Lamb Family Campout

Oh my, this is an overdue blog. Sorry if you are one of those who has been waiting...patiently...

Last week, my last week of summer, Jim and I took Reagan and Scout on the "annual" Lamb Family Campout. We stayed at the traditional place, one campground lower than last year, at the bottom of Mt. Princeton. I think it

was the perfect place for us. I'm not sure how much everyone else enjoyed being right next to a stream that was abnormally high for the time of year, and therefore very loud, but it was perfect for Reagan. It was like having a bathroom fan (our saving grace during screaming fits) at our disposal in the middle of nature. I also enjoyed it, as living in Durango for 4 years turned me into quite a river rat. It felt like a little piece of another time.

Reagan got to spend quite a bit of (much enjoyed) time with her Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Lamb, and also her Great Aunt and Great Uncle Carol and Mike, and their kids, Claire and Katie, who were the flower girls in our wedding. Whew, that was a handful to type. Anyway, she seemed to really like being around the family. She was a little fussy on the first day, I think just because of the unfamiliarity of everything, but after that she seemed to take right to the camping thing. She slept in the tent with Jim, Scout, and me. And with the stream being right there, she slept like, well, a baby. She even slept through her early morning feeding, which I was shocked by.

In other news, I started work yesterday...sad. The teacher in me is so excited by the new school and seemingly excellent administration and the amount of support teachers are given. Also, because I should be getting my PROFESSIONAL teachers license in the mail any day now, something which I have been working for, on and off, for about 6 years now. The mom in me however, is somewhat depressed by leaving my baby with someone else. Katie (our nanny) is doing an AWESOME job with Reagan, and it makes me feel silly for ever worrying about them. She is a natural, and Reagan has a smile on her face that has nothing to do with me every time I come home. She's always happy to see me, but I know she's having fun with Katie. That makes it a little easier. Please pray for the photography business to flourish, so that next year I can afford to stay home with her. It is also reassuring to remember that I have no memories from before about 2 years of age...so I'm guessing she won't remember that I wasn't here with her.

Today I'll be adding a few more milestones to the list on the right. See if you can distinguish which ones are new, and which ones are too old to talk about!

Eyes, Feet and Lips

These are my favorite parts of my daughter. I don't know why, but they've been my favorite since the first time I was really able to study her.

It's been awhile since I've posted...I guess I've been trying to relish every last second I have with her before I go back to work. That, and I've been crazy busy, and there isn't much of an end in sight. It's good busy though. The kind of busy that makes money, so I can't complain too much.

I had my fist taste of being a working mom today. I had to go to a training with my department and Mom watched Reagan. I was able to get away at lunch and go visit her, and give her her 12:00pm bottle. I suppose I don't have to mention how much I hated every second of being away from her. Going back to work is going to be rough, but I suppose I knew that.

We are taking some time to go camping with Jim's family for a few days starting on Monday. Reagan's first camping trip! I'm so excited to get outside and away from everything for awhile. Jim's aunt, uncle, cousins, GRANDMA AND GRANDPA LAMB!!! will all be joining us for the trip. And of course, Julie and "non-uncle" Mikey. (hehehe) Rest assured there will be many pictures. We have a list about a mile long of everything we'd possibly need for Reagan while away from civilization...hopefully it all fits in Jim's Xterra...

Congrats to my cousin Ashley and her husband Josh! Emerson Marley was born on July 12th! Another (distant) cousin for Reagan!! (And me!)

Not Much

There isn't too much news to report...Jim and I both needed a vacation after his 5 day holiday vacation. We packed so much into those 5 days we've just been trying to lay a little low.



We took Reagan to the doctor this morning for a weight check. She weighs 13 pounds, 8.5 ounces. And, I'm proud to be able to post evidence today of her newest milestone! She is now able to put weight on her elbows to balance when she is on her tummy. I guess that's a big one...I'm sure she'll be rolling over soon. She is sooo strong! I got her a neat thing called a Bumbo Sitter. (It's the green thing in the picture.) It is supposed to help them learn to sit up on their own. She loves it, (but in small doses...it kind of wears her out) and I just think she looks so darned cute in it. I also added a picture so you can see how long her hair is getting.



My cousin Ashley went into labor last night/this morning. I'm SO excited for her. I just wish I could be there!

Here I thought I'd be doing a 3 line blog...so much for that!

