Honey Harvest 2006

This is the harvest my Mom got from her hives this year. This is a pretty impressive amount of honey for the first year, especially after a swarm. Some beekeepers don't have any honey the first year, so we were thrilled to get several gallons. It is a tasty treat - mmmnnn delicious!

Maddy and Morgan

Saturday we went to Morgan's FIRST BIRTHDAY party! How exciting... I remember when I met Danielle at the mommy-baby group at Adventist Hospital and our babies were only a few weeks old. Time has flown! Morgan had a birthday fit for a queen... she even had a wheat-free cake baked and decorated just for her. They played together, swam together, went for a ride in Morgan's new wagon together and partied it up with true baby style.

Blue Lake Park

We went to Blue Lake Park to see the new fountain they recently installed. There are all kinds of fun kid friendly water toys and spouts and of course regular shooting type fountains. There were a LOT of kids there checking it out on Friday. It is really great and just a couple miles up the road in Fairview. Much better than going all the way downtown just to cool off a bit....

Deck Project

Jason stripped our deck, pressure washed it, repainted it and resealed it. What a difference! Then he put down new outdoor carpet and it feels great on bare feet tiptoe'ing out to the car to get something I forgot to bring in (example: the camera to upload this picture!!)

Laura is Getting So Big!

Here is Laura Anne at about 3 1/2 months... isn't she cute??? She and her mama Mary came over last week to play - she is getting quite alert and interacting with her world, on the cusp of reaching out and grabbing for things... that age is so great!

Baby Steps

Maddy took seven steps all on her own today! She is really getting the hang of being vertical now, trying to walk everywhere and stumbling and falling and getting mad, but perservering! Once she figures it out she will be off like a rocket. I always had a vision that I would walk hand in hand with my baby on her first birthday, it looks like my dream will come true!

Giddyup!

Grandma Linda bought Maddy a birthday present a little bit early... it was super fantastic deal so she couldn't pass it up and who can resist giving presents right away??!! Not our family!

Vampires Beware

One of our neighbors gave Maddy this garlic flower while we were out walking. She loved it! She entertained herself with it for almost an entire day before I finally took it away from her because she was chewing on it. The good news is that she doesn't have to worry about vampires, the bad news is that her hands and breath STILL smell like garlic two days later.

Fun in the Fountains

There is a great kiddy fountain in Corvallis that Maddy visited this last weekend. We were there a few weeks ago with Rebekah and her kidlets and it was so fun we went again. Maddy had a great time, she is practicing walking holding on to just one of my hands for support. So she was toddling around the square playing with the water and laughing and splashing all afternoon.
There were some other really cute pictures but I can't get them uploaded, I think the format is a little bit off.... bummer!

Ball Bin

A couple weeks ago we went to a restaurant with a huge fun zone with the Harris family. Maddy got to go in the ball bin with Gavin and she loved it! I was kind of freaked out that she kept shoving all the balls into her mouth - I mean, ewwwww, gross!!! So many germs, and other kids' feet and hands are soooooooo dirty - but I had to put my neurosis aside so that she could have some serious fun. I figure she's healthy and it will build her immune system, right? I gotta just let it go because I can't (and shouldn't) protect her forever. And then the funny part is that Jason intercepted a huge blowout diaper that was just two seconds from spilling over - here I am worried about other kids' germs and Maddy practically infects the whole bin.

Maddy loves to watch Gavin, he is so entertaining for her - probably because he never stops moving! He is a very busy guy with lots of energy to burn. In fact Krista and I were just talking today about how nice it is that the second child can be occupied watching the first, she says especially in the car it helps a lot. I'm looking forward to that (not immediately... just someday).

Soon we'll get to turn Maddy's carseat to forward facing which will be a pleasant change for her. She is almost to 20 pounds and almost a year old (the two prerequisites). Maddy likes to be involved with what is happening around her, so it helped immensely when she could sit up in the convertible seat instead of flat in the bucket one she started out in. It is funny how all these little milestones mean so much to me... before having her I would never have given a second's thought to travelling in a car with a baby. Just one of the million ways my life has changed in the last year!

Go Car Go!

Naked Pool Baby

Here is Maddy in mid belly flop!

Choking Hazard

In her teething pained frenzy to stuff something in her mouth, she actually managed to fit the entire jingly ball in! The look on her face was priceless!

Climb Ev'ry Mountain

Forget walking, let's climb! Maddy climbs into and onto everything. The only thing in the house she hasn't quite mastered is the bathtub, the edge is just too darn high for those little legs.... she has taken two little steps and then goes boom, so full fledged walking can't be too far away.

Conspiracy

Just when Maddy is *FINALLY* sleeping great at night, I realize they are out to get me. By they I mean the other living creatures in this house. Jason snores. Micah barks multiple times from his crate just as I hit that glorious deep sleep rhythm. Edward thinks I am his personal jungle gym. Our plecostamus fish has so outgrown his tank that he crashes around when he moves and lifts the lid, making a loud, unpleasant thunk thunk thunk. All. Night. Long. All five of them taking turns in one big conspiracy to keep me a walking, talking sleep deprived zombie. And Jason wants to have another baby and all I can think is "then there will be six of them against me". I am totally completely hopelessly outnumbered.

A Bad Hair Day

Sunscreen + Dirt + No Shower for One Week + Lake Water + Sweat = Baby's Bad Hair Day

Trinity Lake

We had a great family vacation to Trinity Lake in Northern California. Maddy really enjoyed the water - she truly is a little fish who loves to swim and splash. The drive down and back was a bit long - she definitely got tired of that carseat towards the end of each journey. But overall she travelled really well to a totally unfamiliar place and had a super time! She got to be covered head to toe in dirt every day.... she entertained herself for hours with rocks, sticks, leaves, bugs and dirt. She ate a lot of it and I found out that what goes in must come out- yikes we had some interesting diapers that week. We experienced our first family geocaching hunt, and it was successful - but we forgot to bring something to leave so we didn't take anything out either. Nighttimes were a little rough, she wanted to nurse all night long every night, even in her sleep she needed that extra security and closeness. So I didn't get much sleep, but my milk supply is more abundant than ever! We enjoyed swimming and sunbathing every day, the weather was just gorgeous for us. The water was really warm, we loved it. The shore is a bit rocky, but it wasn't too bad if you sat on a towel or blanket. We also did a little hiking and found a wonderfully cool and refreshing river to take a dip in after a long hot afternoon. Maddy started out dipping her toes in but before we knew it she was ready to go skinny dipping all the way... the first hike we tried was straight up up up up up and just way to much for me, so we found another more family friendly place and that worked out really well . We plan to go back next year to the same spot and try to make it a family tradition.