For the love of SUN and SWIM!

Hoooooray! I got a waterbaby! I was secretly hoping I'd get a sun and swim-lovin' babe as those are two of my greatest loves in life (right after Jesus and Will and Anna of course)!
I could inhale this sunscreened-up, no fear of kickin' and splashin' water lovin', gigglin', squealin' 19 lb 8 1/5 oz round squishy 9.5 month old babe all day long...

 

 

Housing update follow-up...

So, a couple of days after I posted my last update on the house progress, I got a lovely little email from Picasa saying there'd been some "glitches" with their system, resulting in a wipe-out of any photos I had recently uploaded to blogger. Arrgh! So, if anyone uploads photos to blogger and knows the time it takes to arrange them after upload (if you know an easier way, please let me know), you will understand why I'm taking the easier route this time. I'm posting a slideshow of the album of photos that I had previously uploaded with comments attached to explain...(no time to sit around these days with wee one mobile now!)



If that doesn't work, here's a link to the album...

Our Next Home!!

Groundhog's Day???

Does anyone feel like they're sitting right in the middle of that movie and world just keeps spinning round and round and round them?

Welp, here we go again...
After the sale of our first self-help, sweat equity home, we decided the best route for the budget was for an Adair home to be built for the fam. So here goes our 2nd building project in 3.5 years of marriage. I know, we're in for it. But the best part this time...we're not the ones hammerin' and liftin' the walls, wahoo! We do have a few owner responsibilities in the project, but they ain't nothin' compared to before!
The lot being all prepped up. Excavation Nation!!!The lot all covered up for dry-out during rainy days...Three quarter minus on and all leveled out...And then just a few short days ago, one week ago to be exact, the foundation work commenced (it's been a LOOOONG 6 months of waiting)...There's even been bloom-age already happening! Will's been loving playing in his new yard already. He even has a little mini-forest wetlands to tend to in our front yard and he's dreaming about all the scaping of the land he's going to do in the new front and back yards (yards we never had in the old house!)All ready for floor work to begin...Yay, the floor joists are in and we didn't have to nail 'em!My man has been working hard on this place already (site prep work, site clean up every few days, digging ditches, planting foliage, laying pipes, coordinating sub contractors). I'm so proud of him and even though the hours on top of work are a little strenuous on family time, I'm so grateful to have a man "preparing a place" for little A-bug and I. What a hard-working, handsome and providing bridegroom I have! We can't wait to see our completed castle! The lil bug was really excited about the foundation work too...Can you take a wild guess at who grampa's favorite little girl is now????Will's fave place on the lot right now...And then the sub-flooring was done...And then the garage walls went up...And then the interior and exterior walls and OSB siding went on... Dining Room with a view...

An expansive back yard (compared to the non-existent one we used to have!)Will's pipe work... Some of our dear new neighbors and friends stopped in for a visit while out on a bike ride...

This little family o' three is so excited...

All in a week's work! Can you even believe it?! We sure can't! And again, the best part is, not a single hammer swung. Whew!

We serve a really big and awesome God!

Unless the Lord builds the house, it's laborers labor in vain. And this we know to be true.

So build on Jesus, build on!

Would the real Gerber Baby please stand up?

Yes, we're a little biased,

but don't ya think she looks like the wittle Gerber munchkin

just a wee bit? :)

We think it just might have something to do with the cheeks...

that don't quit.

New news on the Irwin front...

