the first two weeks of July in pictures

Okay - here is a quick Alle update for all you dying for one:)  Alle is doing so incredibly well!  She is the perfect baby, very attached to mommy, loves giggling at her brothers and sister, sleeps 12 hours a night with 2 naps during the day (don't hate me:), loves food (not the bottle so much, but we are working on that).  She is so very active, and now that she is more secure in our house and with us - she never stops moving!  She can army crawl with the best - and just started pulling up on everything in sight.  She actually lets me put her down for about 10 minutes at a time - usually only if I am right next to her, but this is a huge improvement from two weeks ago!  We have been home 3 weeks and one day, but it seems like she has been a part of our family forever.  I must say - my three older monkeys constantly amaze me with the love that they have for their new sister.  Even with all the time that she spends with me, and how much I know that are craving mommy time, they just adore her!  Thousands of kisses a day, always fighting over who gets to hold her, always bringing her a toy or making a silly face because they want to see her smile.  and they think that everything she does is earth shattering - especially as she starts to become more comfortable with them.  For instance - we were in the car last week going to the doctor's office (literally a 4 minute drive).  Alle did not cry going into her car seat and she laughed and played with them the whole way there (again, a 4 minute drive, but we take what we can around here!).  When we got there, you would have thought that they had just seen a star wars creature - they were jumping up and down, clapping and yelling "she did not cry" "I think that she likes us".  Oh, my heart is full.  Also, for those of you wondering, I am feeling much better this week then last - post adoption blues are no fun, but with some good friends as sounding boards, and a lot of love and support from family and friends, I am almost feeling like myself most days! okay, on to the rest of the post:)

 Wow - I have to say it - blogging has definitely gotten harder with 4 kiddos in the house!  it only ever gets done at night, and to be honest, most nights I choose sleep over blogging:).  So here are a bunch of random pictures from the beginning of July:  We started the month by driving down to Richmond to celebrate my nephew Oliver's 2nd birthday at my parents' house.  We loved spending time with Matthew, Gina and Oliver, especially at King's Dominion!  Then we drove back to NY, and this weekend celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary with a walk over the Hudson River.  Today rounded out the weekend with pics before church, and a good water fight afterwards!!!    Enjoy!