Hope Turns 6 Months Old

Little Baby Hope is six months old already! She is growing so fast, and time is flying by.

Hope is always smiling, and very curious about everything. Gabriel is determined to teach her everything she'll need to know in life, including the names of construction vehicles and the words to all his favorite songs.

At six months, Hope is an expert roller, and is getting better at holding toys. She is learning to sit up, but still needs support. She is quite the sleeper. She sleeps 12 hours at night, and takes two naps and cat nap in the evening.

We love our sweet little girl so much, and she brings a lot of joy to our lives... and a bunch of squishy hugs, and slobbery kisses. Love them!

Berry Picking and Toddler Fireworks

We started celebrating Independence Day with berry picking.

It was a first for everyone except Richard.

Gabriel was a natural. As soon as he knew what color to look for, he was filling his basket up.

We picked seven baskets of raspberries and blackberries.

Hard work was rewarded in sweet, juicy berries.

And we made a friend along the way.

Our evening continued with what we called "Toddler Fireworks". Snakes, poppers and sparklers. Richard had never seen snakes before. I know, he was deprived. This was Gabriel's first sparkler.

We shared some watermelon with our buddies, too.

An eventful 4th of July, with family and friends.

Trip to the Fire Station

Most Monday's we get together with our playdate buddies. The fire station was a big hit.

Homemade Pizza

We love homemade pizza at our house. Usually it's a vegetarian pizza, with whatever veggies we have on hand that need to be eaten. This pizza is asparagus, green bell pepper and ham. It's a great way to get Gabriel involved. He can make most of it himself!

Hershey and Lancaster

Our family took a long weekend to drive up to Hershey, Pennsylvania and then to Lancaster, which is where the largest Amish community in the US is. At Hershey we did several things, one of which was a chocolate tasting class. Gabriel was proud of his certificate of completion.

In Lancaster, we learned about the Amish, their history, and why they do the things they do (or don't do). We found them to be a very friendly group of people. At the one-room schoolhouse we learned they still teach the students German. Gabriel appreciated having a desk that he was almost big enough for. His desk is in the front of the room, and they get bigger as you move to the back of the room. Richard and Gabriel enjoyed ringing to school bell, too.

We had lunch near the train museum, at a restaurant located inside an old train car. Although the food was horrible, the ambiance was neat. Gabriel enjoyed taking pictures of me while we waited for our food.

We went for a buggy ride with our Amish driver, Sam. Hope slept most of the time as I carried her in front of me. The tan fabric is hiding her head.

We stopped at Kitchen Kettle Village. It's a popular tourist destination, where the main attraction is the amazing array of canned goods prepared by Amish women. Something I thought interesting was that they worked in a building that used electricity, although they don't believe in that typically. Hmmm... And we all know they don't believe in the use of motor vehicles. However, we learned they have no problem riding in one as long as someone else is driving. Very interesting... and confusing. At Kitchen Kettle Village, I picked up some picked beets, which were being prepared that day. Gabriel rode a pony and was "all done" after two laps around the stall.

We decorated a gingerbread man.

 ... and quickly ate him.

We also had plenty of pool time at the hotel. Gabriel is learning to blow bubbles, kick his feet and jump off the edge into our arms. He loves the water!

Our trip was relaxing and fun. We purposely didn't plan too many activities, because we wanted to take our time and enjoy everything. I would say it was a successful family trip!

From The Mouth Of Babes - Part 2

Gabriel continues to sing "Bless The Lord, Oh My Soul" often. He doesn't quite get the lyrics right sometimes. There is a line that says "The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning". When Gabriel sings it, he says "The sun comes up, it's a new ding dong!" He emphasized "ding dong" with little hop for each word and an extra loud "d" sound. Richard tries to correct him, but now I am just singing it Gabriel style.

From The Mouth Of Babes - Part 1

I figure we will have lots of funny things to record as the kiddos grow. So this is just the very first of a series called "From The Mouth Of Babes"...

Gabriel (age 2 and 3 months)
"Pop-con-toon!" - Popcorn!
"Bye-bye Mommy Hudson" - Bye-bye Hudson's Mommy
"Dah-eee!" - Daddy!
"wuz-at?" - What's that?

Conversations:
Mommy - "I need to change Hope's clothes" (just thinking out loud)
Gabriel - Starts going up the stairs, saying, "Mommy, I will go get Hope more clothes from upstairs"
Seriously?! Where did that full sentence come from? And wanting to help, too!