Summer... where did you go? (And update on life)

Literally, the title says it all. Life seems to be FLYING by right now. I can't believe that summer is over and that my firstborn started kindergarten this past week. Not to mention that in about 10 weeks, we will be adding another child to our family. Life is moving fast!

We had a great summer, though in went by fast. In June we took a trip to Minnesota to visit my sister and her family, as well as friends. We had a few days up in northern Minnesota visiting some of our favorite Minnesota spots (and restaurants!). We came back to Colorado on fire- literally. The fire in Colorado Springs was insane. I have never in my life seen anything like it; it was hellish. We were put on pre-evacuation status, and thankfully did not have to actually evacuate.

Hiking Gooseberry Falls in Minnesota. Levi was on my back.

World's Best Donuts- Grand Marais, MN 

Levi playing at the lake in Minnesota.

Cousins! Teddy Bear Park.

Though we did lots of fun things this summer there are so many things we never got the chance to do - because it seems that summer just flew by in a blur of appointments and naps and playdates. Next summer I am going to make a list of the things we want to do so that we can be a little more intentional about doing some of the fun things that are close that we so often forget to do.

Silas had a little surgery at the beginning of July. He was born tongue tied and it was never corrected as a baby because it didn't cause any problems. This spring we came to realize that being tongue tied was effecting his speech and decided to have the surgery done to correct it. It was a simple procedure- and the recovery happened amazingly fast. Literally, he didn't miss a beat. We walked out of the hospital- less then an hour after surgery- and he wanted to know where we were going to eat breakfast. We are so thankful it went well! Silas started kindergarten last Wednesday and LOVES it. He loves bringing a snack each day. He loves all of the "specialist" classes- he was very excited for today (computer day!). His teacher seems very sweet and the class size is great- not too big, not too small (I think 18 kids). He is only attending half day kindergarten- so he is done by noon each day- which I think is making it an easier transition for me. :)

Silas- all prepped and ready for surgery.

First Day of Kindergarten

Eliana is FULLY POTTY TRAINED. It happened in June- and we are so proud of her! She really needed to learn on her time table it seems. But now that she has it, she has it. Some days, a little too well. Last week I told her she needed to go to bathroom before she went to swimming lessons (so it was about 4:30PM). Her response? "Mom! I already went today!" Yep, she had been to the bathroom one time all day- and thought it was ridiculous that I would ask her to go again. :) She can hardly contain her excitement for her baby sister to be born. And asks just about every day when she will be coming. :)

Eliana at swimming lessons

Levi just turned 18 months old and has just started making some improvements in walking last week. Up until this point, he has showed really no interest in walking. He was just last week evaluated to see if he needed physical therapy (which they said he did). And now he is starting to get brave and take 3 or 4 steps here and there. And Saturday? He fell out of an arm chair in our living room. After much crying, I took him to urgent care. They did x-rays and found that his bone had a buckle fracture. In babies, it's very uncommon for bones to actually break because they are still softer. So his little arm is now splinted- and will be put into a cast on Wednesday. In the meantime, crawling is basically impossible because he can't put any weight on his wrist without crying. So he has started to walk even more. The only problem is that the walking is so new that sometimes it leads to falling- and falling on his hurt little wrist. :( On the plus side, he now has a good little weapon to defend himself against Eliana and Silas, who are less then thrilled when he hits them with his splinted arm. :)

Levi with his little splinted arm after leaving Urgent Care.

I am almost 30 weeks pregnant now- and feeling pretty good. A Walmart employee told me I looked "HUGE!!!" Yes, as you can imagine I was slightly less then thrilled, especially because I am not huge! :) I am actually measuring a little small right now, possibly because the baby is still breech. We have another ultrasound in 2 weeks and are hoping the baby will NOT be breech so that we can confirm it is a GIRL! Right now the baby is very active- which I am thankful for this pregnancy more then ever.

And possibly the MOST EXCITING news in our life right now is that Luke has a new job. Seriously. So exciting- so thankful. Luke started his new job this past week at Woodmen Valley Chapel as the Tech Director. Woodmen is the church I have been attending for Bible Study for the past 2 years, so I am already somewhat connected there and some of our best friends attend there too. It's a church we are excited about attending as a family. They have a children's ministry that we feel good about putting our kids in; we trust that they will be cared for, loved, safe, and taught about Jesus. It's closer to our house (thus cutting our gas bill in half each month- which will be a great savings!). It will better provide for our family financially and the benefits are great. We finally have health benefits for our whole family! We are so thankful to see how God provided this opportunity in His time; it was definitely a God thing and not something we can claim any part of orchestrating. My parents were over for dinner a few nights ago and my dad commented to Luke about how he just looked happy. Happier and more relaxed then he has looked in a long time. And that is how he feels. We feel like God has brought us to a great place and we are so excited to see what He has planned.