Our plan was strawberries.  Big, juicy, organic, local strawberries.  Our reality – strawberry season ended last week!  So we walked around and identified different plants that produced some of their other produce – raspberries, snap peas, green beans, green onion and yes some outlying strawberry stragglers.  All in all it was a pretty fantastic day until I hear a little voice next to me “Mommy, I have to go potty!”  Now that’s a whole other story…

thanks fr the title Leah you rock!

is there anything cooler than watching your child discover something new!?! We played dress-up this am and it was hil-ar-ious as the kids took on new roles! I watched as Noah thought out who he wanted to be and then put it into action! Loved it!!

when we found out we were pregnant with Noah and got over the initial shock of the miracle that is our little man, I started to check out nurseries for ideas on what to do for our baby room.  I kept coming back to trees.  I love the growth, the element of nature, the comfort and security of a fully grown canopy… anyways, jaythan and I poured over ideas and finally found one in DIY we loved.

I’m so excited we’ve come into some breathing room to latch back onto this central theme and with a few minor tweaks to add some Ima element, we’ve finally started painting our new version nursery!   I can’t wait to share with you!!  Here’s Noah’s old room to hold you till we get this new one done!

It was an awesomely perfect day for a party as we played in the sun.  Scott chased elliott and Noah around the playground forever, rob made quincy laugh so hard he couldn’t talk, and ima made a new friend in Eli.  Thanks for the good times today friends!

This past week we were afforded the opportunity to housesit for our 500sqft partner jyll.  I leapt at her offer as we were sooo struggling to get our ac online and team elam was starting to show some serious wear after 3 weeks of HEAT.  We watched her 3 kitties – with emily in tow – and were delighted to be cool, completely entertained with the cat/dog show, and totally pretended to be in a new city as we explored the wacky world on the east side!

We ventured up to sassy cow creamery with leah and fam and had a picnic lunch amidst all the excitement surrounding the farm.

Molly threw a birthday party for her toy story loving 2 year old Luca.  It’s so great to get the kids out and let them discover each other and the world around them  - as well as relax with my baby-mamas.  Our lives are so much more hectic now that we’ve had more babies and started to connect back to our pre-baby selves.  While I still see them every week or so, our paths have begun to separate back making these dates so much more sacred!

That being said, i was a little nostalgic watching all our babies…  It is truly magical having kids as everything else just stops while you acclimate and change!  Your struggle and growth, elation and exhaustion all feed into this awesome life changing thing.  I am so thankful we’ve recorded these moments and discoveries as I can scroll through and watch our little ones grow into people.  I’m awed as these woman have helped shape my little ones, but most especially me, to be better!!  Now as I look at Ima trying to navigate through her frustrations – walking, climbing, talking –  and listen as Noah strategizes his argument for “5 more minutes before bed”  I’m blown away at how far we’ve come!

I’ve attached all of our additional photos to our flickr account and made it SUPER easy to get there as you just need to click ANYWHERE in the text!! Lemme know if you have problems or questions and as always LOVE THE COMMENTS

There were so many moments from this trip!  Thank you jas and em for sharing yourselves with us – i’ll send you money for the blinds;) Thank you to my uncle and aunt for hosting and opening your lives to the chaos of our entire elam-davenport -and hopefully next time-anderson clan!  you have a truly beautiful and tranquil home that is a perfect backdrop for the trash-talking, baby crying, celebration that is our davenport games. Thank you Mary Katharine! as you not only reminded me of my CPR training, but captured such memories with your camera and talent!  You have done such an amazing job of embracing and sharing our spirit!  Check out our other moments!