Happy Halloween!

Halloween morning... she's excited!

body surfing in her bed

Lainey was a pumpkin by day... with Nora, her good friend, at a Halloween party

and she was a monkey by night...

the cousins with Yiyia and Bud

"Super Girl" Kate

the queen (Brooke), the friendly witch (Ella), and super girl (Kate)

the monkey, a tad fixated on the itchy grass instead of smiling

a tired, tired, monkey resting on Bud's shoulder

6 Month Check-up

So...here are our little baby's stats:
Weight: 19 lbs. 3 oz. (95th %)
Height: 28.5 inches (95th %) - although I'm not sure this is accurate...I don't think she's that tall!
Head Circ.: 45 3/4 cm. (95th %)

All is well, and her first tooth has broken through. Combine that with shots and this baby isn't the happiest of children right now... I'll take pictures of the tooth as soon as she'll let me and when it's a little bit more visible!!

Tired baby

Yesterday, after my mom's group ended (a bit early) at church, we all went to pick up our babies and they were all so upset!! It was heartbreaking to see, but it seems like they were all just worn out...mine in particular. So I picked up my poor little splotchy-faced baby and tried to calm her while I walked to the next building to vote. After voting, we went to see Yiyia (Ben's mom who works at the church) and she fell asleep while we were visiting in her office. I decided to try to lay her down on the hard floor and she stayed asleep! For a little while, at least. I was able to grab lunch for Mary and me while Lainey slept and then happily banged on Mary's keyboard. So helpful, right?? :) After that, we went to visit Keegan at the hospital. Hopefully he's coming home today. Lainey was happy to see Keegan and he was happy to see her and they both enjoyed watching Elmo Live, even though he kept singing the same song over and over. Come home, Keegan!! 

A really good book

I simply want to share with y'all a very, very good book. I am confident that some of you have read it, but for those who haven't, it's worth the read. I had heard it mentioned more than a few times in both of my church groups (at two different churches) and I felt that I had to read it. It's called The Same Kind of Different as Me by Denver Moore and Ron Hall. The link to the website is here. It's an incredible story of faith and friendship that had me laughing and crying. So, there you go! There's my post about a great read.

And, we all made it home safely and without trouble. Reagan was a perfect dog, and didn't make a peep the entire plane ride. Lainey was a bit wiggly and ready to get out of confinement (my arms or her car seat) but she was pretty good, too. Thanks to Mom and Dad for a wonderful time in Colorado. :)

6 months old!

Miss Lainey is 6 months old today! Happy half-birthday, little pumpkin! We are still here in Colorado, but we leave tomorrow. We should get back to the Dallas area around 5ish. This little baby is so funny, and continues to make us laugh and smile and give thanks that she is in our lives. What a blessing she is. :)

Interesting Facts:

• Lainey can sit up pretty well on her own for a while. I still put pillows down around her just in case. And she can roll, although only one way. She can roll to the left, but not to the right.
• She loves Gerber's green vegetables, green beans, and peaches. She'll tolerate pears and sweet potatoes. Not a fan of rice cereal (or anything similar).
• Sleeping. Hmm. Lainey goes down around 7/7:30 and sleeps until 6ish. Sometimes later. She has figured out that sleeping on her tummy is a good thing, although she doesn't always know how to position herself so she ends up crying. However, this is all a new development since we've been here in CO and she's been sleeping in the Pack 'n' Play. I think things will be better when she's at home in her crib and sleeping on her firm mattress.
• The dogs are constant entertainment, and she loves to see them and grab for them and watch them play.
• She also loves to "play rough" - being gently tossed, bounced, etc. It always makes her laugh! We go to the doctor next Tuesday, so I'll be sure to post her weight/height/percentages after we go. I am predicting that she's around 20 pounds. :) I'll let y'all know for sure!

Just peaceful

We stopped for lunch here on one of our hikes. (That's Ben in front of the river.) The grayish trees are Aspens, which up until about a week or two ago, had beautiful, bright gold leaves. I would have loved to have seen that!!

Porcupine!

We found a visiting porcupine in a neighboring tree this morning. I had no idea that they were this HUGE. He's giant!! He settled in a pine tree near my parents' fence, so we were able to capture a few pictures of him.

That's his little black face looking at us.

