We have a winner!

It literally took me about 5 minutes to notice her there, because the whole time I was looking she just laid there quietly watching Elmo as I checked in all the other rooms! And for those of you who guessed between the couches, she does indeed hide there as well, but she's always so pleased with herself that she laughs and comes out grinning as soon as I call her.

Find the baby: Part II

Mike's going crazy because I won't tell him where Alexa was in that first picture, so here's the second of the series. Any new guesses?

Find the baby

Alexa and I were putting her clothes away (as in, I was putting them on the shelves a little faster than she was taking them off) when she heard Elmo's World come on and went in the family room to watch. When I finished re-putting the clothes away, this is what I came out to. Can you find the baby?

Book Review: The Dragons of Chiril

The Dragons of Chiril, by Donita K. Paul, is the story of a young girl, Tipper, who is left to take care of a failing household when her father mysteriously disappears. Her mother, though loving and kind, is quite eccentric and seems to think that the missing man is still around. Eventually Tipper finds out that her father is visiting her mother, but only sporadically because his body is trapped between two places, and Tipper unknowingly broke the gate when selling sculptures to pay for household costs. She, along with an unlikely group of friends must journey to reclaim these missing statues to save her father, and the world.

I really enjoyed the book, the only complaint I have is that although it takes place in a different world, there is little to no explanation of the different creatures and hierarchies and countries. The ending is also rather abrupt in my opinion, but I found out that this is the first of a series, and is also a follow up of another series Paul wrote. I assume that she expected people to read the other series first, and that everything that I didn't know about the world is explained in that first series. I liked the characters and storyline, and am eager to see how it continues to develop in the rest of the series!

*I recieved this book for free from the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Keeeck

I may just sign Alexa up for soccer next fall just because it would be so funny to hear her announce "keeck" every time she kicks the ball. Skip to about the middle, that's when you can really hear it. She doesn't really say it either, she squeaks it. Just makes it funnier in my opinion!

Our first 4th

This year we enjoyed our first family fourth of July. Since we've been married, I don't think I've seen Mike on the fourth for more than maybe 10 hours total (as in, out of all 3 24 hour periods, I saw him for maybe 10 of those) because he was required to work from before the parade/run in the morning, til long after the fireworks ended and stadium of fire emptied out. Needless to say, it was really nice not to have to do that again this year! Anyways, we went to Todd and Alli's house and had a lot of fun. We went to a parade (with no marching band, does anyone else find that odd?), had a cook out, hung out and played games, then watched fireworks. It was a nice, relaxing, although long day.

Alexa surprised Mike and me when she grabbed my cup and started drinking out of it-without spilling.
Mike and I brought desserts for the cookout, and Mike wanted to contribute this time, so he decided to make a patriotic version of his favorite dessert, trifle. It turned out beautifully, and was a big hit. Mike took the picture, and I didn't notice until I uploaded them on the computer the next day that I should've turned the bowl around for him.

I made a cake (and back up cupcakes in case the cake failed-but that's a whole other story).

I was pretty proud of myself. Mike deserves a big thanks for not letting me throw it out when I was having issues. Word to the wise- do not attempt unless you either have a cake leveler or you are amazingly good at leveling them by hand.

These pics are from later Sunday when we were prepping the desserts. Alexa hasn't been a big fan of sitting on Mike's shoulders, so she never really has before, but she has recently decided that if someone is in the kitchen, they must hold her. It makes dinner prep every night bundles of fun. Mike's solution this time was to stick her on her shoulders, and I thought it was hilarious how she laid on his head because she was scared to sit up.

Eventually she sat up a little...

Official Nursery Sunday

Today was Alexa's official first day going to nursery! I can't believe how big she is! I decided I needed a picture to document the big day, and this was all I could get, clearly she was ready to go!
It's so fun to see her personality grow! As well as everything else. Lately she has started to say some more words, and it's been clear for months that she's understood pretty much everything we say. She's such a cheese, she's got the head tilt and smile pose down:

And thinks it's hilarious to wear things in odd ways, such as headbands over her eyes:

and her new favorite, pants on her head:

And even though she doesn't talk a whole lot, she has ways of subtly hinting at what she wants to do!

We're slowly getting moved in and making this new place feel like home, and thankfully we're all becoming heavier sleepers thanks to our upstairs neighbors!