a good series

Lady LE loves to smile these days and it's fun to watch it happen, so I tried to snap a few pictures to help far-away family enjoy it too.

A sweet grin to humor me ...

Most common smile we see these days ...

A funny smirk we get when she's super happy ...

And a definite "I'm done" face.
Love her to bits. 

camping

Last weekend we went to our ward camp-out and had a great time! The evening was a blast hanging out with everyone eating good food. L loved running around wild and staying up late.

This only fueled his obsession with flashlights. 

How amazing it is to wake up to this view! WOW. The kids had a rough night, so we were up early. R crawled down to the water from our campsite and got a couple really great pictures of the lake. It was absolutely beautiful! I love the quietness of the morning when camping ... except when an infant is screaming. But once the screaming stopped it was nice and quiet again. :)

Right after we were all packed up ready to go home we walked down the main path to the water's edge. So fun to throw rocks in the water - love these kids!! (and once again, the serious-play-face of L)

Can you believe it?! A family picture with L smiling too!! Yay! 

play days

We enjoyed a fun play date last week with some friends from church. It nice to have so many other young kids for L to play with! And it was even better because R had a night shift, so he kept little lady LE at home with him so I could just focus and play with L at the park. It was SO fun!!

First stop at the park was feeding the ducks! Sad to say, this is L's first experience with that (I know, what a lame mother I am!) A good friend supplied lots of bread for us to use, and the ducks grooved on it for a while. L definitely wants to go back and do it again. 

The lily pads and flowers were HUGE. I snapped this one really quick on the way back to the playground to join the other kids. Isn't it funny how the flowers look like they have shower heads in 'em? 

I've noticed that L looks very serious in all of his "play time" pictures. This kid is hard at work playing! Maybe he'll take after me in his college studies and major in recreation! HA! I hope not ... he'll have a family to support!
Nonetheless, he does take play very seriously and is good at it! He loves being outside and I love watching him. Perfect combo. 

apples

Three years ago, we met up with Dave & Tiff in Michigan and went to a nearby apple orchard. We tasted the glorious honeycrisp apple variety there for the first time, and have since only dreamed of such flavors because they are so stinkin' expensive! This year we found out that Lynd Fruit Farm had U-pick honeycrisp apples the weekend of my birthday. Perfect timing to justify a splurge! :)

So we went and the weather was perfect - compared to our last year's trip there! 

L helped a little with the picking, but he was honestly way too preoccupied with eating them.
How do you like them apples? I like 'em a lot!

To be honest, I wasn't much help with the picking either. I was too preoccupied with the camera and baby.

While it was a splurge, we were still modest in our spending - we got the smaller of the two bags. Although this only means that we have to go back again for the golden delicious/jonagold varieties so that we can start making some yummy apple-filled-goodness treats for ourselves and save the honeycrisp for munching.

I missed our ward's midweek activity to go apple picking. But I still have some time ... Fall is just starting.

{proof of L's preoccupation with eating. He handed this to me in the car saying he was all done, which basically means there's no more room for him to hold onto it anymore}

lightening

L has had this obsession for quite some time, as I'm sure a lot of toddler boys do.
On our Michigan trip, R picked up two new cars for L's collection (Chick Hicks and Mr. The King) and these four cars in particular went EVERYWHERE with us. They were his best friends and he honestly was so well behaved the entire time! His recent thing is to flip them upside-down and say, "lightening sad," flip them back over and say, "lightening happy!" So cute.

It reached a new high yesterday when after falling on one of our kitchen chairs and mildly scraping his shin he cried for his lightening bandaids saying that lightening would help it feel better. After we got the bandaid, he lined up all his cars and said they wanted to watch the Cars movie. I couldn't really refuse his cute face, so we watched it again. For the umpteenth time. And afterwards he wanted to keep singing along to the music video ...

He wasn't quite so animated as he normally is, but you get the idea.
Thank you Pixar. What would we do without you! 

two months old

I honestly feel like she's been here longer, but it's only been two months since LE joined our family!

