Fall Travels

At the beginning of the month we took a fabulous trip north to visit a lot of wonderful family. My heart stirs when I travel north. When you're driving up 101 and turn inland after Gaviota, the scenery changes dramatically; you are surrounded by beautiful golden hills dotted with large, old oak trees. Not to mention fewer palm trees, they are totally overused in Southern California landscapes. I absolutely LOVE the central coast. The pace of life is slower and everything just seems more relaxed. And, of course, the farther north we travel the closer we get to family. We got to see all but one of our parents, Hannah and Caleb's cousins on my side, and all but one of my siblings. My brother Jeff, sister-in-law Lauren and niece Emily were out for a visit from Indiana. It's been over a year since we've seen them so a visit was long overdue.

We began our trip with a beautiful sunrise at Nono and Nona's house

Hannah got to feed Nona's cows, and she loved seeing the new calves

Jeff, Megan, David and me. I think the last time we were all together was David's wedding over 2 years ago

My handsome nephew Kolton. Those eyes will melt you

Kolton was very curious about the baby and wanted to touch him

Here's precious Emily. She just turned two and is so fun to be around

This was the best picture we could get of Mom and Mike with all their grandchildren...like herding cats

We got to spend a couple nights with my dad, Grandpa Bud. I think Hannah was looking forward to the teasing

Caleb got to chew on Mimi's hand

And Hannah got to read her new book with Papa

Growing

I can't believe Caleb is already 4 months old. Actually, 4 1/2 now, I'm behind with this post. So what's he up to these days? Still sleeping through the night beautifully (thank you Lord!), naps are still short, he smiles a lot and laughs sometimes. When he tries to laugh, he usually gets the hiccups and then has a hard time getting the giggles out. Caleb is also very vocal, babbling a lot, which also creates a lot of drool since his mouth is open all the time. The poor guy has a rash on his chest under his chin because it's

always wet. I try the best I can to mop 

him up but he's like a leaky faucet.

Caleb likes to sit up in the Bumbo and will try to grab anything that looks like it may be within reach. And once he grabs it, it immediately goes in the mouth (producing more drool). I'm thinking we may need to get an exersaucer soon. Caleb also loves his sister and is always looking for her when he hears her voice. It's fun to watch them interact as he gets more responsive.

Tea for Two

One of the big adjustments for me as a mom of two now is making sure I am setting aside time for Hannah. She is with me all day, almost every day (except going to preschool), but I don't spend a whole lot of time where she has my full attention. Do you all think I'm a bad mom now? Does anyone else struggle with this? Part of it is that when Caleb is napping, I've got things that need to get done that day; phone calls or emails, food prep, dish washing, laundry, etc. And as much as I can I try to involve her in those everyday tasks. At other times I'm just too exhausted. Hannah wears me out just by watching her. That girl has enough energy to spread through the whole family.

 

So lately I've been praying for more of a desire (and energy!) to play with Hannah. And at the suggestion of Chris, I'm trying to come up with ideas of things I like to do as well so it's more fun for both of us.

One of our new favorites is a tea party. I have memories from when I was a little girl visiting my grandparents and having a tea party with my Mimi. She had a miniature tea set and we would fill the pot with apple juice and eat Russian Tea Cake cookies that she had made. It makes me smile thinking of those times.

A few times now Hannah and I have had a tea party, and it's been so fun for both of us. It's a good chance to sit and talk with her, and a great excuse to eat cookies. :)

Summer Happenings

So we got close to checking off everything on my Summer Fun list (yes, I actually put checks next to the things we did on the list I made and stuck on the fridge. I am a list person and love to cross things off when they're completed). The only outstanding activities are a trip to the SB zoo and the Aquatic Center. It was a really fun summer, but I'm also looking forward to fall and hoping cooler weather will come along soon (time to start baking!).

  

We did make it to the beach a couple of times...

This is what Caleb did at the beach

This is what I did at the beach

And Chris took Hannah out in the water to boogie-board

Hannah loved the beach...

And crashed out at bed time

Hannah had swim lessons again this summer. She's no longer hesitant to put her head under water, but is not quite swimming on her own.

This is her first day of preschool, she was super excited and has the same teacher as last year.

It's been hot this summer, so we had sprinkler play time

Caleb turned into a gnome, thanks to his big sister

We enjoyed some dinners in the backyard, like these amazing tacos with fresh avocado and garden tomatoes. Yum!

We also fit in a short trip to Cayucos, one of our favorite places. We had a great time playing on the beach, getting ice cream, and having breakfast at the Sea Shanty.

I can't drive north without stopping at the Avila Valley Barn. We stopped there on our way home from Cayucos to feed the animals and have some ice cream (did I mention that this family likes ice cream?)

 

 

 

 

 

The kids and I also went to the Ventura County Fair, and the last few weeks we've been doing some hikes to get Daddy ready for hunting season. Hannah also got him a camouflage mask for his birthday "so he can be camouflaged from the deer." (in her own words). I'll let you know how well it worked after the hunting trip.

Caleb at 3 Months

So I'm a little behind on this post. Caleb is now about 3 1/2 months, and he is my excuse for not having this done sooner. I was also trying to cram in all those summer fun activities I mentioned in an earlier post before Hannah went back to school last week.We almost made it. None the less, we've had a lot of fun this summer.
So what is Caleb up to these days? Still rolling over from his tummy. He's quite the chatter box too, babbling a lot. Just the other day he found his right foot and will try to grab on to it. He's also grabbing for toys hanging from the play gym. Just yesterday we tried out the bumbo and he seems to like it. Oh, and the biggest accomplishment...sleeping through the night!

We got a lot of open mouth pictures

 

And some cute ones of him staring at Hannah

My little model posing at the end of our session

I am so blessed to be Mama to these two. They make me smile

Summer Goodness

Homemade multigrain bread

+

 garden tomatoes and basil

=

Just about the best bruschetta. Yes, we're enjoying summer

Summertime

This summer is flying by! I can't believe we're almost to August. I made a "Summer Fun" list of things to do, and we haven't done any of them yet. Caleb is growing and changing a lot. He's 10 weeks already, and at his check up last week he weighed in at 14 lbs 9 oz and 25 inches long. That put him in the 95th percentile! He's smiling a lot now and cooing. We're also down to one feeding at night, which makes for a less tired mama.

 

Hannah got to try out the new rope swing 

at Nono and Nona's house

A challenge this summer has been keeping Hannah entertained at home.We solved that with an old sheet, patio chairs and clothes pins. Instant fort that she absolutely loved.

I just love this picture of my grandpa talking with Caleb. So sweet.

So, hopefully before Hannah goes back to school at the end of August we'll get through that fun list. That's going to make for a busy, but hopefully fun, month!