Chores, Cousins, & G-ma's

Isla is already 7 months old! I cannot believe how time flies. She is pulling herself up on all kinds of things, she still hasn't quite got the whole getting down by herself, so she usually is happy for a while, then starts to panic as she gets bored and wants to crawl again. We are working on that, I bet in about a week or so she will have it down. She is so funny, very good natured, so happy to see us after a nap or in the morning. She is great sleeper, she does about 9-10 hours consistently (yay for me!), and she takes usually 3 naps a day, a 2 1/2-3 hour one, a 2 hour one, and a 1 hour one. I have been making a point to get on the floor a play with her a lot, it is easy for me to set stuff out and have her entertain herself, but I want to make sure I am actively interacting and talking with her. She has been starting to get so excited when Bo gets home from work, I love it! I think this is what he has been waiting for too. The other day, he walked in and was excited to see her and she just started cracking up, literally laughing out loud uncontrollably, it was hilarious!

She already has chores she has to do everyday ;-) Well not really. I just thought this was kind of cute. Soon enough though!

"Hey Mama, Where does the soap go??"

"okay I think I got it all in..."

"Can I be done now mama??"

She and Judah just love each other. Judah like to always be close to her. She was hanging out in his walker and he crawled all the way across the room over to her, and pulled himself up with this big smile on his face. They are going to be great friends.

Best cousin friends :-)

This is my grandma (doesn't she look amazing!) We are hoping to have her around for a while. She loves these great grand babies. It is really cute to see her with them. She talks in baby talk with them, and reads to Avary and the other day was trying to teach her "I'm a little teapot", I tried to get it on video but of course as soon as I start recording she stops.

WE are loving every moment with our girl. She brings so much joy to our lives. It is crazy humbling to be a mother, it is incredibly revealing of my heart. It makes me realize everyday how truly selfish I am. Even through the days of exhaustion and frustration, and chores, and errands, you still have to push through. Where before if I was tired I would just go take a nap, now I feel there are better, more effective ways to use my time, and the things I have to do are not usually for myself anymore. The other day, I looked down at my toes and I couldn't believe how long I had been wearing disgustingly chipped nail polish (a once very serious pet peeve of mine!), I used to make sure my nail polish was pristine, now I hardly even notice! Yikes! Needless to say, I took the time to change that. Its that kind of stuff though that has made me realize my own selfishness, I was so focused on me. I am sure it will increase as challenges arise and more kiddos are added. I am thankful for the blessing of being Isla's parent, and thankful that the Lord would bring her into my life to make me more like himself.

Summer!

Geez I stink at blogging! my last one was over 2 months ago! I thought I would get better at this once we had Isla because I would actually have things to write about, ummm....not! I guess I just use facebook so much more. Anyway....this has been a great Summer, I cannot believe how fast it went. My brothers came the beginning of June to the beginning of July, so fun having them out. We miss them like crazy! They went to camp, Knotts, Wild Animal Park, Beach, Swimming, Drive in Movies, Mammoth, Ice Skating, Riley's Farm, etc! We tried to keep them busy since our houses (my sisters and mine) are not exactly entertaining for a 14 and 12 year old. WE loved having them out and would like them to come longer next year, we will see, I think they were getting a little homesick towards the end. (these pictures have no particular order :-)

Every now and then Bo gets to take a patrol car home, the boys thought it was pretty cool.

Lauren and Isaac at Knotts Berry farm. Isaac DOES NOT LIKE ROLLERCOASTERS! We had to talk him into to going on the mildest rides! Jacob on the other hand...the closer he was to throwing up the more he liked it, he wants to go to Six Flags next year, we will have to find some people to go with so that he isnt riding the rides all by himself since Lauren and I get sick.

Jacob with the babies

We went to Mammoth for the 4th of July. I love it up there so much, It is always relaxing, the weather is perfect and it is so beautiful and green! We were hoping to have the boys snowboard since the runs were open until the 4th (can you believe that?!?!), but it was only for the most advanced, the snow was sparse. They were bummed, maybe if we go up earlier next year we can go.

getting ready to watch fireworks at the village.

At the mountain.

Isla had an explosion so she got a bath in the sink.

Hanging with Uncle Jacob

We went to Riley's farm in Oak Glen for Isaac's 14th Birthday. The boys, Tyler Tinahui came with us too, participated in a revolutionary war reenactment, it was pretty fun.

While they were doing their thing Lauren and I took pictures of the cousins :-)

Crazy Boys! (in Mammoth)

My good friends from college came to visit! This is my roomate Jessica, she was in my wedding and I in hers, we dont get to see each other as often as we like, but love getting together when we can! She lives in the Valley, Canoga Park.

Jenna, one of my dear friends, was also in my wedding. WE never lived together at school, but were always just doors down from each other. She flew down from Portland Oregon.

Isla and Great Grandma Lola!

Isla and Emery, they are going to be great friends.

We went to the Orange County Fair to see John Legend, Bo and I love him! it was totally last minute, so Isla went with us, we had grass seats and just spread a blanket out, she ended up sleeping through the whole show. What a perfect girl.

