First Weeks of Summer

I'm blogging from my phone again. It's the only way I'm going to ever have a moment to do it, and it's a great thing to get done while I hold a sleeping baby. 

Leah is 5 weeks old now. We are adjusting to a new "normal," which means figuring out how to run a house and take care of a family with one hand. Leah still won't sleep much at all if she's not in our arms. I keep trying. We've tried the bouncer, 2 swings, her little inclined bassinet, and princess beds like this:

But you just can't recreate a heartbeat, breathing, warm arms, and that feeling of someone holding you. 

Jansen wrote a funny blog post about life with his new little sister (jansensblog.blogspot.com). He and Natalie and Emmy are still so good to her and with her. They have completely exceeded my expectations this summer as well with keeping themselves busy. It's like they are at prime ages for pretend play and they do it for hours. I am very lucky in that respect since I'm always holding Leah or feeding her.

My mom came for a visit and to say we miss her is a huge understatement. Having her here was just what we all needed. Our biggest outing was to the dollar store, but we still had so much fun.

I'm starting to get sad about leaving Maryland. The other night we watched the deer and fireflies from our front window, and all the memories we've made this past year played in my mind. It's been such a wonderful (and busy and hard) 12 months, and I feel so lucky to have been able to live here. We did so many neat things and met so many great people. This moving around a lot thing is NOT how I envisioned my life 10 years ago, but I've loved it.

Nate took a quick trip to San Antonio and found us a house. We are excited for all the new memories we will make there and all the visitors! (hint, hint)

Oh how this girl drains me physically and emotionally but I love her soooooo much. Her smell, her sounds, her bright eyes.

And most recently, her smile! After she flashed this one at me this morning, I knew that no matter what happened today, this smile would carry me through.

Jansen has been REALLY into paper airplanes lately. He follows lots of tutorials, but also makes some really impressive ones up by himself. I find paper airplanes all over the house. 

He is reading the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites books right now. He also loves to play soccer on the deck. Yes, the deck, not the grassy backyard. He has also been enjoying watching the World Cup. 

Natalie loves Leah. She is constantly asking to "see" Leah while I'm holding her and loves to talk to her. Natalie is reading Little House on the Prairie which just makes me so happy. 

Emmy likes to pretend she is Leah sometimes. The last thing I need is 2 babies who want to be swaddled and held. :) At night when I put her to bed she often likes to be called Baby May (she still insists from time to time that that's Leah's name). Emmy also has been cracking us up with funny words she mixes up and silly things that come out of her mouth. This morning it was, "Jesus wouldn't love me as much if I was a monkey." Lately she says "first of all" when she means "at first...".