Going for walks

Lizzy, Barak, and I go for a walk just about every day. There is a road close by our home that has very few cars and is perfect for letting little ones run, while passing fields of sheep, cows, and alpacas. Every time we walk it, I am reminded how lucky we are to live in beautiful Oregon. (Especially on sunny days.)Midway through the walk is this lovely old covered bridge. The kids love playing on it.We almost always go with our friends Jason and Angie. The kids entertain each other, leaving the moms some time to chat. Lizzy has recently developed an interest in taking pictures. She took the rest if these photos (with a little help from me). I think she's pretty good. Here's Jason: I wish the picture showed off this kid's eyelashes. They're gorgeous.

And Angie (seriously, one of the prettiest women I've ever met):

Barak was there, too, of course.

And me, too. Lizzy had to get a picture of us all.

Boy with the super-long tongue

I wanna post something, I really do, but I can't think of anything interesting to write. Life is good, but normal. Barak cut his first tooth and is trying so hard to crawl. Lizzy keeps trying to tell me she's Mommy and I'm Lizzy. That kind of thing. I don't think I've taken any good pictures recently, either.

The Beach

I am ashamed of how rarely my children have been to the beach, for all that we live only an hour away. I don't believe Barak had ever been at all. On Saturday we decided to risk the weather and go for it. Lizzy's little friend came with us (we gave her mom the day off), and we were set to spend a couple of hours poking at things in tide pools, digging in the sand, picking up seashells, etc. It rained just a bit when we first arrived, but not enough to make anyone miserable. We were having a great time. The girls were in their rubber boots, running daringly close to the waves, shrieking in mock-terror, and scurrying away. Isaac kept hollering at them to stay away from the water, but in my opinion rubber boots are made to get wet. I had just reached to get the video camera out, when I looked over my shoulder and saw the girls standing in water up to their ankles, and the wave was on its way IN. Pretty soon, the water had swamped their boots, and Lizzy instinctively turned toward land. Such an abrupt pivot with feet weighed down by salt water and sand caused her to tip over pretty spectacularly. Flat on her back in six inches of water. Her friend, in a move of pure solidarity, immediately joined her, laughing all the way. Now I am an experienced beach walker, so I had a complete change of clothes for each of them, but I didn't have extra shoes, or dry coats, so we went home. In total, I think we were there 45 minutes. At least Barak has seen the ocean now. My biggest regret is that I didn't get the camera out in time.

Hair

Barak loves nothing better than to grab handfuls of my hair, yank really hard, and then stuff it in his mouth. Then he winds it all around his fingers and toes. It was driving me crazy, so I went and hacked all my hair off. He still manages to pull it on a regular basis, but now I have the added benefit of looking like a shaggy dog. (I really shouldn't do layers. Oops.)

Isaac

I love this man.

Barak

Lizzy took this picture all by herself. I think she did a pretty good job.

Recently, Barak started solid food. So far, he's only tried rice cereal. He doesn't like it much. I didn't know a baby's tongue could be that long. We tried, but I don't think we've gotten a picture to do it justice. Despite his lack of love for rice cereal, he wants to eat everything else. I feel guilty every time I eat around him, because he stares so hard. He watches with pure longing in his eyes, and he often licks his lips. While we were in Colorado for Christmas, Barak had his baby blessing. We wanted Isaac's father and brothers to be there, which made the experience that much more special. Unfortunately, we somehow didn't manage to get any pictures, so I took a bunch a couple of days ago. Better late than never, right? My mom made his blessing gown (thanks Mom!), and the buttons are the same ones she used to bustle my wedding gown. I know. My baby is beautiful. About to get up and crawl away . . . he must be done taking pictures. He has the happiest personality I have ever met. And who can resist a naked baby?