All of the Fun; None of the Smell! (Our trip to the zoo)

WOW! What a day! Yesterday we met my brother Quentin, his wife Jody, all of their 5 kids, and my mom at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It was quite a bit to keep up with, considering there were 10 of us and 2 strollers. Brandon, the youngest of Quentin's kids, even got to demonstrate the usefulness of a kid-harness for a 20-month-old. I was a little disappointed that Reagan wasn't more in awe of the animals, but to her defense she is a little young. She did get to have her dad help her feed a giraffe, but shortly thereafter she was fussy. It was a bit much for her to take in all at once, I think. So, we spent the next 1.5 hours at the zoo with Reagan's stroller covered with her blanket so she wasn't so overwhelmed. After a little stroller rocking from Grandma Anita, she was fast asleep in her stroller.





We then ventured to McDonalds. It was Reagan's second trip there, and on both trips she was accompanied by her cousins. I told Jim it might not be a bad idea to convince her (for as long as possible) that McDonalds only opens when the Domsch's (her cousins) are in town to see her. It may save us many a Happy Meal.





After lunch, we had a short rest at home and then made our way to my parent's house for YET ANOTHER bbq. (2 down, one to go. Absolutely delicious, but SO not on the loose-the-baby-weight-plan.) There we were able to spend a lot of time on the back porch and watch the beautiful sunset. I envy the quiet that both Jim's and my parents have at their homes. It certainly makes me wish there was a bit more space between us and our neighbors. Maybe someday I'll have the red brick house with white columns on about an acre with just enough room for a greenhouse and a dog with a sense of freedom. Scout loves her yard, but I'm sure she'd love it even more if it were 6 times bigger. Anyway, I digress.





Just before dusk my parents started up their outdoor fire, and the kids (and grown-ups) all gathered around to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. It was a great opportunity for me to practice taking pictures in manual mode and I think I was able to get some good ones.





Jim and I decided that we would give ourselves a break today. Despite our messy house, we did the dishes, and pretty much napped and sat around today. It was nice to have a break. Katie, our nanny for the school year came to visit Reagan this afternoon. I had been really feeling bad about leaving Reagan to return to work, but seeing Reagan with Katie really put me at ease. She's extremely gentle and loving...not to mention patient. And, she's hoping to become a pediatric CNA within the next few months. She's going to come back on the weekends between now and when I go back so that she can get a sense of Reagan's schedule and what she likes and dislikes. I'm hoping the sense of ease will continue.





Tomorrow we will be meeting my friend Janella in Castle Rock for lunch, as she is off to teach English in China for 10 months. Then, we'll have our 3rd of 3 bbq's in what has shaped up to be a VERY busy 5 day weekend for us.

BOOM!!

As you all know, yesterday was the 4th of July! It was a very big day for Reagan, and for Jim and me. We had planned to go to the parade in Monument, as is tradition. But, after considering the big day that was ahead of us, we decided to sleep in a little and just head to Bill and Debbie's for the BBQ. My parents were able to come too, so we had some excellent steaks on the grill, and I think we all had about as much as we could to eat. We were able to come home after the BBQ for a quick rest; then it was off to the fireworks in Memorial Park. I was a little nervous about how Reagan would handle it.

So, we headed towards the park, met up with Julie and "Michael" (as he is called these days), and made the long walk to the park, where we found Bill and Debbie. We got there early enough to hear some of the symphony's music, which was sort of nice, but sort of uneccessary. The patriotic songs were great though, as always. Reagan got to eat dinner as the sun went down, thanks to dad. After eating, she took a nice little nap, right up until the cannons went off, at which point she was wide awake. So, despite my nervousness, I decided as long as she was awake I'd let her watch to see what was happening...and...she LOVED it! I'd imagine that so many bright lights and colors are quite a treat for new eyes. I tried to get a picture of us enjoying them together, but it's pretty dark. (The pictures are taken with my cell phone's camera, because I forgot my camera in our rush to leave the house.)

I got to tell her the story of Independence Day after all, and the day was great!

Today she got to check out CSU and CU with her cousin Ashlie, and us of course. We took Ashlie to see the campuses in hopes that she might consider some Colorado colleges. It would be great to have her here all the time.

Tomorrow is the zoo with her cousins (Quentin's kids)...hopefully the giraffes don't try to lick her to death...Scout might get jealous!

Today

I just took some pictures of Reagan this morning that I thought I'd post.
I haven't posted much in the last few days because about a week ago Reagan decided to stop sleeping through the night. She nearly reverted to her newborn ways, waking every 2-4 hours wanting to be fed. I decided that was a sign that it was time to start some rice milk. So, last night, Reagan got her first taste of semi-solid food! She didn't seem to notice a difference, except for the screaming that ensued from trying to use a fast-flow bottle nipple...she's not a fan. So once we switched back to the usual, she was pleased as punch, and much to my appeasement, slept through the night. She seems to be mostly back on her schedule, so hopefully that will go back to be "nothing to write home about".

I photographed a wedding with Dawn, Jim's and my wedding photographer on Saturday. It was exciting! I had a lot of fun, and I'm hoping that with time and experience I will get better and learn more.

