Thanksgiving

Among the many, many things I am grateful for:


Our warm and cozy little house.

A happy and healthy family (swine flu has come and gone, we've conquered that!)

Cups of tea on overcast fall days.

Time to read and make homemade gifts.

A sweet baby girl who loves reading, skipping, laughing, and snuggling.




Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall (So Far)

Summer's End

Fall is coming and I'm getting that old "longing for apples, soups, pretty leaves, and pumpkins" feeling back. It's my very favorite time of year and I'm really looking forward to it. We've also been really enjoying summertime this past week or so. We crammed a lot in over a few days, but it really all felt very slow and relaxed and fun, exactly how summer should feel.

The Fair

Powers Farm Market

The Zoo

The Pier

Garage Sale Finds
A Cookout and Campfire

All in all, the perfect close to summer. Now on to September!

Two Weeks Old: Things I Want to Remember

* How strong Annie was right from birth--she loves being held upwards rather than lying down, and from her first day she would lift her head off of our chests to look around. Such a strong neck already! We love it when she's alert and looking around, her head bobbing up and down, eyes crossing and uncrossing as she tries to focus on things. It's so fun watching her discover her new world.

* How sleepy she has been for her first couple of weeks: She sleeps a lot, waking only to be fed and have her diaper changed every couple of hours. She is happy sleeping anyhere; we pass her around from person to person and she sleeps right through it. Each day she has one awake period where she's up and ready for some action, so we carry her around so she can look at things, let her take a ride in her swing, or simply let her lay in her cradle, entertaining herself. She lies there and kicks her legs, gurgling away, happy as can be. We love to watch her looking around at everything.* How patient she is when we're dressing her. The gowns she wears at night are tricky to get her arms into, and she is so incredibly patient about it. She cries when we are changing her diaper, but once she has the clean diaper on she's happy as a clam, looking at the polka dots we have stuck to the wall behind the changing table, gurgling away as we struggle to get her wiggly arms into those skinny arm holes. Such a happy girl!

* Nursing her: I love the time we spend together when I'm feeding her. She looks around while she's eating, plays with her hands, stretches out her little monkey toes. The best is when she looks up at me and studies my face. She grabs onto me for dear life. She makes cute little squeaky noises the whole time. She needs to burp often, and sometimes she'll burp and will shove her fist into her mouth to let me know she's ready to go right back for more, but sometimes she'll drop her head forward and close her eyes, leaning into my chest, which means she just wants to sleep on me. I'm happy to let her.

* The teeny "o" shape her mouth makes when she's looking at me.

* How much she loves having water poured on her head.

* Her incredibly soft skin and silky hair. We can't keep our hands off her head!

* The way she looks up the entire time she's in the swing, like she's trying to figure out where the music is coming from.

* How much she loves riding in her sling. She scrunches herself up in there and falls asleep within seconds. We think it must remind her of being in the womb.

* How much she likes having her butt patted. It can calm her down within seconds!

* How excited Paul was for his first Father's Day. Such a proud Daddy!

5 Good Things

32 weeks

1. A hubby who makes me feel very loved.

2. A snuggly doggy at my feet.

3. My baby shower this Saturday.

4. A new yoga ball to sit on and take some weight off my pelvis.

5. Tator tots.