9 months

It's hard to believe my baby girl has turned 9 months. 9 MONTHS! She's been crawling for awhile (and standing up on just about everything) but I thought I'd share this video of her first crawling anyway. And of course you'll notice that big brother had to show her how it's done.

And M isn't the only one growing up. I took my little man to his first dentist visit. He did great and the staff was fabulous. N was rewarded with a token to get a bouncy ball at the end of the visit. Wish I got a token at the end of my dentist visits.

As if we didn't have enough things going on lately, we decided to add cloth diapering to the mix. We've been at it for a good month now and I have to say, I love it. I love the thought of it saving money, being good for the environment and good for M. I found a great trial program that allows you to try a variety of styles for 21 days and if you don't like them, you can return them for a refund. We figured we'll continue it as long as it continues to work for us.

This little "thing" ended up in our house this week. It's the second one that I've found and it gives me the creeps. Don't worry, I trapped it under a bowl, shrieked a little, put our thin cutting board under it and carried it outside to freedom.

The hot summer days seem like they're going on forever lately. We've been having to find lots of interesting things to do inside. How much longer does summer last again???

My monthly update

I'm calling this post my monthly update because, quite frankly, that seems to be how it's going this summer and I figured I might as well own it.

At the end of June, Nana came for a visit. In the beginning of her visit N went around calling her "Bones." It was pretty hilarious (to every one other than Nana). I'm actually chuckling even as I write this. We have no idea where the name came from but if you pointed to her and asked him who she was, he'd proudly smile and say, "Bones!" Well, Nana came up with the "Nana, Nana bo-Nana" rhyming song to help remedy the situation. It seems he's straightened out for now...

While my mom was here we made a visit to Ikea to pick up an elephant she knew was there. We adopted two of them. And what better way to welcome a new friend into your home then to read the story of Babar about hunters killing his mother. Nice.

With the help of pure smarts and a youtube video, we made M a little tutu. Well, really my mom made the tutu while I sat and watched reruns of Gilmore Girls.

She has the ballerina pose down already.

I don't even know what to say? I think my first reaction was to pull him out of there and tell him it is for babies and not big boys. My actual reaction was to laugh and go grab my camera to take a picture.

This was M's reaction when I finally caught her crawling. I knew she had been doing it for a day or so because she would be several feet from where I had last sat her.

I'm actually glad that she has started crawling. Before she would just fuss trying to move to where she wanted to go. Now all she wants to do is stand up and walk so it will be interesting to see how soon she reaches the next stage.

Have I mentioned that the littlest one has no interest in infant toys. None. She wants to play with everything her big brother is playing with, which means lots of fun for mama. In a not very well thought out effort, I attempted to help the situation by picking up one of the Early Engineer trains from Thomas & Friends because they're a little bigger for little ones. I made sure to get a girl train of course. This solution worked for about 5 minutes, and she was after his toys again. Sigh.

For the Fourth of July we spent a nice day at home outside. Since the neighborhood pool was filled with party goers, we decided to bring out the backyard pool to help stay cool.

At this point I was wishing we had an adult slide to go splashing in to the pool on. Thankfully we don't have a photo of myself trying to go down this slide to show N how much fun it was. Let's just say my hips were a little wider than this kiddie slide was.

Now that M has started crawling, N has decided she is fair game to pick on. I'm thankful they still do play nicely together most of the time.

Awww...sibling love.

Is this too big to put in my mouth?

This year I made what will be our traditional Fourth of July cake. Don't look closely as it is far from accurate. I kept wondering why the photos of other people's flag cakes didn't have the blueberries going way past the halfway mark on the cake, but mine did. And I wondered why I couldn't get the correct number on stripes without running out of room for the strawberries. Then I counted the stars and stripes in the photo for the recipe and realized...they didn't try to be accurate. They just tried to make it cute. Next year, I might do the same.

We call her "The destroyer." N just cries.

Our little drool bug. She now has 4 teeth, and is 8.5 months old.

I am excited to have finally carved out some time (even if it was late at night) to get some sewing in and make my first apron knot dress for M. I tried it on her this morning and it fit perfectly! I am hoping to use it for her 9 month photos that we'll take at the end of the month.

I learned many, many lessons while making this. One is to take the photo of the dress BEFORE you try it on and get drool all over it. And on my wish list for future sewing projects will be a buttonhole foot and a ruffler foot for my machine. Although I was proud of myself to make do with what I had. I just think they may make my work easier and cleaner the next time around.

