lucy 9 months

month 9 for lucy has been so fun. i know i say it every month but she really is a dream baby.

she has been really clingy to mom this month and tends to scream if i'm in the room and someone else is holding her, but besides that is a complete joy.

she is learning the joy of toys and enjoys playing with all the toys in her basket. she currently has a great affinity towards balls.

food continues to be a favorite and she is eating an ever growing variety and quantity of food. she has also learned to drink through a straw.

lucy found her voice this month and does a lot of babbling. it's a joy to watch her and williams relationship develop. he can make her laugh more than anyone else.

she is loving books more as well. she enjoys any book that is interactive.

she had a good 9 month check up and is perfectly healthy. she is 26 inches (8%), 16 lb 8 oz (12%), and a head circumference of 44 centimeters (67%). i guess we have a petite girl with a good head! we love our lucy.

summer of fun part 1

i have many favorite things about california, but a top one is that i never feel the need to really vacation too far away since there is so much to do in such close proximity. besides a couple quick trips to arizona we've stayed local this summer and loved it. one warm weekend on the peninsula we ventured into the city to be the ultimate tourists. we started in union square and rode the cable cars to pier 39 where we watched the famous sea lions. 

at pier 39 we watched a magic show, rode the carousel, visited the shops, ate sourdough at boudins, looked at the boats, then caught the cable car back to union square.

another weekend we joined our dear friends the tanners at half moon bay for a beach day. the men rode their bikes to the beach where they met the mom's and kids. we had a great time even though it was the typical windy and chilly day in half moon bay.

uncle aaron returned home from his mission in madrid, spain in june so of course we had to meet him at the airport in arizona to welcome him home!

while in arizona we tortured our kids with swimming and dress-up.  

we've spent many a day out at grandma and grandpa shafer's house. generally another cousin joins us. 

we did experience a dreadful heat wave. on the positive side lucy discovered the joys of ice cream during the heat.

we love summer.

family photos

in june we had some much needed family photos taken. we chose stanford university as our backdrop. here are a few highlights.

 i love our little family.