Saturday Nights

All of you Portlanders reading this might wonder what we do for fun down here in the 'Burg. Well, to be honest, our options are pretty limited. No Blazers or Timbers games. Very few shows, concerts, or festivals. The restaurant selection is very limited and we never "go out" to bars, as they are quite depressing down here in Douglas County. We try to save movie nights and board games for the 8 months a year when the weather is terrrible, so you might be wondering what we do during summer nights. Well, we hang out outside. A lot. BBQ's and evening walks dominate our agenda, and more recently a fun ATV outing at a family friend's mountain. (Yes, down here people can own mountains.) Here are some pics from our friend's own personal campground, lake and viewpoint at Nickel Mountain, the largest nickel producing mountain in the entire country! (Little fun fact of the day there for ya...)

 My little girl and I

 Grammy Kathy and Miss Madeline

 Jack was in HEAVEN with the lake

 Jonas and his daddy

 Yes, his shirt says "gangsta" on it and is referring to Roseburg. A college football teammate from inner-city LA made this for him. Awesome, I know.

 Time for a sunset ride to the top of Nickel Mountain

 My crazy driver! 

 Windy and cold at the top, but so worth it for the view! 

 Joe is really good at self-portraits 

 There... that's better!

 So pretty 

Love this one :)

Weekend Visits

In the last month we have had the chance to visit with some of our favorite people, both to the north and to the south. Early in June, I went up to Portland and squeezed in time with all of my favorite ladies. My wonderful hostess and I got to spend the whole weekend together, and we had so much fun just hanging out, walking around Portland, and of course squeezing in a few baby-related activities. (Love those baby legs, thanks Auntie Nicole!) To recap the weekend, on Friday we met Merissa and Mo for lunch and walked around the pearl afterwards. Saturday I helped one of my oldest friends, Jessie, at her studio's annual dance recital. To wrap things up, on Sunday I celebrated the graduation of a fellow teacher and great friend as well. I LOVE my visits to Portland and am always sad to leave, but I was excited to return home to my man who couldn't make the trip up do to work (boo).

Auntie Nicole makes me smile big!

I can blow bubbles now

Baby legs project

Good thing my auntie can sew since my mama can't!

Nicole, Baby Simmons (in belly), Maddie and I :)

The following weekend we went down to Central Point to visit Jessie, Lukie and Wyatt. We were looking forward to one last visit before they became a family of four, but were delighted by the serendipitous timing as Jessie went into labor just as we arrived! The next morning Jessie gave Luke the best father's day gift a guy could ask for- a beautiful baby girl. While Jessie and Luke were at the hospital with Rowan, Joe and I had a practice round as our own little family of four while watching Wyatt. He is so much fun but a HUGE ball of energy! And although we are looking forward to having more kiddos one day, we decided we'll stick with one for at least a little while longer :) Congrats to the Newton-Neal family on the addition of beautiful baby Rowan!

I love Aunt Janelle because she feeds me bacon 

Sooo happy :)

Jack made a new best friend

Haha... not quite bacon there buddy

Uncle Joe makes a great jungle gym

Having fun

Ha! Love Joe's expressions in these

 Beautiful day for a walk with our "kids"

 Proud papa Luke with Rowan

 Joe and his little niece

 She already has eyelashes and eyebrows, so pretty

 Smitten

 First family pic

 Daddy and his little boy

 Mama and her little girl... good work Jessie!

Maddie's 2nd month

Wow, time sure is flying by! Our little girl is already 2 months old and changing so much every day. She now not only smiles, she can hold up her own head, "talks" to us, and is getting HUGE. She weighed in at 12 lbs. 7 oz. (90 percentile) and measured 24 inches in length (95 percentile) at her 2 month appointment.  The doc said she is "socially gifted" because she talks so much and she has even rolled over once already! (Although, she hasn't done it since so I think it was kind of a fluke.)

Needless to say, our little girl is growing up quickly and we are enjoying every bit of it. Still not getting a whole lot of sleep, but she is waking up only 2 times per night instead of 3-4, so I am hoping that trend continues. She loves to go on walks in the Baby Bjorn (facing out so she can look at things) and meeting people. It is so fun to introduce her to all of our family and friends, so if you haven't met her yet I hope you get to soon! Here are some of my favorite pics from month 2 with Maddie...

Family cuddle time before bed

 Love the hair ;)

 She loves to sleep with her arms above her head, so funny! 

 Bath time

Watch out for those fists, they'll get ya!

 Tre holding his little cousin

 Sinah LOVES her "Baby Madeline" time, so sweet

 Love my baby girl

 I sleep with my arm up just like daddy does :)

 All smiles

Double chin, ha! 

 Gnawing on her hand... we might have a thumb sucker soon

 So happy :)

 Looking mischevious

 Love 

 Flailing around 

 Fascinated with something... lint, perhaps?

Our chubby-cheeked 2 month old!