We spent last week at the beach with Aunt Jaime, Uncle David and Cousin Hunter. I didn't get many pictures, but am hoping that David and Jaime will send me some. I know they got some great ones.

The boys got along famously and helped us decide that this should be an annual event. Linden is going to have her hands full chasing those boys around next summer. We all had a great time!

Here are the boys with their popcorn at the Friday night Boardwalk Bash. They are serious about popcorn.

We planted some herbs in the windowbox (they died, but don't tell Eli).

The new house has a big clawfoot tub in the hall bath. Eli loves his new bathtub!

We visited Pilot Mountain and Linden got to meet Great Grandma Reeves!

One of the things I worried about when we found out that the new baby was a girl was whether or not the two would get along. My own brother and I weren't very close growing up (thankfully, he's turned out to be a stand-up kinda guy) and I hated the thought that my kids would have a tempestuous relationship, too. Now, I know there are still many years ahead of us, the teen years of special note, but as of yet, the two get along famously. Linden is a source of neverending delight to Eli (he calls her "my baby") and the reverse is true, too, as she smiles when she hears his voice and she loves to watch him play. You can almost see the little wheels in her head turning when she is watching him, trying to figure out how to do each thing that he does.

Eli has been acting larger-than-life recently, and with all the changes, it is no wonder he has been having a tough time. mostly, though, he is a trooper, and when he acts out, he is usually expressing outwardly what the rest of us are feeling: tired, cranky, uprooted and confused. He is such a great kid, so enthusiastic about everything and so hilariously energetic. Linden has a lot to learn from her big brother (and, I admit, a few things, I'd prefer she not learn...).

I took these one morning when we were all lounging in bed.

In other news, Eli is turning out to be quite a little athlete. I wish I had some pictures, but he loves to play all kinds of sports. His current favorites are tennis and swimming, but he's also a huge fan of football, golf and baseball. There is a full-sized basketball goal (though we lowered it!) at the new house and Eli's favorite pastime in the afternoons is shooting hoops. Luckily for him, he has his father's coordination otherwise he'd be more suited to checkers.

Early this summer, Eli just decided one day that he wanted to swim and so he did. he still wears his swim vest in the pool, but he can motor around on his own while he's wearing it. We've practiced a little bit of swimming without it. He can do it for short periods of time, but he loses confidence quickly. No fear, there's another month of summer and a whole lifetime ahead for more swimming!

As I mentioned, Linden's a peach. She is what I have heard referred to as an "easy" baby. We have no experience with such so this is a delightful surprise! She is the spittin' image of her daddy, especially when she furrows her brow. She is a spitter, like her brother was, so I am changing clothes several times a day, oh joy, oh rapture. But otherwise, she's about as perfect as a baby gets.

I want to back waaaay up, pre-Linden. I found a bunch of sweet pictures of Eli on a camera that hadn't yet been downloaded.



With an attitude like this, my money is on Eli over the rhinoceros in a one-on-one.



We bought Eli a little baby doll to practice being gentle before Linden was born. He did a great job and really likes to dress and feed her. As we've recently been getting Linden used to a bottle, he has gotten his baby's bottle out and is practicing for when he gets a turn with Linden. He is a great big brother. She is a lucky little girl!


Early in the summer, we hosted a family of robins on our (old) front porch. They were in the perfect spot to watch out the window without having to go outside and bother them. We watched Mama Robin feed the three babies and watched the babies leave the nest, one by one.




Poor Eli is cursed with hair like mine, very fine and straight. So when it goes crazy after a bath, it is reason to celebrate! Although I did just notice that his hair looks just like the birds' nest, above.

It has been a phenomenal summer. I mean that, this is one of the best summers of my life, despite the chaos.

Linden is an amazing baby, so lovely, so quiet. She's a good sleeper and has been from the start (my posting this will guarantee me three sleepless nights in a row, of course, but whatever...), which helps the attitude of the whole household. She has an incredible smile that lights up a room and she uses it liberally, much to her advantage. And did I mention she is deliciously fat? Yum!

Our new house is beautiful, twice the square footage of the old one. It is an old center-hall Craftsman with room for everyone and our stuff. I love the big kitchen and the DUAL VANITIES and the huge wraparound front porch with its swing. We're still working on where everything goes, but the chaos is being driven out, little by little. A brief shout-out to Kevin goes here: he moved our entire household by himself in a week. One day my brother helped him with the heavy furniture, and thus Arthur gets a big old THANK YOU!! But otherwise, Kevin did it solo with nary a complaint. A good man, that one is!

Now for some pictures...

This has been another long post outage. I know I always use this excuse, but really, we've been busy. There's a new baby in the house, in case you hadn't heard, and a new house over the baby, too. Somewhere in the move, we had internet issues, lost the connection cord for the cameras (and found it, thank heavens), took a vacation to the beach all while also trying to keep life and limb together. so I'm going to spend the next few posts updating all y'all on what's been up in Casa YoSim.