minor casualty

haven...

five-hour nap...

cloth diaper (although, it was more about my putting it on haphazardly)...

jon's pillow...

soaked.

she wasn't laying on it mind you, just near it. what the diaper and mattress lack in absorbency, the pillow surely makes up for!

knowing that i still have a dry pillow tonight? priceless.

has it really been that long?!

today marks the four year anniversary of our marriage. it has been just what the blog entitles; a journey. one with its share of bumps and twists, but oh how sweet the path has been. i have been sooooooo blessed to have jon as my husband and friend. he has endured many an awful meal or random cry with joy and patience and i'm so grateful for a Godly man who lives out his wedding vows on a daily basis. love you jonathan!

4 Months Old!!!!

can you see the drool on her chin and soaking her outfit?!

the 4 month mark is here.  Our little girl is getting big.  A lot of firsts this month.

1st trip to the shore

1st dip in the pool

and a whole lot of drool

the no money challenge results

it can be done-- the zila's successfully finished an entire week without spending any money! it was a great learning experience and we had a lot of fun doing it too. jon and i played yahtzee (sp?) for the first time in months, we spent an evening walking haven to our library, and just really enjoyed one another's company-- a weird, but thankful bi-product of our challenge! we learned that we routinely spend money on things that we don't really miss and certainly don't need which is exciting for our budget, waistlines, and time management. i did have a friend of ours come up to me after church with a look of worry after jon said we had nothing to eat at our house! i quickly put the fire out before she sent us home with a casserole, interpreting for jon that his comment simply meant there was no longer any ice cream in our house... catastrophic, i know. :) we ate cereal, oatmeal, and fruit for breakfast...had sandwiches for lunch... and enjoyed an across-the-board array of dinners including pancakes and eggs, nachos, grilled chicken and veggies, and baked ziti! the next dare is already brewing-- it seems to involve no garbage. we'll keep you posted. 

in the pool

friends of ours invited us over for haven's first splash in the pool. we think she liked it. :) there weren't any tears, but no big goofy smiles either. she was very busy concentrating on watching the ripples and picking at the 'petals' on her float.

bells will be ringin'

the bride and groom on their last day of singleness

oma, granddad, and haven at the shore

playing after eating ice cream

this is haven's 'rockstar' outfit (complete with little jean shorts and a 'my mom rocks' bib) that she wore to one of daddy's shows on the 4th

discovering 'toes' with oma :)

the weekend after we returned from boston, our good friends steph and mike tied the knot! my parents flew up for a 'grandbaby visit' and couldn't have picked better timing! they got one-on-one time with haven while steph and mike got a baby-free rehearsal, wedding, and reception. haven has grown and changed so much even during their short stay. she's officially begun teething (i can't feel anything under her gums, but she's a bit more fussy than usual and loves anything she can bite on). our passy-free baby has now become dependent on the little soothers. everything's going in her mouth, she can pick up toys and transfer them from hand to hand (i think we have a little right-y in the making), her babble is changing, the stream of drool is neverending, she's becoming a little more clingy with mom, and her sweet personality is coming out more and more!

i think i'll go to boston...

the u s s constitution

proof that haven really was in boston (every other picture of her is so close up, you can't tell if we took it at home or on the moon...)

oh the subway stations... sadly, this is our only family picture :)

haven's latest discovery

we loved veggin' in the hotel too!

this summer our family ventured to boston with our great friends branden and laura. we had a blast! we even came home to a freshly mowed lawn thanks to friends who watched beau for us!  haven was the best vacation-er ever; sleeping through the night, playing all day in her stroller, and making other tourists grin ear to ear with her smiles and babble. we would totally recommend visiting this great city in spring while the weather is mild enough to walk around and enjoy the sites. a few of our favorite things were: street performers, the freedom trail, the duck tours, the saturday market, vinni t's restaurant, the secret garden, and the old architecture. our regrets? not getting a family picture, forgetting sunscreen on the last day and bringing haven's stroller the day we rode the subway everywhere! subways = slings :)

the no-money challenge

so... we've been dared. a small group of friends have challenged one another to go an entire week without spending money on anything. nada. not even a single cent. i can't honestly remember what led to the great double-dog-dare, but it definitely had something to do with the way we as americans view and spend money, consuming everything in our path. i'm exciting to see how the week goes as today is day one. my gas tank's full, but i forgot to hit the grocery store yesterday. i know we've got plenty to last through the week, but i'm curious as to what those last few menus will look like! i'm sure a random trip to target and starbucks will be my weaknesses while jon will have to remember his lunch and pack snacks for the office to fend off the evils of the snack machine!