We love you, Uncle Dan!

 My brother Dan was back from Africa, so the girls and I drove up to Milwaukee to spend a couple of extra days with him! I am praising the Lord for how he has been faithful to continue to complete a good work in my brother. He has matured into a responsible leader and sensitive man. His compassionate heart is a good fit for the work he does in Africa bringing water and sanitation to people in great physical and spiritual need. I love you, brother! I am so thankful we got to spend some extra time with you, see your pictures from Zanzibar, and hear about what God is doing in your life!

blessed to be well loved

my happy girl

 "Uncle Dan, I am so fascinated by your bushy beard!"

so big!

Thanks for being here too, Grandma!

Mimi, Papa and the happy sisters

our girls have so many loving grandparents! we love you great grandma and grandpa!

love this one too!

Papa and his dog :)

Happy Birthday Hannah!

My baby turned one on Saturday!

Hannah, you are a blessing from the Lord, and we are so thankful that you are a part of our family. It has been a challenging year, as you've grown and adjusted to life first in Texas and now here in Illinois. I am so thankful that you have become a delightful, sweet little girl. You have never cried in the nursery at church, and you are almost always happy to be held by friends and family. You are quite a social little girl, like your sister. I don't think anyone would ever guess how hard life was for you as an infant!

You are learning to like table food and prefer cheerios, bagels and bread of all sorts. You also like strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, fresh peaches, and pears. You tolerate broccoli and cauliflower, as well as very soft green beans. You still hate peas! Thankfully, I can still sneak them into some of the pureed foods, which you still let me feed you. You also seem to like yogurt and scrambled eggs, both of which have not affected your little tummy. I still continue to pray that you don't have a milk intolerance.

You are far more active and adventurous than your sister was at this age. You are still not walking, but I predict that you will walk sometime in the next month, as you are beginning to experiment with standing on your own. You are a fast cruiser and crawler, and like finding trouble!

You still love music, bopping and swaying to the beat.  Your sister is one of your favorite people. You point at her all of the time and are rather amused at all the the things she does; she has a knack for getting you to smile and laugh. You like to wave hi and bye. You give very wet, open mouthed kisses. You raise your hands to say "so big" and have learned the sign "all done", which you say ALL of the time (mostly when you're ready for the next adventure). You just say "Da Da" and "Ba!" I still haven't heard "Ma Ma."

This month you have learned to share a room with your sister and have adjusted to a two nap a day schedule that seems to help you sleep at least 8 hours at night. You still sometimes wake in the middle of the night, wanting to be held and nurse. I am still nursing you at least 5x a day. I have no idea how or when I am going to transition you to a cup, though you love drinking water out of your sippy cups and straw cups.

Hannah, you are such a big girl! We continue to pray that one day you will come to love Jesus as your Savior. We love you.

Happy Birthday, my sweet girl!




Yummy carrot cake and icing!

You enjoyed unwrapping your presents, even with LOTS of help from your sister.

enjoying her new swing!

Cousins part 4 "Wildlife Prairie Park"

On the last full day that they were here, we made a morning trip to Wildlife Prairie Park. It was a hot day, and the girls were tired. So after our picnic lunch we headed home for air conditioning, popsicles and naps. But it was a good day.



The sleepy babies enjoyed themselves too :) I'm glad that Hannah can now drink from a straw. It makes keeping her hydrated much  easier!

Again, my neice and nephew enjoyed the misting sprinkler at the end of the day more than my daughter. She again contented herself with dry land.

B at one point sat in the middle of the sprinkler and smiled happily to himself as he played in the mud. Boys!

And here is Abigail enjoying the hot and very dry train.

And that wraps up their visit! Next up - Hannah's birthday!!!

Cousins part 3 "sprinkler fun"

My kids did not enjoy the sprinkler as much as my neice and nephew. Hannah was attached to me, headed for naptime, while Abigail developed a phobia of sprinklers as soon as it was turned on. She got a direct water hit to the eye, poor thing. After many tears, she decided it was best for her cousins to enjoy the sprinkler on her bahalf.

I have the cutest nephew :)

She was one happy little girl!

Her mommy got wet too!

Cousins part two

...my best attempts at a picture of all four



Cousins part one

Evalina and the kids visited last week, and the cousins kept eachother very busy! Between playing in the sandbox, chasing eachother around the house, swinging on the tire swing, going to the park, playing in the basement, coloring, and dancing to their own rhythms, my girls were very tired at the end of the week (as was their mommy).

It's hard traveling with young kids, as I well know, so I was especially thankful that they were able to come spend the week with us.





such a big boy!

Rodney's garden

I have full charge of my herbs, planted in pots on our porch, while Rodney has full charge of his garden. I call it "Rodney's Garden" because of the stage of life we're in. It's been difficult to work for long periods down in the garden. Between my baby who still takes two naps a day and the everyday chores that fill my days, Rodney has spent the majority of time planting, weeding, tilling and watering the garden.

The fence for our garden has only successfully been able to keep out our 3 year old, who would much rather have free reign to dig and stomp over baby vegetables. 

 But the sad face doesn't last long. She has plenty of opportunity to help her mommy and daddy water and plant seedlings inside the garden too. When we first moved back to Illinois, Abigail fell into torrents of tears whenever she had to walk down or up the hill, and she didn't like the grass or dirt. Our city girl is still very much a city girl, but she is learning to enjoy being dirty and spending time outdoors.

I took these pictures so long ago, it feels silly to post them as our garden has changed significantly in the last 4 weeks. So I'll let you get a feel for the size of our garden and will plan to take some new pictures soon. We've harvested red potatoes, radishes and our first two cucumbers. Unfortunately, the deer found our red beets and lettuces tasty.They have also sampled our peas, corn and beans as well. So between the voles and deer, it's been a challenging first garden year! But the tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, asparagus, rhubarb, and vine plants seem to be doing well! 

Summer nights

We have been enjoying family bike rides several times a week. The girls enjoy riding in the bike trailer, while we get a better workout climbing the hills in our neighborhood. Homemade popsicles taste even better at the end of the bikeride, much to my daughter's delight. Meanwhile, Hannah enjoys the freedom to roam the porch, attempting to eat rocks, sticks, and leaves! 

But here she is being supervised by daddy while mommy finishes her popsicle and grabs her camera :)