First Trip to Beech

We hadn't made a lot of firm summer plans before Eloise was born, in part because I couldn't bring myself to really believe that we'd be skipping the many weeks in the NICU part and bringing a baby straight home and in part because I just didn't know what kind of baby she would be and whether travel would really be an option.  Lucky for us, she's the best kind of baby and there was no NICU for us.  So, we started planning a few little long weekend trips here and there.  The first one though was to Beech Mountain.  It was Clara's first trip away from home too and so it was fitting that Eloise also travel there for her first road trip.  She slept the whole car ride (well, really, the whole weekend, let's be honest) and we enjoyed some much cooler temperatures and beautiful sunsets.  I have a few random photos from the weekend which honestly don't look much different from our lives at home, but it was still nice to have a change of scenery while nursing, burping and rocking this bundle of love.

Mountain breakfast...

 Hiking with Daddy. Clara is taking it very seriously.

 These are the first on-camera smiles I got of Eloise. Melt.

 Sisters loving on each other, away from home.

 Family shot on the porch, watching the sunset (me in my PJs; don't judge)

She traveled so well, I think we'll do it again!

A Few Firsts

Here are a few of Eloise's first firsts.  Her first bath on June 10 (it took that dern stump 22 days to fall off!) and her first bottle, on Father's Day (June 15).  Her big sister loved helping with the bath and Eloise loved it too.  I thought all babies screamed like a banshee in the tub for the first time (Clara sure did!), but it's definitely the highlight of Eloise's day.  She kicks and splashes and mellows right out.

She took the bottle like a champ and even though we haven't done many since then, I'm grateful that she knows how and will oblige.  I may just have to leave her side some day.  I could write many posts about how different the feeding experience has been this time around.  I take nothing for granted, knowing what a struggle it was with Clara and still find myself surprised and shocked at the beauty of the ordinary.  Here's to bottles!

And just for bonus, a shot of Robert with both of his girls before church on Father's Day.

Leaf Piles

We love our house and we really really love our backyard.  It's huge, it's wooded, it's private and it's beautiful.  But the huge + the wooded means that fall brings so many leaves. 

Well, the timing of the leaves falling, the weather warming up, and a weekend when we were in town couldn't have been better.  Our whole family spent most of the day Saturday (after our usual breakfast out) outside and we raked and played and had a grand old time. 

Okay, let's be honest.  Rufus really wasn't much help.  He just moved from one sunny spot to the next and chewed sticks.  Still, little by little we whittled away at it.

It was Clara's first "leaf jumping" experience.  She was really getting into it when we kept working on Sunday (and when I didn't have a camera, of course).  But these photos are pretty perfect too and capture some of the fun we all had together.  I don't want to every forget the way days like this make me feel.  So full, so complete, so happy.

Oh, how I love this series of her playing with her daddy in the leaf pile.

Thanks be to God.

A Girl, Her Daddy, and A Grasshopper