You might want to click on the collage (below the commentary) to see them in larger style, but here's a few recent shots, of the new news at the Irwin's.
Anna is...
-Pulling herself up on everything in sight, then bending down to pick up everything underneath her, to hold while standing. She doesn't quite know her lack of coordination to do all that yet. But she's a brave one!
-Crusing around whatever firm (or not so firm) standing surface she can find.
-Sleeping better (until the recent illness of course)
-Playing with her new pink Oregon zoo monkey from Uncle Thys and Aunty Kate.
-Getting loved on from sweet buddy Noah.
-Staying with Grammy and Gramps so mama and daddy can go on a lunch date at King Estate winery! wahoo!
-Playing the piano with Uncle Thys
-Making lots of scrunched up funny faces and squealing sounds. She loves her own voice!
-Sucking her thumb all of a sudden, only sporadically.
-Spending time with buddies Jonah and Javan and Audrey and Levi and Grace and Noah.
-Biting mama and daddy's noses.
-Standing up in crib in middle of the night and hollering until someone comes to get her (she doesn't quite know the secret yet of just sitting herself back down.) :(
-Getting ready to move into a new house (the foundation was finally started last week!)
-Pulling off anyone's glasses that come near her with a quick flip of the wrist. She's sneaky.
-Playing with Horton, who she is just finally getting bigger than.
-Being proud of her daddy, Pastor Will, who performed his 2nd wedding this month! And has his 3rd next month!
-Finally healed up from her first major head injury from mobility. It took a week for that nasty bruise to clear up. :(
-Wearing cool chica pink shades.
-Enjoying discovering her tongue and all the fun things it can do.
-Getting dressed by daddy sometimes (note the 2 different shoes and diaper with a green top and red headband---this isn't allowed to often, ha!)
-Getting her first baby doll (with wild and crazy bedhair hair like hers and bright blue eyes, it's her mini-me!)
-Peeing all over daddy (oops, should have put the diaper on before she crawled on your lap daddy)
-Loving her new and expanded buffet bar diet...bananas the most, she's her daddy's girl!
-Getting in Sadie (the black lab's) face. Sadie knows exactly how many inches to stay away to not get mauled.
-Putting her feet up on the table and kickin' back at a fancy meal at Dino's (don't think the owners were too happy about that, ha!)
-Rolling around on the floor lots with Gramps, her favorite mountain to climb.
-Driving the car with daddy.
-Being very successful with a lovely pincer grasp and picking up and eating every last dust fleck on the floor.
-Still hating car rides for any extended period of time, or when tired or when hungry, or when.......
-Growing more hair so she can wear pretties in her hair.
-Walking with hands to help.
-Crawling in and playing in her toy baskets.
-And last but VERY much not least...surviving a 102.8 fever for 2 days on and off, and crazy twitching from the fever and puking, now resulting in a big fat double ear infection, a barking cough and a really stuffed up nose. Poor girl. She's on meds and on the mend as we speak. Pedia pops tended to be her new fave treat (or treatment I mean)!
WHEW, I think that covered it all!!!

Spendin' time with Mr. Sunshine...

for A-bug's 8 month photo shoot.
We tried to make it out before Mr. Sunshine made it out for the day, but he made it to the racing blocks before us. So we tried our hardest to play hide and peek with him, while keeping this fair baby skin out of the rays and Kellie's cam working with the right light...it was tricky business.
Never had to worry about so many factors in the sun before, I just used to trek out and bake myself without a care in the world. Man, life has sure changed. For the best, of course.
And as usual, she worked her photog magic on the little poppy covered yellow brick road...

My sweet little 7 month old...

well, she's 9 months old now (where did the time go, could somebody seriously tell me?!),
but here's a link to my sisterchick's blog (sisterchick: a friend who shares the deepest wonders of your heart, loves you like a sister, and provides a reality check when you're being a brat, http://www.sisterchicks.com/ --Check out the books, good reads folks!) who does A-bug's monthly photo shoots, of my sweet little 7 month old girl (just a sneak peek above)...
http://vividly-captivating.blogspot.com/2009/06/pressing-play-part-i.html
Does it get any better?! No, I don't think so. And I know you want the info and digits to my outstanding photographer as well, so check Kellie's work over on her blog too, she's GOOOOOOD!
And oh yes, as a reply to all the comments, she is possibly one of the most photographed babes in Douglas County.
But I don't know if I seriously believe that cuz I know you all are as obsessed about and photo'ing your own babes as much I am. ;)

A First Mama's Day to Remember...

