Just a Minute Moore...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T03:45:19Z

New blog posts two days in a row! Am I on a roll or what? We did a Valentine mini-session with Justine and we love the pictures so much! Hope you all enjoy them, a very happy Valentine's Day to you!

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This and That

2012-02-13T03:44:13Z

I'm happy to report that we had a wonderful, ordinary week. Everyone was healthy, we got to get outside in the sun, and we watched the Super Bowl with friends while eating a lot of yummy food. What more could we ask for? Max is still doing well with his bed, though he certainly doesn't stay in it at "nap" time for long. At least he hasn't been opening and closing the door again. He's just started getting out when he wakes up in the morning as well, but hasn't come out of his room yet. Anna is doing really well with standing (holding onto our hands for support of course) and continues to enjoy exploring a variety of solid foods. This is quite a messy process but it's so fun to share our meals with her and see her enjoy them. Tonight she had meatballs, broccoli and rice for dinner with us.

Some pictures from our week!

We enjoyed time with Eric, Angel, Emmeline and Penelope for the Super Bowl. Penelope and Anna once again own matching hats (thanks NEW Project, formerly Tiny Toppers! Visit the shop here). Penelope's is quite a few sizes larger than Anna's, but we made it work:

The big kids checking out an insect outside:

This one is blurry but so sweet, they were running holding hands:

Sunny weather called for a trip to the park! Anna is all set:

First time in the swing!

Checking out the grass:

It's harder to get pictures of Max at the park since he's pretty much moving the whole time, but I got one:

We brought the stroller inside when we got back, which we don't normally do. Max enjoyed pushing his bears around in it:

Max helped me make cookies:

Handsome boy!

And a beautiful baby girl. Note the curling tongue, she was cracking us up:

Anna got a new hat from the NEW Project, I had to get a couple pictures.

Big Boy Bed

2012-02-05T04:40:13Z

Our boy is growing up! He's officially out of the crib. Last weekend Max and Jeff put together his new bed. Thankfully he didn't protest sleeping in there and has done great. He goes right to sleep at night just like he did in the crib. Nap time is a different story...faithful blog readers will know that actually sleeping at nap time is a rarity. In the crib he would walk laps, jump, etc. We were curious to see how this would play out in the bed. The first couple days he stayed in bed, but now he's been getting out and walking around the room, and today he was opening and closing his door. We talked about how the door needs to stay closed, so we'll see how that goes tomorrow.

As if moving to the bed wasn't enough to tug at a parent's heartstrings, this week I toured a preschool. It came highly recommended by several friends, and I really liked it, so we're planning to send Max there in the fall. But how can he be old enough for preschool?! Good thing I have until September to adjust to that idea.

Life with an almost-three-year-old is never dull, and we love it. Sample conversation:

Max: "Opener closer, opener closer, opener closer."

Me: "Opener closer?"

Max: "Yeah."

Me: "What's that about?"

Max (completely serious): "Yellow."

Okay then.

Pictures! Here's Daddy explaining to Max about the various parts of the bed:

Using the drill:

Bed assembled, better test it out!

This one is blurry but I had to share it, all tucked in on the first night:

We got to visit with our good friends Eric, Angel, Emmeline and Penelope last Sunday. Here are the little girls enjoying a snack:

A friend of Jeff's mom made this cute hat and sweater for Anna:

Then she figured out she could pull the hat off, and that was the end of that photo session

Anna's Six Month Photos

2012-02-01T04:21:24Z

I'll be back soon with a regular post, but we just got Anna's six month photos from Justine and I have to share! I really wanted to post every single one, but I made myself pick just some of them to share. We love them all!

My friend Amy sent this diaper cover to Anna when she was born, I was happy it fit for these pics!

This rocker is in her nursery

Such a handsome big brother!

