Ruth at 7 weeks

Here's an update on Ruth. She finally gave us some amazing smiles yesterday. She even smiled at David, which absolutely melted his heart. It is cute to see a relationship already developing between them.

We have been a sick house lately. It started on Monday when David came home from school and threw up all over the place. Tuesday, Ruth came down with a nasty cough (I thought that nursing would ensure that she didn't get sick!). By Friday, the flu bug caught up with James and I. For the first time ever, Joseph had to take work off to take care of us. Gratefully, I have been able to continue nursing through it all, and we are getting our strength back. James has been a heap in my arms all day, but when I pulled out the camera, he flashed this handsome smile. I am so glad that I have a child who likes the camera.

happenings

It's been a while since I last posted. Life feels like a crazy rollercoaster with some good days and some not-so-good. I am sure I drive Joseph crazy on the not-so-good days because I spend half the day in tears with no good reason. Joseph is a huge help. Most nights I hand him the baby at about 8:00 and he takes over while I go to bed. Three is hard!

Despite the adjustment, we are having fun. My mom spoiled me with a two week visit. My dad flew in one weekend for the baby blessing. Ruth was too small for her blessing dress, so she had nothing fancy to wear. It was okay, though, because the most important part of the day was her ordinance. During her blessing, I felt such an overwhelming sense of gratitude to have her in our family.

It has been a very cool summer. I really expected my dad to take a swim in the water, but even he felt it was too cold (growing up, he used to drag us into the Pacific in January).

So, David gets the badge of courage:

Ruth couldn't swim in the ocean, but she did get to try out the bath tub.

Now that all of Joseph's family is gone, we have spent most our days at home. Overall, it's been nice for David and James to have some time to figure out how to play together. Most days, we don't get out of our PJs until lunchtime. This was an activity that David came up with.

Here's what James has come up with:

One more picture... One reason that I am married to Joseph is for his creativity. He took this idea out of the Friend and did this FHE for the boys. We even got to throw "darts" at them.