Scolded

Well, I've got to be the worst blogger in history! We had a friend, that I didn't even know was aware of our blog, tell us that we need to post again. Then I got an email from my brother, who started a family blog, that got me curious again; so I happen to visit my sister-in-law's site, and she's posted over 100 entries in the time I've only cranked out 2. (I've now learned how to subscribe to a string, so I can be alerted when new entries are posted on my families' sites.) I had no idea she blogged nearly every day! Anyway, I'm feeling inspired again; after only 1 year; and have decided to try again.

So I'm not even going to try to "catch up" on everything I've missed in the past year. Let's try a bullet list of highlights: (as I browse for pictures to include in this post, I'm realizing I'm almost as bad at taking pictures as I am at blogging.)

Alex started designating Thursdays as Daddy/Daughter days. They've been able to bond having regular one-on-one time and I've been enjoying having 1 day off a week that I can use however I please. Lately, I've actually been able to make some progress on scrapbooking. Now I'm only 2 years behind!

Here's princess M herself on a hike with her daddy.

She's now 2 1/2 going on 16. I never imagined that my sweet little girl could develop a teenage girl attitude so early in life. She really knows exactly how to push my buttons when she's of a mind to it. But then again, she also really knows how to make my face light up and my heart melt when she's of a mind to it. I love her dearly and wouldn't trade a moment of motherhood!

A couple events of note in this picture. Alex's mother came to visit us for a week in July. We loved having her with us and hope for a speedy return. M loved having her dogs to play with, and especially getting to hold the leash and help walk them (although I can't say our kitties shared her sentiment). And Alex got to take a trip with her down to Mexico to help her with some border/car issues.

Also, you may notice the bulging belly in this picture. We discovered on Valentine's Day that after over a year of hoping, we were finally expecting a second child. I'm now 8 months along and eagerly awaiting the arrival of our second little girl sometime near the first week of October. (No, we still have no idea what we're going to name her.) We're using a wonderful, local, (and LDS even) midwife named Dotti Kirkpatrick (check out her website at http://www.birthmattersmidwifery.com/) and I've recently started going to a chiropractor here in town who specializes in prenatal care: Dr. John Davis of Atlas Chiropractic. Between the two of them, we're looking forward to smooth, quick, and successful home birth. (Don't get me started on hospitals vs midwives, unless you want to see me get on a soapbox for a LONG time.)

My vegetable garden hasn't been so hot this year, but my flowers have been growing phenomenally! I've been enjoying fresh bouquets of flowers all summer long. This was one of the nicer ones I put together. I just love gardening! Although, I think I did mess up my back a little by weeding the yard and gardens with a large prego belly (hence the chiropractor). There's just something magical about helping things to grow and thrive that I just can't stay away from.

It's been raining constantly for the past 4 days here (very strange for Colorado weather in August) so I haven't been able to do anything in my yard, and I've really missed it. I was so very happy to see the sun again today! Luckily, we had my sister and her family in town this weekend to help distract. We had a wonderful time, even though we weren't able to make a zoo trip due to the weather as originally planned. Instead there was a lot of Olympic games watching and "Rock Band" playing. (I'm not normally one to play console games, but I must say, I REALLY like this one. What a blast!)

One last event of note, that I can think of was our camping trip a couple weeks ago to Jellystone Park in Estes Park, CO. It was the first time we've gone camping since M was only 6 months old, so we chose a location that was a little more kid oriented for her first memorable experience. We all had a blast! M loved sleeping in a tent and cooking marshmallows on the fire. We saw Yogi bear, played mini golf, made squirrel feeders, face painting, played at the playground, and just had a great time camping and trying out all our 72 hour emergency kits.

Well, I think that's probably enough for now. I'll try to write again before another year goes by.