Tomorrow

Tomorrow my baby girl will be 5 months old.
Tomorrow I return to work.
Tomorrow I have to leave my sweet girl at day care.
Tomorrow is going to be a hard day for this mama.

Summer Days

I can't believe how quickly these final day of summer are slipping by. This happens to me every year. All of the sudden the middle of August sneaks up on me, and with it, another school year. I start teacher workshops next week already. Until then, I'm trying to fit in all of the fun and baby snuggles I can get!

I saw these mushrooms growing in my neighbor's yard and I just had to get a shot of them. They look to me like they're dear friends. E thinks they look as though they belong to the Smurfs.

Tummy Time

Late last week Annabelle finally seemed to figure out that tummy time isn't so bad after all... it may even be kind of fun. She even rolled from her tummy to her back... once (that seems to be the way she rolls).

Today I decided to grab a few shots of her on her tummy after a diaper change. For some reason I get the cutest expressions on the changing table.

Testing the Waters...

On our camping trip last weekend, we took a couple of opportunities to dip Baby A's toes in the water.

First we tried the Baptism River, just below the highest waterfall located entirely in Minnesota. We hiked to as many waterfalls as we could as they are my favorite. Even when that meant an extra 200 wooden steps (E estimates a minimum of 1000 steps on that hike). Back to Baby A, she seemed to think the river was pretty fun.



Then, just before we were going to leave, we thought we better check out Lake Superior one more time. Baby A was far less happy about the cold lake water.

Adorableness

In the mail today I got the cutest treat! I ordered these two hats from the etsy shop briar claire on Friday, and they were already at my door today. A friend passed along info about a sale the seller was having, and when I saw how cute everything in the shop was, I couldn't resist buying one for Baby A and one as a gift for a Sip & See we're going to this weekend. I couldn't be happier with the hats... plus they came quickly and neatly packaged.



I can't wait to use Baby A's hats when we do her 6 months pictures! Now to find a photographer.

North Shore Weekend

Friday morning, E called from work to share some good news about a case he was working on. Then about half an hour later he called with more, better good news about another case. The good news he got Friday cleared a lot of his schedule for the rest of the summer and fall.

So we decided to pack up the car and head up north for a weekend. We didn't have any plans, except to stop at state parks along the way looking for a place to stay. We lucked out and found one at the first park.

I was a little nervous that camping with Baby A would be difficult, but things for the most part went well (we had a rough patch during quiet time Sunday night, but we got through it without making any campground enemies). We hiked for many miles (and climbed many, many steps), saw some beautiful waterfalls, ate lots of tasty smores and dipped Baby A's toes in Lake Superior.

Overall, it was a lovely weekend along the North Shore. It was in the 90s at home, so the cool breeze from the lake was much appreciated.

Wedding Bells

We headed to Wisconsin over the weekend to go to my uncle's wedding. Here's a short recap of Baby A at her first wedding (I decided it was okay for Baby A to wear white to the wedding because she's under 1).

Wow, it's really hot out. I need someone to fan me. (Note, this is during the actual ceremony. The only shade was in the back so E and I decided to stay back there with Baby A. Grandpa R was also back there because he was an usher).

Chillin with Grandpa R again. And Mom, please put that camera away. I've had about enough pictures for the day.

I'm exhausted. Time for a quick nap before dinner.

Paws

Baby A had her 4 month visit to the doctor on Friday. Turns out she is now 14 lbs 9oz, far smaller than E and I had guessed. We thought she was probably over 16 lbs by now. She's still a very long baby though, now up to 26.25 inches, which puts her in the 97th percentile.

So she keeps growing and growing... but still has the littlest feet in the house.