July Activities 2015 (Part 1)

With all our talk and reading about the 4th of July, Benny got patriotic even in his chalk drawing.

Abby made patriotic cupcakes to take to our 4th of July party that will be in another post.

The next week, we visited my Aunt Doris on Mercer Island. We took her to a park a couple miles from her house and watched the kids swim. It was a hot day! Afterward, we drove to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream before taking Aunt Doris back home. It was a lovely visit, but also sad as my aunt's progression of Alzheimer's was more apparent than ever. She didn't know who we were much of the time and kept asking us where we were from. But she was always cheerful and upbeat and seemed to enjoy herself.

By this age, Lizzy was really getting into the mix of things, playing with the other four kids. They barricaded her in because they thought it was funny. :)

I was still having occasional problems with breastfeeding (yes, Lizzy was almost 11-months-old here!), especially with my milk supply dropping every few weeks or so. Although it was not so critical anymore since Lizzy was eating solid foods too, she still wasn't wanting to take any expressed milk from a bottle or sippy cup, and I wanted to be sure that it wasn't because her tongue had reattached some after her laser surgery for tongue tie when she was about 3-months-old. So off to Portland we went and this time I just took the girls and we made a little day trip out of it. The nearest tourist place near the doctor's office was the Grotto, a Catholic shrine and gardens. I thought, why not? :) All the statues and the big huge rock cliff-side along with the burning incense actually reminded me of my trip to Israel. :) It also gave Abby and I a lot of good discussion about the differences between Protestantism and Catholicism.

One part we were able to fully enjoy was the Stations of the Cross walk in the woods. It was beautiful and meaningful.

We then took a quick drive by my parent's first house they had in Portland right after they got married. I thought it would be to take a picture of it if it was still around! Neither of them remembered the exact address, but they described to me where it was and what it looked like. I found it fairly easily, especially when I spotted the shed my dad had built in the back, still standing after 45 years! Sheds are like my dad's signature at every place they've lived, ha!

The doctor's appointment went well; Dr. Ghaheri is always so kind! He assured me that any of our problems were not because of any reattachment, but perhaps my varying milk supply was due to a thyroid issue. I opted not to have that checked out since I only planned to nurse for another month....but I'm still nursing Lizzy at 19-months old (tomorrow!) and my milk supply is better than ever before. I'm guessing it really was a thyroid issue which probably contributed to my post-partum depression, which plagued me all the way until Lizzy was a year old (although not as badly or as often toward the end of that year).

On our way home, we stopped in Vancouver at a dear friend's to visit. We walked to the park near her house and had a lovely time together. While I'm so happy that Jean is now near her family, we sure miss her living in Olympia! :(

This picture shows how much Jake and Lizzy really look alike - in their face and their body shapes! My older two have completely different body shapes (long and slender). Jake and Lizzy love having baths together - they are such buddies and playmates. :)

The cat has continued to be more and more friendly with the children, and I have been shocked at what he's allowed Lizzy to do to him that he never would have with the previous babies! :)  Even family and friends have remarked at how much different Calvin is and less scared.

We went downtown to enjoy the Lakefair Parade...it was so HOT as you can tell from the kids' rosy cheeks! Lizzy, true to her personality, was not scared at all at the loud sounds and crazy sights - my other three sure were at this age!