Everyday pics

Dressed up for church














Audrey attempting to play some piano - Stratton was actually pretty amenable to this arrangement. I played more than I have in three months (which was about 7 minutes!)

Chubs

I'm still not used to having such a chubby little baby and couldn't resist these no-clothes-on shots. Look at that tummy! As you can see, Stratton has now found his fist and enjoys loudly sucking on his fingers for entertainment.

new roof

Here's part of the reason I haven't posted much in a while. Due to some serious leaks we had a new roof put on our house this week. There was some interesting stuff to watch as well as lots of pounding, hammering and Spanish. Naptimes were not feasible at our house, so we camped out at a friend's house several afternoons. Below are some pictures of the process...


before

during

after

Two Months and Lots of Smiles

Stratton has become quite the social butterfly. He loves looking at you and smiling and wiggling all over.

I took him to several meetings the other night (music team leaders and my small group) and when he wasn't eating, he just sat on my lap and looked around a watched everyone. I think he was really intrigued by all the new faces and voices - it was great!

I wish you could hear the sounds he makes sometimes when he's in a good mood. All sorts of goos and aaahs. He really sounds like he's trying to have a conversation.

Ah...Grandparents!

We also got to enjoy a visit from Grandma & Grampa recently. They were more than helpful while Eric was out of town - even sharing some of the getting up in the middle of the night duties with me. What a blessing!

Take a close look at the book mom and Stratton are looking at...

Quotes of the week

"Let's go poop so we can see the bobcat!"

I never thought I'd hear those words come out of Eric's mouth, but what is even more crazy is that it sounded perfectly appropriate...Perhaps a little background:

While driving back from errands one Saturday morning, Dawson kept informing us that he needed to go poop. We assured him we'd be home soon, but at one point he said, "Go poop in the car??" to which we both turned around and emphatically said, "No, no, no!" As we pulled into our neighborhood, we saw a trailer unloading a small bobcat front loader (which is one of Dawson's favorite construction vehicles). Upon arriving home, Eric unbuckled Dawson and as he whisked him inside to take care of bodily functions uttered the above phrase.

Dawson's quote:
"I'd like to do the licking part"

While making brownies (don't worry Mom, no eggs in this batter) I informed Dawson that we could eat some of the batter, but only after we did all the mixing. Partway through, he decided he'd have enough mixing and asked if we could just skip ahead to the fun part.

Gabe's Visit

While Eric was in Las Vegas for a work conference, we had the pleasure of seeing some family from Ohio. Uncle Gabe was quite a hit with Dawson and they enjoyed some quality bonding time playing football, raking, making ice cream and watching Steeler's highlights on Gabe's laptop.