Morning

Eva one morning, waking up. Oh my goodness, how I love this child.

Happy Birthday To EVA!!! She's 1!!!

Yeah!!! She's 1!!! (about two weeks ago)

New favorite tricks include, but are not limited to:
blowing kisses
rolling and rolling - as in patty cake patty cake
signing milk, more, and thank you
sharing all her food with Mama
trying to do the eentsy weensy spider
saying "moo" - well, trying to say "moo"
stealing the heart of every seeing, feeling, breathing soul she meets.

Tricks she wishes she had up her sleeve:
the ability to eat raw carrots
the ability to get down from all the places she gets up to!

Her she is - the birthday girl.

Are all parents so proud!?

I've heard many other moms talk about a time in their baby's development when it seems they are doing something new and exciting, well, constantly - or so it seems from the way they talk. Well, there have been times "like" that for Eva in the past, kinda.... But this last week, hold the phone, or you socks... or whatever it is you are supposed to hold when there is breaking news. So you ask, what new things can Eva do. Well to start, she CRAWLS!!! This long awaited feat of strength and coordination is finally Eva's. She loves it, so much that usually a crawl of any length begins and ends with a head stand - that is her version of down-ward facing dog, with top of the head on the ground, of course! She still lacks direction - she'll start off toward me and then get distracted and turn back and then get distracted and lay down and then get distracted and roll over.... I fear this may be a life long trait. Oh well - she crawls and that makes her happy and THAT makes me happy. We are so proud!















Second, Eva loves a cup. Not a sippy cup. Oh no. Give her a real, regular cup, or give her.... mama - just NOT a bottle or a sippy cup. She's been drinking out of a cup for a while, so a few days ago I decided to try letting her hold the cup while she drank. I told her "both hands", so she took hold with both hands and drank better than ever. With all the control she not only gets more to drink, but more baths a day... what could be better!




































Third - Eva has finally discovered that she doesnt' HAVE to have a shirt on if she doesn't want to. Too bad she discovered this just in time for a Montana winter! Don't you just love that budda belly!















Fourth - yes, there is a fourth... Drum roll please.... Eva now goes to bed all by herself!!! And she sleeps through the night. Thanks to Weston, some divine inspiration, and a bit of perspiration on my part, she not only falls asleep on her own in a matter of minutes each night, but she will do it for Weston!! That means I don't even have to be there and she can still do it! She also stays asleep ( for months she's been waking up about 1/2 hour after she goes down to nurse again and some times again and again.... ). And, perhaps best of all, most nights she sleeps through the night for a total of about 12 hours. This means I actually do get some free time in the evenings and SHE gets a good night sleep as well. What could be better!?

Well, busy week eh. I wonder what will happen next week. Walking, rock climbing, piano playing, calculus.... who knows!!!

Brown Oat Bread

A while back Lindsey called me and asked for my oat bread recipe. Unfortunately I wasn't home when she called and then she wasn't home when I called, so the recipe has never been given. So now I am going to give it to you all and I hope Lindsey will find it. Enjoy.

Brown Oat Bread - makes 4 medium sized loaves

5 Cups very warm water
1 Tbl sugar
2 1/2 Tbl yeast
4 Cups oats

-Mix all these together in a big bread bowl.
-Then add the following.

1/2 Cup honey
2/3 Cup applesauce
4 tsp almond extract
2 Tbl salt
4 Cups whole wheat flour

-Mix well and enjoy the aroma of the almond extract... yummmm
-Next work in ~7 - 8 Cups of bread flour. This can all be done in the big bowl, working the last bit in with your hands. The dough should come away from the sides, but will still be quite sticky. Once you've worked it in, you are good to go. No need to kneed... :)
-Let the dough rise for 1-2 hours, but no longer. If you get busy and forget it, it will taste yeasty.
-Punch it down and form into loaves. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and let the loaves rise for 1/2 hr.
-Bake for 35 min til the tops are a nice darkish golden brown color.
-Remove from the bread tins and let cool on a cookie rack.

This really is my favorite everyday sandwich and toast bread. It is so easy, so quick, and sooo tasty. It will make your parents and grandparents proud.

Tips 1- don't be tempted to leave out the almond extract 2- feel free to substitute sour cream or whole fat cottage cheese for half of the applesauce. 3-if you don't have a lot of honey on hand, use 2/3 C brown sugar.

New Do

So I did up Eva's hair the other day, but she looked so much like a toddler with her cute little pigtails, I haven't done it again since. She's just a baby for crying out loud!!! But so adorable, I had to post a few of the picts. She was certainly in fine form that day.

Life

Proportion

It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night;
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures, life may perfect be.