Seven Months, and Snow

2012-01-24T04:36:30Z

So my last post talked about how we had a snow day. Well, that little snow day was nothing compared to the week of snow we just survived. When all was said and done, we had 15 inches on the ground, and from Monday night to Friday afternoon, we didn't leave the house. While cabin fever certainly set in by the end, it did make for a beautiful sight outside. Here are a few shots looking out:

Max and I got out to play in the snow a couple times. He liked it much more than he did last year. We made a snow man and on Max's request, made a bed for the snow man to sleep in. We also made some snowballs, which he was eager to taste.

Max wanted to be sure I had a taste as well. No, he's not wearing snow boots because he doesn't have any yet. We had such a dry December I was remiss on acquiring some. He does have long johns under his pants though.

Then we came inside to warm up and made maple snow "ice cream." That was a big hit.

A couple random ones from the week:

Anna turned seven months old on Friday! Just when we think she can't possibly get any cuter, she manages to do it. At seven months, she is:

--Sitting up really well, though there's still the occasional topple
--Sleeping 11-12 hours most nights
--Napping two or three times a day for 20 minutes to 1 hour at a time
--Enjoying exploring solid foods; bread with hummus is a new favorite
--Always entertained by Max, especially when he runs or jumps
--Not too interested in rolling over
--Grabbing and chewing on anything and everything, but no teeth in sight yet

Official seven month pics!

Snow Day

2012-01-16T00:12:49Z

We've gotten snow here yesterday and today, with more predicted in the next few days, so it's a good day for blogging, warm cup of coffee in hand. We've had a great couple of weeks, just enjoying time with the kids, seeing some friends, relaxing around the house...well, and laundry, dishes, cleaning the bathroom, all those other around-the-house things that have to get done. Anna is getting really good at sitting up now. We still stay close just in case, but she has gotten much better at it just in the past week. Max continues to crack us up with his talking. The other day Jeff said something about a filter and Max asked, "Does it filt things?" He's also started to sometimes preface a sentence with "You know" as in "You know, I should go and get that ball." And the "Why" trend continues as strong as ever. I had to laugh yesterday. Max and I were driving to my mom's to drop him off for some one-on-one time at Grandma's house while I got together with friends. Jeff and Anna stayed at home. For several minutes we had a back-and-forth "why" marathon along the lines of,

"Is Daddy coming?"
"No, Daddy is staying home today."
"Why?"
"He's taking care of Anna."
"Why he is taking care of Anna?"
"She's too little to stay by herself."
"Why she is too little to stay by herself?"
Etc etc etc

We're starting the process of converting Max's room from nursery to big boy room. We just ordered him a new bed, but I think we need to sell it a little more...when I mentioned it to him, he said, "Can I just sleep in my usual crib?"

The fabulous Justine did Anna's six month photos last weekend, and shared a sneak peek here. We absolutely love them! She did such a great job capturing our beautiful girl.

Speaking of photos, I have some to share. First up, more adventures in self-feeding!

Asparagus requires great concentration:

Showing off her sitting up skills!

Our friends Angel and Eric got these cute shirts from Threadless for the kids when Anna was born. I put them on the other day when Angel and the girls were coming over to play. So cute!

The little girls chilling on the couch:

And hanging out on the floor:

Love this:

Max and Emmeline still do a fair amount of independent playing when we get together, but they are also starting to do more actual playing together too, and it's so fun to see. I took some pictures of them playing with construction trucks in the comfy chair:

The cuteness!

Max checking out our winter wonderland today:

We had to take a picture of this. Max wanted a carrot today (not cut into smaller pieces, thankyouverymuch) and wanted to eat it while sitting on the heat vent, enjoying the warmth.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T00:14:53Z

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was very special to celebrate Anna's first Christmas and to spend time with family. We journeyed over the mountains to Greg and Leah's, and were lucky to encounter clear roads in the pass both directions. Oma and Opa had flown in the previous week, and we brought them back home with us to stay through New Year's.

