6 months ago

our family of two became this:

6 months ago and we could not be happier!

Cora is 6 months old today.
She is so big sitting all by herself in this high chair at a restaurant. Sitting up on her own is her latest accomplishment and she is so proud of herself when she does!One of my favorite things about Cora is how vocal she is. She is constantly talking and it seems like singing at times, and just making happy noises that make us smile. She has started sleeping through the night again, which I am very grateful for. Months 1-3 she slept through the night, but for some reason months 4 & 5 she decided she would wake up every 3 hours. I'm glad that is over! She is very strong: she holds her head up off the ground when laying on her back, she loves standing, she rolls over, she does this side to side head swaying and will whack you in the side of the face if you're not careful, she sits, and she kicks you if you're in reach of her legs as she is laying down.

Here she is so big riding on Daddy's shoulders!
I cannot believe that Cora has only been with us for 6 months, it seems she has always been part of our family.
Happy half birthday to her!

cora meets cousins

we made it back to Utah from California last week. we're staying in Park City with Geoff's parents at a cabin they rented for the summer. geoff's sister stacie and her family are here too and we are having a BLAST! cora absolutely loves kids and she just thinks these cousins of her are so funny! they know exactly how to make her laugh and smile. lately i always have a helper to grab me a diaper, help me change cora into her outfit for the day, grab cora toys, etc. i can't wait till cora is big enough to run around with these kiddos!

cora with jackson and chloe

lexi and cora

the twins, claire and chloe, with cora

it's too bad cora doesn't live closer to her cousins in Washington, New York, and Utah (well for now we're in Utah but not for long)

a day at the park

the weather in California is incredible! just about 10 mins from where we live is a beautiful park called Lacy Park. we spent a few hours there just laying on a blanket with Cora, throwing the frisbee, and walking around the park.

for about a week now Cora won't stay in this position on her belly (see below) for very long. she is rolling from her stomach to her back and we celebrate every time she does it, which she seems to love!our time in California is coming to a close. i'm packing up this week as Geoff finishes things up at work. we have enjoyed our time here and we have especially enjoyed watching Cora change and grow since we first got here in May!

grateful

there are so many things to be grateful for...

here are a few i can think of today:

-my family
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-my faith
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-my health
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-my baby's health
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-the sun that is shining
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-my innate mothering abilities
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-a loving husband who supports us
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-the long walks Cora and I are enjoying together
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-airplanes that get me from here (California) to New York
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-Geoff's work ethic and the job that he has
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-a smiling baby that makes us smile

i love this pensive picture of Cora.

i think it is so important to stop once in a while and think of all the things you are grateful for, to write them down even, and to express your gratitude to the One who gives us everything!

happy 4th of july

Cora and i were lucky enough to celebrate independence day twice this year. once in New York and once in California. we just got back from a 3 week visit to my family in good 'ol Brewster. we sure did miss Geoff (daddy) though and i know he is happy to have us back as well!

Cora in her Red White and Blue. I love this outfit from Stacie (Geoff's sister). This was taken Friday the 1st when we had a BBQ and went to fireworks that evening.

sitting at fireworks with grandma Liza and cousin Olivia. the fireworks scared Cora a little bit so she and I got up and watched in the back as i held her tight and rocked her. she did like looking at the flashing lights though!

fireworks in California on the actual 4th. Cora fell asleep in the Bjorn with Geoff. Geoff turned Cora around when the show started so she could see because the loud booms woke her up, but as you can see below she fell right back asleep thanks to the much needed earmuffs that Geoff created with his hands!

big girl can...

stand up, only holding on to balance

wear jeans and a normal little girl shirt

go swimming sit in the cart at Target with her cousin aubrey
be held by cousins that are 4 years old and younger
count on her fingers like this...our sweet baby cora is growing up so fast. she is 4 months old and getting more and more fun by the day!

new car: hot lava

Those of you who know us know that we have been having car troubles with our Jeep Liberty for a while now. We have been wanting to sell it, but have been waiting for the best time to do it. Well.. now the transmission is about to go and it will be a $2,500 repair. This is the last straw for us, and now have found an excellent deal on this 2008 Scion XD:The best thing, in my opinion, about this car is how many miles to the gallon it gets compared to what the Jeep was getting. We will save tons of money on gas, and I'm so HAPPY about that. We are buying it from a guy at Geoff's work. The color (hot lava) will take some getting used to, but we could not pass up this offer and it just kind of fell into our laps. It is a huge blessing actually and could not have come at a better time. Geoff had not mentioned to this guy that we were car searching (which we have been doing for a week now) and he just randomly said to Geoff this week, "Hey, want to buy my car?" Geoff was like, "Yes!" which the guy was not expecting at all. We have been praying that something would just come along and it did. We were very diligent and vigorous in our search this week (going to many dealerships, looking on craigslist and cars.com, etc.) and I know that Heavenly Father blessed us with this car because of our efforts. We are going to get it on Monday and I cannot wait! It'll be fun to drive a stick shift again since that is what both Geoff and I learned to drive with.