Norah at 11 months

Despite the screeches (and occasionally because of them) this is one delightful baby. She is constantly exploring, reminding me of the need to sweep, checking the tensile strength of her sister's hair, and tasting the freshly washed (or loaded) dishes.

She likes it best when Dad feeds her. This is not me handing off responsibility, but she really eats better when he is at the helm of the spoon.

Eyelashes for days!

She climbs a lot and is at a stage filled with tumbles. I have to retrieve her from under the table at least once a day because she cannot find her way out from the tangle of chair legs. She is walking along furniture, but not attempting independent standing yet, thankfully!

She loves Jared and Rosie. They sing loudly and make up silly dances to make her smile when she's upset. And don't let them go off without her, heaven forbid! She will wail until they are reunited. It's just not fair that the older ones get to play unsupervised on the sidewalk and she can't!!!
Norah is affectionate with kisses and snuggles. She is brave and likes to "jump" into the pool. She is fiercely opinionated and will not easily smile at strangers.

She is an awesome daughter!

Mom's visit

My awesome Mom came to visit for my birthday.

We visited the house. 

And Norah played in the dirt.

Visited the sights in town, including the temple.

Played outside

And snuggled. And much more that we didn't photograph because we were just in the moment.

It was just perfection.

House update #3

These cabinet just make me salivate! I cannot stop thinking and rethinking about what I'm going to stash in each one!

A little peek at the flooring!

(Am I using enough exclamation points?!?)

Bathroom with cabinets and a countertop and laminate.

Jared just chilling in his OWN room!

Celebrate!

Conversation with Rosie

Snuggles!

This little lady is growing like a weed! And Ken loves holding her until she sleeps. Usually, I like put her in her crib as soon as she finishes her bottle, but he can't resist when she snuggles on his shoulder. He's such a softie with this baby!

House update #2

 We have paint! Not only are all the guts of the house done, but we have insulation, drywall and our paint!
It feels like everything else to come is just frosting on the cake. Which is the fun part, of course!

 This paint is called First Star. It is a very light gray.

 Now that we have all the windows and the paint it is nice to see how the light will reflect.

They are prepping the house for stucco too!
The main body will be Bee's Wax and the door with be Watery.

(I hesitated to include the hyperlink to Bee's Wax because it is not as orange as it looks on their website. Google it. It is just a nice warm yellow.) 

Cabinets and flooring are next!

Great Ladies

To my best recollection, I only knew one of my great grandparents, my Great Grandma Christensen. And I think I only met her at one family reunion in Canada. My kids have four surviving great grandparents still. I feel so grateful that they have had more visits and memories with their great grandparents than I did.

I found these two photos in some of my old files and it just made me think about the truly amazing people we have in our families

This is Ken's maternal grandmother, Colleen Porter. She is sweet and understanding. We are loving having her nearby!

And this is my maternal grandmother, Ida Kemper. She is known as GG to all her great grandchildren. She is feisty and witty and has some amazing stories.