(<--This picture makes me think of her Italian side..."Eh, be nice to me or I'll call up my uncle Guido! And believe me, you don't want the family involved!!" Maybe I've been watching too much Sopranos with Jim.) Tomorrow we are planning to go to Bill and Debbie's for a 4th of July BBQ. Then my family will be getting together on Friday for a trip to the zoo and an evening BBQ. The 4th is my favorite holiday. I told Reagan that when she's older I'll tell her why we celebrate it. I'm afraid too many people from my generation don't know, and therefore won't tell their kids (none of my friends of course). Poor girl, she'll be the one on the playground explaining why the fireworks aren't just because your family thought it'd be fun to get together and grill some meat. That's my vision of Reagan: Age 5. We'll see. Hopefully from today's pictures you'll be able to see what I mean about the strawberry-blondeness.

And, finally, a correction from my last blog. We got out Jim's baby/scrapbook and She's a spittin image. But then again, if she looks like Jim, she looks like Julie, and vice versa...as Julie pointed out. :)

Happy 4th everyone!

Growing and Changing

I think she looked like me the day she was born, and for a few short weeks after. But now, I think there is no mistaking...she's a Lamb. She's gone in shifts, back and forth, looking like me, looking like Jim, but now, I think she most closely resembles Julie. And every time someone new meets her, there's a comment about how they think her hair might be red. RED? Really? Yes...
I took some pictures today, and she looks like she has red(dish) hair. Jim denies it, saying no, she'll be blonde...and I don't disagree...but I think there will be a bit of strawberry to go along with that blonde.

But...whoever she looks like, I think today's shirt says it all.

I am the Lorax...

Two nights ago we had quite the thunderstorm. All the heat (it ended up being about 93 that day) brought a big thunderstorm. Some places got golf ball sized hail! I took the camera out and tried to get some pictures of lightning, but my timing was off. I did get some cool night pictures though.

That same night, Julie (Jim's sister) gave me some books she had bought for Reagan awhile ago. She gave us Green Eggs and Ham and The Lorax. Jim said that The Lorax used to be his favorite book, and that his mom would read it to them all the time. I didn't remember ever having read it, but once he sat down and started reading it to Reagan I remembered it. Dr. Seuss truly was a great writer. He always found such creative ways to teach kids good lessons in his books. Reagan liked hearing her Dad read, as it seemed to calm her right down!

I put an ad on Craigs List awhile back for cheap photography, just trying to see what would happen. I got two emails, both from gals getting married in October. It looks like it may work out, but I don't want to jinx myself. I'm very excited, but also a little nervous.

I went to my orientation for the new teaching job yeterday...and it's so amazing to me that God always seems to have a plan. It's easy to be irritated by the phrase "When God closes a door He always opens a window" when the one has closed and the other has yet to be opened. But it is SO true! I now have a whole slew of benefits that I didn't have before, for example, FREE health care, FREE life insurance, and FREE disability insurance. WOW! Not to mention a 10% pay raise, a pre-tax savings plan for childcare, and only being 3 credits away from a horizontal move on the pay scale. It won't ever be easy to leave Reagan for work in the morning, but these little perks will help. Things are certainly looking up.

PS: If you're reading this, and you like it, or even if you don't, why not leave a comment? It's easy to do, and you don't have to be a member of blogger to do it. Just click on the comments link at the bottom of this post. :) Thanks! It's lonely out here in "bloggerville".

Jogging Time...

The Baby Jogger has arrived! It's not nearly as heavy as I thought it would be. It also doesn't fold up quite like I thought it would, but we figured out a way to make it work. She's probably not supposed to ride in it until she can hold herself up straight, but I figured with the 180 or so receiving blankets I have lying around, we could make something work.

We went for our first family jog last night! Jim pushed...we squabbled a bit about who would get to push her. Jim thought we'd be pretty evenly matched if he were to push and I were to just run...sadly he still kicked my butt. I guess I need to give it some time.

I took pictures to document the event, but it was an afterthought. So, don't worry grandmas, we did not take the baby jogging in the evening with the bugs in just a onesie. She had a warm wearable blanket on over her onesie, and she stayed quite snug and bug-free.

Surprisingly, she was awake the ENTIRE TIME we were running. I thought she'd fall asleep for sure. She seems to be able to see quite a bit more, which keeps her awake quite a bit longer.

We got air conditioning installed on Saturday, and not a moment too soon; it's supposed to be 88 here today! We decided it was time, due to repeated days of the INDOOR temperature reaching as high as 84 degrees, and we had to start waking Reagan up to eat. You can tell by looking at the girl that eating is one of her favorite pastimes, so that was really unusual.

Bath Time!

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