Pictures from around the house:
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| Leem up close |
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| Loves those beads! |
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| Visit from cousin Lila. Oops, caught bad Uncle Philip in the act of giving Lila her first peanut. It was an accident, I promise! And yes I'm very relieved she's not allergic! |
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| Awesome Grandmom |
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| For some reason Dad has not been the subject of any pictures lately, but he is a big part of this story--helping watch the kids, going on an outing with me, Soren, and Leem, and playing Scrabble with me from time to time while one or both takes a nap. Thanks Dad! |
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| Already defying some stereotypes. :) |
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| Prepping for some wiffle ball action versus Uncle Jared sometime in the future! |
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| Visit from Gramma Fisher! |
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| And Grampa Fisher! |
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| Typical scene |
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| Bean goo |
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| Loving the guitar. Tractor in the background is a borrowed toy from our Old Order landlords at Honey Run! Aunt Abigail's fox (about to get backed over) is a favorite too! |
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| This is where the first unassisted standing took place! |
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| Loves looking at herself |
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| And at the camera |
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| What?? Ridiculous! |
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| Some new leg action! This one really cracks us up. |
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| :) |
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| :)) |
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| Loving our view, especially in the mornings! |
Journal entry from 1.15.15: Life has been good here, back into the Valley and getting into new routines. 2 weeks so far! Betsy is loving teaching (makes an exclamation of joy about it at least once a day), and I am enjoying being stay-at-home dad, though both are very challenging sometimes! This was today: Everyone waking up around 7:30. Betsy eats quickly and heads into school to do some prep before class. Soren, Leem, and I eat breakfast and get ready for an outing with Mom, Dad, Anita, Atticus, and Ada to Costco. Then back to Mom and Dads for a shared pizza lunch. Betsy joins us around 12:30 and feeds Leem and herself. Then Betsy heads back to EMU, and I go upstairs to put Leem down for a nap. She takes really short ones, so I take advantage of this one to go outside and have some one-on-one time with Soren. We skip around the yard breathing deeply of cold but FRESH air, then I pull him around in the little jeep by a chain, up and down the hill, then put him in the swing and swing him around until I'm afraid his little ears and hands will be too cold. We go in and it's Soren's nap time. I put him down and Leem is waking, so I go get her (once again, no break!! happens almost every day that I have little or no break between the two of them, but mostly Leem's neediness, wants to constantly be held). She has a snotty nose several times a day because...she got her FIRST TOOTH this week! Woohoo, and she's eating smushy things. :). We hang out on the living room floor while she slowly emerges from the "nap haze." I introduce the Fox that Abigail made for her and Soren and she likes that he bounces up to her. She pulls him to her face and sucks on his ear. He doesn't mind. We play for a while but then she shows signs of sleepiness and discontent again. I put her in the Ergo baby carrier on my back and wash dishes while she falls back asleep. While she sleeps I finish the dishes then read John Steinbeck's East of Eden standing, then kneeling. I don't put her back in her bed because I'm afraid she will wake and then wake Soren. Betsy returns at 3:15, about the time Soren starts waking up (he usually needs a while to wake completely back up :), and feeds Leem. Betsy starts supper while I give Leem a bath. We eat together, then Leem goes to bed and Betsy, Soren, and I entertain ourselves separately--Betsy and I reading novels at the table with hot drinks and Soren playing with random objects on the floor. Soren turns in at 8:15 after I read him a Bible story and sing him some songs, Betsy follows soon after because she's exhausted, and I stay awake to answer emails and catch up on news and listen to some music.
