My favorite age

5 months. When Catie was born, Sherry (my sister-in-law) told me that 5 months was a fun age. At the time I was dealing with an infant who wouldn't sleep on her own and spit up constantly. So I waited for the "fun age". I wasn't disappointed. Catie still spit up, and still couldn't sooth herself to sleep, but she began to laugh and roll and sit up. Lydia is at that age now. She's a little more difficult to get to laugh, but she smiles big ALL the time (especially when she sees Daddy.) She has started to roll all around the room and when I sit her up she can balance herself for a short time. I like this age b/c, even though she's mobile, she's not really. I can more or less trust her to be in the area where I put her down. The best part of it all is that she doesn't spit up (much) and she goes to sleep on her own.

Another great thing about this age is that I understand her needs better. I know her signals when she needs to be fed or put down to sleep. She is also starting to eat pureed fruit. I enjoy feeding babies at this stage. They make a big mess the first couple of times, but after a while they get the hang of it and things smooth out.

I have found that when each of the girls have reached this stage that I don't long for the past or look forward for the future to come as quickly. I am content. And as I write this Catie just came up to me for a random kiss. I do look forward to Lydia doing that. Every stage has it's benefits.

The amazing race

Saturday was my birthday. I turned 31. The day was very busy b/c we had to go to a family reunion about 1.5 hours away. From there my mom came back to our house to watch the girls so we could go to a get-together at the home of a family from our church (also the sister of one of my best friends from high school). Wendy puts together an "Amazing Race" every year with clues, tasks, riddles, the whole 9 yards. We drove around on the back country roads, to state forests and trails, and had so much fun. She went so far as to put an add in the local paper as a clue!

I probably don't need to tell you this, but we won!!! My friend Amy and her husband, Jerry, were on our team and we kicked butt!!! i was very proud of myself. There was a lot of running involved and a lot of thinking. I kept up. And I'm looking forward to next year's event!!!

Thankful for the slave trade....? (and other Olympic thoughts)

What would our track and field team (and many other sports for that matter) look like without the amazing athleticism of African-Americans?

Lolo Jones did a great job as a white girl. As a former high school hurdler, it was difficult to watch that race, but I was IMPRESSED that she stayed on her feet at all.

Shawn Johnson is adorable!!!! What a great little smile!!!

sports i'm not a fan of: wrestling, field hockey, basketball, baseball, and probably a few others.

favorite sports to watch (not in any particular order): gymnastics, swimming, diving, trampoline, volleyball, cycling, rowing, syncronized anything.

those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.

Our backyard shrunk

Well, not really. After seeing the bear in the yard (see previous post), we decided it was time to act on our desire to fence in a large portion of the back yard. These are some pictures of the process. It took about 2 weeks and we love it. I even feel comfortable letting Catie go out by herself and run around with the dog. Before the fence, it was just a wide open, undefined space with a small pond. I was always afraid of her wandering off toward the pond or into the woods. Now i don't worry about it. She sticks right with the dog and the pond is outside the fence. Now it feels like we have a yard and not just a field.

The posts can be seen off in the distance.

Before the posts were set in cement.

The finished fence (with the fencing guy's van).

Catie and Jericho running around.

July Happenings

The fountain in Corning is a great place to play on a hot summer day.

Meade's Creek was a lot of fun, too, until the crayfish bumped into Catie and she FREAKED OUT!!!!

Pictures with sister.

Lydia learned to use her hands to reach toys.

Ice cream. The place that's closest to our house has these tiny little cones that Catie can hold and eat by herself. (and make a mess by herself.)

We put up the swing for the girls. Lydia loves it. Catie loves to push Lydia in it.

our version of "camping"

This is our camper. We like it alot.

The view into the back of the camper (while packing up.) You can see our bed through the back hallway. Catie is standing in front of the bathroom. And there's also a kitchen and dinette.
This is the livingroom area. Notice the dinette and end of the kitchen counter. It's a lot of space, but not as much as you might think. Especially when you put a 100 lb bloodhound on the floor along with Lydia's toy (that she's sleeping on in this pic) and Catie's toys/books/etc.