Mobility and Court's latest obsession

Christopher had to leave Tacoma early to get back to work. The day after he left, Courtney began really crawling for the first time and the following day began pulling herself up to a stand. Now that she is mobile I sense that I am in big trouble and my life as I knew it was over. I can't leave her alone in a room for any period of time anymore or who knows what mischief she will manage to get into. We're still working on baby proofing.

 

This picture is more recent...she has now climbed up all the stairs in our tri-level condo

 

I'm not mischievious..

  

When Courtney first started using this table it seemed to be the only thing that could keep her attention

While she still clearly loves it, she is also expanding her horizons

 Check out my sweet ride..

Tacoma

In early July we went to Tacoma, Washington. My sister and her family were in the process of moving there. We went to help unpack and to spend time with the whole family. My brother came up from Oregon to help with the move and my parents assisted too. I hadn't seen my sister since Courtney was 2 weeks old, so it was great to see her and my newest nephew who is nearly 4 months old. None of the cousins had met before, so it was fun getting them together and being able to take some pictures of them.

Our first day there we went to a bbq at a friend's house in Gig Harbor

There was this huge beautiful park in Tacoma a few minutes from where my sister lives...I fell in love with it

Jen and mom

 

A cowgirl and a doctor...that is my kind of girl

 

Maddie is so sweet and would go to hug Courtney. 

Courtney was never sure what to make of it.

 

Cute baby Caleb

Cousin love

Nana loves her kiddos

Play dates

Courtney has a friend named Dasha. I met her mom, Julia, in our birthing class. Dasha is about two weeks younger than Courtney but looks older and has hit some of the milestones before Courtney. I love meeting up with Julia. She is a very sweet person and it is fun to compare and contrast the girls. It is fascinating to hear them make the same noises and see them do some of the same things, but they each have their own quirks too. It is nice to have a friend who is going through the same things at the same time as you. We can commiserate and also give each other advice. When Dasha and Courtney first would get together, they would mostly ignore each other and do their own thing. Now they interact more, but sadly that sometimes means Courtney is harassing Dasha by pulling on her necklace, clothes, stealing her toys, etc. It is interesting that they already seem to have a sense of  what is 'mine'. I hope Courtney learns to be a little nicer to her friends.

See how much fun we're having?

I think I will take this...

Why is she crying?

 Happy Dasha

Hi Mama

 

HI MAMA!

Mothers Day

I know I am going back a couple months for this post, but I wanted to share some pictures from Mother's Day (which this year also happened to be my birthday). We spent the afternoon at my mom's house and my grandmother was there as well. I am one lucky girl to have such a wonderful mother. She has been such a great example to me of what it means to really sacrificially love and continually give of yourself. She is also incredibly patient and kind. So thanks mom for being your fabulous self. I love you! 

Such a happy girl

Thanks to my mother in law for the super cute outfit

Where does the time go?

I thought I would be so much better about updating this regularly, but I've clearly been seriously slacking these last couple of months! I don't know how moms (especially ones with more than one kiddo) manage to keep their blogs updated. I find it challenging to just keep us fed and clean ;).

The past couple months have been busy and full of adventures. At the beginning of June my best friend, Sara, came out to California for a visit. It was wonderful spending some time with her and made me realize even more how much I miss having her around. Courtney liked hanging out with her too and we got to see new babies as Sara's sister recently had a little girl as did our friend Tiffany.

A couple of weeks later, Christopher, Courtney and I went to South Carolina for Christopher's best friend's wedding. It was in Charleston, which is where Christopher's parents grew up and they own a condo there so we stayed an extra few days and spent time with family. Christopher's sister flew down from NY to hang out with us too. We all had a nice time. I'll try to add some pictures from this trip later. In the mean time here are some pictures from the month of June.

 A really great hair day:

Sara and Courtney

Best friends for 16 years and counting!

 Did Olan Mills teach you these poses?

Sweet girl

 Huh?

 Learning to clap (she clapped with her feet before her hands)

 I didn't do it

Teeth!

So after months and months of teething, Courtney got her first two teeth. She was a couple days shy of 7 months old when I noticed them and of course it happened to be during the week Christopher was away from home. She is still teething away with other teeth close behind I am sure. She typically wants to hide her pearly whites, but Christopher was patient and I kept working on making her smile or laugh until we got a picture where you can see them.

Happy Easter

We spent Easter with my parents. We attended church with them, which was the church I grew up going to. It was sort of surreal to go back there with my own baby. It was nice to visit with people I hadn't seen in a while. Then we shared a lovely meal at my parent's house and our very good friends Josh and Jenn Gunther joined us. It was a lovely day of fellowship and Settlers of Catan. Courtney opted for a nap instead of Catan...I should have too considering how badly I was beaten ;)

Courtney wearing her cousin, Maddie's dress