Finding his voice

Cooper started "chatting" at about 6 weeks of age. He's also a lot more alert and is SO strong. He's holding his head up all by himself and likes to look all around. Here's a short video of him in his "play gym".

Welcome Cooper James Norris

Make a Smilebox greeting

Time alone together

A Tradition in the Making

Josh and I's Christmas gift to each other this year was time. We haven't gotten to be alone together (just the two of us) for longer than a date night since Danya was born almost 3 years ago. So, we acquired highly reputable sitters (thanks Nana Jewell and Papa Dave!), hotel reservations at the Grove Hotel in Boise, and ran away for the weekend. We enjoyed the view from the 12th floor of the Grove Hotel and loved getting to hang out downtown with no schedule. We ate wonderful food (Big City Coffee\Brickoven Beanery\Lock Stock and Barrel), slept in, talked and talked and talked and really connected like we haven't in quite a while. I really do love this man - God's given me a giftin him that keeps on giving! Here's some picturesfrom the weekend that we too with my new camera...we're still learning how to take good pictures with it, but it's so much fun to use.

Christmas morning tea

The girls got a new table and chairs set for Christmas, and when Shea went down for her morning nap, Danya asked if we could have a special tea party at her new table. This was the first of many tea parties that we've been having at this "Danya size" table.

The table is set.
Danya has the cookie in her sights.
Pour the tea...

ENJOY!

My first real sewing attempt for the girls!

Every morning, when I wake up, I put on my robe and have a cup of coffee. Many times this fall, Danya would wake up and ask me where HER robe was. This gave me the idea to make the girls matching robes as a Christmas gift. So, I went to the store and bought fuzzy pink fabric and a simple looking pattern. I then called my good friend Juanita and asked her to tutor me on sewing 101. I'd never made anything from a real pattern, so it was slow going, but the results were SO gratifying that I will definitely do it again. Here are the girls in their cozy robes. I tie Shea's in the back so that it stays on her. :)

They're my little housewives in training!!!

This is why we did this!

Sometimes, in the craziness and the busyness of my days with the girls, I wonder to myself "What were we thinking having them so close together?". And then, I get busy in the kitchen or doing laundry and wonder why they are being so quiet...what mischief could they be getting into??? I go looking and what do I find.....a perfect reminder of why we wanted them to be so close in age, and it really is quite worth the work!

A couple of videos

Yesterday morning I was reading and the girls both got up on the fireplace hearth with their books and read together. It was so cute. Later in the day, Shea went into Danya's room and got a baby doll and a bottle to feed her. Both of them are growing up so fast! Enjoy the vidoes.


Reading time...



"Baby"

1 year old!

We have a sweet friend who took these pictures of Shea in her home. She really captured how happy and fun loving our little Shea is. There are 120 pictures that I got out of this shoot, so here are just a few that make me smile. You can click on the pictures to see the larger photo.

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Fall is here in full force. Here are some pics I snapped when the girls and I went outside to play in the leaves. The yellow leaves are from my favorite HUGE apricot tree in our backyard. The red leaves are from our little pear tree in the side yard. I love this time of year!

My story for the day is that I just started getting the girls ready for their bath, and as I ran the water and started taking Danya's clothes off.....Shea literally dove in head first, clothes and all. She loves the bath and couldn't wait. She's too short to get in the right way, so she bonked her head and was soaked head to toe before I could get to her. Needless to say, she freaked out, but not for long. She LOVES the bath! Here are the girls, post trauma, enjoying some splishing and splashing.

Such a happy girl

I haven't written much about Shea or posted many pictures of her, so I thought I put a few up that show what a great, happy personality she has.

Picture potpourri

It really has been too long since I've added pictures. So much has been going on around our home.

Nana Jewell came out for a visit at the end of August. Here we are on a walk on our greenbelt.


There are tons of ducks along the greenbelt, so we brought them a snack. As Danya was throwing the bread to the ducks, one of them got a little anxious and ate the bread before it left her hand. Danya told me the duck bit her and that she was scared of the ducks now. It took a little effort to convince her that the silly duck had just kissed her finger and wasn't scary after all.

Sisters

Now that Shea is mobile, the girls have started playing together in Danya's playhouse in her room. It is so sweet to see them interacting and enjoying being around each other. Danya will go into her room and call for Shea. Shea will yell back and book it crawling down the hallway to go play.
Here's Danya getting Shea a cup of coffee.


Here are the girls all ready to leave for Church last Sunday.




I have been trying to get a picture of Shea's long lashes since she was born...this is the best one I've been able to take.


And finally, here is Danya all ready to go shopping. She's such a woman of the world!

The Man with the Pig

Today I got out one of Danya's toys for her that had been in storage for a few months. It's a barn that sings songs and plays animal noises, in a girl's voice. I left Danya's room and went out to make breakfast. In a few minutes, Danya came out and told me, "I don't like the man in there. The man is scary." I had no clue what she was talking about, so I asked, "What man?". "The man with the pig is scary." Still confused, I went into her room and pressed the pig block down on her barn and this is what I heard:


After gut laughing, I took it into the office and replayed the scene for Josh. Who knew that the batteries going out in a toy would change it from a high pitched girl to James Earl Jones. We both gut laughed and felt so blessed that Danya could be so verbal and express what was scaring her. I think the guy's pretty scary myself!

First Prayers

Danya just laid down for her nap, and asked if she could pray. We told her that she could...her prayer touched our hearts. We hope this is the start of a life-long conversation between her and God:

"Dear Jesus, thank you for Papa Dave. Thank you for mom and dad and Shea and Danya. Help me to obey. I love you. Amen"

Simple Pleasures

Every morning, once the girls' get up, the three of us go outside to the back porch to enjoy the cool morning. We sit at the table, read, eat, drink our drinks (coffee for me and milk or water for Danya), and wake up slowly. Shea, for now, sits in her exersaucer, but soon she will be old enough to join us at the table. After we have had our "quiet time", we stay outside and play while it is still cool. We play with bubbles, play dough, markers, and crayons. We slide and swing. We make "dinner" out of rocks, sticks and weeds. Who could ask for a better way to greet the day? I love it, and I know the girls do to.