photo montage

Montage /mɒnˈtɑːʒ/ is a technique in film editing in which a series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information. 

(definition taken from here)

Here is my photo montage of some of my favorites from the past few months...

"Mommy, I need hot cocoa to warm me up!"

Yes, I have a climber.

this is how "water-play" generally goes in our family....from Peter to Hannah

coloring with pastels on our camping trip

our friend Sophie, enjoying the sand

beach happy

flying kites with daddy

me and my littlest one

California poppies, even at the beach

some cute baby faces

reading bedtime stories by headlamp with Alex,

 can't decide which is my favorite... 

snow fun

a daddy and his girl

I love his happy, post-sledding face

the 5 of us

bedtime reading at the cabin

my happy girl

a night away with my love, sleepy but happy faces...

It's been a pretty, good February and March. 

 I am incredibly grateful for it!!!

conversations

I like talking with my kids. 

I love hearing my kids talk to each other. 

Here are a few of the conversations from today.

I enjoyed them and I hope you do too.

Around our kitchen table:

Hannah: Mommy, there's a girl in my class who loves the Seahawks  but she likes the 49ers too.
Peter: Boo Seahawks! Go 49ers!
H: Yea, 49ers should have won.  But the Seahawks won and they went to the Super Bowl.  And they won and the Broncos lost.
P: Boo Seahawks
H: And they got a trophy and rings. Boo....

I sit and listen to this and marvel, how did my children get such accurate knowledge of the NFL happenings this year...oh yes, Matt.

all in their jerseys ready to cheer

watching a 49er game

At bedtime tonight (which by the way, I have found that if I want my daughter to really talk to me - just climb into her bed with her at nighttime and she will talk away...)

H: Mommy, when you were in the hospital having Abby what did they do to you?
Me: What do you mean?
H: How did they get her out? Reagan (her cousin) said they cut open the mommy's tummy...


Me: Sometimes they do if the baby's heart is beating too fast or too slow or if the baby is turned the wrong way.  If the baby is okay then the mommy's stomach just gets really tight and squeezes the baby down.
H: How big is the cut?
Me: (I show her about 4inches or so)
H: (big sigh of relief) Oh, I thought they cut the whole tummy open (she shows me from top to bottom).  My brain can think funny things...

so thankful for this girl

Valentine's made

This year, for the first time, we embarked on the realm of homemade valentines.

It was a fun, 

crazy,

messy,

undertaking (that involved a bit of perseverance on all our parts.)

But we had a good result.

36 finished valentines!

 Today Peter got to pass out his valentines at preschool.

Abby & I got to join him for his class' Valentine party.

 He sang Skinny Marinky Dinky Dink...I Love You to me, 

shared a piece of his special cookie and gave me a sip of his lemonade (on his own initiative).  

It was so sweet!  

And this little man melted his mommy's heart.

I hope something melts your heart tomorrow!!

14 months

Today marks 14 months of this little gal in our family!

(okay and it marks a return to blogging for me.)

Abigail is as curious as ever and has quite a zest for life.

Right now she is on the move - walking more each day.  She loves saying "boo" and communicating "more" and "milk" with baby signs.  She is just learning to tickle daddy and give mommy kisses.  

Peter loves "reading" her books.  And Hannah delights in carrying her around.  

This past month is marked mainly by a lot of illness in our house.  In fact, this little one landed us in the ER twice in three days!!  (Not to mention, she timed it for the week that daddy was out of the country).

And hence, a lot of movie watching for all three. 

So I thought I'd share some brighter pictures from the past two months!

hanging out with her Auntie Lulu

getting her balance 

look no hands!!

Aunt Debbie makes the best cupcakes!!

Grandma makes me laugh!

late night snacking with mommy and daddy

She is now returned to full health (praise God) 

and I can't wait to see how much more her personality will continue to blossom!

 p.s. As much as I hated how sick she was this past month, I loved all the snuggles...

11 months

Abigail is 11 months old today.

I am so excited!
 Because with each month that passes she gains a little more independence
and we get to know even more of her.



She is still as smile-ly as can be and delights in delighting others.
(Unless of course it's dinnertime and we are at home and then she yells!)

She is very cuddly
(unless of course she's rather be moving and then she's wiggly)

snuggling with grammy

I predict this next month we will see her taking off and walking on her own!

 

 Here are a few of her precious faces:

 

 

 

 

She is a thumb sucker!
And we love it! 

We love you Abigail Jean!