a little of this, a little of that

Napping on Grandpa Steve.
Hanging with her Grandparents.
Labor Day BBQ at Molly's.
These pictures posted out of order. Anyhow- this is us laying the first pavers. I am looking up to Coranelle's window- hoping she is still sleeping.
Ryan cuting pavers in our street.
Unloading our two pallets of pavers. Good thing we had good help.
Moving the dirt out of the way.
Relaxing with Daddy after the patio was done.
On Labor Day, we went to Claire's mom's house for a BBQ. She lives on a lake so we got to enjoy kayaking on the water.
Eating those fists. I love those cheeks!
Napping on Grandpa Steve.
Hanging out on her tummy!


It has been a while since I wrote a blog post. Things have been busy and I just haven't made time to sit down and do it. We weren't doing a lot of sitting this weekend! Ryan took of Thursday and Friday and we spent 4 days creating a patio in our backyard. This required a lot of work. Before we started, there was a large square of clayish dirt, some remaining red mulch, and these huge boulders left by the previous owners. So, the process consisted of moving all the rocks (some of them took 4 of us to lift) and then digging down about 8 inches through all sorts of tree roots, rocks and pebbles. Next, came laying road base (4 inches of it), leveling and tamping that. After that, we added two inches of sand and re-leveled. Finally, we put in 475 pavers- each weighing 10 pounds. On Saturday, my parents, Bruce, Heido, Josh and Claire all came over to help move dirt, haul pavers, and roll loads of sand into our yard with wheel barrows. Their help was amazing! I just love family! It was like a big, sweaty party. I had feeding duty for Coranelle, but beyond that, there was always a grandma ready to take her and entertain her so I could help. We worked on in almost all day Sunday and we were on a roll. So, we put Coranelle to bed at 9 and just kept pushing along. We decided we just wanted it finished and not hanging over our heads. So, Ryan and I worked until almost midnight to get it done. I hauled 450 pavers to him and he pounded them all in, in a perfectly engineered pattern. When we were done, we sat back, on our completed patio, gazing at the stars and enjoying chocolate ice cream cones. We love the patio! Now, it's time to get some patio furniture. And rest our arms and backs.
In other news... Coranelle didn't survive the church nursery on Sunday. She screamed like crazy when we left her and they called us in after about 10 minutes to get her. I took her and calmed her down pretty quickly. They told me I could bring her back if she calmed down, so I did. But, she revved up again and wailed. So, I took her into the cry room and Ryan met us in there. She ended up falling asleep on Ryan, content as could be. I guess she just doesn't like the nursery! But, we will keep trying. I wasn't sure if maybe she could sense that the woman who took her was not confident in her soothing of a wailing child. Also, once I took her from one of the men working in the nursery, she smelled strongly of cologne. I wondered if she didn't like the smell. I mean, she is a "touchy" baby, so I don't know what set her off.
She had some rough nights last week- nights where she cried for hours straight until we finally rocked her to sleep. Those are exhausting! On Friday, Bruce and Heido were over helping with the patio. We tried to wrap Coranelle up and put her in her crib with her pacifier, but she just screamed and screamed. Finally, Heidi walked her around the neighborhood for awhile and got her to fall asleep in her arms. She also cried like crazy last Tuesday when I was at my class at the Rec Center and Ryan had her. When I got home, neither of us could get her to sleep or calm down. I finally decided to feed her, which helped a little. Wednesday, we went down to Denver to visit Stefan and Rachael. She was content for a bit, but then was doing her high pitched screaming. I think she stressed Stefan out a bit- rightly so. I was stressed too. Ryan had to pace around with her, swaddled up and giving her the pacifier for almost an hour. Then she calmed down and went to sleep. Yikes! The following night, she did the same thing when we went over to some friends' house to discuss starting a bible study. So, we are once again, playing guessing games. Is she not getting enough food in the afternoons/evenings when my supply is low? Is she just overtired? Is she allergic to something? I think she is just overtired. When we got her down for late afternoon/evening naps the last 2 nights, she was much happier.
Speaking of happy, we got her a jumper from our neighbors. She LOVES that thing. Her feet touch the ground and she just bobs around and looks at the toys- totally elated to wear herself out with all the bouncing. We are so glad to have hand-me-downs.
Coranelle has been babbling more, grabbing things more and... she rolled over last Thursday. She was on her tummy and just whipped over onto her back. She surprised both of us! She hasn't done it again, but she gets close. I have found that she rolls over in her crib when swaddled. I hear her wake up from a nap screaming and run up there to find she has rolled onto her tummy and smashed her face against the crib bars. I would scream too!
She is growing fast! She fits into all of her 3 month clothes now, so we have some great new dresses for her. She is adorable and we love her- the kicker and the shaker that she is! I hope you all had a great Labor Day!