Max really understood Christmas this year and enjoyed opening presents. Though in typical two year-old fashion, he would open one thing, play with it for a bit, and then get up and run around for a while. Anna of course had no idea what was going on, but was her usual happy self, charming the family as always. Max loved playing with Lizzie and Emma and spent lots of time with them this trip. They are so good with him and it is great fun to watch them all together. Of course there was lots of good food, including the traditional Christmas Eve fondue dinner.

Here's Opa and Anna when we arrived:

Uncle Greg getting his baby fix on Christmas:

Too bad there weren't any presents under their tree....

Let the present opening begin!

Hmmm, let me see how this outfit tastes....

Max was excited to find that Lizzie and Emma have a copy of "Guess How Much I Love You"--one of our favorites. Opa was happy to read it to him:

Greg has some construction safety gear for times when he is on-site. He thought it would be fun to outfit Max in his hard hat, vest and safety goggles. We all thought this was a great idea and would make for such a cute picture. Max, on the other hand, was not so interested. So this is the closest we got:

We always do Christmas crackers after Christmas day dinner. Here we are decked out in our festive crowns:

Max had lots of fun with Opa and Oma this week at our house. Turns out Opa can do shoulder rides just like Daddy!

My mom came over for dinner a couple times. We are so lucky that both sides of the family get along so well!

I had to try these new, cute Converse shoes on Anna:

Such a cute Santa baby!

Finally, not Christmas-related, but we tried solid foods for the first time this week. We're doing "Baby-Led Weaning" with Anna and it's working well so far. Basically the idea is to just skip the purees and go right to regular foods (prepared with safety in mind, of course). Anna is already a pro at grabbing the pieces of food and getting them to her mouth. So far she's had sweet potato, carrot, broccoli and even did a little gnawing on a piece of my steak!

Six Months

2011-12-30T03:25:25Z

I have a Christmas post with lots of pictures coming soon, but in the meantime I wanted to put up a post to celebrate that our sweet Anna girl is six months old! It is such fun to watch her grow and change. Her official six months stats are:

Weight: 16 pounds, 5 ounces, 52nd percentile
Height: 27.17 inches/69 cm, 90th percentile
Head circumference: 17.4 inches/44.2 cm, 89th percentile

Her pediatrician said everything looks great, and Anna charmed her with lots of smiles and "talking." She's not quite sitting unassisted yet, but she's close. She can do the tripod sit for 10 or 15 seconds, and she can sit up and hold a toy for support briefly, but we keep our hands close by! We have seen her roll both tummy to back and vice versa, but she doesn't do it often. Mostly she'll get really close and then still can't quite figure out how to negotiate that arm. She continues her pattern of short naps and (mostly) great nighttime sleeping. She loves to watch Max do just about anything and laughs when he is running or jumping. She is very good at grabbing things and bringing them to her mouth, and really loves grabbing hair and glasses whenever the opportunity presents itself. She recently discovered her feet and it's so cute watching her play with them and chew on them. I got a couple pictures the other day:

Official six month pictures:

Look at those eyes!

Why?

2011-12-12T15:47:56Z

Well, the "Why?" question has officially arrived and settled in in our household. In the past few weeks Max has been asking "Why?" to almost everything. We actually find it really fun to see his curiosity about how the world works. It does remind me that I should probably refresh my memory on some of those basic concepts I learned in elementary school. The other day Max asked, "Why is it foggy outside?" and I gave a general answer involving moisture in the air, but then I realized that also applies to rain...

Max still says the cutest things. The other day I had my hair pulled back, which was a change from how I usually wear it down. Maxwell noticed right away and commented, "Mama, your hair looks a little bit different!" He paused and then added, "But it's still you." Whew! Glad to know I am still me.

Anna is as cute as ever. Saturday I got my hair cut and was gone for a couple hours. She did great, had some tears at the bottle but ended up drinking a lot, so hopefully she continues to take the bottle (hopefully minus the tears!) come January when she's not coming to work with me any more.

