fun with the marsh family

we went to the park with the marsh girls the other day. this is chloe and eli playing "superman." these two are the epitomy of "girl" and "boy." chloe is cute and petite, as girly as a girl can be. and eli is, well, most of you know eli - growling, bugs and sticks are his great passions at the moment.

the shot below on the left is eli showing ellie his animal flash cards...and as you can see, she is a very good student. the other is eli being a "grring boy"

running late

i'm so late on this posting...

our old friends josh and emily from san diego came to visit a few weeks ago. it was great to catch up with them and to see where God is leading them. they are going to serve the lord in a foreign country (i'm not sure i'm supposed to say where on a public posting, so i'll just play it safe. josh and emily if you are reading this it was soooo good to see you!!!!

hangin' out in the backyard

adam took this picture the other day when we were hanging out in the backyard. why is it that newborns like to lay like this? i remember eli loving to do this also...

this is eli and his dead horse fly. they played together for about an hour...eli took him down his slide and would put him various places (the table, the bench the arm of the chair). they had a grand ol' time. yesterday he found a dead moth (not pictured) and played with it for a good half hour, this time mostly putting it in a tupperware container and carrying it around. it's demise came when he put it in the fountain...moths are not very water proof.

"fairy" fun

a few days ago we went to the fair (or "fairy," as eli calls it) to see the animals. despite the heat we had a good time and saw every animal at the fairy. pigeons? really!?! who shows pigeons??? apparently people a the fair...next year i'm going to catch one in the walmart parking lot and win myself a ribbon.

chunkin' up

these are just a few pictures from this this week. the first is lyla and her newly gained chin. she is already chunkin' up a bit, her cheeks and chins are looking fatter. eli has been very watchful of her needs. if she is crying he tells me, "pet her!" or "pick her up." if she is crying in the car he says repeatedly (in his best soft/mom voice) "we're almost home, we're almost home." just as i do. he's watching out for her.

2 QTs

when we first saw lyla we said she looked like her big brother, i think the proof is in the pictures (minus the dark hair)

when eli came home from fishing today he asked me to push him in his swing. i was holding lyla and he was pointing out all her cute parts...

"look at her little cute hands...look at her little cute ears...she's a baby!...look at her little eyeballs." it was priceless.

doing what babies do best

lazing on the couch...

besides still having her days and nights mixed up, lyla has been great. she sleeps much of the day until about 4pm or so. she is a good eater, though nothing like her big brother was at this age:) adam and i are tired from being up at night, but have had the HUGE BLESSING of our WONDERFUL friends bringing us dinner for the last 2 weeks. i can't convey what a stress reliever it has been. a big thank you to everyone! and thanks stephanie for arranging all of this!

what a whopper!

a few days ago adam, eli and my dad went fishing at arrowrock. eli caught this fish...yes, on his snoopy fishing pole. he reeled in in and everything! it was the only "keeper" of the day.

the neighbors

our neighbors came over the other day to see lyla. colleen was holding, cooing and talking to her. eli was in his swing and said in all seriousness, "don't take her home with you...leave her here," furrowing his brow and nodding with authority. after assuring him that they would leave her here, paul said that lyla has a lot to learn, eli said, "when her gets older i'm going to teach her all the things i do." he has been so sweet to her...except for the time he kicked her in the face while trying to get up on the couch...but that was an accident.
that evening we were hanging out in the backyard and took these pictures. eli is trying to smile.