For You, Ryan

These pictures are for you, my amazing husband who I love and am so lucky to have. (FYI for everyone else, Ryan is at work right now.) Thank you for working so hard for us, on the job, around the house, and in our lives. I appreciate everything you do. Here is the quick daily update that you mentioned you liked getting now and then at work. I hope it makes you smile. Love You. xoxox

Swinging at the park with Anna and Landon this morning (not pictured)...

Just snuck in for a "real-time" pic...

The Gag Sequence

There's a first time for everything, and almost every time Josiah tries a new food, he does what we fondly call "The Gag Sequence." This was his first time trying plain yogurt and it produced a pretty good Gag Sequence that continued with every bite for about the first five minutes. As you can imagine, I was cracking up.

Phase 1: Recognition of Foreign Substance

Phase 2: Rigorous Head Shake with Grimace and Closed Eyes

Phase 3: Attempt to Gag Out the Offending Food

Phase 4: Sadly, The Taste is Still There

Phase 5: Bitter Resignation

Eventually he eats the new food with vigor. He's on to squash, peas, string beans, watermelon, banana, Super-Porridge, yams, applesauce...the list goes on. However, the most unique tasting foods all begin in the same way.

Here are a few quick photos to update the fam. Josiah just got his first tooth and is an aggressive army crawler. He is up rocking on his knees constantly and moves all around the room to grab whatever you don't want him to grab. Ryan and I really are having so much fun with him!

Yosemite Camping Trip

A quick skip ahead to our first Yosemite camping trip! We went with Avery and Katie, and their two kids, Selah (2 years) and Sebestian (6 months). Apparently they had heavy rainfalls this year in the valley, so there were an abundance of waterfalls everywhere. It was too early for tourist season, so we scored two beautiful, uncrowded days and bundled up for a chilly third one as we were leaving. We stayed in the housekeeping cabins and had the three kids, stacked in their pack-and-play cribs, one next to another each night. It was a beautiful thing, almost as amazing as the Great Yosemite Falls or Half Dome itself, to see two infants and a toddler deep asleep all night within three feet of one another. Next trip we have to get a picture.

Each morning we had a great breakfast and then enjoyed hiking and exploring the valley floor. I got to go on a couple of great runs early in the morning and was constantly in awe of the dramatic scenery. There was still snow capping the mountain tops and the vertical cliff faces plummeted down to meet the dark pines. The valley meadows were bright with fresh growth and the river was a clear, deep, green. I loved it so much that I insisted we make reservations to come back in September.

Our little family.

Yosemite Falls

Mirror Lake

Family Hike! (Avery and Katie, and crew, not pictured)

We borrowed a warm onesie for sleeping from my good friend. It saved us since it got down below 40 at night. We tried to emphasize that it was a very manly pink color.

(Does anyone know how to rotate pictures? Should I have done it before posting?)

Some guys just have the confidence to pull it off.