We are having lots of fun with the Christmas season and the kids. Last weekend we went and cut down our tree. Yesterday we visited Santa. Last year's visit involved some tears, and Max wasn't too eager about this year either, but I'm happy to say it was a success! Max didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, but he sat next to him. Anna was a trooper and spent some time staring up at Santa before looking at the camera. We had plans to decorate our tree yesterday as well, but it turns out our lights need to be replaced. We put the tree up and got the decorations out while Max was upstairs for "nap" time. Last year he really liked an ornament that's a little Fisher-Price barn. You can open the door and it makes a "moo" sound and has little animals inside. We packed it away with everything else after Christmas and haven't talked about it since that we can remember. When Maxwell came downstairs he was thrilled to see the tree. He asked about lights and we explained those would be coming, and then he said, "Where is that little barn?" Wow. His memory is scary amazing sometimes.

Picture time!

One of those days where we feel so blessed to live here. Blue sky, sunshine, crisp air, and all the mountains were out:

Max admiring the "really big trees!"

This photo is totally blown, but I have to share it. Max said "We should get this one!"

The farm had sleds available for hauling the tree back. Maxwell thought it was pretty fun to pull:

Daddy hard at work on the chosen tree:

Anna and I supervised:

Success!

A couple randoms to close out:

Christmas Mini Session

2011-12-06T04:00:02Z

We had a Christmas mini session with the fabulous Justine on Thanksgiving weekend. We just received our pictures and I love them all! Here are some I just had to share. Enjoy!

Thankful

2011-12-02T03:59:43Z

I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and the holiday was a wonderful celebration of it. We were blessed to have Greg, Leah and Emma with us for the holiday weekend, and Shani arrived the day after Thanksgiving. As is always the case when people we love come to visit, the time went by too fast. Max enjoyed the extra attention from the company. One night we were all sitting at dinner and he had finished and was playing. All of a sudden he ran into the dining room and instructed us: "I'll say 'Ta Da!' and you say 'Miracle kitten!' Okay? Okay!" We all were laughing so hard we could barely comply with his instructions. "Miracle kitten" is an animal featured in a book he has about baby zoo animals, but we've never played "Miracle kitten" or used the phrase out of the context of the book, so who knows where he got the idea, but it sure was funny.

Anna charmed everyone with her cuteness and smiles, and did not want for snuggles from our visitors. Here are a couple pictures I took recently of her in the beautiful knit dress my cousin Julie made for her:

Some scenes from Thanksgiving. First thing that morning, with Aunt Leah:

We traveled to my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner, along with about 30 assorted relatives:

That evening, there was tower-building at home:

Friday Maxwell helped Uncle Greg install a baby gate:

Leah taught Emma how to cross-stitch, she took to it like a natural!

An long weekend means extra daddy-daughter snuggles:

Max and Shani playing with the Magnadoodle:

Don't get too attached to what you wrote there, Shani, Max is quick to erase:

Grandma gets in on the action:

Shani's birthday was Sunday, of course we had to celebrate with cupcakes:

I know I say this all the time, but seriously, can you believe this cuteness?!

Five Months Old

2011-11-25T22:30:16Z

Happy Thanksgiving, dear blog readers! I'll be back in a few days with more pictures from the holiday weekend, but I didn't want to wait any longer to get Anna's five month photos posted. At five months old, Anna sleeps wonderfully *most* nights, often logging a solid 8 hours. But she's sure to wake up more frequently every few days to keep Mama on her toes. On the flip side, she's not much for naps. If I wear her in the carrier, it's totally silent, and I bounce/walk/pat her when she starts to stir, then I can get an hour or so. But of course circumstances don't permit that most days. In her crib, she'll nap for 20 minutes and that's it. She's just starting to roll over but often still has trouble getting over her arm. She loves to watch her brother do just about anything. She remains a happy, smiley girl who constantly delights us.

Anna's continuing to be a tall skinny girl. She's wearing mostly six month clothing, but her six month pants are almost too short, and we had to move to nine month jammies for length and foot room. She weighs in at 15 pounds, 8 ounces. We are making some bottle progress, she takes an ounce almost every night. Hopefully that trend continues!

