Jakie Boy

This post is a special shout-out to my favorite 3rd brother, Jakob.

He had a hiking accident last weekend and fell backwards straight down 45 feet.

He miraculously fell onto a pile of shale, instead of the boulders two feet away.

He was incredibly blessed with no brain or internal injuries, but has some bad broken bones and gashes and bruises.

After a couple days in ICU and surgery, he is recovering well.
Yesterday when I talked to him, he said the physical therapist helped him walk 15 feet in his walker.

Me and Jakie, camping last summer.

The doctor says he'll be using a walker or crutches for a few months.

We're truly grateful to Heavenly Father for the wonderful medical care and support he's received, 

and especially for the miracle of his life and health.

It's killing me not being there with my family right now, but I'll get to see them soon.

Love you, Jake.

Coeur d'Alene

We celebrated our third anniversary and my 24th birthday by taking a weekend trip up to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

(Ben got me these gorgeous flowers!)

We had fun eating out, strolling along the lake and downtown, and pretty much relaxing and takin' it easy.

The longest floating dock in the world!

Abram was about to yawn. :)

Abram loves his daddy.

Ben enjoyed a little dip in the lake...it was pretty cold!

His hat is WAY too big for him, so we fold up the brim!

We stayed at a motel called "Japan House Suites."

Sketchy name and sketchy-looking (forgot to get a picture), but ended up being great!

Open Up!

6-month stats

17 lbs 2 oz (50%)

27" long (75%)

44 cm head (50%)

Love my growin' boy!

First bites of baby cereal: Take one.

(He does this nostril-flare thing with new tastes & textures...so hilarious!)

So the first day, I think more came out than went in. Typical, right?

Baby cereal: Take two!

...a little skeptical at first...

Don't even worry, because he loved it the second day!

Since then, we've done oatmeal and a few veggies. Some he likes, some he doesn't...we'll keep workin on it. :)

More pictures for the grandmas & great grandma. :)

(this was green beans)

...and the trademark nostril-flare...

He ended up liking them...

and even more the next day, he liked them so much he wanted it on his eyebrows, in his hair, his toes, and on my shirt. :)

Six Months

My baby turned six months last weekend!

I am truly grateful for him and how he is helping me become a better person. He has brought so much happiness into our family. I'm totally loving this stage he's in right now!

A few tidbits...

His fav position is sitting up.

Tooth #2 is coming in.

He loves the jogging stroller--he just sits back and puts his feet up on the tray!

He loves pulling my hair and earrings.

He's becoming more and more vocal!

He has a very patient and calm personality and rarely gets fussy (usually just when he's tired).

When he gets excited (and he's sitting) he rocks forward & backward and flails his arms. :)

He still gets called a "flirt" all the time in public. Montana thing?

"Mini Ben" remains his other classification.

Favorite toys: my water bottle & cell phone.

Oh, and he likes to eat his toes.

He is so intrigued by grass

and cars going by!

His 6-month appt. isn't until next week. Stats to come!

And of course, a bunch of recent pictures. They all probably look the same to you, but I couldn't delete any. :)

This was our little family hike up to the "M."

The rest of the pictures are of him on the "Russian Sleigh Bed," as Ben has called it.

(Fitting, because it's pretty musical...it creaks very loudly and the decorations on the gold posts are loose so they actually jingle...haha.)

Abram loves the gold posts!

Those below are what I like to call, "chunk-a-lunks."

(That's for you, Mom.)

His hair is starting to grow over his ears...

Mr. Blue Eyes

This was a half-smile half-chewing-his-new-tooth pose.

Sweet little profile.

"How many pictures are ya gonna take?"

Back to business.

Oh yeah, and I still need to post his first bites pictures...

Three Years

Three years ago today, Ben and I swung in the hammock in his backyard before our wedding reception.

Three moves,

three states,

three years of school,

and one sweet baby boy later...

equals a lot more love. :)

July Fourth

This year we were lucky enough to have visitors over 4th of July weekend!

Ben's family made the all-day drive to visit us and we were able to do a lot of fun things together.

On Friday night, we walked around downtown and enjoyed art galleries and live music.

Saturday, everyone (except Karen & Abram) hiked up to the "M" for the U of M. It was pretty steep, but short. The weather was perfect!

(above) Alan, Ali, Zach, me

Zach and Ben explored up a little higher.

I don't think Zach likes to be in the limelight. :)

We arrived home just as Karen and Abram were finishing their walk.

After lunch, we found a place where you can "rent" bikes for free! We had fun riding up and down the Clark Fork river.

We took turns staying with Abram in the shade.

Abram loved seeing new faces and having so many people to hold him!

After riding bikes, we all got yummy ice cream at the Big Dipper...which we have yet to get a picture of.

On Sunday we took a lovely walk around our neighborhood to look at all the houses,

went to church,

had yam & black bean burritos for dinner,

played some games,

and had cookies for dessert.

On Monday, we drove up North to a really small town called Seeley Lake, MT. The lake was really pretty with a lot of boaters.

We heard there was a good 4th of July parade and people were staking out their spots hours in advance, so we were pretty excited for it!

Unfortunately, the majority of the parade was people waving on their 4-wheelers or pick-up trucks. Too bad we didn't know anyone. :)

It made for a good memory though. Luckily we had a good spot in some shade!

And Zach snatched us some free water bottles.

Alan & Zach stopped at a ghost town on the way home while the rest of us went swimming at their hotel.

That night, Karen so generously stayed with Abram while the rest of us left to watch fireworks.

Ben had an awesome idea to hike a little ways up the mountain in order to see the whole valley's fireworks. It was fun to watch...until we started getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes!

We're so grateful we could spend the weekend with family. It was so nice to have familiar faces here.

Thank you, Wade's, for making the trip up to spend time with us!