Thursday, June 25, 2009

Flowers




I love, love, love the way that nicely-cared-for flowers look in landscaping, however I'm a little short in the area of actually doing the maintenance required for their upkeep (and I can't stand ratty-looking, overgrown flowers) so it wasn't until last year that we finally planted some flowering plants in our landscaping. We picked up a yucca and a hydrangea (I fell in love with these in Oregon) and I'm delighted that they survived the winter and are in full bloom right now. I'd love to get the hydrangea to flower blue instead of the pinkish/purplish that it currently is, but I think that can be tricky, so I'm just enjoying the fact that it flowered period.

I stop and smile everytime I walk to the front door when I see the beautiful blooms, so I decided I'd better take photos before they are done. Look Mom, I grew something!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

We love you James!


I think James deserves the very best for Father's Day - I don't know many men out there that desired and care for five little ones. We love you James and appreciate everything you do and the cornerstone of this family that you are.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Cecily Turns One







Okay, so maybe it's not as big a deal as the "real" 1st birthday, LOL, but it's so hard to believe that Cecily is one month old. The time has gone by both blazingly fast and very slow. That duality is something that only a parent to a recently-born baby (or with a good memory) can understand. She's such a good little baby (I know, I know - I write that in just about every post) and we are all so in love with her. She's done some changing in the first month of her life, although it sometimes is hard for me to describe the changes since I see her every day. She's a bit bigger than she was when she was born, although like all of our babies, she's not going to make any big-baby records. She has amazing head control and is starting to communicate more with us. Mostly it's little grunts or exhales, but I think the coos and smiles are probably right around the corner. She's also in the process of losing her newborn hair (I'm predicting that her true hair color will be blonde) and her eyes are changing color (I'm going to say they will be brown, but we'll have to see). The poor baby has a case of baby acne so she's a bit splotchy, but hopefully that'll pass. Her sleep schedule hasn't changed too much - she goes to bed between 9:30 and 10:00, wakes up between 2:00 and 3:00 for her first feeding, and then gets up again between 5:00 and 6:00 for a second feeding, and then is up for the morning at 8ish. I'm just trying to remember that this is normal for her age and that eventually we WILL get a full night's sleep again. Also, I repeat the mantra "This is the last time we will ever have to do this" a lot to help me power through the exhaustion LOL. I know it is cliche, but it is SO worth it. Here's a picture of Cecily at birth and Cecily on Saturday, which was her exact "birthday". Happy 1 month birthday Cecily Carys!



Friday, June 19, 2009

Catching Up
















By the lack of posts this month you might be under the impression that June is a lazy summer month in the Fife household but au contraire! We've not been lazy, I've just been too lazy to post LOL. The month started out with Colin's 2nd birthday at Chuck E Cheese, then the girls both appeared in their school's talent show, then my mom flew in from Wisconsin to visit for a wonderful ten days, Hero and Allegra celebrated their last day of school, Mom and I celebrated Mother's Day with lunch at PF Chang's, James and I celebrated our 11th anniversary with dinner at Tucano's Brazilian Grill, then it was our annual neighborhood garage sale which happened on the same day as James' 33rd birthday. Besides the milestones, smaller things have been happening around here too - Cecily was introduced to and fell in love with the pacifier (it's great for in the car when she's really wailing), and Hero, Allegra, and Ian have been taking a daily afternoon trip to the playground in our subdivision, all by themselves. This is a little bit scary for me, but the kids really enjoy getting out of the house and Hero is uber-responsible and always carries her cell phone. The second half of June is looking to be almost as busy as the first half. Where is the summer going already?!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Busy, Busy, Busy
















Whew, it's been a stretch of busy days in the Fife household. First we had Hero, Allegra, and Ian's piano recital, and then Hero's ballet recital. We also took Cecily to church (she wasn't particularily impressed by her dress). Luckily Cecily is such an amazingly good baby that we can tote her pretty much anywhere and she is quiet. It's hard to believe that we've had her for 18 days already. She fits in perfectly and it's hard to imagine life before her. The one piece of the puzzle that is left is more sleep LOL. It'll come soon enough, though - I know how quickly these early weeks fly by.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Happy 2nd Birthday Colin!

It's hard that a short two years ago that Colin was our newborn baby, going through all the same stages that Cecily is going through now. Here's a retrospective look at his 2nd year in pictures.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Enjoying the Weather











It's been hot here lately, so we've been taking full advantage. The kids are loving it most of all and have already started swimming in the pool (the first day they went it was definitely NOT warm, but I guess if you are a kid it doesn't really matter) and ingesting popsicles by the ton. Cecily loves being outside, which is great. Hopefully we'll get some use out of the new double stroller. Colin is James' little helper when it comes to yard work. He spent all Sunday afternoon helping water things, take care of the garden, and mow the lawn. It's the girls' last week of school and they are so excited (I myself have mixed feelings about that LOL).