(I caught Paul up, reading until 10 pm one night)
Justin, Renee, Paul, Ben, & Amanda
Books, Books, Books
I love that, in addition to our mess of Legos strewn across the house, I've been finding books everywhere. All 3 of our kids are thoroughly enjoying books; each on a different level.
Amanda- 4 Months (video)
Our sweet little girl.
Not the most exciting video, but a good one for those of you who haven't been able to see her in person yet :)
Low Expectations
The night before school pictures, Justin and I asked Paul to show us how he planned on smiling for his picture. He had us a bit nervous when he (seemingly) thought that this was a nice look....
With the expectation set so low, we were happily surprised when his picture turned out like this-- forced smile, bags under his eyes, and all :)
With the expectation set so low, we were happily surprised when his picture turned out like this-- forced smile, bags under his eyes, and all :)
3 Months
"Panda"- 3 months old
Three months is said to be the magical time where the hardest parts of the newborn phase begin to fade and more & more happy moments fill your days (and nights). It is also said that, at this time, things begin to feel manageable and you begin to regain your life. While I haven't experienced this part yet, my days are being filled with lots of happy moments with my beautiful, sweet three-month-old.
She also has become good friends with the baby in the mirror. She loves to smile at the baby in the mirror. When the baby in the mirror smiles back, she squeals with delight and "talks" to the baby for a bit. Her brothers giggle in the background-- they think it's quite funny that she doesn't seem to understand that the baby in the mirror is her own reflection ;)
I'm loving how talkative she is. Especially with Justin & I. She locks eyes with us, smiles, and then talks away. It's fun to watch her eyes sparkle, and her eyebrows and mouth change shape as she's thinking about what to say (below).
When she's upset, her brothers race to her and sing silly songs and get right in her face. While the extreme closeness makes me a bit claustrophobic to watch, she cheers right up. She LOVES her brothers and they LOVE her.
Catching Up in Pictures- June
I realize that blogging is just not going to become a high enough priority for it to happen, so I'm simply going to post (what I hope to be) a lot of pictures with quick captions to sum up the last couple of months starting with June.
~June~
June brought lots of summertime fun with cousins.
 |
| Fun with Rocky & aunt Julie- making Kool-Aid play dough & outdoor sprinkler fun! |
 |
| Water Party with Geyser cousins & aunt Cassie! |
 |
| Camping at the old HP cabins (Hermit Park) |
 |
| Celebrating Father's Day & playing with cousin Asher, uncle Austin & aunt Keely (who moved here from Washington in June!). We're so glad that we have so many cousins close by to play with! |
 |
| Visiting the Denver Aquarium with Grandma Kate & uncle Brent while I rested. |
 |
| I kept busy growing a baby and attempting to complete the baby's room before she arrived (it's still a work in progress). |
Beautiful (destructive) Snow
{I just found this post saved as a draft}
How could snow this clean, crisp and beautiful create such a mess and so much work?
We had an early snow storm with thick, heavy snow. Only our Ash tree and Plum tree had lost their leaves prior to the snow, so most of the remaining trees suffered many lost limbs when this heavy snow landed on them.
How could snow this clean, crisp and beautiful create such a mess and so much work?
We had an early snow storm with thick, heavy snow. Only our Ash tree and Plum tree had lost their leaves prior to the snow, so most of the remaining trees suffered many lost limbs when this heavy snow landed on them.
 |
| (apple tree- unharmed) |
(Ash tree- only one limb lost)
 |
| (such thick snow on small, twig like limbs) |
 |
| (prior to the snow storm, this section of our back yard was flat and clear of any leaves) |
This picture (above) simply looks like a large pile of leaves, but it is really a large pile of limbs. Some limbs so thick, long, and heavy that when falling, broke sections of a heavy-duty metal ladder off and bent the neighbor's chimney. All night during the snow storm we heard the ominous "snap", "snap", "crash" as limbs fell and landed. We were in awe when we woke up to a yard full of limbs.
Justin and I are disappointed that the pictures don't even come close to showing the massive amount of limbs that fell from our trees. The lack of my photography skills is partially to blame, but even a skilled photographer would have a hard time capturing what it felt like wading (and tripping) through the piles of limbs in our yard.
People driving by on our street would pause and stop to gaze at our yard.
Looking at the massive piles made us wary of all of the work ahead of us.
Luckily, we have some of the nicest neighbors living across the street from us. Five adults worked on gathering and breaking/cutting limbs from 9am today until after 5 pm. Even the power of the chainsaw could not dig us out of this mess. We did clear up a lot of the mess, but we still have at least another full day's work ahead of us.... plus the time it will take us to haul all of the debris away.
Here's to firewood!
