Baby Days

We're falling more and more in love with our baby boy every day. It's so exciting to start experiencing his reactions to us: making eye contact and smiling more. This week we took lots of pictures of him awake and noticing the world around him. Happy 2 month birthday, Michael!

Thanks to Phil and Nim for Michael's new shirt to match his Daddy's!

We made our weekly Saturday morning visit to the Farmer's Market, this week with Meg, Danielle, Beth,

and Kyle.

We've been trying to capture Michael smiling on video, so here are some attempts so far.

Family Summer Vacation

Well, I am heartbroken to report that our family vacation is over for the year. Although we usually convene in Hilton Head, SC, this year we met up in Normal since traveling with Michael is still hard, and he's really still too young for the beach. But we managed to have a lot of fun in Illinois at outdoor plays (Grease!), eating out, visiting the Bloomington Farmer's Market, playing games at coffee shops, shopping, celebrating Dad's birthday, and picnicing at Evergreen Lake. I'm so sad it's over! How many times this weekend have I wished that we lived closer to our families?!

I leave you this week with a brief video of JD's baby-calming techniques.

Fourth of July

John David and I took the huge risk and drove Michael to Atlanta this past weekend. At five-and-a-half weeks, Michael is still very unpredicatable, so we didn't know how the trip would go. But it was fantastic! Michael was his angel-self in the car, and once we got to Atlanta, he was loved by so many hands that he didn't have time to be upset. We had so much fun visiting our families, celebrating our 4-year wedding anniversary, and enjoying the fourth of July. Neither of us wanted to leave so soon. The trip was full of firsts for Michael as well. Firsts such as:

his first road trip

his first hotel stay

his first cook-out

his first visit with Aunt Lindsey

Uncle Stephen

and Uncle Michael

his first man conversation about electronics


his first family portrait


and, of course, his first forth of July and fireworks show!

It was a great trip, and it makes me so happy that we were able to travel with Michael. Plus, Michael got to see his first mountain, cross his first state line, and visit his grandparents' houses for the first time.