At the doctor's office yesterday she got her first round of shots, and I have never seen her face get that purple! I thought that we had heard the ability of those lungs of hers, but I got the full force yesterday and boy can she be loud! Besides a low-grade fever she seems to be great though, and the grumpiness is already starting to subside. She is such an angel!

New statistics:
10 lbs. 14 oz. (53%)
22 in. (37%)

A few favorites:
~LE loves to coo and talk and is doing it more every day
~Hair is still completely out of control and I love it! It's the fluffiest right after bath time and only stands straight up. She doesn't seem to be loosing it either which makes me happy!
~A couple weeks ago she smiled at big brother and it rocked my world.
~Not on any specific kind of schedule, other than eating on demand and sleeping when needed. We both seem to work really well with this groove and the flexibility it offers us.
~She typically sleeps really well at night and is definitely a swaddle-baby. And she's still little enough to use those flannel receiving blankets! Crazy, because big brother outgrew those within the first couple of weeks.
~Growing at half the rate that big brother grew. It seems fitting that she's so little - although the Dr. yesterday felt it necessary to correct me when I said how little she was and reaffirmed that she's average and growing well {which of course, I know, but in comparison to L she's little!}
~Gaining more control over arms and legs
~Often simply talking to her in a sweet voice calms her down when she gets fussy as if she just needed to know that we were still there.
~If all else fails, Daddy bouncing her always works and is a great work out for his arms!
~Loves to be held, which works out perfectly because I love to hold her! Daddy and I often argue in the evening which one of us gets to hold her (that is, when the alternative is making dinner or doing the dishes!)   

I LOVE her eyes! LE you are my little angel! 

michigan

A little bit last minute we decided to go to Michigan for R's week off. We had heard a couple people refer to the beaches up there, so we decided we needed to go check it out! We stayed at a little vacation rental which had its ups and downs, but grew on us by the time we left. It was a wonderful trip, besides the fact that we only saw the sun on Tuesday and then had overcast, rainy, and windy days the rest of the week! Thank goodness we went to the beach that day!

We played hard!! The beach was perfect in every way. We played in the heat, jumped over the waves, built a sand fort we dutifully named Fort L, chased the water, dug holes in the sand, ate a picnic, enjoyed the wind, chased away seagulls, body-surfed, closed our eyes and listened to the wonderful beach sounds, and swam to our hearts content. So refreshing and exhausting! It was perfect! LE hung out in her own little hide-a-way under our beach umbrella on a camping chair with lots of towels blocking out the wind and sand. And I think L was in heaven with the playtime! The waves scared him a little, and he never fully got in the water to swim, but he fell often enough to get completely wet over and over again. Love it! 

We spent the evening visiting a nearby city, Holland, walking through its cute parks and little downtown area. The next day was basically our recovery day! It was rainy, so we worked on R's applications and played at our little home for the week. We ventured into the small town for an evening picnic and had fun walking along the water talking about all the boats and looking out at the water. It was a really cute artsy town and a fun downtown area. 

On Thursday we tried to do things in spite of the rain, and finally got lucky in the afternoon. We did a short hike through a nearby state park which lead to a secluded beach. Although we weren't dressed for the water, nothing can stop L! So we played for a long time and enjoyed having so much open space to ourselves! LE loved being held close - it was pretty windy and loud! 

Jumping over waves was a BIG hit all week long! 

Oh this little boy is my favorite! 

Our last day there we started by climbing steps to see the view from Mt. Baldhead. The view was beautiful, but the thing that impressed me most was that L climbed all those steps by himself! And if you look closely, you'll see that he's concentrating really hard to say "cheese" for the camera. Cutie!

I LOVED the long grasses along the shoreline. It was so peaceful looking and gorgeous! 
Then we tried to go to the beach, thinking that it was a little warmer but boy we were wrong! This picture doesn't do it justice at all - it was gale-force winds and crazy! I stayed in the car nursing LE while R took L down to get things set up. By the time I was done and walking down to meet them, they were on their way back up and L's lips were totally blue. It was freezing with that wind! So we decided to head back up to Holland and see their lighthouse. 