Wow, is anyone else on picture overload???

Summer fun

It seems I've been playing catch up with each post...but I suppose that's just how life is lately.

We had a very relaxing Memorial day weekend splish splashin' in the backyard.

Little man loves the outside and the water so much he didn't flinch even when his lips had turned blue from the cold water.

We make our own waterfalls.

Seriously, who needs meat when you can have this amazingly yummy cucumber sandwich. Mmmmm. Sense the sarcasm here.

N was given a small soccer ball from his Grandpapa, so here he is practicing soccer skills before class. We signed N up for a summer class on Saturdays where a bunch of toddlers run around trying to do drills. Then every couple of minutes one of them breaks out into a cry...because they're 2. It's quite comical and next time I'll have to bring the video camera.

She is seriously all smiles....most of the time.

Sweet lovin' with Oma.

While company was here we headed outside in the evenings for some play time.

Playing catch outside.

Wooly has been apart of N's life from the beginning...but now he has started joining us for tea time, games and even gets sent to the corner once in awhile.

How can you resist this?

Are you stinky?

It's fun to see the two of them already playing together. Tea anyone?

Now I'm gearing up for more company as my mom flies in this weekend to visit for a week. Can't wait!

Seven years ago

It was 5 minutes to 2 p.m. that I was anxiously awaiting walking down the aisle to my soon-to-be husband. I had no doubt in my mind he was the one I was to spend the rest of my life with.

We had a beautiful wedding surrounded by people we love. I cherish the photos with Lucas' dad marrying us, and our best friends looking on.

The wedding party took a ride on Molly the Trolly over to the reception place at Wilderness Ridge.

Seven years later and I'm so thankful for how our family has grown, and for where our family is headed. I love you, Lucas, with all of my heart.

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3:14-19

Grab a comfy seat :: It's gonna be a long one

Don't pass out. Yes, I'm finally writing a post. In my defense, I have some good reasons for my absence in the blogging world. I've had some health issues I've been battling lately, and while I'm still seeing doctors and doing research of my own, I'm so thankful to be back at it and feeling a little bit more like myself again!

Lots of changes have been happening over the last month and a half (has it really been Easter since the last time I blogged???)

:: we put down wood flooring throughout our downstairs and tiled all of the bathrooms and laundry room. Lovin' it! Still need to take a picture to share.

:: I'm transitioning to a vegan diet. Yep. I need all of the prayer I can get on this one, but our hope is that my health will flourish because of it.

:: I finally made homemade laundry detergent. Super easy.


:: little Miss has one tooth.


:: little Miss has two teeth.


:: we've reached the baby food stage. She doesn't quite get the eating part just yet, which makes a frustrating time for mommy and daddy. I don't ever remember wearing the food after feeding N when he was a baby, but with this little girl I end up with it all over me.


:: it's hot here. What do you do when your child wants to play outside and it's about to reach boiling point? Send him out with a spray bottle.


:: we created "the spot." With it being SOOO hot outside here, N has very limited time to go outdoors. When it is deemed cool enough, he gravitates toward his spot. Perfectly shaded and a great place to just chill and do your thing. I'm beginning to think I need a spot...

Oh, and the hose nozzle in his hand serves as his microphone. All of the neighbors get to hear his daytime show.

:: M loves to play with her little piggies.


:: something about sibling love. A little push here, a little shove there. Would you ever guess she is the one who starts it all?


Don't worry...they usually end up like this. They luuurve each other.


:: can you believe this sweet girl is almost 7 months old?


:: she hit the 18 pound mark a couple of weeks ago.

:: her FAVORITE song is Jesus Loves Me. Her face lights up every time you sing it.

:: she has the same amount of hair that N does.

:: my big baby boy is creating all sorts of new parenting challenges for us. We're working on lots of new things.


:: his favorite song to request is "Jingle Bells." My husband is to thank for this.

:: after much heartfelt searching, praying, and seeking wisdom of others, we've decided to fully commit ourselves to giving homeschool a go. What a huge leap of faith but we're oh so excited for the rewards we believe it will reap for our family. While N isn't quite school age yet, it was important to make this decision now since it will impact conventions and conferences we will go to this next year to prepare. I'm starting to get my feet wet with some pre-school lessons this summer. I'll let you know how it goes!

Sigh. It's amazing when I look back at all of the changes just within a little over a month's time. New challenges to face and new adventures to begin. So grateful we get to do them all as a family.