Pictures!

Pictures

2011-11-16T03:54:51Z

Just a quick drive-through post with some pictures! First, some assorted ones from our weekend, then our fall mini-session with the fabulous Justine. Enjoy!

Funny Guy

2011-11-07T14:52:53Z

There is nothing like a two-year-old to keep you entertained! Max is constantly cracking us up. His variety of facial expressions, the way he talks, even how devastated he can be over something like his toast breaking into two pieces instead of one, it's all really cute. Recently he was upstairs for "nap" time and was of course not sleeping. When his typical calls to "Open my door!" or "I'm all finished" failed to bring me up to set him free, he got creative: "Mom! Mom! Open my door, I have a present for you!" Good thing he couldn't hear me cracking up at that one. Today he got it into his head to call Jeff "Sandwich." He was bringing things to him saying, "Here you go, sandwich!" If Jeff would call him a silly name in return he was quick to correct him--"No, I Maxwell."

Anna is entertained by Max also, she loves to watch him running around. The other day Max asked to hold her so quickly grabbed my phone to take a picture, and I'm so glad I did:

We've been making some progress on the bottle. She'll usually take an ounce, though sometimes there's more chewing on it than drinking from it. Maxwell wanted to help this weekend:

Anna modeling some of Max's old overalls:

Happy in the morning:

Yesterday morning Max decided it was Chester's nap time. He wrapped him up in a blanket, read him a book and sang him a song, just like we do at bed time.

This is a great capture of one of his hilarious facial expressions:

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T03:23:47Z

Happy Halloween, friends and family! I give you, The Pigeon and The Hot Dog. Thank you Mo Willems for the inspiration and Oma for the awesome Pigeon construction! And thanks also to Justine for the loan of the hot dog costume.

I don't know what is so hilarious about baby as hot dog, but it cracks me up!

Not too sure at first....

Okay, it's not so bad. I am a pretty cool Pigeon after all.

Ready to Trick-or-Treat! He wasn't too keen on going at first, but once we did a few houses and he got the idea, he would have stayed out much longer than we did. After we were home he asked, "I go trick-or-treating again?"

Enjoying his haul!

Four Months Old

2011-10-26T03:13:20Z

Anna is four months old already! We had her four month checkup on Monday and she got a great report. The official stats:

Weight: 14 pounds, 14.5 ounces (76th percentile)
Length: 26.14 inches (97th percentile)
Head circumference: 42.3 cm/16.65 inches (82nd percentile)

The pediatrician said she has great head and trunk strength and was impressed with her ability and willingness to bear weight with her legs. At four months, our sweet girl is just a delight to be around. You merely have to make eye contact and smile at her and she'll do a whole-body smile in return, wiggling around with delight. She can sometimes roll from her tummy onto her back, though it may be more luck than skill at this point. She remains a champion nighttime sleeper, usually doing a solid eight hours (Mama thanks you, Anna!). Still not much luck with naps; if I wear her in the carrier I can sometimes get an hour, otherwise it's 20 minutes or so. I'm happy to report we have had some forward progress in the bottle department and she's taken an ounce or so three times in the past two weeks! Next up will be working on replacing a full feeding with the bottle.

The four month pictures!

I've mentioned my friend Leanne and her Tiny Toppers hat shop. She made this bear hat as a gift for Anna and I'm so excited that it fits now! I put it on her this weekend and just had to take some pictures.

We had a wonderful family weekend. There was time with Daddy, to read:

And to watch videos of oneself:

We took pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes. You have to wait to see those until closer to the holiday, but it did involve some bribery with a cupcake on Max's part. Here he is enjoying his reward. I don't know why he's not wearing pants, it's a two-year-old thing.

