8 Months

This adorable little fellow turned 8 months old while we were away.  He charmed everyone in sight from the safety of my arms but wanted very little to do with all of the adoring relatives that wanted a chance to snuggle him up.  Just Mom, please.

Noah is still loving his new relationship with food and is gaining weight steadily.  He wants desperately to be crawling and kicks his arms and legs out "Superman style" whenever he's on his tummy.  Somehow he ends up in my bed early every morning, which I absolutely love.  His chubby baby snuggles and big brown eyes are a perfect start to my day.

He's drooling like crazy, and has three tiny little teeth lined up neatly in a row on his lower gum.  His siblings adore him when he's happy and let him stick with me when he's a grump, which is less and less as the months go by.

His smile can light up a whole room, and I have a feeling he's going to get himself out of a lot of trouble in the future with this charm.

Summer Before Our Trip

We spent one weekend exploring Ledges- a state park not too far from here with forests!  hiking trails!  nature!  It was fun to discover this nearby pocket of outdoor fun, and we *thought* the slight inclines and small sets of 6 stairs would be good practice for our upcoming hikes in the Rocky Mountains.

Another weekend before we left was a "get out of the way and let the magic happen" kind of weekend.  We didn't have big plans, which can be a recipe for disaster, but this weekend it was just right.  We had an impromptu family game night on Friday that was so fun.  We worked hard on Saturday and didn't accomplish nearly as much as we hoped to, but what we did do felt great.  We had a crash course in pop music around the dinner table on Saturday night, covering everything from The Beach Boys to to Queen to Michael Jackson to Simon and Garfunkle to Katy Perry to Mulan.  We danced and laughed and sang and probably completely weirded out our neighbors since the windows were wide open.  We snuggled and slept and worked and rested and had just the most lovely 'boring' weekend we've had in a long time.

Before we left we sold our Pacifica.  It was a sad good-bye for everyone, but we immediately fell in love with "Marshmallow", our new minivan once we discovered the two-screen DVD players, extra space to stretch out and the trunk!  We made our Pacifica work for a good long time, but we're all happy with the upgrade, and especially grateful to be in a car that is safe and reliable again.

But we'll never forget the Pacifica.  Miss Emma Grace was born right there on that seat.  My sweet baby girl has wanted things her way right from the beginning!

Before we left Leah caught an orphaned duckling at the pond.  She was so brave to reach down and scoop it up, and it was the hit of the park that day.

We opted to let another family take it home because we were getting ready to go on vacation, but it sure would have made a fun pet.

 Before we left Emma played lots of dress-ups.

 And we caught up on lots of sleep.

I went to the Des Moines farmers market one beautiful Saturday morning with my sweet friend Jami.  

And this sweet moment happened and just melted my heart.  I remember my 13-year-old self sitting at the piano holding my baby sister Allison on my lap in the same way.

Before we left I printed out the first year of our blog into a book.  And the kids loved it and pored over the pictures and stories and inspired me to keep preserving our family's memories as they come.  So here we go!

Emma-isms Galore

Emma was confident she could catch the bunny from our backyard with a fine mesh strainer.  She called from the window, 'Rabbit!  I have a net and I will catch you!'  Shockingly, the rabbit didn't hop up our deck and into her net like she hoped he would.

*****

Me, noticing the red tint to Noah's few wisps of hair- I think Noah is going to have caramel-colored hair just like you.

No him won't!  Him has floofy hair!

*****

Still working on her pronunciation, Emma's big sister is 'Lee-la', her favorite mermaid is named 'Eee-low', and for breakfast she eats 'Cee-low'.

*****

After getting in the way of her flailing little brother- "Him thwaped me on da nose so I need a blanket!"

*****

E- We should go to that place where we watched Cinderella and ate dinner and pushed the tiny carts.

M- Hy-vee?  (The local grocery store/deli that we visited months ago during a blizzard)

E- Yes, because it was soooo much fun.

*****

Emma loves music, and I often catch her singing lyrics to pop songs- 'You're gonna miss me when I'm gone' or 'I knew you were trouble when you walked in!' or 'I got the eye of the tiger... And you're gonna hear me roooooaar!'

*****

M- Emma, can I put your hair up in some pigtails? 

E- No, I just like my hair blonde. 

*****

As Emma was throwing an age-appropriate fit, Adam asked me why she was crying.

I said, "Because she's two." 

To me, that explains perfectly why she doesn't want to eat her yogurt with the spoon that I put into her bowl that is now 'All dirty!' because it has some of her yogurt on it.

Perplexed, Adam responded, "Well how old does she want to be?"

Maybe that is the real question.  Life is certainly not easy for a two-year-old.  

Last day of school

We made it to the last day of school.  I think I was just as excited as Leah- no more early wake-up calls, no more packing lunches, emptying backpacks or hounding about homework.  We finally made it to the end of first grade!  Leah worked really hard this year- getting up and ready by 7:35 is no small task, but she did it!  Leah was exceptionally proud of the fact that she never had to turn a card for poor behavior all year long.  She had great substitute teacher finish out the year after her original teacher had a baby.  She had a good handful of of friends, although a bit more girl drama than I would have expected in first grade. We had a lot of conversations about knowing what to say or not say, and I think she'll be glad for a chance to switch things up next year.  I know I will!

But best of all, the end of school brought with it our first summer vacation!  We got into the car 2 hours after school let out, and two days later we made it to Utah!  We are thrilled to be here- surrounded by love and with lots of adventures ahead!