Rosalie finally got her hands on Scoop and is really enjoying herself!

Here's just a cute video of her playing on the floor after rolling over three different times before I could get the camera going. She's such a happy girl!

As of this morning, Rosalie has figured out how to scoot herself around on her back, too. She's still quite slow, which is a good thing since her sense of direction is apparently still developing.

Of course, it's also possible she wanted to end up with her head under the bed, since she seems quite happy to be here!

Is anybody out there?

Oh, hello, Mommy and Joseph!

Joseph thinks it's pretty neat that she's under the bed like this, and is proceeding to hide his little digital clock (have I mentioned he likes numbers?) under the bedskirt, too. I hope these two continue to have fun playing together like this!

Today Rosalie is showing off her blossoming hand-eye coordination with this tape measure Joseph left here in the bathroom this morning!



This ain't just fun and games here, folks. This is serious stuff!

Well, I guess it is pretty fun after all! What a look of sweet success!

Rosalie likes to look at Scoop's big, friendly eyes!

She may look cute and innocent, but this little girl is out to cause some serious trouble real soon! She's not even six months old yet, but is already getting mobile! Although rolling over doesn't appear to be her thing yet (she's only done it twice now front-to-back), she can very consistently turn herself around in circles when she's on her tummy.

Let's see her in action! The whole process still takes a bit of time, so I just took a few shots along the way.





This shot demonstrates the position she gets in to propel herself along. That right arm pushes out straight so she's leaning to the left, and then she just pulls the left arm out and starts again.

It won't be very long until this little mischief-maker is crawling all over the place!

Without further ado, here are the results of our little family photo shoot with Tim's mom! I thought these turned out very well, especially considering the relatively short amount of time we spent outside taking them! I really appreciate her willingness to spend the time and effort doing this, and a big thanks goes to Tim's dad as well, who was inside cooking frickadellars all by himself (actually, I think he had Rosalie in there with him once, which I'm sure was very helpful) while we were all traipsing about outside!

Joseph behaved himself very well, on the promise that Daddy would take him for a walk when we were through. Off they go now! Don't they look cute?



While they were gone, I realized we ought to try to get some other shots besides all four of us. Even though Joseph is a little hot (i.e. red in the face) now, I think these look pretty cute, too!



This is Joseph's first time ever giving Rosalie a hug! He's never been too interested in hugs himself, and has been quite happy to give Rosalie lots of kisses. When I asked him to put his arms around Rosalie, though, he seemed really excited to do it! The look on his face says: this is really neat, but I'm a little nervous because I want to do it right and not hurt her at all. He is such a sweetheart with his little sister!





Why not get a few of me and Tim, too, since we're so rarely in photos together these days? Even now, though, the effects of parenthood are evident. In the second shot, my hand placement isn't just for looks, but is cleverly disguising a large spot of drool where Rosalie had her mouth. Now back inside to finally help Tim's dad out with dinner!

Here I am cutting Joseph's hair today in preparation for a little family photo shoot Tim's mom has agreed to do with us this afternoon. I know hair and snacks don't really mix, but it's the only way I've found to keep him happy and cooperative and I just try my best to keep the hair off his plate!



We've had quite a bit of rain here the last few days, so we've spent most of our time just hanging around inside the house. With Grandma and Grandpa here to help with so much of the usual maintenance stuff (meals, dishes, diaper changes, baths, bedtime stories and songs, etc), there's been a lot of extra time to just relax and play together! Here's Grandma Cindy having fun with Joseph...





and now with Rosalie! It's sure is nice to have the chance to just enjoy life's simple pleasures together!

Early this afternoon, Tim took some time off of work to enjoy a few extra hours with his parents. I love this shot Tim's mom took of all the guys gathered around the computer!



Clearly, computer technology is another typical guy thing Joseph seems to enjoy quite a bit!





Speaking of male bonding, here they all are a few minutes later putting the finishing touches on our side fence (the one a large tree crashed into a few months back)! Ruby's insurance paid for most of the work, but there were three old slats that still needed replacing.







I know there are a lot of pictures here of Joseph working with Grandpa Steve, but I just loved them all for different reasons! There is just such a real magic in watching your child discover and learn about the world!

Meanwhile, I tried to talk Rosalie into taking a nap with me. From the look on her face, I don't think she's buying it!

That's more like it! Who wouldn't be up for a little snuggle and play time with Grandma? It's been another fun day with the Allisons here!

Tim's mom took this shot of Rosalie this morning. What a cutie!



Who can guess what Joseph was doing this morning? Sure enough, here he is making numbers by the couch...

and with Grandpa on the drawing board again! He sure is happy to have so much of their undivided attention. Grandparents are the best!

Tim's dad doesn't have to work today, so we're all enjoying having him here at home with us this morning! He was even gracious enough to offer his help once again with planing off our Incredible Swelling Garage Door so we can get it closed without slamming it. Although Joseph certainly doesn't always fit your stereotypical little boy mold, he sure does love tools and working on home improvement projects! Thanks for letting him hang around and help, Grandpa!

Tim needed someone to pick him up from work this afternoon so he wouldn't have to ride home in the rain, so it seemed like the perfect time for Tim's parents to take a tour of his office. Here's Tim's dad checking out this broken turbine blade Tim is supposed to diagnose. He really likes his job—he's even wearing his "Rotating Machinery" shirt today!

Back at home, Joseph is learning to multitask (i.e. managing the CD player and playing with numbers at the same time)...

and now Grandpa Steve adds another activity: drawing numbers on the drawing board for Joseph to identify! Is this kid crazy about numbers or what?

I love lazy Sunday afternoons! Especially with Tim's parents here today, it's the perfect time for hanging out together...



finally getting a little chuckle out of our little sweet pea...



riding around horsey-style on Grandpa and Daddy...



engaging in the ever-scintillating activity of word processing (he typed all of that himself with only a little help shifting)...

and lots and lots of tongue-clicking (Joseph just learned how to do it and is quite pleased with himself)! It's so nice to have a day where the pressure to be productive is off. We're all really loving it!