Our August Long Weekend

Pete had an interview in Salt Lake City, Utah (see below) and so we girls packed up and headed to Iowa to visit Auntie Christy and all the cousins!! It was super fun. Here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery between the Roch and the Lev's town.

The corn fields.

The Mississip
Probably the most educational bath to date for the Mags. Anna is reading a book, Amanda is giving a puppet show and poor Allie just wanted to climb in the tub with the girls. Unfortunately there was no room. So funny - Mags just chilled out, sucking her thumb!

The little girlys slept through lunch so we decided to have an indoor picnic.
Yes, this little 3 1/2 year old fits in the Bumbo seat. Actually ALL the Lev girls (including the almost 6 year old) fit in the seat and love it!
Maggie, Allie and Annalea. Allie loved Maggie and was wonderful at taking care of her - which included making sure that Annalea didn't bite, pinch or poke Maggie's eyes out!
Amanda is such a great big sister to her two sisters and was wonderful to Mags. She wanted to hold Maggie all the time but soon realized that Maggie weighed too much and was way too strong for Amanda to handle.
It was super hot there as the humid index made it in the 100s (YUK!) so we headed to the park and played around in this misting/sprinkler/germ infested thing. The girls loved it and it cooled EVERYONE off, including the Mamas.

Peter was enjoying the heat out in Utah. Not only did he have 2 days of interviews but he had 2 days of fun with our wonderful friends:

Kevin, Ava and Sally

Here is Ava after opening up the gift P brought her. (A Hello Kitty beauty kit.)
A beautiful sunset view from The Porcupine, a resturant near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon.

The perks of the UofU fellowship program. Apparently they want to woo Pete out there (or at least somebody does).
Just kidding. Although he did get to drive this beast... and get it up to 130 mph!!!

(Yes, I was a little frightened myself and I was MILES away.)

Little Bo Peep

This whole outfit I wore as a baby. I put the bonnet on Mags the other day but didn't have her in the matching dress & bloomers. She did okay at first but you'll see she wasn't too impressed with all the little bo peep pics I made her take!! :)

Maggie's Many Faces

In trying to capture a new face that Maggie has started making I captured quite a few other cute faces that I just had to share. She's such a happy baby and definitely comes alive on the change table. She loves to "talk, talk, talk" and "sing" (which is a happy scream). You can see her little personality and I just love it, love it, love it!

Posing like Daddy.

So funny!

Peter does this pose (below) in so many pictures. So not only does she look like him and smile like him all the time but now she's copying his pose!! Beware Daddy... some one is watching your every move.

This is the face I was trying to capture. She closes one eye and "talks" out the side of her mouth like she is chawing down on something. She's crazy.

Always trying to sit up! Her stomach muscles are ridiculous. Seems like she's competing with Sheena!! ;)

Happy Birthday Baby Doll!

Our sweet little girly is 5 months old today. The time sure does fly...

Best Toy EVER!

I know, I know, she's a PERSON not a TOY but honestly she is the best thing that I have ever owned ;) I love her and am glad that she puts up with me and my "creative" ideas.

This is the bonnet I wore as a baby. (You can also see the mosquito netting that I put around the stroller on our daily walks along the trail.)

Daddy making Maggie's hair crazy!!

Playing around on the nursery floor.

Learning to read. Yes, child genius!!

This Bumbo seat is ridiculous!!

I love this seat. Maggie eats in it, bathes in it, hangs out in it and even though she would rather sit on her own (which she tries really hard but has yet to master) she is content to sit in it!

Here she is in the bath tub... but beware mothers - this seat floats!!!!


Morning coffee on the back patio.
Fun outside after our daily afternoon walk.

Safer way to eat apples

Since Mags started biting down on the apple slices we were handing her I bought this mesh thing. It is wonderful. I definitely recommend it to any mom for a baby any age. We went to the MD yesterday (Mags got vaccinated - very sad) and her Ped. said that it didn't matter when we started giving her food. Just no honey, peanuts, shellfish, etc. for the first year. Let the fun begin...

YUM!
Oops, wrong end.

Thanks for the fun, Phip

What's that you say??

Did someone say, "Food?"

After Maggie has sucked on watermelon and apples (the stupid teething biscuits say 9 MONTHS!) I thought it might be time for her to start cereal...

We didn't capture the watermelon at Grandmama's house but here she is sucking on an apple slice (without the peel - we aren't that negligent!!). Last night (not pictured) she started chomping down on it so I bought one of those ugly food net things for children. We'll see if she likes that tonight.

Cereal! I'm trying organic whole grain rice cereal.
But she still prefers her thumb to anything.