Hey Hey, Ha Ha & Hoo Hoo

Isn't this the sweetest picture of my baby and my Dad?  Dad was helping Thomas pull the string on the little poppers the kids enjoyed on the 4th of July.  I love the looks on both their faces!

By the way - Thomas Robert is named after his Papa.  I hope he grows to be as good a man as my Dad.

Thomas has been talking more and more lately.  He was very slow to get started, but he's really taking off now.  It's so fun to know a bit more about what's going on in his sweet little head...like lots of "NO", "MINE", and "ME DO".  The kid knows what he likes.

My favorite expression so far is "You ooo, Mama."  I had snuggled up to him and was nuzzling his soft little neck, and I whispered "I love you Thomas.  Mama loves you so much."  And his response..."You ooo, Mama" almost brought me to tears.  "You love me too?"  "Yeah", with a big squeeze around the neck and a puckered kiss on the cheek.

This mama job is tough...but so wonderful.

He's also assigned some fun names to his little lovies.  It started with a stuffed monkey.  He'd curl his arm and hand over his head and say "Ha Ha Ha" like a monkey does.  Eventually, the monkey just became "Ha Ha."

Then he took kindly to a pillow with a picture of a train on it.  Since he likes to name things by the sound they make, the train pillow became his "Hoo Hoo".

And then, the mystery name.  Or maybe Thomas just likes the letter H, I don't know.  But a little stuffed Bob the Builder doll?  You guessed it, "Hey Hey".  Don't ask me.

So bed time around her is interesting for my little boy.  He gets all tucked in, but not before he has his whole crew of snugglies.

"Hey Hey!"
"Ha Ha!"
"Hoo Hoo!"
"Night Night."

Now that he's tucked in for his afternoon nap (which we've started up again since no name = monster boy), I'm off to dump some toxic poison on my backyard.  My little Thomas was playing in the grass, and walked through some clover.  Bees love clover.  Bees don't like getting stepped on much...no matter how soft and squishy and tender the foot is.  Thomas got stung, and this mama bear is going to do something about it.  I might kill the clover.  I might kill some bees.  I don't know...but somethin' is gonna pay! ;-)

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Vacation Over-Load (in a good way)

Well, we're back from vacation...but not really.  Luke's older brother and his family arrived last week, and his younger brother and his family arrive today.  We have a full and crazy (and FUN) house!

I keep thinking that I'm going to sit down and do a giganto blog post to share our Wisconsin vacation photos, but it doesn't seem to be happening.  You'll have to settle for one or two here and there as I get a chance.

This picture was taken by my Dad when we were out shooting off fireworks with the kiddos.

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I Mean Really, How Much Cuter Can They Come?

This is my little Samantha Ruth.  Her amazing smile was what beamed back at me every time I looked at her last week - she was in heaven at Yaya & Papa's cottage.  She walked around with dripping braids, a bright yellow life jacket, and bucket full of snails for days on end.

There are few things better in my life than seeing my kids truly and deeply happy.

May it always be so.

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Summer

Isn't summer a beautiful season?  The constant pursuit of relaxation and fun...all with purple crocs :-)

We had a wonderful time at my parents' lakeside cottage this year.  The kids ran outside and blew bubbles after a rainstorm one afternoon.  The ground was soaked, so the bubbles settled on the driveway without popping.  It was magical!

Many (many) more Wisconsin photos to follow.  Stay tuned!

The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in love. 

Psalm 145:8

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Oh Baby!

My favorite photography subjects?  NEWBORNS!  Please call me to schedule a photo shoot for your new little super-star!  For contact info, see my photography website: DRosePhotos.com or my Photo blog: DRosePhotographyBlog.blogspot.com


(yes, this is shameless self promotion :-) )

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Home

We just flew into our little Boise airport last evening.  It struck me how COOL 98 degrees can feel when it's closer to 25% humidity (rather than 60 or 70% humidity).  Wisconsin is green for a good reason...water, water, everywhere!  We had a wonderful time playing and relaxing in beautiful Wisconsin.  Man, are we blessed!

Speaking of blessed, I just love how my Lord cares about the most mundane little parts of my life.  We crawled our way through traffic in Milwaukee trying to make it to the airport in time...but we didn't get there until about 20 minutes before takeoff.  Yikes.  We were certain to miss our flight.  As we were inching our way through construction on the highway, I said to the kids, "Now would be a good time to pray, kiddos."  They did.  I did.  And I was suddenly so peaceful!  Traveling with our whole family to try and grab the last flight out?  Peace?  That's a miracle in itself!

We got checked in, but were scattered all over the plane...and it was still questionable as to whether we'd actually make it through security and on the plane in time.

We made it through security and to our gate.  The plane was just getting unloaded from the previous flight - we had enough time for bathroom breaks, a diaper change, and to fill up the water bottles.  Whew!

As we got settled on the plane, we had to ask fellow passengers to switch seats so that all the kids had either Luke or me near them.  Normally, we're met with scowls and answers like "I suppose" as they huff of to their new seat that they feel obligated to take since so many eyes are watching.

But not this time.  This time it was all "What can I do to help?" and "Sure, I'd love to switch"...with smiles and comments about our beautiful children.

I'll tell ya...pray, and sometimes the answer is to be surrounded by angels dressed in business suits.

We had a tight connection to make in Minneapolis.  Our flight was running late...would we miss our connection and end up sleeping in the airport?

As we landed in Minneapolis, the pilot came on and welcomed us to MN and announced that we were on the plane that would be departing for none other than Boise, Idaho!

We let everyone else get off the plane, switched to our assigned seats for the next flight (which were all together), and got off the plane for some potty breaks and dinner.  We even got to leave out bags on the plane - what a relief to not have to schlep them along!

Both flight were smooth, the kids were (mostly) in good spirits, and no one barfed ;-)

We didn't have a ride from the airport to our house, so we decided to take a cab.  I was wondering if we'd have to take two in order to fit our whole family plus our bags.  Burt no...there was a long line of cars....and one lone minivan.  We fit perfectly.

I don't always perceive an immediate response to my prayers, but I sure did yesterday!  It was as if He put his arm around my little family and whispered in my ear, "I've gotcha, my precious little one."

Thank you, Lord.  Thank you for watching out for us and taking such good care. 

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