5 months!

My blond, blue-eyed girl is 5 months old! Her extreme cuteness makes my insides all squishy.

visiting the fire station

Yesterday our church playgroup took a trip to our local fire station.  The fire fighters were so nice and showed us all around. We saw where they sleep and eat and then the best part--the trucks! We also got to see inside an ambulance. 

Asher is obsessed with cars and trucks (which he unfortunately says with an "F" instead of a "T") so I thought he was going to be so excited. Instead he hardly showed any emotion the entire time. I think  he really did have fun though because he's been talking about ever since.

It wasn't until we got home that I realized his cloth diaper had come undone under his too small overalls. Hence, the funny bump under his pants in the pics.

until i think of something interesting to say...

I've been lacking the motivation to blog lately. Haven't even been taking many photos. So until I get my act back together here are few pics from a couple weeks ago I never posted. The late afternoon light was pretty that day.

bow

I was able to get a clippy bow to stay in Miriam's hair wisps for the first time today. 

It will be so fun once she really has hair!

mormon stories

I woke up Saturday feeling sick and spent the morning puking. Not fun. I was able to sleep A LOT that day which helped in my quick recovery. Being in bed all weekend also meant that I had the time to listen to some podcasts from MormonStories.org. Mormon Stories is is an Internet blog and podcast created in 2005 by John Dehlin that seeks to interview interesting people about Mormon-related current events, issues, media  and culture. I had heard about Mormon Stories a couple years ago, but at the time Dehlin was no longer conducting interviews and I believe had even removed the podcasts he had done in the past.

Well I've recently been reading the works of Carol Lynn Pearson (more on her in another post) and Heather told me that Dehlin had interviewed Pearson for Mormon Stories. What a fantastic interview! I loved all 5 (!) hours of it. I've also listened to several other of his interviews and am currently making my way through the series on Women in the Church. Great, great stuff. I am learning so much and have a lot to chew on.

I definitely plan on sharing more of my feelings here about what I'm learning and thinking about lately, but in the meantime, I wanted to tell you about MormonStories.org. I think it is a fantastic resource for exploring many issues dealing with Mormonism. You should definitely check it out!

autumn's green tomatoes

After the freeze... maybe we'll get a few more ripe ones yet?

See a couple more photos here.

my little animals

I photographed my little puppy and bear on Friday while the weather was good. 

Unfortunately, Saturday it was cold and rainy during trick or treating and since both kids have colds, we didn't take them out in it.
Maybe next year!

this makes me happy

I linked to this on facebook today and have watched it at least 7 times. Asher made me replay it like three times in a row. If you can get through it without getting chills and/or teary-eyed, then you have no heart. And definitely watch the whole thing, the best part is towards the end. I loves me some good harmony--especially with a message like this. I'm so glad we are all different. The world would be a mighty boring place if we weren't.

well, here it is

If there's one thing Utah is exceptionally good at, it's having 70+ degree weather one week and snow the next. Keeps us on our toes. 

Behold what we woke up to today:

Miriam is 4 months old

Miriam turned 4 months old on Saturday. Unfortunately Saturday and Sunday were both cold and rainy so I couldn't take pics of her until today. Well, I'm glad I had to wait because inspiration struck this morning! I knew I wanted to photograph Miriam outside since we have crappy lighting in our house. And I knew I wanted her to wear her hand knit bonnet and her knit romper. Then I had the great idea of putting her in a basket so she could be sitting up. But where to photograph her? I went outside and immediately knew the perfect place--the walk on the side of our house! Why have I never thought to photograph anyone there before? It worked out perfectly. These are now some of my most favorite images I've ever produced. I mean part of it is because they are of my beautiful baby. But also I just love everything about them. The setting, the colors, even the obvious chill in the air.

Could Miriam really be any cuter? She smiles so much and laughs the most adorable giggle. She's quite ticklish which she finds very strange. She lights up with she sees us and we all just adore her. She loves being close and hates sleeping alone. She loves to stand in my lap. I can tell she will be very happy once she can move around and get into things on her own. She hates being on her tummy. Like really hates. Tummy time only lasts about 10 seconds before she's screaming her head off. She is most content to be in my arms, but saves some of her sweetest smiles and coos for her Daddy--just the person she happens to be looking at in these photos.

Oh and a kinda funny story...Church yesterday was a regional conference so we were at the Stake Center. When the meeting got over I was making my way through the crowded hall with Miriam in my arms. She was wearing this same outfit. A woman almost ran into us and as she past exclaimed, "Oh! I though that was a doll!"

I actually get that comment a lot about Miriam--how much she looks like a little doll. I think it's especially true when she's wearing a hat. :-)