So windy but yet so fun! There was this big jetty going out from the lighthouse that was getting drenched with big waves crashing up on the rocks, but we bundled up and ran across it anyway to grab a couple pictures and see the water up close. People looked at us like we were crazy but it was so much fun!

And we completely fell in love with the city of Holland. Such a cute town with beautiful water fronts! We will definitely live by the water someday. It's a must.

All in all, a great vacation. Although we learned quite a bit about ourselves and what we want/expect out of future family vacations. We definitely want to go back and see more beaches and some other cool things in MI that we either didn't have time for or didn't even know about until our week was over.
Maybe next year? :) 

randomness

We just got back from a fun vacation up to the great state of Michigan, but I've been meaning to post these pictures for a while now - mostly for grandparents to enjoy. These are all almost a month old already, but better late than never, right Mom? :)

Playing at the park with a picnic lunch. Doesn't get much better.

We got all this kid paint for free, so we went on a walk to collect rocks (a favorite hobby anyway) and decided to get to work. L loved using paint brushes and LE was a good supervisor. 

Now onto the vacation! :) 

sunday afternoon

I finally caught her smile on camera. And a few other faces to enjoy.

moments

A couple nights ago, after we put L down for bed, I sat down on the couch with little LE asleep in my arms. The sun was setting, and through our back window the last few glimmers of daylight were coming through right onto her face. The light was a beautiful, soft glow and it honestly created this perfect moment in time. It was a moment when I didn't think about anything else except this precious little baby and all the possibilities that lay before her.

I asked Ry to bring the camera to me, and I tried valiantly to capture that moment. I thought that if I could catch it on the camera, then this picture would include all of my hopes and dreams and wishes for her. Perhaps this "perfect picture" would somehow be able to tell of all the love I feel for her, how my heart is hers forever, how there is nothing I would want more than to see her live a happy and full life. This picture would show how I want to be there every step of the way for her, help her when she falls, teach her how to be strong, show her how to laugh and be happy. Somehow within that frame I could teach her the life lessons I have learned, and the testimony that I have gained over the years that has shaped who I am. Maybe this picture could even help her understand that while being a mom is hard, it is by far the best decision I ever made in my life and I have felt pure joy because of it.  Not the surface-level pleasure you get when life is easy; but the deep, eternal joy you feel when the challenges make you grow and progress in a way you never thought possible.  Pure joy that results from putting every single bit of energy and life into one purpose, and knowing that by doing so you are doing the best you can. If I could find just the right angle, then this picture could possibly tell her what real love is, and how that love is never ending.

I snapped dozens of pictures that evening, and yet not a single one turned out. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I've never been good with words. That might be why I love to take pictures. But the emotions and feelings I had that night staring at this perfect, beautiful baby were so intricate and profound that there is no way for words or pictures to adequately portray them.

Accepting the fact that these emotions were too strong to confine to a camera lens, I put the camera down and simply held her. My memory will have to suffice for this time, as it did for a similar experience I had with L when he was a newborn. It seems the newness and purity we feel from them as infants rubs off and sparks these eternal thoughts and longings. And it's not something that can be explained through one picture, or one conversation. It's something that needs to be taught over their entire lifetime; pictures and words just catch segments along the way. I love those smaller moments, but it's nice every once in a while to catch a panoramic view of it all.

days of summer

Summer is almost over and we are still alive and going strong. Life has been a little slow yet fast, quiet yet loud, and mundane yet fun. A little bit of everything! Here are some pictures of what we've been up to lately.

L continues to be in full swing with the toddler tantrums, but yet is SO incredibly fun to play with. I'll take the bad as long as I get the good! He is a constant riot who loves to be tickled, chased, thrown around, and loved. He is a great big brother and insists very firmly to hold little LE and give her hugs and kisses multiple times a day. Whenever she cries he runs over and hugs her - why? Duh! Because you need hugs when you're sad! It's so tender it melts my heart! He's talking a ton, although still requires an interpreter when we're out in public. But he has a good heart, is sensitive to others, and is full of energy.

