Pretty Polka Dot Pumpkin

Saying hello the the beautiful orange lilies outside Cassidy's bedroom window.

Tarzan Baby

Pray without ceasing...or until you fall asleep

I always check on Cassidy after she's fallen asleep. I usually find her on her tummy, or sometimes on her side, cuddled up with Ellie, her stuffed elephant. Tonight's position was too good not to catch on camera. You may have to look hard to see it here (silly me, I forgot to make sure the flash was on) but I actually found Cassidy asleep sitting straight up, legs crossed indian-style, almost in the corner facing the rails, with her head resting on her crib bumper. Kurt joked that she fell asleep saying her bedtime prayers! I did help her into a more comfortable position without her waking. Oh, Cassidy -you crack us up even while you're asleep!

I CAN CRAWL!!! I CAN CRAWL!!!

It's official! What we knew was imminent in the last few days has officially happened. Cassidy is crawling!!! She's been SO CLOSE this last week, but today it clicked and she coordinated her maneuvers in just the right way. Watch out, the Pretty Pumpkin is comin' through! Off to continue babyproofing our house...

Say Cheese!

Darn that flash!

*Mommy's Note*: Please notice the huge curl on top of Cassidy's head. Isn't that just so cute?! This girl's hair never ceases to amaze us with its creativity!

This Little Piggy

Pigtails are popular in the Jensen household!

Me and My Tiger

Cassidy and Mr. Stripey, her fluffy and faithful companion, equally willing to be lovingly snuggled or dragged underneath the moving Tot Rider. What more could you want in a friend?

The best way to spend a summer day

Gettin' dirty in the grass. (Mommy reminded herself that dirt washes off.) Look, Mommy! I pulled out some more!
Looking up at the trees from below.

Inspecting a leaf.

Thrilled with one single, solitary piece of grass.

Trying to crawl. (With my tongue hanging out, for effect.)

At Long Last

She did it! She ate real food! Off a spoon! How exciting! Today was the day we've been waiting on, practicing for, praying about. The day Cassidy would actually taste real food, swallow it, then open her mouth for the spoon to go in again. She even leaned in to get it in faster! At long last, it just clicked and our girl was eating. And so far - no allergic reaction like with the bananas. Butternut squash, how we love thee.

Pigtails

The taming of the hair continues, this time in a much cuter version. Those are adult hair bands, though, so we have to find some cute little girl ones. The problem is, most of the baby hair rubberbands are too fragile for Cassidy's thick hair. What a problem to have!

The Impossible Perfect Shot

We are so grateful to be living in the age of digital cameras. So many of our pictures are "bloopers" and it's really easy to hit delete and keep only the perfect shots. But sometimes even the imperfect shots are just too cute to get rid of.

Cassidy and Kayla, we love EVERY picture of you two together!

Girls, could you please acutally look at us when we're taking your picture?No side conversations, Kayla. We're trying to take a good picture. I think I she's probably saying,

Bee CaaCaa, can you believe they're making us do this again?

Neither can smile when one is re-applying lip gloss.
Kayla: Mommy, we're both smiling now. This is good, right?
How does a shoe fall off during a sit-down photo shoot?

I don't have a clue. Ask Pook.
And then sometimes it's just a matter of something catching someone's eye, and they're outta there! Oh well. We'll keep trying your whole lives, girls.

Short's Brewing Co.

Today we visited Short's Brewing Co. with Aaron, Sheri and Kayla. What a fun place! We had some great brews and delicious snacks while listening to a live guitarist and enjoying each other's company. Wish it could be our regular Sunday afternoon tradition!

You gotta do what you gotta do

This child's hair is downright unruly. Some days, it cooperates...sort of. But mostly, it does what it wants and usually that means that it's all over the place and often in her eyes. Barrettes are a problem for a baby this little. She's finally realized they're in her hair and they're fun to take out and then, guess what? Into her mouth they go, which of course is a choking hazard. Today the barrettes were in and out of her hair so many times, I finally grabbed a few of my own hairbands and took care of the problem. A permanent solution? No. But it was fun to try and snap a few pictures, which I'm sure will embarass her greatly in about 15 years. We love you, Pumpkin!

Collins Reunion

Today we went to Traverse City for the annual Collins family reunion. It was so much fun to introduce Cassidy to many of her relatives! We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon at Uncle Ray's house. It was an awesome day that went by too quickly.

Sitting with Granny

Playing with Eugene the dog
Family picture #1

Family picture #2 (the Uncle Ray in the background version)

Loungin'

Good Girl

At 8 1/2 months, Cassidy is happy and thriving. She takes two naps each day and sleeps so well at night. Her waking hours are filled with playing, exploring, laughing, and plenty of smiles. We are impressed with how long she's content with an activity. She'll spend an 30 minutes to an hour on the floor playing with her toys. She's happy outside in her pack and play for more than an hour while Kurt harvests basil. The Tot Rider is her favorite thing, allowing her to "walk" all over the house. She talks to us in her wonderful baby babble all day long. She is just such a delightful little girl and we love her so, so much! We're grateful every day.

Who needs a mower when you have a Pumpkin?

Cassidy loves playing in the grass. Yes, she grabs it and pulls it by the handful. So we just never sit her in the same place twice! Hey, our grass doesn't grow well in our sandy soil anyway. Let her have some fun! You're only 8 months old once, right?!

Come Swing With Me

It's become our comfortable nightly routine. Right at 6:00, we head outside for a yard walk and a tree swing. Cassidy loves her swing (thanks again, Pook!) and we love watching her smiles and hearing her wonderful little laugh. We're having so much fun, and it's only just beginning!

This goofy sideways smile just had to make it to the blog!