Belly Laughing Pair

The kids love to make Audrey laugh. They each have their special ways to really get her going. It is so cute. I love these pictures because just looking at them I can hear them both squealing with delight

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10 Months

Audrey has had a fun, full, busy month. Some of the highlights were :

1. She finally has teeth! She popped out her two bottom teeth without much trouble and now loves to smile extra big to show them off

2. She has gained 1/2 a pound and now weights 15 lbs. 5.5 ounces. Still a tiny girl but growing :-)

3. She had her first camping trip of the year and loved it. She "walked" all over the camper, played peek-a-boo under the table, took her naps on the floor in our room and loved playing outside.

4. She LOVES to clap (and clap and clap and clap). She is so proud of herself and smiles so big, sits so tall and claps away. If she hears "good job" or "yeah" anywhere in the distance she starts clapping. So cute

and of course she continued to wow us all with her cuteness and we loved her like crazy every day of the month!

Things She Says

"Madison just bless you-ed on me" (for sneezing)
"I need to find my sunglasses before they get all itched up"
"Hey, there's a squirm - oh never mind it is a callerpitter"

Us

Things have been so busy. We have had a great summer - trying to pack in all that we can. We have been busy camping, travelling, visiting family, hosting guests, doing summer activities, enjoying each other and the beauty around us. One of these days I will get pieces of it posted here. Until then . . . .

Experimenting with a Cutie

I have been trying to use my camera in manual mode instead of auto all the time. I love experimenting with different settings and seeing what comes out. The kids are great little subjects and are very patient with me :-) I took a class here in town that explained how to use various settings. It was very helpful and informative but the biggest thing is just getting out there and doing it. Seeing for yourself what happens when I do this or that. While camping a couple weeks ago I was experimenting with metering (taking a reading of the light levels). I was trying to do something the instructor did in class - meter one tiny spot. I was using Audrey's eye and couldn't believe how this made her eyes pop right out! Don't they look SO blue??

More experimenting to come - just thought these were too cute not to share :-)

Soccer, Soccer, Soccer

For 6 weeks this summer Isaac was consumed with soccer. Last summer he did a couple days of park and rec soccer and liked it so this year I signed him up for team soccer. He had practice once or twice a week and a game every Sunday. He loved it and did great.

We had fun watching him each week (rain or shine). He was thrilled when he would score or block a goal and he would look right over at us with a huge smile! It was really cute. I am so glad we were there to share his excitement with him.

He was very aggressive and always jumped right in there.

Having the games at 1 on Sundays made for quite a scramble Sunday mornings :-) I would get everything ready Saturday night (change of clothes, lunches and his soccer stuff) and right after church we would race out, get to the field, change in the car and eat quickly. It wasn't always fun but we always managed :-) Audrey slept through a couple of his games, we huddled together for some and basked in the sun for others. Grandpa and grandma even made it to a couple of them.

What a lucky guy to have such a nice bunch of girls to cheer him on

Another goal - yeah!!!

Isaac also did British soccer camp for one week and loved that. He thought it was pretty cool to have a coach from England. They worked on lots of different stuff and then had a world cup on the last day. Isaac was on the United States team. I brought my camera for the last day and right as I took it out to take pics the battery died! Oh well - that's life :-)

9 Months

Wow - this is almost one month behind! I guess you could say that represents me right now (at least how I feel sometimes) - one month behind. Things are busy this summer and I feel like I am scrambling to keep up. Maybe because summer took so long coming and when it finally arrived there was so much to pack in! There is so much we love to do this time of year - hikes, camping, trips to see family/friends, swimming, walks, sports for kids, gardening and on and on and on - so what can you do but get out and do it. Unfortunately, the house is showing signs of too much "going out and doing" so this week has been catch up week. Catch up on the house, the blog, the laundry, the emails and all other details that get swept under the rug when you are busy having fun and enjoying the hot summer days!

This sweet little lady has yet again grown older! Wow - the time is flying by and we just keep falling in love with her. The kids adore her and are so sweet to her - it is so fun to see. Although she is getting older - this month she didn't get bigger. The stomach flu swept through our house and got Brock, Hannah and Audrey. It hit Audrey pretty bad and she was puking a lot one day and pretty lethargic and mellow for several more.

Aside from being sick - Audrey has had a fun month! She enjoyed watching Isaac play soccer. Sometimes she watched under bright sunny skies and other times she watched all bundled up in the cold, dreary rain.

She continued to perfect her pre-walking skills and walked along all things vertical. She can easily grab from one surface to another and continue on her way. This of course has added a whole new world for her (and a whole new job for us - keeping her out of many, many things).

She had her first pool experience and loved it! She loves splashing in the bath so I knew she would love the pool. The only problem was she kept trying to dive down and drink the water - Yuck!

She has each and every one of us wrapped around her finger (nothing new I guess).Who wouldn't immediately scoop this little cutie up with a look like that??? Every so often she is very serious which is such a change from the little ham she usually is.

She has been perfecting her comedic abilities and loves to make us laugh. She is definitely used to having an audience. Her belly laugh is contagious and gets us all laughing.

She has discovered a new favorite place and can be found there anytime it is open. When it is clean I put her toys up there and she plays away. However, she has gotten a bit dangerous and has started grabbing things out. This new obsession has brought on a new rule in our house - all knives in the back! Unfortunately, this one we had to learn from experience. Thankfully, we saw it happening and no injuries were sustained :-)

She has discovered the sliding glass door and how much fun it is. She loves to watch the kids play and especially loves banging her hands on it. I suppose she is baffled by this strange contraption she can feel but can't see :-)

She continues to keep us all smiling and on our toes. She is FAST as can be and is into something or eating something before you can blink. She has discovered that we all stop and scramble to her side when she "chokes" thus it is now one of her favorite sounds to make! Kids are so smart aren't they! She has started eating a lot more and especially loves avocado, soft-boiled egg yolks and coconut oil. These things she gobbles up - all other things (peas, beans, peaches, squash, carrots and sweet potato) she tolerates. She still nurses a lot in the night, still doesn't tolerate dairy and continues to be a great napper (goes to sleep on her own and stays asleep).

Well - kiddos and hubby will be up soon so I am off to do some more catching up :-)