Sasha relishes mealtime and especially likes to feed herself. We usually give her a teething biscuit or little snack cereal pieces to pick up while we spoonfeed her baby food which seems to occupy her busy hands. Sweet potatoes are her favorite food at 7 1/2 months.

Remember those Johnny Jump-ups we all had when we were little? Here is Sasha's version--called the Baby Bungee jumper. She babbles, sputters, and explodes with giggles when we put her in it.

Post-pigtail before bed one evening.

Here are a few more favorite pics from the first few weeks here.

She has been crawling very slowly and awkwardly for a few weeks now. Not fast enough to get into too much trouble yet...

It's high time I posted some pictures depicting our new life here in New Mexico. Overall, we absolutely love Santa Fe. We literally wake up every day and exclaim at some point that it seems too good to be true that we actually live a place like this. It seems more like this should be a vacation, but we're actually locals now. Phil had 2 weeks to get settled before he started his job during which we got to know the city and surrounding area. We promptly bought the Santa Fe Day Hike guide that everyone has and have taken several hikes in the mountains surrounding Santa Fe and up in Taos, an hour away.

Sasha was relived to find greenspace and baby swings in her new state. There is a great toddler pool a half mile from our house that will be fun for a few more weeks. She has adjusted well to the move and is sleeping better at night than she ever has--still getting up once around 4am, but then sleeping in until at least 8 am.

We have travelled down to Albuquerque several times for various reasons. We have an annual pass to the Albuquerque zoo and it's so nice to stop by my Aunt Carolyn and Uncle John's house for a dip or swing by Megan and Uli's house when we're in town. Sasha and I went with Megan this week to hear Obama speak at one of the high schools in Albuquerque, and we all went down to the Mennonite church yesterday for the first time and had a really good experience.

The last week of our vacation up in Michigan the whole Smucker clan joined us for a fun week of boating, playing in the lake, eating good food, and relaxing. Above Sasha is entertained by Grandpa Smucker and Uncle Joe.

The annual family picture in front of the house.

Sasha with her cousins Jake and Mary, both one year older than her. Rachel and Benj provided the "Smuckers" outfits from their nearby Orville, Ohio outlet store.

Upper Peninsula

We took a mini-vacation from vacation and drove up to Michigan's U.P. for a few days. None of us had ever been there and it did not disappoint except for the grungy cabin in Grand Marais (above)I take full responsibility for renting. Sasha obviously didn't mind.

We enjoyed some hiking in the deep woods and took a wonderful boat trip along the coast of Lake Superior to see the Pictured Rocks. We both agreed it was the most beautiful thing we've experienced in the Midwest.

We found this great little 50's diner in the tiny town of Grand Marais and returned 3 times for meals! Sasha had her first taste of fresh raspberry pie and thought she'd died and gone to heaven.

Michigan

After 2 very stressful days of tying up loose ends in Indy including closing on our house, we headed north to the beautiful land of Onekama , Michigan. Phil, Sasha, and I had 1 week up there by ourselves before being joined by Phil's extended family. Sasha loved the water in Portage Lake and liked to play on a towel under an umbrella on Lake Michigan. Thankfully she was not starting to crawl yet, so we didn't have to worry about eating sand this year.

My good college friend Kate Dutkiewicz was up at Little Eden that week with her kids Simon and Maren. It was great to see them again before we move!

Sasha's favorite thing to do up in Michigan was practice standing and walking. She loves to hold onto these flimsy playgym supports that rock all over the place. She has a death grip on them and can stand without any help indefinitely, balancing precariously as the whole thing shifts back and forth. It hilarious to watch and a little nerve-racking.

Nicaragua

To celebrate both Phil being done with residency and my dad's recent retirement, the entire Yoder family travelled together to Grenada, Nicaragua where we stayed at my aunt and uncle's beautiful little casita complete with lush gardens, a plunge pool that Sasha thoroughly enjoyed, and hammocks for reading and napping. We were thankful for the A/C in the bedrooms as the humidity and heat were intense. Sasha's hair has never been so kinky! She was a great little traveller and got her first taste of mashed bananas and avocado.

Phil's graduation

Hello from Santa Fe, New Mexico!! I'm back in the game so to speak. After 6 weeks of some of the most stressful and some of the most relaxing days of our lives we have landed with our feet down in our new home in the heart of Santa Fe. Because so much has happened, I will have to break up the last month into several sequential segments starting with Phil's graduation back in the end of June. After 7 long years of neurosurgery residency, Phil accepted his certificate at a nice ceremony in his honor back in Indianapolis. Sasha made an appearance for the cocktail hour. She's so proud of her Daddy and so am I! This is her rocking chair that came to Santa Fe with us (it was mine when I was little).

We are in count-down mode for Phil being done with residency (one more day!!), vacation, and moving so it will probably be a good long while before I get a chance to post anything new on the blog. Amazingly the day to day schedule for Sasha and I has remained somewhat normal this week. It helps to have professional movers this time around who will pack up all the stuff the day before we move. We've been getting together with friends one last time, going to favorite restaurants, and checking off things on our to do list. The end is now in site and we're excited to start the next part of our lives!

This was at my last outdoor concert with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis. Phil spent most of the concert trying to keep Sasha entertained during her cranky time of the evening. It is definitely harder for her to just fall asleep wherever now. She's pretty routine--needs a quiet, dark environment or else movement (stroller or carseat).

We started Sasha on some solids a couple of weeks ago which justified the purchase of a highchair. She's not a fan of plain cereal, but tolerates it mixed with some bananas for now.

Sasha and her Pop on Father's Day. It's a love affair to be sure. Isn't she starting to look more and more like him?

The weather has been so gorgeous lately that we try to spend as much time outside as possible these days. Sasha loves to sit in the grass and feel the different textures of leaves, flowers, and bark. I will really miss the canal walk downtown Indy--a great hour-long stroller ride with lots of fountains and other people to look at.

Sasha with Grandpa Fred in Goshen (from a couple weeks ago). My parents are coming down this weekend to watch Sasha while Phil and I tackle some heavy duty sorting/pitching/recycling in the attic. I can't believe Phil graduates in a week from what once seemed like an endless residency!

My curly-headed "Bean" as we call her.