It's been a busy summer!

So sorry for the almost two month hiatus in posting. As you can see from the over fifty photos I just posted, it's been a busy summer. Cash and I went to New Mexico in July to visit my Grandparents, followed two weeks later to a family vacation to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where the whole Anderson clan gathered to celebrate my other Grandparents' 80th birthdays.

We were also blessed to have the Flattery's come visit in early August and we got to celebrate the upcoming addition of their daughter with a virtual baby shower. It was great to have so many California friends in the "same room" again!

On the fourteenth, Mick and I celebrated five years of marriage. Wow! Five years and two kids later. Yup, I said TWO kids. We have another one due in mid-March. Hold onto your hats folks. And we thought this summer was crazy!

4th of July and 10 month's old

Cash's Dedication

"...for the joy of the Lord will be your strength." -Nehemiah 8:10

Yesterday, we had the priviledge of dedicating Cash at our church. It made Mick's first Father's Day so special that we could honor our Heavenly Father in that way. We had picked out the above scripture for Cash, as he has proven to be such a spread-er of joy, not only for us, but for others as well.

Trip to California

Here are some pictures from our trip to California a few weeks ago. We had such a great time with our friends, and especially with the Blands. We can't wait to go back!

Nine months old

Cash is now nine months old! At his last doctor's appointment, he measured in at a hefty 21.2 pounds and nearly 29 inches long. For the first time, his percentiles have dropped, likely due to all his crawling about. That kid can move!

Good news! Cash has been sleeping a full 10 to 11 hours at night, which has been absolute HEAVEN for Mick and I. We can only hope that it will continue...

...and he's mobile!

Cash began crawling last week and we are really amazed at how quickly he's become proficient at it. At first he would army crawl, dragging his hind-quarters behind him; then he started to get up on his knees and explore the carpeted area. Now he is just tickled with himself when he ventures out onto the tile. I guess the spirit of grand adventure outweighs the feeling of cold, hard tiles on the knees. For me, it's just plain uncomfortable!

It's great that Cash is crawling, but there are at least two "problems" that we didn't fully anticipate. His new found freedom means we, as his parents, have to begin setting physical boundaries and even discipline. It's a daunting task when up to this point most of our interaction has been so positive and encouraging. I'm having a hard time finding the balance again now that I am frequently saying things like, "No, Cash. It's not ok to climb into the fireplace." or "Don't touch the outlets." or "No! What did mommy just say?" I'm sure it gets easier, though.

Secondly, the developmental milestones are disrupting his, and therefore our, sleep. We are waking multiple times in the night again, which is frustrating considering that we've never really had a consistent chunk of time with good rest. Such is the life of a parent, I guess, although that is not the attitude I have at 2am. Oh, well, atleast Bella is sleeping well.

All that to say, and we are still so grateful that God has blessed us with such a joyful child. He is such a sweetie and we can't remember what is was like before he was here.

I love this laugh!

How can you watch this and not laugh? This kid has the gift of spreading joy for sure!

(By the way, if you need to turn off the background music in order to hear the laughter, just scroll down to the Easter post and hit the mute button at the top of the slide show.)