I got this activity center for Rory a little while back, and think it is the greatest thing! It folds up just like one of those canvas chairs you take camping or to the beach with you, and it’s only 8 lbs. It has spots to attach toys, and put a drink or snack (when she’s a little older.) And for all the options that I think trump the other options out there, it’s about half the price! You can check it out for yourself here. I ordered straight from the owners, and they’re quality people, super accommodating and all about customer service.
Also… something about her expression here reminds me of my hubby’s cousin, Adam. (Which I know means nothing to some of you… sorry bout that!)
One of my recent favorites. Sporting a hat (that was actually made for Selah) by Miss Allison, no less.
Rory has got quite the mop of hair and it’s getting bigger and bigger. It also seems to be red. I say “seems to be” because in some lights it still looks light brown-ish, but in natural light, and especially the sunlight, it looks Quite red, and the more that comes in, the more you can see it. You can kind of see it in this pic (at least you can on my monitor.)
This is also one of her more serious moments. This girl is mostly smiles and sunshine when she is awake. (Seriously!)
Nursing before bedtime. This is my snuggle time with Rory and one of my favorite times of the day.
With her finger in her mouth. She is constantly chewing on her fingers, and her shirts have begun to be perpetually soaked with slobber. Yes… all of my children have been early teethers… oh well.
And again with the fingers… (Oh, and the red hair! Can you see it?)
And I leave you with this adorable one. She was completely asleep, and somehow her hand ended up here in this funny position. Have your young babies ever done something like that?
Okay… so I was going to start this post with another apology (for possibly being boring or something like that…) and I realized that I’ve been apologizing for my behavior a lot lately, when I really don’t need to be. It comes from my “people-pleaser” nature. I don’t want to disappoint, annoy, or make anyone mad (and since I can’t possibly be that perfect ALL the time) I apologize a lot to try and smooth things over, even when I really haven’t done anything wrong. In other words… I’m trying to move away from the parts of my people pleasing nature that become stumbling blocks and prevent me from doing the things I really want to do or being the person I really am.
The funny thing about this post, is that it is still in it’s way an apology, or maybe just an announcement. “HEY, I’M GOING TO STOP APOLOGIZING FOR BEING WHO I AM!” I just felt like it needed to be written for whatever reason. Maybe someone needed to hear it. Maybe I just needed to see it written out. Okay… now on to bigger and better things.
Rory’s head control has been getting stronger and stronger, so we’ve been letting her sit in her little Bumbo seat here and there.
Of course, this attracts much attention from the older set…
Selah especially likes it.
She also likes Rory, most days.
Of course, Selah isn’t Rory’s only fan. Beau absolutely loves her and asks to hug and kiss her every night and in between. I have to make sure he doesn’t squeeze her too tight in his fervor. Also, as you can see here, he was recently given quite the haircut. His hair is now shorter than Rory’s, which is saying something! The morning after his haircut, (given by his father) Selah stared at him intently for a good 15 minutes, trying to figure out what had happened to him.
Speaking of Beau, he has been quite creative lately.
It seems like I’m always apologizing for not writing enough on the blog… and here I am to do it again. Life has just been full and busy, and at the end of the day, I usually choose sleeping/vegging over blogging… But I found myself with a few borrowed minutes today, and decided I’d just do a catch up post, since I’ve had a few things to blog about that I’ve put off for a couple of weeks here.
In regards to the menus; I haven’t put any up in 2 weeks because they’ve been pretty boring as of late. I’ve been trying to keep meals easy, simple (and healthy) so that all of my time doesn’t get sucked up preparing food. I will probably try to add a new recipe here and there as I have time (and money.)
About 3 weeks ago, Drew turned seven. SEVEN. 7! I’m having a harder time absorbing that than my own self turning 30. (Though, that is beginning to sink in 6 months later…) I decided to keep things simple this year, having four kids and all (what a convenient excuse!), and do a simple party with our family, and a few friends. And we took Drew sledding up at Papa and Grandma’s house with a buddy. I know, that doesn’t sound very simple does it? It is, compared to last year’s.
