Nelda musings...: July 2015

Friday, July 3, 2015

Grace you are 13 months old today

My little baby girl is now 13 months. She is growing up so fast and doesn't seem like the baby she once was. Sniff sniff. Good thing I have another one on the way. Four more weeks until we find out the gender. So here's what's new with Gracie Lu.

She doesn't just take steps now, she fully walks. I have the hardest time getting it on video but she does.
She is a laugh-er and chatter
She loves to "sing" along with me when I sing
She is a smiler
She loves to dance and bop around
She says Mama, Dada, and "nana" for banana and nods her head vigorously when I bring over a food she might like
She cuddles us in the morning now when she wakes up and Paul and I just LOVE that. She is becoming a cuddler
Still not much interest in books
She adores Lizzie and likes rough-housing with Moses
She fits right in to our family and we are so grateful for her!

It was terrible, it was wonderful, it was epic and it was totally worth it!!

So today is Friday, July 3 and we went on an incredible (for us) four mile round trip hike to a lovely place in Sundance called Stewart Falls. We've wanted to go hiking there for quite a while but Paul had a day off today and he (bless him) was as excited as I was to get out there early with the kids and get out into nature. It was fabulous!! We went through so many different areas of nature. There were lovely grassy areas with ferns and rockier areas with gorgeous views and then, finally, we made it to the waterfall where we (along with many other visitors) were blessed with nature's air conditioning (waterfalls and water spraying gently on us cooling us from the very hot sun).

Oh the hike itself was hard, especially on the way home. I started off by carrying Grace (and the baby in my belly - four months now) in a carrying pack and then Lizzie (that trouper!!) walked the whole way and only fell once and whined very little. Then Paul carried Moses for a lot of the time. We were so relieved when we finally arrived at the waterfall and ate all of our snacks but wow the trek back was really hard at first. That's when I kept thinking. This is nutso, Nelda. Halfway back, we traded kids. I carried a fussy Moses cause his naptime came up and Paul carried Grace and it was still quite hard. Paul had a bunch of water in his camelback but a lot of it leaked on the way and so we had just enough water to carry us all through. Oof! Would I do it again? Most certainly, but maybe when the kids are older, or get a sitter for the younger ones, or just me and Paul on a date.

I was telling Paul that I think my favorite part of it was the mindfulness of it all. I felt very alive and completely in the moment. No thinking about past or future at all. That's something I've been trying to work on but that has been tricky because I tend toward, type-A, I gotta do a list, stuff. But this was so good me to just completely be there. And I was thrilled that Paul was so on board with it as I was. It would be so tough to have a husband who just wanted to stay at home in the cool air and watch TV or football or do something lazy. I am so grateful for Paul's energy and joy for life. He is such a good friend and partner and we are really on the same page when it comes to activities and having fun (which might be my love language, haha). The other day, I read on IG that food is a lady's love language. That made me laugh. Maybe for me fun, then. Well, here are some pics to make your day. It sure made mine and I hope the kids remember it a bit. I love my family.