hoping to fly out between breaks in the heavy snow fall, that we had to return to the gate to refuel. Then we had to get in queue to de-ice, again, and then because of all the delays the flight crew had to change out since they needed to keep flight schedules on track...ah-huh. And the whole time we were only offered peanuts and VERY small beverages. Fortunately, because of that, we didn't have to pee in the tiny bathrooms very much. We got to Colorado Springs 4 hours late, hungry, and tired of sitting. But it was sooooo good to see the family and to be welcomed home with a hot plate of spaghetti and meatballs! Yumm Yumm!

The storm from SLC ended up following us here, so Saturday night we got a little bit of snow that Dirk helped shovel the next morning....but ultimately it didn't stick around. We had reports of major snow storms back home, and had crisp beautiful clear skies in Colorado the rest of the trip. No white Christmas for us! The temperature Sunday night was down to -2 degrees, and highs during the day were in the 20's.

We saw most of Dirk's family, including his Mom flying in from Virginia, during our visit. That was a very special treat! We celebrated with the ENTIRE Smith family at a Christmas Eve dinner celebration at Cousin Aron's house in Denver, and most everyone traveled down to Colorado Springs for our Christmas day celebrations there.

Dirk shoveling snow

The outside temp! Brrrrrr....

The view of Pikes Peak out the back window (telephoto lens of course)

Sephira, the reindeer and the fireplace. Nice and cozy!

Cousins Elizabeth and Nicolas meeting Sephira for the first time!

Granma Gerri, Cousins Elizabeth and Nicolas, and Sephira squished in the middle!

Dada cooing with Sephira

Aunt Catherine reading to the kids

Nicolas and Sephira

Sephira's sleeping arrangments: a drawer on the side table

As snug as a baby in a cradle!

Grandmama Barbara visiting from Virginia, loving on Cousin Alex and Sephira

Aunt Effie reading "The Hungry Thing" to Elizabeth and Nicolas

Sephira hearing "The Hungry Thing" for the first time

The cousins: Alex, Sephira, Elizabeth, Daniel, Nicolas

Grandmama Barbara and Sephira all dressed up for the festivities

Sephira all dolled up in her Christmas dress...that just happens to match her eyes!

Effie, Dirk & Sephira posing in front of the beautiful Christmas tree

Sephira's first ornament

Oh Yeah, Baby!

You're gonna love this! This last weekend Effie filmed Sephira talking...but it's not all "ahgoo's", "ahbah's" and "ahgle's" anymore. Check this out!

Sephira 3-Months Old!

Boy time flies! Our darling Sephira is already 3 months old!!! She is developing fast - holding her head up strong, trying to sit-up on her own, observing her hands, and tracking with her vision perfectly! She's so big now...over 15.5 pounds...that we've had to move her up to the next notch in her car seat belt, and as you call tell from these photos, she's outgrowing her swing seat pretty fast too!

She's also starting to sleep through the night better - starting off in 4-7 hour cycles, and as of last night, she slept 8.5 hours straight! We hope this is a new trend!

She also loves books and lights, so we're excited to take her on walks to see the Christmas lights. AND at 12.5 weeks she discovered her voice again!!! Now she talks all day (off and on), from morning to night, imitating our sounds and creating some of her own, and she talks to us to let us know when she's sleepy too. She is just a gem!