ATVs

My dad just got an ATV for the Colorado home. I must admit...they are pretty fun. I much prefer driving to riding, though. Riding scares me. I'd much rather control my own speed. :) Here are some pictures of my dad and Ben on their day-long ATV trip through the mountains. Notice the snow... incredible. They had a very, very fun time seeing sights they would not have been able to see on foot.

Dinner and Elk (not at the same time)

While in Pagosa, we went to dinner with some good friends. Jeshua and Carrie and their six kids were our dinner dates and it was so fun. Their kids are amazing; I loved watching the older ones help the younger ones and they were SO sweet to Lainey. Here are some pics from dinner...

Four of the six kids: Grace (Kinder), Elizabeth (3rd), Jeshua (6th) and James (2nd)

my dad with Jeshua and James

Lainey and their youngest, Michael, who is almost 2

David (3 yrs.) showing Lainey and Michael how to use the cell phone

The group...Jeshua (the elder Jeshua) was taking the pictures. I thank him for that!

This morning, we saw elk across the road. They were grazing on my parents' neighbor's newly-planted grass. :) So pretty though. This was taken around 6:30/7 this morning. We had to keep the doors shut to the porch because of the dogs and our loud baby. It's amazing how well the elk can hear!!

Random shot - my dad and Lainey, headed out for our walk. Sherry, Lainey loves her leggings! She had to go without a skirt/dress...I forgot to pack that for the trip. So she just has on a onesie and her leggings! :) Too cute - I love them!!! And they kept her quite warm! :)

Keegan

Little Keegan, our 1-year-old neighbor, is having a rough time. He's pretty sick and the doctors are having a hard time figuring out what's going on inside his tiny body. Keegan, the little fighter who had a heart transplant when he was a week old, is suffering from severe stomach cramping and discomfort and he's not interested in eating. As you can imagine, this is extremely tough on his parents, Maddie and Gray. To get the full story, please visit Maddie and Gray's journal about Keegan's progress. I am posting this note to ask you all to keep the family in your thoughts and prayers as they work through this tough time. Thank you. :)

Hiking to the waterfall

Today all of us - the three dogs included - hiked up to the waterfall. This is the same one that Lainey, my dad, and I hiked to last August. Today was a beautiful day and my mom, dad, Lainey, Ben, Reagan, Sofi, Lucy, and I decided to make the trek.

Lainey making her funny "ooooh" sound.

My camera in no way captures the brilliance of the Aspens this time of year. We're actually a little late in the season to be able to view them in full color, but I still thought they were pretty.
Reagan's first waterfall - doesn't she look thrilled to be there?

Hi friends!

I seriously love the exersaucer.

Lainey does, too. It truly is a source of entertainment. However, there's a car on this exersaucer that honks. And, it never fails to make the dogs go running and barking to the door. Usually, they are led by our dog, Reagan. This has happened multiple times. You would think they would learn at some point that there is not a real car outside the house.

Photo session

Here are a few pictures from yesterday. It was a little chilly, so Lainey has on her warm fleece hat.

Reagan fighting off Sofi, who is her new enemy. She does not enjoy Sofi. :( We haven't quite figured out how to solve this problem yet.

Sofi is eager to fit through the cat door to come outside to play with us.
New snow on the mountains!

Fending off a crazy Sofi who is trying to nip at Reagan's feet.

I love this picture!! I think it's a good one of Ben and Lainey and I love the background with the trees and the sky.

Our travels

We left Sunday morning for Colorado. We made it here safely! And the prize for the most high-maintenance, anxious, stressed-out traveler goes to...Reagan. Ben might take second place. He was a tad nervous about how the entire plane experience would transpire, given that we had a dog and a baby and a ton of luggage. Lainey did great and was a trooper until the very end of the four hour car ride from Albuquerque to Pagosa Springs. She became just a little fussy at that point. Here are a few pictures from yesterday!

at the airport

Reagan is slightly "under the influence". You can tell by her eyes that she had something to help her calm down on the flight. While yes, she was squinting a little in this picture, this is a pretty accurate picture of what she looked like. Her eyes were so sleepy and drowsy, halfway closed much of the time. She pretty much snapped out of it by the time Lucy and Sofi greeted her here, however. Good thing, too, or she might have been squashed. The three dogs have been playing together very well, though, so I'm happy about that.

Ben taking the meaning of "open road" a bit too lightly. I have to say, however, that this was the NICEST cop. He was funny and informative and probably would have been happy to sit and chat for a while.

"Tell me again, why is it that I have to sit in this car seat? Can't I sit on your lap and play or something?"