We got a car seat to have in Jeff's car, Max tested it out:

Looking cool:

So I saw this cute idea online where you cut two holes in a pumpkin, put your baby in, and the baby's legs stick out the holes. So we got a giant pumpkin when we went to the farm, and Jeff dutifully carved out holes of the appropriate size and location. Then we went to put Anna in and realized we'd failed to plan adequately for the process of getting her legs in said holes...and unless we could bend them forward from the knee, it wasn't going to happen. Oh well, the best laid plans and all that. So I figured we might as well just set her in it and take some pictures anyway, can't pass up the opportunity for a baby in a pumpkin photo! This first photo is cracking me up, she is clearly not so sure about Mom's harebrained scheme:

Okay, maybe it's not so bad after all:

Big brother and Chester join the fun:

Max wanted Chester to touch Anna.

Telling Anna "Chester touched your head!"

Two Great Kids

2011-10-19T03:55:57Z

We are so lucky to have two wonderful children! I mean, I know we're biased, but they really are so adorable, and smart, and just all-around amazing. We had a great weekend--mini session at the pumpkin patch with Justine, gymnastics for Max, time with our friends Angel and Eric and their girls.

I don't know if I've mentioned it on here, but I've had to cut out dairy for Anna's sake. I'll try it again in a couple months and see if it goes over any better, but for now I am dairy-free. I've found decent substitutes for milk and ice cream, but I have yet to find a good fake cheese. Ah well, it's worth it for her sake.

Max continues to crack us up. The other day he was watching a "Blue's Clues" show on the computer while my mom was taking care of him. She went into the kitchen to put something away and after a minute Max said, "My Blue's Clues show is all funny!" Mom came over to look and sure enough, there were odd symbols on the screen. She remarked, "Well, that's weird, how did that happen?" to herself more than anything. Max said, "I just sort of pushed that button right there" and pointed to the keyboard.

Sleep is calling me, so I'll share pictures and be off to bed!

Trying Daddy's shoes on Chester bear:

Big boy!

Anna tried out the Bumbo seat at Angel and Eric's house Sunday. We'll have to dig ours out, she seemed to like it:

Love Emmeline checking me out from the corner of this shot:

Of course big brother had to get in on the Bumbo action also:

I saved some of Max's clothes for Anna, including the jammies below. Here she is:

And Max in the same outfit:

That baby boy now:

Mama snuggles!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-11T03:09:31Z

One of our favorite Fall traditions is a visit to a local farm and pumpkin patch. We have a couple close by that we really like, so when the weather was dry on Saturday, we grabbed our chance and headed to the farm closest to our house. Max's favorite part was definitely riding the train, which we did twice, though the ice cream cone he got would probably be a close second.

We have a mini session scheduled with Justine at our other favorite farm next weekend, I'm really hoping the weather cooperates for that as well. Speaking of the fabulous Justine, here is our sneak peek from last weekend's family photo session. I love them and can't wait for the rest!

Farm fun:

Investigating the rocks:

Just chillin' in the pumpkins, looking cute:

Showing his tickets for the train. He handed them to the farmer who drove the tractor and then said, "I gave the tickets to that guy. I'm a big help."

Trying to push the wheelbarrow. He actually did get it to move a bit, which was pretty impressive considering how heavy it was.

Max said he wanted "A really little pumpkin" so this is what he picked:

Giving Anna a kiss:

Not a completely accurate measurement, since his feet are a ways from the wall

Slow Down!

2011-10-03T14:11:00Z

Time is flying by. I put six-month size jammies on Anna this week, and we took her official three month portraits with the amazing Justine yesterday. Most of the time I love seeing the kids grow and change, and then once in a while I have a flash of "Too fast! Slow it down!" Then I remind myself to treasure the moment I'm in, and I remember again how incredibly blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband and two amazing kids. Just when we think they can't possibly get any cuter, they manage to do it.