Here he is reading a book to his animals. He loves to read and has memorized enough to be able to turn each page and say exactly what is on each one in multiple different books (Pajama Time and Barnyard Dance are his current favorites - currently his deal is to read one out loud while Mom/Dad reads the other one out loud, then we switch).

We've watched Daddy play some sports lately in the park, and we always make time to play ourselves. This kid has some serious skills when it comes to soccer, football, volleyball, and frisbee. Honestly. Skillz.

Making some of our favorite cookies and eating them up way too fast. L is getting really good at stirring and helping mom. I'm always too paranoid to leave him and go grab the camera for the 'action' shots - maybe next time!

We "share the road" here. Don't you worry - there's plenty of room for all of us. 

This is what we did last Friday when Ryan was 'post-call' but yet was sent home at 7pm the night before because nothing was going on. Full night's sleep AND the next day off. WOW! We love Anesthesia! :)
I must say that there is nothing better than watching Ry and L have so much fun playing together. It makes life so rewarding and fulfilling to have those wonderful family moments. The top right picture of them walking down to the water together is so sweet to me - they really are best buds together and I couldn't be happier! 

Playing in the pool at a friend's apartment complex. He hated those floaty-things and we took them off promptly after we got these cute pictures. 

You can always win a girl's heart with a big truck, right?
Especially if you take her over to the swings afterwards ... 

one month!

LE is one month old! Hooray! 

LE stats:

9 lbs. 4 oz. (50%)

21 in. (45%)

She's growing, but not near as fast as L did at this age, so it's still surprising to fit her into newborn size diapers and to not have any clothes that she's outgrown yet! But I love her tiny-ness and want to hold onto it as long as possible. 

A few favorites:

~She loves to watch us and follow us with her eyes

~As of today {8.11.10} she smiled for the first time!!

~L loves to give her lots of hugs and kisses

~She's a decent sleeper but still struggles with the initial going-to-sleep time

~I can't wait to hear her voice when she babbles - we've caught glimpses of it and it is to die for cute! 

~Loves the swing and yet does fairly well at laying down on her own so I can do other things

~Still gets fussy and screams, but isn't near as colicky as L was at this age

~She's holding onto her hair!! I think it still might disappear a little bit, but since she had so much to begin with there's still a lot there

~While on the subject of hair, the color is turning this beautiful auburn-red. I absolutely love it.

~Her skin has finally stopped peeling! L's skin didn't peal hardly at all, so this was a new experience for me

~Sadly she has a lot of baby acne which is also new to me as a mom, but I still think she's beautiful. :)

~I'm definitely biased in my affection and adoration for this little girl. She's perfect.

Mommy and LE after a quick bath before church

This is typically how she spends the afternoon/early evening. She hates to have her neck straight and will only sleep when it's all crooked and bent like that. Weirdo. 

lets get physical

This past weekend we really got in some exercise (well, everyone but me - I'm not cleared for physical activity just yet)!

She may look scared, but I just love the fact that we had a swim suit for her to wear!! Look how tiny those arms are! We went to a nearby apartment complex pool and had a grand ol' time. Dad and a good friend loved throwing L back and forth in the water - that kid is fearless! LE and I watched from the side lines of course ...

We had our annual stake softball activity on Saturday and loved it. I've been on the planning committee the past couple years and LOVED being able to just watch and enjoy the day rather than stressing out about it! :) L was so good and watched Daddy play the entire time - and we were not disappointed. R did a couple of amazing plays including the team's only home run all day and a diving catch near the end! Go Dad! 

And this is how we share at home. We played soccer inside for a little bit, and then went to a park to watch Daddy play some sand volleyball. L is definitely getting the hang of hitting it back and forth! It is so stinkin' fun to watch. And I am amazed at how much L loves to watch Daddy play sports - he talks to me the whole time about what he sees and what's happening and is so observant!

I cannot wait for the 6-week mark when I can stop being a spectator and start being a participant again! Family play time here we come!