.: Looking back, Part II :.

 

 

(A day trip to Glen Onoko Falls)

.: Looking back, Part I :.

There is a distinct chill in the morning air. The garden is taking on an overgrown, tired look though still giving us basil for pesto every week and tomatoes enough to share.  Crunching leaves, pockets full of acorns...it can all only mean one thing!  Fall!

Summer was a slow time for us (of course, not for Robb!) I'm certainly aware of the fact that these days when there is nothing to do are a real treasure so I put a premium on basking in that freedom.  We spent our days playing in the backyard, running through the sprinkler in the backyard, digging in the backyard...mostly just in the backyard.  We made a few trips to the beach and our annual trek to Ohio.  We watched our little newborn grow and grow!

.: Here we go :.

We did it. Neva headed out yesterday for her first day of kindergarten.  What a joy it was for us to see her full of excitement, confidence, and of course a few butterflies in her stomach! We are so proud of you Neva!

.: Third Month :.

How this little boy is growing!  Today our Casey is three months old and what a delightful little baby he is.  Certainly getting quite chunky now, smiling, "talking", and watching all the action there is around here.  And rolling over!  Just two weeks ago he rolled over from tummy to back.  He seemed just about as surprised as I was! Casey is always smiling with us--especially when his big sisters sing to him.  He has such a happy disposition.

Oh how we love him!

.: Outside the Box :.

 

Neva and Frances love to draw.  Neva loves to draw princesses, families, and mermaids.  She includes lovely details in dresses and hairstyles.  Frances' drawings are just starting to evolve into forms with faces, eyes, arms (usually many, many appendages as you can see in the picture above) Frances loves to draw on her body and, as I discovered last week, the walls and doors in her room.

Maybe we should have been angry.  But looking at Frances in that moment I really just couldn't stop smiling at this little wild one, the one who will not be contained.  Some day this part of her personality might be a real challenge....for now, it's some drawings on the wall.

.: In the garden :.

The day before Casey was born the girls and I were in our backyard putting in a second round of seeds and getting things in order in our garden.  I was having contractions here and there and knew that soon we would meet our new baby.  It's so exciting now to be enjoying the fruit of that day of work and enjoying the "fruit" of my labor from the next day! 

It's amazing how the thrill of eating fresh from the vine trumps food pickiness...Neva and Frances munch on the leaves of kale and love hunting for the sugar snap peas. 

For the first time this year we built a pole bean teepee!  We used bamboo to make the structure then planted bean and morning glory seeds around the base.  Oh the joys of our little garden!

.: Second Month :.

It always seems like the first month of a newborn's life is a time to get the physical self in order and the second month is the emerging of the social self.  Casey's aware of some much more this month. He's looking all around now; holding his head up so well and turning in the direction of our voices.  And of course hypnotized by the ceiling fan!  Our little Casey is slowly changing from a spindly little newborn to a chunky little baby.  But the real joy of the second month is the beginning of the smiles!  What a delight it is for all of us when Casey gives a beautiful gummy grin.  How we love this little boy.