The rhythm of summer.

We are finally hitting our stride this week.

Summer is here in full force: it has been over 88 degrees for most of the last week and a half. Add to that the incredible mugginess and you can tell just by looking at my frizzed out hair that it's July. I have been scampering around the house, pulling down shades, pulling curtains closed and turning up the thermostat so we don't end up with an out of control power bill.

We have started doing some of the fun things we wait all year to do: Dan brought the girls to the drive in movies for the first time (they saw the new Karate Kid, which got good reviews in our family, but Dan says he'll always be partial to the original), we've gone for ice cream, enjoyed tons of playdates, done some crafts, enjoyed some bluegrass music at our library summer concert series, and of course have swam. Wipeout is back on ABC for the summer, and we have set our DVR to record the whole series. The girls LOVE it.
The only issue we are having is getting the girls to bed at a decent hour. They drag out the getting ready for bed process so long that they often lose their reward: laying on our bed and reading aloud with me for a few minutes before heading into their own rooms. We are reading On the Banks of Plum Creek from the Little House Series, and I am so excited to read it to them but-and I am not making this up- it took them 45 minutes to get jammies on, get a snack, brush teeth and go to the bathroom. 45 MINUTES! It is like every night is a new experience for them:"Do I HAVE TO brush my teeth?" "But I went potty a little while ago!" "I have no pajamas to wear!" and so on and so on... the best is when on the rare occasion I say it is okay to skip brushing teeth and Jenna always whispers with shock and awe, "What will the dentist say?"
"He'll say that you should take the two minutes and brush your teeth so they are healthy," I always tell her.
Sigh. And so on and so on.

Alec is doing great, crawling around, occasionally pulling himself up, and working hard on popping out his first bottom teeth. He teeths much like his sisters, very easily, with little fuss and drama and crying. He has been sleeping through the night most nights now, which is an absolute joy and dream and makes me love him all the more. He goes to bed around 9pm and sleeps til around 6am, and then takes a morning bottle and falls back to sleep with me on the couch for an hour or two, allowing us to get some good cuddle time in. He is growing great and is in the 92nd percentile for height and 75th for weight. He is a love and a blessing and a joy.

As you can see from the pictures, we are mostly settled in and getting used to living in the new house. With every day that passes we are more comfortable here, hanging some more pictures, processing some more boxes and loving being here more and more. We can BREATHE in this house.

The last year of my life has been such a blur because of Alec's arrival and moving, I am beyond ready to sit back, relax and just float through the next couple of years.
For now, I am enjoying the summer and spending all this time with our babies.