She was fascinated with this goat, as he was with her. She loves animals, especially our dog buddy, She gets so excited when he comes around her or she sees him, she army crawls as fast as she can to him. He loves her too and we always find him asleep in her room next to her crib, so we made a bed in there for him.

She is sitting up on her own very well.

My dad also came to visit! It was a really quick trip, just a weekend, but it was good to see him! Miss you dad!

Her and Judah love hanging out, they crawl all over the place and grab each other all the time. They will be great friends.

She is crazy about food! She has eaten everything I have ever given her. I make all her baby food, butternut squash, acorn squash, sweet potatoes, yams, regular potatoes, carrots, rice cereal, barley, oatmeal, banana, avocado, apple sauce. Hopefully this month we can expand our horizons, I think 6 months is when you start introducing more proteins, eggs, yogurt, chicken. I am going to talk to her doc. I still nurse her about 5 times a day in addition to feeding her 3-4 times, needless to say she is growing like a weed!

She is my happy girl, such a joy to have. It is crazy how much we love her, I never get tired of her. Everyday is something new and fun. I pray she grows to love the Lord Jesus, we are so insufficient as parents already, It makes me nervous thinking about the years when she can actually understand all we say and we have to start discipline and instruction. The Lord is faithful though, and we are surrounded by so many amazing parents, I am thankful that we serve a sovereign God who already has a plan for her. She is so precious. We are humbled and thankful that the Lord would choose us to be her parents.

Growing!

Isla is almost 4 months! I can't believe how fast time flies. I am loving this age, she is sooo happy and smiley, she laughs all the time, she watches little kids when they are around, and our dog Buddy. She is starting to grab more things, my hair, my neck, any blanket or rag around her, and it automatically goes straight into her mouth. She gnaws on her hands all day long, which in turn leaves her clothes nice and wet around the neck from all her drool. She is pretty clingy, I think anyway, she only is entertained for about 5 minutes, in her swing, in her little play center, then she wants to be held. Not to mention we left her with my Aunt Sally for a couple hours and she cried THE WHOLE TIME! Ugh! Such a bummer! It will pass, there is really nothing you can do about it so we will just let her grow out of it. We love being her parents, it is such a humbling job to have. She brings so much joy into our life. I miss her when I leave for even an hour or so and Bo is watching her. I can't wait to watch her grow even more, and I am looking forward to seeing her and her little friends play and have conversations that don't make any sense, I love that!

She is doing pretty good in the bumbo...again only lasts about 5 minutes before she is over it, but that okay.

She loves her daddy, and yes Bo is absolutely crazy about her.

Grandma got her some sunglasses, I think it freaked her out a little bit.

Avary Borrowed Isla's headband. Avary comes over a lot, we love her to death! She loves Isla, and always talks to her and stuff,when referring to Isla she says "Isla, wahhhhhh!" Because Isla is such a whiny little thing. She definitely cries more than Judah, who is the most content baby I have ever met.

Such a little goofy girl!

Lauren's 27!

My Sister turned 27 on the 1st! Crazy, I can't believe how old we are getting ;-) I absolutely love my sister. I'd say we have always been close, but definitely in different ways, we are the closest we have ever been now that we are both walking with the Lord. Crazy how much that makes a difference huh? She is an excellent mom and wife, she loves to serve and has lots of wisdom. We are very different, but still great friends. I love you Lauren! Thanks for being patient and loving with me even when I am not, I couldn't ask for a better sister.

We went to Sevilla (the restaurant, not the club) in Riverside, It was really good food, pricey but good. When you go you have to order some sangria, soooo good.

They brought a full on firework to the table, crazy people!

Both of the Dietrich Families.

Isla looks just like Bo to me, I really don't see anything in her that looks like me. People say when she smiles, but this is not a good example of that obviously.

Aunt Sally the Olympian

She was trying to make Avary laugh, and was actually making us all laugh. I love this woman so much! xoxox

Hurkey Creek 2010

Roughly every 6 months or so, we do a retreat with Kaleo, our college ministry at our church. This year it was at Hurkey Creek in Idyllwild. I couldn't go for the whole time because of Isla, it was waaaayyyyy too cold at night for me to camp with a baby and nobody wants to hear a baby cry in the middle of the night anyway. So I went up Saturday and stayed all day. The topic was Prayer, I only heard a couple of the messages. Bo taught on Friday night, but I had to miss it :-(

On the hike

My dad was out for the weekend, so he went up with us. It was nice having him around!

Judah is such a happy kid!

My Isla girl in a beanie Tia Rosy made for her.

I took her on the hike and just wrapped her in the moby, it was perfect, It got hot, but she slept pretty much the entire time.

We always have the BBQ trailer with us, it makes things so much easier! Saturday is always carne asada and pollo asada. Mmmmm!

Avary NEVER plays in the dirt, i mean NEVER. She was fascinated with the dirt, she sat there for like 15 minutes just pouring dirt over her head. She was already sweaty and covered in sunscreen so it just caked right on...Lauren is probably still scrubbing dirt out of her hair.