Austin's Cake Smash

Several weeks ago April and I got together to do Austin's cake smash portrait session, and it did not go well.  In fact, it was a fiasco, involving a light bulb and ending with poor Austin's little hand burned and April and I sitting in the pediatrics after hours clinic.

But this last weekend, we tried again and were successful.


 




For the do-it-yourself post describing Lucy's cake smash, click here.







 

I still need more light in our little sun room, and for that we are considering upgrading our flash and even investing in a light box - but those purchases are on hold, for now.


 

Austin's a very slow, thoughtful eater... which made for a rather relaxed photo shoot.   

 

Fun photos, huh?

Fourteen Months (Lucy's Monthly Photo)

So many changes in the last month!  Where to begin...



Check out that hair!  It's gotten so long.  She looks more like a little girl and less like a baby everyday.  

"No" has quickly become her favorite word, and she loves to toddle around the house shouting it.



 She's so close to being able to run.  She walks very quickly when she's in a hurry to be somewhere.  I love that she's begun taking my hand to walk around the house. 



She has also begun smacking herself in the head and saying, "Owww" - mostly when she's frustrated about something.  It's like a mini temper tantrum.



She's more and more excited about eating things off forks and spoons, but she's mostly been unsuccessful with getting food onto her utensils by herself.

She's gotten very clingy in the last couple months, which I'm told is common for a first child when a second is on the way.  I don't suppose there's much hope for that changing after baby Elliot gets here, but I hope it does.  She needs to realize that Dada will soon make a much more reliable friend than mama.  

Oh, teething!  She is teething like crazy and currently in the process of growing about 6 teeth all at once.  She's a late bloomer, in the area of teething.  But that's okay.

I know there's more that's new this month, but I can't think of it at the moment.

Lucy, we love you.  You're so much fun to play with and talk to and just look at.  Your personality is wonderful.  We're looking forward to getting to know you more and more in the coming months and years, and we can't wait to introduce you to your baby brother in just 2 months!

OH MY GOSH OUR HOUSE!!!

So... we got back from Colorado the other night.  And this was what we came home to.



The foundation repair company we entrusted did indeed right most of the foundation-type wrongs in the house.



They moved the necessary furniture and finished removing the flooring from the living room.



They drilled 16 holes throughout the house and around it, and they installed the corresponding 16 piers to help lift the house.



Apparently our house was built with no interior beams (or else the beams that are there are too thin to be structurally significant), so the company installed steal plates to help distribute the load on the piers.



When they did leak testing after they installed the piers, it became apparent that we do, indeed, have a big leak (or multiple leaks) in the drain pipes under our house.



That was probably the reason for so much shifting and extensive foundation problems.



We'll get the plumbing company to actually do the testing to determine where the leaks are in about 2 weeks, and we can't replace the flooring until then--since it's likely the plumbing company will have to drill back down through the concrete to replace the leaking pipes.



Living with bare concrete in the living room for 2 weeks with a toddler was a non-starter for me, so Ginnie and I went to find a cheap carpet remnant.



We've swept, vacuumed, and mopped most of the house at least once, and I'm glad to say it's pretty liveable now.  It'll do for the next 2 weeks, anyways.

I'm nervous to hear what the plumbing company says, because the last 2 estimates we've gotten have been rather pricey.  If they have to replace all the drain pipes under our house, I'll be so sad.  It'll mean a significant change in our car-purchasing plans for the near future.  But I am also so thankful to God for the ability to fix what's wrong with our house, and for the relative non-seriousness of this problem, compared to so many others we could be facing.



My list of things I'm grateful for today: carpet remnants, vacuum cleaners, and mops.  Lucy, Daniel, and our families.  Air conditioning. 

Colorado Vacation: part 3

Well, the vacation is wrapping up.  We've been here almost 2 weeks, and I have mixed feelings about going back home - a large part of which has to do with the massive holes that are being drilled into our foundation even as I type this.
 

Apparently we have a very sensitive carbon monoxide sensor in the house, because it went off and our alarm system alerted us via text... though the foundation company was only using their gasoline-powered machines outside... so the carbon monoxide must have just drifted in through the windows.  Good to know the sensor is working!



The last week of this vacation has been relatively quiet and relaxing.  Lucy and I have taken a break from the hiking in favor of slower days at the cabin.



Yesterday while the hikers (including Daniel) did an 8-hour hike, Lucy and I hung out with Jack and Aunt Karen in the cabin.



I learned a new card game called "Pepsi" and re-learned the classic elementary school card game, "War." 



Jack: Umm what is Lucy snugging?  
I love that he uses the verb "to snug" - as in, short for "to snuggle"

The hummingbirds have gotten more and more enthusiastic about the nectar we're feeding them.  I think having a bird feeder is technically against the rules, since it's not very "bear aware".



What can I say - we like to live on the edge.



We went back to Sprague lake the other evening for another cookout.



There was this cool, huge tree that had tipped over, the roots sticking way up.
 

Daniel and I have been reading this book called Divergent, which is sort of Hunger Games-ish in that it features a strong female lead in a future dystopia.  It had awesome reviews on Amazon, but the character development is sort of so-so.



We're counting the weeks until the sequel to The Passage comes out - around November of this year.  Maybe Christmas will allow us enough down time to read it.  
 

Lucy got a stye in her right eye a couple days ago - a little infection on her eyelid.  Sad.

 

It looks a lot better today.



She loves peaches.  Go figure - they are delicious. I love them, too--and we've been eating about 3/day between the two of us.  Maybe 4.



I am in love with Lucy in this hat (below).



Makes me look forward to winter, when I can put these types of hats on her all the time.  



We took her to play putt putt, except she really can't play putt putt... at all.  So her Papa kept her busy while we played.



I'm not much of a golfer.



When I play putt putt, it's like watching a very slow game of hockey.



Lucy's beginning to get the idea of "playing ball" - which means basically any interaction involving another person and a ball, wherein the ball remains part of the interaction for more than 10 seconds.



"Tira la pelota, Lucy!"



Oh so fun.



...I actually wrote this post 2 days ago, and we got back from Colorado last night. The house is a disaster area, but I'll post about that in the next day or so.