It’s been so long since I’ve actually written my thoughts or recorded any recent happenings with our family, so I thought I’d take a little break from posting pictures (although some favorite shots of our ocean trip will be posted soon) and give everyone a little update. Hopefully it won’t bore you all to tears.

Antonio has his two bottom teeth! They are really cute. They came in only a few days apart from each other, and those were brutal days. I think he must be working on some more, because he’s been very needy and clingy. I’ve been wearing/holding him lots because he always wants to be up next to me (he’s sleeping on my lap right now). He’s also scooting all over the place, and quickly. I’ve been fishing lots of new foreign objects out of his mouth since he’s gained this ability to be mobile. It’s fun to see him getting around, but definitely keeps me more on my toes!

Kyrie is just having fun being a cute little 2-year-old, with tantrums in between. Her sweet moments make up for all the challenging ones. She’s talking so clearly and seeming so grown-up to me. I can’t believe how quickly she’s grown, even after every grandmother told me that they grow up way too quickly.

We’re doing fine in Spokane, enjoying the company of family and friends. Lately I’ve been feeling a bit out of place, anxious to have a home of our own again. I guess I feel homesick, but I’m not sure what home I’m missing. It’s not Monroe (though I do miss Hollie and the Amos kids terribly), and it’s not the house we packed up and left in May — it’s a home we’ve never lived in yet, but I want to find out what it is, where it is, and start making memories of our family in it. I’m really appreciative of the hospitality of family members, but there is only so much hospitality we can expect a family to extend, even if they are our loving relatives. I hate feeling like I’m imposing. I want to take a turn to open up my doors to my family and friends, cook them a meal, and serve them. When I think of what I’d like most about living in Spokane, it’s having the opportunity to have people over. We’re somewhat homeless here, and that makes me feel we have nothing to offer others, but that they’re always only giving to us. I want to change that. I want to be able to give to them. Okay, I should stop before this turns into a book. Suffice it to say, I will be thankful when this season of our life is over and we get settled again. I love being spontaneous to a degree, but I think Kyrie and Antonio suffer a bit from it.

Dinner is about to be served, so that about wraps it up for us.

Here’s my regular contribution to the ol’ blog. A healthy dose of cuteness, in photos.

Here’s Antonio sleeping in a rather cute position.

And here he is, simply looking cute in the Moby.

Here’s Kyrie walking through the woods in north Idaho.

She looks cute and small standing on a big stump.

After the hike, we went to the lake where the kids had a great time wading and/or swimming.

Kyrie and David tried to keep their clothes dry as they walked into the water.

Eventually I remembered that I had packed a swimsuit for Kyrie.

Antonio and Grandpa hung out together for a while.

This morning, as we were snuggling in bed, I smiled at Kyrie.

She said to me, “Mommy, you have bunny teeth.”

Kyrie: “Mama, where’s my other yellow sock?”
Me: “I don’t know, sweetie.”
Kyrie: “Maybe it’s in heaven?”

We can all agree on that. (Click below for pictures — there are a lot, so I decided to make a cut.)

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On Tuesday we took a day trip to Seattle. Here are some of the snapshots I got:

On the way there:

In Seattle:

The Seattle Aquarium:

Kyrie saw these fish and said, “I’ve seen that movie!”

Pike’s Place:

On traditional roles:

Noelle: Girls go shopping.
Kyrie: Yeah, girls go shopping!
Noelle: Boys go shopping too.
Kyrie: No, boys go to work.

These aren’t even close to all of the photos I’ve taken on our trek up to Spokane, but I thought I would share some while I had a little time.

This is the last picture I took in Louisiana, of Kyrie sitting on our front steps of the house we won’t be going back to.

We all took turns driving (just kidding)

At a friend’s house in Oklahoma, playing in the backyard:

Today we went to the zoo. While we were at home getting ready, I noticed that Kyrie had taken all her clothes off. So I told her, “Kyrie, you can’t go to the zoo if you’re naked.” She argued, “Animals are naked.”

Also, this morning she was watching VeggieTales on TV and it was about baby Moses in the basket. She suddenly started to cry and ran out of the room. I went to see what was wrong and she said, “I’m afraid of the baby, and I don’t know why!”

After coming home from a very rainy experience at the zoo, Rick decided to lie down to rest and asked Kyrie to sing to him. She began to sing, “Eat this bread, drink this wine…Evie*, Esther, Grandma Lisa…Alleluia, Alleluia.” Then she put a (toy, plastic) slice of pizza in Rick’s mouth and walked away.

*The Evie she was referring to was her little friend, Evelyn Companik