6 months

Nicole is 6 (and a bit) months already! She's still a happy little thing. Guess I should say "big" since she weighed in at 18 lb 14 oz and was 26 3/4 in long last week. A little smaller than what Hannah was at this age, but still has some of her characteristics. Like the back scooting. And the big grin. She seems to teeth like Hannah too, without too much difficulty. Was surprised the other day when I stuck my finger in her mouth and felt a sharp thing! Hasn't quite popped through yet, but it'll be up shortly. She's still sleeping through the night (ahhhh!). Except for when she had a stuffy nose a couple weeks ago. But anyone would've woke up if their nosed was plugged and they couldn't suck their thumb. Still a big thumb sucker. We've started her on some food and after every bite she tends to stick her thumb in. Don't know if she thinks the only way to swallow is by sucking the thumb or what :) She also seems to give hugs and kisses sometimes. At least, that's what I'm gonna call it. And she also has the cutest little laugh. She's starting to "talk" more. Lately she's been saying "bababababa". Sure there's more, but not thinking of it at the moment.

Nummy rice cereal...actually, she's rather chew on the spoon :) She will eat a couple bites

Hannah likes to feed her :)

We were having peaches and decided to see what Nicole thought of them...

 Hannah wanted some pictures taken of her :)

Our chicken girl

Hannah lets the chickens out in the morning. It's usually the first thing she does after breakfast. She also likes to bring the eggs in. Sometimes with or without help. She crawls through the door into the pen...then through the door into the hen house...and soon she comes to the house with the eggs. Usually it's three. And no, none are broke. How she does it, I'm not sure. But yes, she does smell like a chicken on a daily basis. And a wet chicken at bath time. :)

Kinda hard to see, but here she is going into the pen door. The next door is smaller :)

She packed this chicken around for quite a few days

Played with its beak and feet

It did get after her after a while. She had some scratches on her face from the beak. But she went back for more.

Same chicken, later in the day

Just like a mommy with a baby, the adoration on her face

How she got it to lay on the back, I don't know

Our little chicken girl

Thanks Dale and Marie for the chicks! Made Hannah very happy to have some that she could hold again, since the others are too big for her.

She can spend quite a bit of time each morning and afternoon outside with these critters. Enjoys walking around the pasture with them. Chasing them. Trying to catch them. It's been a while since I've seen her carry one, so they must have gotten wise to her and keep a safe distance :)

A furry visitor

One afternoon in August, we had a furry critter visit us for a few minutes. Actually, I'm not sure how long s/he was there, hanging out, until we noticed it. When I saw it out of the corner of my eye, I took it as one of the cats, but it obviously wasn't after we got a second look. The cats and chickens like to hang out on the back step, so why wouldn't a woodchuck want to join in on the comfortable perch.

After s/he noticed us, it was under the step in a heartbeat. But it came back to peek at us.

Isn't it cute!

It hung out on the step for quite a while with us. Hannah enjoyed watching it. Then it ran towards the sheds, but the chickens were over there so it came back to the step for a few more minutes before heading off into the pasture. Not sure where it calls home 'cause we haven't seen it since.

Checkin' cows

There's a few horses on the place where we summer pasture the cows. This fella was really tall!

Calves are lookin' good!

Hannah loves to check "my" cows

Hangin' out

Alright, that's enough pictures. Give me that camera.

Mid-August

Summer picnic in the swingset fort

What is this thing?!

Let's see if it tastes better the second time

Big sister needed her hat since little sister had one

Sandwich always tastes better with a pickle in it!

Maybe this carrot isn't so bad after all

Cute chunky thighs

Checking everything out

These were taken the beginning of August. Some day this blog may be in order

Gigglin' Girls

Cousins

Over Labor Day weekend, Dale and Bonnie brought Paige and Jace down. We missed having Jesse and Brenda here, but someone had to work while the kids played. And play they did. Wished I got more pictures, but here's a few from the weekend.

It rained on Friday. Paige and Hannah decided to run through the rain. Pretty soon they were running through the sprinkler also.

Hannah tried to keep up with Paige

Saturday afternoon we went to Fairmont. Nicole and Jace weren't too sure about the pool at first, but towards the end they were having fun. Hannah and Paige sure had a blast! Paige enjoyed showing us what she learned in swimming lessons.

Hannah did start out with the orange arm floaties also, but she discarded them and was quite brave in the pool. I think it's time to look into getting this little fish started with swimming lessons!

Nicole didn't mind that Hannah discarded these - gave her something to chew on

Sweet little Nicole

Sorry about the blurry photos

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Today also marks the 36th anniversary of my parents. Here's to many more years for a wonderful couple!

7 kids. 5 in-laws. 15 grandkids. What is the next 36 years gonna bring?! :)

While we're looking at wedding pictures, here's what the families looked like back in the day. Just a "few" changes in the last 6 years!

6 years as Mr. & Mrs.

Today marks the sixth anniversary for us. On one hand it seems like it was only yesterday that we said "I do" and on the other it seems like we've been together forever. In a good way. Like I can hardly remember what it was like to not have Rodney in my life. And that's as mushy as I'm gonna get at the moment.

Here's to another wonderful year with my better half!

Another jabberer in the family

Lately Nicole has found her voice. Her presence was made known to everyone in meeting this morning! She got quite a few grins outta those there. :)

One of the cute things she's been doing recently is wrinkling up her nose and blowing bubbles. She's a big bubble blower. Another thing that's pretty cute is her giggle. Or chuckle. Whatever you wanna call it. It's cute. Her grin is pretty cute too.

Maybe I should change the title to "cute things about Nicole" :)