July 30, 2012

Nora and her friend Anja, who is 8 weeks older than her. They both have older sisters and this was the first day that Marguerite and I got together for a playdate with all 4 of our girls! So fun!

July 29, 2012

Nora snuggling up for a nap with Aunt Jenna. Precious. 

July 28, 2012

What a perfect summer day today! The girls and I walked to the park and as always, Alena loved swinging (though she still prefers to not go on the big swing). The sunny, 80s weather was wonderful today.

July 27, 2012

Alena enjoying a popsicle. What a great summer treat!

July 26, 2012

Alena helped me make muffins today. We tried a new recipe that used shredded summer squash. Okay, they turned out pretty bland, but I used up some of our many summer squash and had a great time with my daughter! :)

July 25, 2012

My grandma with Nora, who is one month old today! My grandparents and cousin's son, Carter, visited us this morning. It was a nice distraction for a bit from potty training. :)

July 24, 2012

The first day of jumping into the family event of potty training... rug gone, potty in the living room, Alena in underpants, many accidents... a pretty gruesome day. But I had a brief bit of joy watching my carefree toddler prance and dance around the living room, seemingly clueless to the waning positive attitudes of her parents and the fact that we hadn't left the house all day and that the only topic of conversation had been using the potty.

July 23, 2012

Our 4 week old Nora! She had an appointment today weighing in at 9 lbs, 2 oz and measuring 22.5 inches. So thankful for a healthy, growing girl!

July 22, 2012

Yay for wedding shower #1 for my lovely sister!

July 21, 2012

The first date night out as the parents of 2 kids sitting on the deck at Roses with a perfect breeze over the lake and root chips, wine, and great conversation? Amazing.

July 20, 2012

Mmmm... chocolate milk, a "special treat" from Grammie! What a perfect morning for a walk and iced mochas in the park. Thanks for day #2 of fun and help Mom!

July 19, 2012

Thanks to my Mom for keeping me company and helping out with the girls! 

She is such a blessing in my life!

July 18, 2012

What started as a morning pool play date with Alena and Nora's cousin Jack and friends Jadyn and Hadley, turned into a whole day of fun, including pizza for dinner! What a great summer day!

July 17, 2012

Some days you just have to embrace the present chaos of your life.... or try hard to.

July 16, 2012

Today was my first day home alone all day with the two girls as Reuben had class all day. It was quite the long day. An evening family walk was a necessity for me. It only took us an hour to actually get out of the house- ha. But iced mochas by my barista husband were a perfect treat for the family stroll and I felt much more relaxed when we got back home. 

July 15, 2012

It was another great day at Sam & Katie's pool! Nora's cousins and Aunt Ashley and Uncle Ben met her today. Here are cousins Adeline and Evie watching her sleep poolside. :)

July 14, 2012

Fingerpainting! This enthralled Alena for quite some time... perfect for a relaxing Saturday morning.

July 13, 2012

Cousin Jack came to visit! Alena and Jack enjoying cookies together. Yum!

July 12, 2012

It was a perfect morning for a family outing to the Meijer Gardens. This great little wetland hike at the end of our visit was wonderful and Alena loved running down the boardwalk.

July 11, 2012

Alena hanging out with Nora on the play mat. She loves her sister... most of the time! :)

July 10, 2012

We had our first outing with Nora this afternoon to the Reeds Lake Waterfront Park and boardwalk, a favorite local spot of ours. It was nice to finally get outside to enjoy the beautiful weather! Alena loves running up and down the boardwalk and seeing all the wildlife! Nora slept the whole time. :)

July 9, 2012

It was a bit of a postpartum blues day for me today. Thanks to Reuben, I had some much-needed simply wonderful time to myself out on our deck this evening. The weather was such a reprieve too, with a perfect breeze that reminded me of God's goodness every time it kissed my face. 

Joy is in these moments.

July 8, 2012

Nothing like napping with a newborn on your chest (well Reuben wasn't actually asleep in this picture as you can tell by his grin- ha)! This was what happened immediately after church today. :) That being said, our church service was such a blessing and has been for the last number of weeks. I was going to take a picture of the bulletin for today's post, but then left it at church and found something better to take a picture of anyways. :) But the worship has just been amazing and the teachings from the Psalms have just been so relevant and straight to the heart. If you have any desire or need for anything to listen to, download sermons at http://www.madisonsquarechurch.org/resources/sermon_recordings.php. The ones that say "@ the Square" behind it are the ones I've heard. You will be blessed!

July 7, 2012

I love these two! My family went out for dinner tonight at Queen's Pub (yum!) to celebrate the summer birthdays of my brother Justin and his wife Shawnna. 

July 6, 2012

Mmmm.... ice cream at our great local shop, Sweet Mellisa's. A perfect treat when it's over 100 degrees outside!  We didn't brave the heat enough to walk there though. :)

July 5, 2012

Alena with her current memory verse! Thanks for the idea Kate and thanks to Katie at the following link for the cute print outs!
http://theterpblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/memory-verse-mania-praise.html

July 4, 2012

This hot 4th of July was spent hanging out at my parents' pool. Nora tried to keep cool with only a diaper on and Reuben started teaching Alena how to swim. :) We had to take many breaks in the air conditioning too though!

July 3, 2012

Alena helped my mom (Grammie) make fleece blankets today for herself, Nora, and her baby!

July 2, 2012

We packed up and made a big outing to my parents' pool today- ha! :) Reuben and Alena had a lot of fun in the pool together. A perfect relaxing summer day, especially with a one week old. 

July 1, 2012

My two precious girls... sisters! I still can hardly believe it. :)