July 23, 2008

Enjoying some mommy time

Today Hope and I had lunch with my good friend J and her 10 week old daughter, E. Nothing fancy--we met at the West Acres food court--but it was wonderful to catch up on each other's summers, share baby details, talk about finding childcare, and just enjoy being moms with strollers who were out and about in the middle of the day. E is J's first child and this was their first trip to the mall. I brought the boys to daycare so I could really relax and enjoy our time together. The babies cooed and babbled, blew bubbles, ate, and charmed everyone who saw them.



Hope is 6 1/2 months old now. I know I say this all the time, but it's astonishing how quickly the weeks and months of her first year are flying by. I had these pictures taken a few weeks ago. Hope always looks so happy and content. She's the little haven of peacefulness in our busy, high energy days!







July 16, 2008

Quick post

Wow, I can't believe summer is this far gone already. I've spent the day in "computer mode" working on a power point presentation for my in-laws, reading graduate student thesis proposals, grading independent study assignments, and catching up on emails. It's taken the better part of a day to do this. Thank goodness mom was willing to have Hope for the day and I was able to take the boys to Jo's. I just can't work on this kind of thing at home if they are here, even when Emily is with them. It's too hard for me to not play with them or work on housecleaning.

Now there's a neglected task...my floors are awful and my bathrooms don't look much better. I have closets that need reorganizing and piles that are screaming for another session of sort-and-toss. I will feel better once I've also tackled some of this stuff.

July 11, 2008

Exploring a Caterpillar

Here are picture of Grant and Ross that our babysitter, Emily, took last month. She did a beautiful job...I think the pictures tell the story.
















July 8, 2008

Halfway through summer...

I just read AJ's and Bonnie's blogs. They're so great at posting frequently, and Bonnie is especially good at getting pictures up, too. If you have a chance, check out her blog at http://www.tbrko.blogspot.com/.



We had a wonderful fourth of July...we took the kids to MSUM's Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebration on the campus mall. It's our family tradition and it's wonderful: easy "fair food" (Grant LOVES pickles on a stick), great kids' games like the duck pond, sucker pull, and haystack surprise, and opportunities to ride the Dragon Express red train, barrel trains, and even pony rides. Ross and Grant were amazingly well behaved over three hours--and that was without Ross's nap! Hope was her easygoing self, taking in the sights, napping, and waking up smiling. We even took Dory, our pug. She had a ball! We had Kris's folks over for dinner and enjoyed a relaxing visit. I took Grant to the fireworks show on campus that night and Grandma Jeanne joined us. The fireworks were beautiful and although Grant was a little worried about them landing on someone and hurting them ("Mom, why is there an ambulance over there?"), I think he had a good time. I confess, I love the really loud booms that resonate through your entire body, but maybe I'm in the minority. I remember Bonnie hating the loud noise, and Grant wasn't too keen on it, either.





I'm feeling the pull of work again...I have projects I need to work on and I can only make progress on them if I go into the office. I don't want to go into work; it's been wonderful being home with the kids, although I haven't always been as patient as I'd like to be. The boys are starting to spar, sometimes swatting at the other. But as you can see from the picture below, they are the best of friends, too. Grant is such a natural caregiver to Ross, and Ross is getting really good at keeping up with his big brother, both physically and verbally.




Hope is six months old now! I'm having her pictures taken tomorrow and will post some very soon (I hope!). She's a long baby--26.5 inches and only 12 lbs 11 oz. She loves her rice cereal and is very close to sitting up on her own. I can't believe it's already been half a year since her birth.



We're going to Bottineau, ND for great grandma Alice's 90th birthday this weekend. I plan to take a few intergenerational pictures.