The end of birthday season for 2013

Nemo turns 3 years old

This spirited child thoroughly enjoyed the birthday season and turned three with plenty of cake! She is convinced that everyday is someone's birthday and that there should always be cake. 

Simba turns one!

Yesterday, Simba turned 1 year old. We had a quiet day with balloons, a cupcake and fun playtime. (More partying is to come next week!) Our little girl welcomed in the end of her first year with much of our usual routine and few new things thrown in. As I was reflecting on her first year I am struck by the simple joy that this baby has brought to us and the fact that this year has FLOWN by.

Simba takes in the world and carefully processes it all before she gives out smiles or anything else. She is cautious with others but delighted with her family. She laughs hardest at her sister. And she likes to be rocked by her mama (though Mimi will do in a pinch)! She giggles for her daddy and enjoys lots of people watching in her life. She is a thinker who has started to study books (she will pull each book out of the bin and focus on the pages for quite a long time). Simba is also mellow and seems to take life in stride. She likes to sleep but is not too keen on crawling yet. She is just right for our family and we are grateful to have her.

Happiest of birthdays baby girl!

Grasping at the straws of summer....

I am now a few weeks into the semester and as the weather shifts from the dramatic heat to a crisper chill I just don't want to forget summer quite yet. Here's a few highlights...

Beaching it in Florida

This one loves the beach

Loves loves loves the beach

She slept with me the whole trip

And we stayed in paradise (also known as Jim and Julie's house

Working on getting around 

gardening with Mimi and Grama Great

checking on the tomato plants

In the zoo in the rain

chewing on papa's chain

lots of strawberry jam

potty training.... a big summer project

beaching at Titi Laur's

Our favorite kind of selfie

A big star of the summer, the water table

Swimming in Florida

Baptism

on her baptism day

working on my garden

Adventuring

chillin at Whitefish beach

baby friends

this is polar bear, we also have little bear, big bear, terry bear etc

playing

she really does like swinging

picking tomatoes, note the Dora bandaid

Raining in Waterton

probably our best family photo of the trip

eating, messy

playing in lake mcdonald

on top of Big Mountain

enjoying a cool day

encountering big dogs

cutie

Ahh summer, in a few weeks it will be a distant memory. Sigh, fall is always a good start but summer was good to us.

The waters will hold you up!

Right before Simba got a bit wet

All smiles.. at 8 months old.

Pastor Dad splashed Simba pretty good but she was unfazed by all the water!

Simba and titi

Simba and Grandma-Great

Mama and Simba

Today we had the pleasure of standing up in front of our community and making public our intention to raise Simba in a certain path. It was a good day, similar to Nemo's baptism a few years ago. What I wrote then is still certainly true. I see baptizing babies as a way to form a covenant with God and to be held accountable to that decision. Our community welcomes in adults, adolescents and children warmly. But is also true that we are making a decision for our daughter, one that she may choose to embrace or reject as she gets older. Which will be her choice, hopefully guided by God's presence in her life. I look forward to seeing what decisions both of our girls make as they get older. I'm sure that they will be interesting!

Through generations...

Grandma-Great and Simba

I already posted this picture on instagram and facebook but it's worthy of more adoration. It's one of those captures that makes me pause and just look. My daughter with my grandmother. 

It's as though I am looking through time. I have pictures of my grandmother looking at me just the same way. And Simba's face is just delightful in this picture, she is doing her thing enjoying life. 

I love how it captures these two people, so special and important in my life. 

A few shots of the day...

This face ...

This is how she feels about tummy time.

Nemo is showing off her fruit...only moments before Simba tried to get her hands on it...

Five months old...

Simba is five months old this month and it's fascinating to watch her interactions with Nemo. As you can see below Simba loves nothing more than watching Nemo. She laughs at her sister's antics and finds her generally delightful. 

The admiration is mutual! (most of the time)

Yes she picked out this outfit herself. And she was very proud of it.

Nemo was introducing Simba to all of her "guys". 

These girls are something else. I often watch them and think about how my relationships with my sisters have developed over time. I am so grateful for my two sisters, they really are amazing and gifted people who enrich my life everyday. I hope that I can somehow help my girls to see each other as precious gifts, even when they argue or get frustrated with one another.