Poor Max took a tumble Saturday and ended up with a fat lip. It has to hurt, the tooth went into the lip and cut it and it's all swollen and bruised. He cried for a few minutes and then rallied and hasn't complained about it at all. If it were me, I'd be demanding to eat only ice cream, but he's had cereal and an apple without protest, so hopefully it's not bothering him too much. He started gymnastics again this weekend and had a good time. The way he talks now is just so cute! The other day I asked him if he wanted salmon sticks or a waffle for lunch. He replied: "Well, I think salmon sticks are a good idea." Earlier this week he wasn't feeling well and my mom took him to the pediatrician (thankfully just a run of the mill virus). As they were walking out he turned to her and asked, "So, what did she say?"

Anna may be headed for a growth spurt, her awesome nighttime sleeping is still good but definitely not the really long stretches we were getting. I told her she should stretch it out again since it's a fair trade for only taking 25 minute naps much of the time. She was a champion model yesterday for Justine and I am chomping at the bit to see the pictures!

Speaking of pictures, here are some from our week.

Rest assured that Anna still has feet. I just chopped them them off visually in this shot, but it's too cute not to share:

I love this outfit! Grandma Helen got it for her before she was born.

My sister-in-law Leah is a very talented knitter. She made this adorable dress and bloomers for Anna and I am so excited that it fits now!

I had a vision of a cute pic of the kids together, but Anna wasn't interested in looking at me. Oh well, they're still cute:

Playing in the brown boxes with Chester bear:

If you look at his left side you can see the swollen lip:

Max got a hand stamp at gymnastics yesterday, and then took a rare nap that afternoon. He must have been resting his cheek on his hand, because there was a perfect copy of the stamp there when he woke up. Of course we had to get a picture:

Three Months

2011-09-25T15:00:01Z

Our sweet Anna is three months old already! How does that happen so quickly? I need to weigh her so I can record that here (update: 13 pounds, 10 ounces). At three months she is giving us lots of smiles and has rolled over a few times, though I think more by accident than intent. She's getting a bit better about tummy time though it's still not her favorite, and we're still striking out with the bottle. Anna sleeps great at night, usually doing a solid 8 hours before needing to eat, but her naps have been getting shorter and shorter. Here's hoping they lengthen again! Here are her official three month pictures:

Seriously, can you believe this cuteness?!

Jeff and my mom and I were laughing the other day that the kids probably think "Okay, this family is really nice and I love them a lot, but I'm not sure how smart they are." Poor Anna keeps telling us she hates the bottle and we are not picking up on her not-so-subtle cues. Max also must think we are not the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree...Monday my mom was getting ready to take him to her house and explained that she was going to change his diaper (we use cloth at home but usually use disposables when we go out and about). Max said "It's still dry" (he's pretty accurate about that these days). She replied, "Okay, but I want to put a different kind of diaper on you before we leave." Max looked at her for a minute and then explained, "We call that a disposable diaper, Grandma." And his parents aren't any better, recently Jeff picked Anna up and said, "Hi Punkin!" and Maxwell quickly corrected him--"Daddy, that's Anna." Nor do I escape, yesterday Max said that something "falled down." I replied, "Oh it fell?" and Max said "No Mama, it falled."

Last Sunday our friends Angel and Eric and their girls came over. The big kids had fun with the toys and the babies slept and ate and observed. We are so lucky to have good friends like them close by!

Sharing Chester bear:

This picture makes me laugh. Anna is assessing Penelope.

Okay, she's cool. I'll hold her hand.

Here are some other pictures from our week. Tummy time success!

Max coaching Anna on the finer points of tummy time. Note that Chester is doing it as well:

Daddy-daughter snuggle!

Maxwell wanted to help give Anna a bottle the other night when she was having a hard time. I'm sorry to say she still wasn't interested, but it was awfully cute:

We had spaghetti one night this week. Max ate it with both his fork and his hands, and I had to get a picture of the results:

Tummy time again!

Yesterday we went to a park on the lake near our house. Jeff and Max threw rocks in the water:

Enjoying the view of the water and the mountains:

I don't know what Max is doing here, but it's pretty cute:

Wheee!