Not many pictures were taken of the sledding, but Kevin did get this fun little video of my parents sledding down the hill. The best part is my mom laughing like a little girl!
If you checked out that link to Drew’s last birthday, or you have an especially good memory, you’ll know that he’s had a Star Wars theme for many of his birthdays. In fact, I don’t recall doing any other theme for him. This year, I was looking for something a little different. The well of Star Wars ideas seemed to be getting pretty shallow, so I went for the Lego side of things. I made him a Lego shaped cake. (And that was as far as I took the theme, because, remember, I was trying to keep it simple. Ha!) This cake was pretty difficult for me to make, mostly because my rectangular cakes wouldn’t come out of their pans in one piece. (Insert exasperated sigh here.) Anyways… after a long night of finagling, I did get them to come out. I did learn one thing though, perfectionism, lack of skill and cake making do not belong together!
I was seriously up until at least midnight the night before frosting this thing. And the round parts of the Lego are made with marshmallow, in case you were wondering. I found a tutorial for this when I typed in “lego cake” in my browser.
Of course, Drew received many Lego items for his birthday. Good thing his buddies are all into Legos too.
I still can’t believe he’s seven!
Last weekend, for Valentine’s day, Kevin got a wild hair and decided that we all needed to get out of the house and go snowboarding. We rented a room at an inn right on our local mountain here, and really had a great time. We went up Sunday afternoon, got settled in our room and then went up to the restaurant and were treated with live music! Which I was super thankful for, because it put Rory right to sleep, and she slept long enough for me to be able to eat. Then we all packed into our cozy little room and watched the Olympics together (unfortunately the ONLY bit of Olympics I’ve been able to watch, but that is another story. Can you say, “digital converter”?) The kids finally drifted off to sleep and we got up bright an early the next day to start boarding. Kev took the boys out on the hill and gave them some of their first snowboarding lessons, while I stayed in the room with the girls.
As you can see, Selah dressed and entertained herself. At the end of the day, she was upset that she didn’t get to go on the ski lift, and I believe this girl will be more than ready to start shredding next winter.
Rory just laid there and looked gorgeous. She was/is also teething, and when she is awake, constantly chews on her fingers. She obliged me later on that day by nursing just before it was time for Kev and I to hit the slopes, so we had a good uninterrupted 2 hours to board. That probably doesn’t sound like much to some of you, but it was perfect for me.
About lunch time, my mom and dad came up to help us with the kids for which Kevin and I are eternally grateful! And Drew and Beau finally got to dig in to the one thing they had been waiting for…
CHEEEETOOOOOS! They seriously would have been happy having only these in exchange for anything and everything else on this little trip.
Our little room package came with 2 half-price lift tickets (and a continental breakfast. I think we’ll be doing this again!) Kev and I were thrilled to finally be at it again! Such a release!
It didn’t take us any time to get our “legs” so to speak. We were flying down the mountain as if we’d been doing it for the last 2 years straight. Unfortunately, my face didn’t fare as well, and is still wind chapped! I’ve never had that happen before… guess it’s time for better gear. I did have one little snafu, when we were boarding the lift the 3rd time, I lost my footing on the slick, slick ground and went down pretty hard. When I tried to get back up, I put all my weight on my left foot, which was strapped into my board, and it of course slid making it near impossible for me to get up. Meanwhile, Kevin is actually on his cell phone checking in with my dad, and there is the chair coming up behind us. Fortunately, somebody grabbed my hands and helped pull me up. I was laughing the whole time. What can you do otherwise? I told Kevin it was always good to have an ego check now and then. My back and arms suffered more from the fall than my legs did from the boarding though… I’m just thankful nothing was broken. And I can’t wait to get back up there!
Monday: chicken with green salad
Tuesday: baked potato bar
Wednesday: macaroni and cheese with green salad
Thursday: asian beef skewers
Friday: chile rellenos with beans and rice
Saturday: chicken sausage sandwiches
Sunday: leftovers
Monday: burritos
lunches and snacks: apples, bananas, sandwiches, chicken and rice soup with lemon, pita chips with hummus