haha, to say the least!
I won't go into it too much...let's just say it ended early with a hitched ride home with an uncle (rather than the scheduled train ride) from the grandparents, a missed church service, a very tired baby that hadn't napped well in her 3 day's vacation time, the poor family's first opportunity to spend quality time with a very fussy babe (who ended up hollering for a good portion of the day, hence the missed church service), a pained teething mouth, newly experiencing stranger anxiety (not that the family was strange, but she sure had anxiety over her change of environments and regular crowd), and a partridge in a mother's day tree.
Oops, I guess I did go into it much.
Besides all that, we did have a great trip up north to see Will's fam. Here's some collages to prove it (you can click on each one to view them bigger, they ended up kinda teenyweeny on here)!
P.S...I did get some B-E-A-utiful roses and other Mama's day treats from Will and Anna that blessed my soul...


The train ride. Ended up becoming a one-way ticket, ha! We ate and ate and ate and ate (anything to avoid screaming, and her supposed avoidance of napping--she made it with 15 min. of nap time in 9 hours of travel.) We also met a few new friends. I wasn't so sure about handing her off, but Will sure was, ha! The observatory car was her fave!!!

Anna just being Anna...Anna with mama and daddy. Ahh, we wuv each udder...Anna with the grand-rents and the great-grandma (GG). Bathtime, snuggletime, reading time, eating time and play. I think this covers it all...Anna with the aunty and uncles (a great-unc was there too.) The tears represented the majority of her feelings about new faces until she adjusted after a few minutes, or hours. Just takes her a little bit to warm up to newness (environments, stimuli and people.) Just a little bit sensitive. Can't imagine where she gets that from. This little apple didn't fall very far from her tree...

First big day at the park...

Saw this idear on a friend's blog, WAY easier to get pics on here during my mama moments this a-way (thanks NT!)...

Silly Will...

Don't even ask me how he stumbled upon this video tonight on youtube, but he did. And I guess it's worth the entertainment. He said he knows how much I like to look up parenting articles online, so he thought this might be useful for the future with Anna. What do you think, more experienced mamas?? View on...

A really good laugh...

So this is probably one of those that's been going around and many of you have already seen, but I was DY-ing laughing this a.m. when I got it from my friend that passes me along hillarious vids like these. She knows just when a mama needs a GOOD laugh. Is this a peek into my near future, TM?!
So enjoy (it's title was...Are women born this way?)...

With Wonder and Delight...

Are you marvelling at the world around you

with wonder and delight?

My sweet girl is.

And what pleasure it brings me
to watch the fascination it brings to her heart and mind
as she's learning each new thing I'm teaching and showing her
for the first (and many times after.)

And the greatest joy indeed for this mama

is when she gapes and squeals when we walk into any room

or even look in a slightly silly manner at her delightful little face.

Don't you think it brings our Father God's heart joy

when we marvel at Him, His creation

and the new things He's teaching us too?

I want to have that child-like wonder and delight too...

The father (and mother) of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight in him. -Proverbs 23:24

He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him. He shall see His face with joy...-Job 33:26

The How Big Game...

We're JUST getting it!

And we like to boogie down too.

SOMEbody got a lil crazy at dinner the other night

I'm not gonna name ANY names though, you just watch and see...

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." -Psalm 126:2*

*I think we all wondered through those first days of SCREAMING if we'd ever get here. Thank you Lord, we're here now. YOU have done great things for us.

This week's doings...

Helped Audrey celebrate her 1st Birthday, especially enjoyed when she shared her tissue paper pile...BIG smiles with our big cheeks (and yes for those of you that have asked, Anna wants you to know her mama has already invested in her 1st cosmetic surgery, Cheek Implants!)...

Taken lots of sunshiney walks...

Played in a diaper box and scrunched up our faces like little bunnies lots...

Lots of baths and lots of splashes...

What face does the bunny make Anna...

A visit from Cali...

We SO enjoyed our Cali friends' visit this past weekend.
Anna was ENAMORED with the big girls (and I think they kinda liked holding the babee too), check out the stare contest with Oli...



Thanks for coming to play Gregory's, all our aloha love to you!