Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day at the park

It's Memorial Day and we spent part of it having a picnic and playing at the park. Well, three of us ate and played.

One of us slept: Cassidy enjoyed:

1. Eating strawberries 2. Picking "flowers"

3. Teeter-tottering 4. Playing on the slide and stairs and
AVOIDING SMILING AT MOMMY'S CAMERA! STINKER!

Travis, 7 months and counting

He's our uber-happy, sitting-by-himself, almost-crawling, always-smiling, "talkative", big-sister-adoring, wonderful little guy. At one point after Cassidy was born, we couldn't imagine having a boy, and now our lives feel so complete with our son in the picture. Travis is such a joy! At 7 months, he has grown into a strong 22-pound baby with strong ambition and definite opinions! He is at the same time excited and frustrated whenever he acquires a new skill. It's thrilling to be able to do something new (crawl backwards, sit up) but annoying when that toy just out of reach moves farther away instead of into your hands when you bat at it. Every milestone is a blessing and also opens up a new window of possibilities for what else can be accomplished. Travis is especially anxious to move when he sees his sister running around him in circles. I'm sure he'll be walking earlier than she did! This summer will surely bring lots of awesome new miracles with both our kids. Crawling backwards is fun but it often ends up trapping Travis somewhere he can't find his way out of! Good thing he has a positive outlook on life! He just smiles and waits for someone to redirect him.
Sitting is a huge step forward for our little guy. He does really well most of the time but there is a fine line between sitting up, happily playing...and flopping sideways, clunking his head on the floor. Luckily a hug and kiss from Mommy usually alleviate the agony of defeat and he's back up, exploring the world around him again.

Bacon Monster

Who, me?
Occasionally, we have waffles and bacon for brunch. Today being Memorial Day, a holiday, is a great excuse to have waffles and bacon! The Pumpkin has turned into quite a bacon monster recently. Guard your pig if she's around!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Fun with FarFar and FarMor

We are so blessed to have such loving families, especially to have attentive and adoring grandparents for our kids. We wish we were closer to both sets of grandparents so our kids could spend more time with them, but that just makes us treasure our time together that much more! Cassidy loved dressing up in FarMor's clothes and hat!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Holland


We've been in Holland for a week and a half already and have a few days left. Kurt is working on his last May seminar for his D. Min. degree and this year the kids and I came along for the duration. Grandpa and Grandma Faust joined us the first few days but we were too busy having fun and forgetting to take pictures! Our second week, FarFar and FarMor Jensen came up from Ohio to spend a few days. We've been blessed with gorgeous weather so many walks downtown and to the park have taken up much of our time together! Here are Travis and FarFar sitting on our front porch, and Cassidy and FarMor snuggling in the house.
Mommy and Daddy had their very first dinner out together since Travis was born (7 months ago!). I had to take a picture of Kurt drinking his first Black & Tan. And there's me, looking excited over our appetizer. What's different about this picture? Read on...

Monday, May 23, 2011

Chop Chop

Before: a slicked-back ponytail almost everyday. Always too hot and uncomfortable. Resisting a major haircut because I thought having short hair was the sign that I was getting old and giving up: that's what dumpy stay-at-home moms do, right? Cut their hair off? Ha! Well, all it took was one hot and humid day for me to say, "That's it! I'm done!" I finally got the courage to do something impulsive. I lost a foot of hair and gained...a style! Here I am! Before and After.Good-bye, long hair! So glad to see you go!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Pillow Troll

Why do the most rambunctious games always end up taking shape right before bedtime?! Tonight it was the pile-the-pillows-on-the-Pumpkin game that Cassidy LOVES. She just loves being buried in pillows and peeking through to us from underneath. There was, of course, lots of tickling and laughter involved but somehow we managed to reign it in by bedtime. Peek!


Buried treasure!