Bike, Swim, Cry

Natalie has this little pedal-less bike now that someone was throwing out. She likes to ride it around, when the mosquitoes and heat are tolerable enough to go outside. I shouldn't complain- it's been an insanely mild summer and I'm very grateful.

Natalie fell the other morning and bumped her head pretty hard on the sidewalk. She got a nice bruise and cried for about 5 hours. Such a drama queen. But I was proud of her for going back out on her bike the very next day.

We just realized that the second-closest YMCA here in Atlanta has an AWESOME outdoor pool with a large shallow end, a water slide and a bunch of fountains. We enjoyed it on Saturday and played until we were all exhausted.

A few other things going on:

• Angela has decided that she doesn't like sleep. I've decided that she's not old enough to have opinions. So she spends a lot of time being grouchy and crying in her bed these days.
• Blake is returning from his mission a week from today. We're going up to Wilmington and making a week-long vacation out of it. Micah has started school and is already behind on his plan that will have him graduating next summer, but oh, well!
• Natalie will be starting a little preschool/babysitting coop as soon as we get back from Wilmington. It will be AMAZING to have a Natalie-free morning once a week (minus every 4th or 5th week when I'm in charge).
• In 2 days, I will have been married for 5 years. Woah.
• I'm organizing this ward activity on Sept 13 that was going to be awesome, but in the last week the stake has scheduled a leadership training in the morning and a women's fireside in the evening for some general authorities coming through. I am super irritated that they couldn't have given us more notice. All my planning and work might just get thrown out the window. Lame.

"Look, mom! I found this soft, squishy breast with a zillion nipples!"

shake mustache and soul patch

downward dog

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling and Adventures with Milk

Angela can now roll from back to stomach. And, in true second child fashion, not only did I not capture her first roll on film- I didn't even see it. I was putting things away in the kitchen, came out to the living room where I had left her on her back and she was on her stomach. She did it once more in the evening (I witnessed that one, so I'm sure Natalie's not just moving her). Then, this afternoon, I set her on her back with her toys over her (with the green and yellow bars by each shoulder and her feet pointing towards the blue bar) and returned to THIS:

She is a masterful spitter-upper. I am regularly covered in her vomit and can't put her on her stomach without her getting it on the floor. If I put her on a blanket, the spit up soaks through. If I carefully place a burp cloth under her, she masterfully bunches it out of the way and pukes on the carpet anyhow. The whole living room smells like yucky milk. But I'm not sure it's worth getting a rug doctor since she'll just do it more.

In other news, Natalie learned that blowing bubbles in milk does this:

Her glass contained MAYBE one inch of milk.

 Speaking of milk, here is the mess she made after only a few dips of cookie in milk:

Charlotte

Just returned from a long weekend in Charlotte with Micah's sister. It was a blast and also a huge relief. It is unbelievably taxing having my attention occupied by these kids all day every day. It was so nice having Chere dote on them while I could unwind. They were pretty crazy on the car ride up, a little better on the car ride down, because Natalie was exhausted from playing hard and slept most of the way. She loved having Hudson around to play with her. And I was surprised that she enjoyed going on the boat and tube for the first time enough to want to do it again the next day!

Generally, things are going well. Angela has been doing okay, getting chubby and happy and talking more. Though not being a great sleeper. Micah is getting serious about graduating by next August. I mentioned at bookgroup last night (several of the women are GTech PhD widows, er, wives that is) how he would finish his program sooner than he expected and none of us could think of a single person we knew who took LESS time than expected to graduate. So, it's pretty cool. 

foaming at the mouth

Micah fell asleep while playing with Natalie

on the boat at Chere's 

 Cousin time