- Ben Johnsong

Posting

By now, any of you out there who actually check my blog every so often know that I am a terrible blogger. What I can't figure out is how you all find the time to write such clever narratives, take such wonderful pictures, edit them, and make that post. So far, all I have found time to do is take pictures, wonderful or not. As for clever narratives and even sub par posting skills, well, you can look at my track record to decide for yourself. But since I do wish I were able to keep in better touch with so many of you, here is a summary of my summer. Thank you for all your summer blog posts that help me keep abreast of your comings and goings.

Since June 20th, when I posted last, we have been to a family wedding.
















Weston's folks visited and he and his Dad tore apart and reframed the downstairs bath.






















Then we went to Glacier (a park called North America's crown jewel for GOOD reason!)















and saw two bears....
















No, not these two. I mean real ones. Sorry, no picture verification on these two.


Eva went swimming for her first time. She didn't sleep while in the pool, just on the way there...
















I headed up the ward pioneer day celebration.
















Helen came up to visit, camp, fish, and weed my garden (well, that's what she ended up doing, whether or not it was her intention... it sure was helpful. THANK YOU!!!). And yes, we saw another bear, this time with photo verification. We actually had to find a new campground because of this here persisitant fellow.





























This is Helen 14 incher, caught after only a few minutes on the river.

















We went to a family reunion in Cody, WY. All told there were 30 of us there, with 8 missing. That makes my immediate family 38 people big. Mom and Dad, 7 kids, 7 spouses, 17 grand kids, 3 spouses of grand kids, and 2 great grand kids. We sure did have a good time!






























just a few of the grandkids.......





Now we are taking a breather before one more visitor set to get here this Tuesday and not least of all, before Weston begins to tear out the kitchen - also during this coming week.

Ah, summer is too short, but bless it despite its shortness. How I love these long summer days. Maybe here in Montana that is how the summer makes up for the shortness of season, with days that last and last and almost run into each other. I love them.

Favorites

Folks tell me it's not right to play favorites, but nobody, apparently, told Eva that yet. She certainly has favorites.

Her #1 favorite is the dog.



2nd is ......


No, it's not sleep.



It's cantaloupe! I cut some up for her today - just the right size for her chewing abilities, but too small for her little chubby fingers to get easily into her mouth.


She's a quick, problem solving kinda gal and this is what she came up with. I know other babies before her have also perfected this technique, but I can't help being proud.


You know what else I love about this little gal? She gets bored inside, especially if the dog is outside. She'll complain until I take a blanket out and set up camp in the back yard, with the dog of course. I love that she loves the dog and the cats. I love that she loves to play in cold creeks, the kind that run in the back pasture. She's not afraid of the water or the cold or the mud. In fact, she seems to love them all. I love that she loves all things new, and most things are. What can I say. I'm hooked!



Aren't you?

New Highchair

It took about a month and a half of sneaking baby food into Eva's mouth before she decided she liked it. After about a month of trying on my part, and gagging on Eva's part, I was beginning to get concerned. I called my Mom. She assured me Eva would not go to college still nursing. Eventually she would get the hang of this solid food thing... if you can call baby food solid. So we kept trying and then one day, all of the sudden, she figured it out, and now she eats that baby food like a pro. She makes so many faces while she's eating it is hard to tell if she likes it or not, but I take the recurring open mouth to mean she's giving it a thumbs up. When she is done, she still opens her mouth, but instead of swallowing, she tries to blow bubbles in it. Still, she is so adorable, she makes even this cute. Here's our little cutie munching away on some pears in her munchkin mesh bag sitting in her brand new highchair.





Oh, I'm such a proud mom!

Choteau The Incorrigible

Choteau (pronounced show-toe) is our pup.

And maybe instead of getting mad at him, I should have taken a picture of him standing, all four legs, on our KITCHEN TABLE!!

... but since I didn't, take a picture that is, you'll just have to try to imagine it. Here is a picture of the mischievous pup to help encourage an accurate visualization.

Silly, very bad, goofy pup!

He cries currently from his crate... "what did I do??.... what did I do???" He acts so innocent!

Grandma Dot and Grandpa Jim

This last week my parents, Grandma Dot and Grandpa Jim, made the long trek up here to Montana to see our new home and little Eva. I suppose they came to see us too, though we are really that exciting! You know, there is something special about grandparents. Somehow little ones just know who loves them. Eva gave Grandpa a kiss right off and smiles all round for Grandma. It was wonderful for me to have them visit also. We spent most of one day painting our bookshelves (when they are all done I'll post a picture) and the next day we went for a long walk by the river. Grandma made a new sweater for Eva, which she looks cute as a bug in. What a wonderful gift. And we recorded Grandpa singing to Eva on tape - that will be a treasure too. So thank you, Mom and Dad, for coming up. We sure do love you.