Getting Settled...

We are all settled in to our rental house and this week was really our first week in a long time to get back into a regular routine. It feels fantastic to be back on schedule, eat meals at home, have children in bed on time and actually have some down time every now and then. How wonderful to curl up with a book (Stephenie Meyer's The Host is FANTASTIC by the way) or some mindless Bravo TV (Top Chef rules!) at the end of the day.

In other news - Bella is 9 months old today. She weighs just under 16 pounds - definitely on the petite side but growing well and proportionately. She isn't walking yet but she has a very fast crawl, loves to climb and stands supported for long periods of time. She is such the dare devil that I think it is just a matter of time (a few weeks even wouldn't surprise me) before she takes that first step! She is eating all manner of "solid" baby food and even some real foods such as cheerios, mashed potatoes, little pieces of biscuit and puffs. She babbles and chatters up a storm, we've hit all the major consonants and vowel sounds (ma, da, muh, puh, bah, buh, etc.) plus a lot of tongue clicking and raspberries. She copies her big brother whenever possible and his antics keep her laughing that deep baby belly laugh that I love. She just continues to be a really sunny, happy, laid back baby. She wakes a few times at night to eat but goes right back to sleep and is no trouble.

Mother's Day was low key for us - made special by Coldstone ice cream and a trip down to the swimming pool. The swimming left Will and I both convinced that we would love to one day have our own pool. Not so much because it was so great, but because it was so wild. You know sometimes I really feel like we are some of the last parents on earth that discipline their children - or even watch their children. I was truly appalled at how parents were just clueless about their children's behavior and safety down at the pool. OK, rant over!

Here's some pictures of my children after Abby Beasley's birthday party last Saturday - hooray naps for everyone!

Lastly, here's a fairly updated shot of the new house, although now we have 2 trees and a front door not shown here.

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