Yes, I let my baby eat rocks for the photo op

This is Lily's latest expression, and it's accompanied by snorts and heavy breathing. Hilarious.

Always demonstrating the crazy flexibility.

Thinking about it...

Going for it.

Not what she expected.

So happy to have her dog back home.

Dallas

Last weekend we took a road trip to Dallas, TX with a three-fold purpose: 1) Hang out with the Lyman's 2) Pick up Dirk and 3) Meet with our financial planner.

The Lyman's kindly offered to watch Dirk for a month when we told them we'd be coming out in August, so Tim and Seth dropped Dirk off as they drove the moving truck to Albuquerque. Dirk was of course in heaven at Camp Lyman, with his girlfriend, Lucy. I have honestly never seen two dogs that were so in love. They spent a month spooning, licking each other's faces, and were generally inseparable.

We had a great time with the Lyman's and even had an adult night out at a great restaurant, which was topped only by the sweet trolley ride we took around Dallas after dinner. Did I take pictures of these fun things? Of course not. I did snap some shots at the pool on our last day there.

Cute little Eliza is 5 months and such a happy, mellow little babe.

I can't believe I knew this kiddo when she was a twinkle in her parents' eyes. Emma liked playing with Lily and swiping her diapers for her dollies.

Of course Dirk was super depressed when we took him away from his love.

We should probably get that TV sooner, rather than later

I just keep posting pictures of Albuquerque here to promote the commune.

After spending lots of time together for three days in a row without a TV (we're saving up for Tim's dream flat screen - oh boy!), we get a little slap happy.

Like we're folding sheets and Tim asks if he can fold it like he folded the American flag when he was in color guard in 3rd grade. He does this complete with a military march and salute as he puts it in the linen closet. I cannot keep my composure standing up but manage to salute as I am laughing on the bed.

Like Tim says, "Oh yeah, I meant to put that mirror up today, but..." And I say, "Oh yeah, I meant to hang more pictures up today, but instead I took a nap and ate Dots in bed."

Like we seriously consider starting to watch "Lost" on hulu.com for the first time.

Like Tim wonders aloud if we could get our own reality TV show about us going on bike rides, playing with Lily, and going to various nurseries in search of the perfect succulents. Because that's what we did today.

Back on the bike

Today I went for a beautiful bike ride along the Rio Grande on my road bike, by myself. Normally I am too chicken to ride my bike by myself because I am terrified that I'll get hit by a car, and die. Which could totally happen. But we are discovering that Albuquerque has miles of gorgeous mixed use trails (running, biking, roller blading, strollers, you name it) where I can ride my bike in peace.

At least I rode my bike in peace this morning until a friendly fellow bike rider named Armando decided that he needed to be my tour guide to biking in the Southwest and tried to bike next to me and carry a conversation for a couple of miles. This meant that I had to go slow. Also at some point I find it awkward to ride and chat with 40-something-year-old men. So I had to turn around a little earlier than I wanted to so I could get back to my ride.

I pushed it pretty hard and got a little wobbly legged when turning back into the parking lot through this turnstile and...ran into a wooden post. Which of course resulted in a small "real fear scream", which resulted in people asking if I was ok, which was embarrassing. Also I got this cool oil pattern on my leg that I was not able to completely scrub off afterwards. Hopefully it will come off before church tomorrow.

Beanie eats some beans

Tim has a work schedule where he only has to work three days a week (holla!), but these three days require him to be away for about 12 1/2 hours each day. Since I'm a loser and don't have friends yet (other than Aunt Wendy and Steph, who are the best), these can sometimes be long days where I hang out with this cute 10 month-old. One of the ways I like to entertain myself is by giving Lily (who is also known as Beanie at our house) a bowl full of food, lets say, refried beans, and letting her go to town.

Perhaps you can see why I find it so amusing.

Lily Update

I wish I had gotten a better shot of this, but Lily had a great time seeing cousins, aunts, and uncles that she had never met before while we were in California. I love how Keilah has her arm around Lily in this picture while Grandpa Rauch reads the kids a story.

She is still crazy flexible. This is another shot I took of her sleeping the other night. She is crawling and starting to get into everything. This week she started pointing.

She is such a happy little person. When she's not laughing she's making me laugh.

I Apologize

I know, I know, it's been far too long since I've posted. We're in Albuquerque, NM now and we just got back from spending a fun-filled week in Santa Cruz with all of Tim's family. Here are some pictures of our house, which looks exactly like several other houses in our neighborhood.

This is the room you see when you first walk in. I've neglected posting for so long because I wanted to have our house perfect, with all of our pictures up but then I remembered...I don't actually care that much. So here is our house is all of it's messy glory.

This is the living room, with a fireplace!

And here is the kitchen and dining room. I am loving all of our counter space.

Our backyard is truly a gem here in Albuquerque, because we have grass and trees.

If you don't believe me you can check out our neighbor's yard. Different shades of gravel.

More postings to come!