Remember my cousin Kari from the baby shower? She was about six weeks behind me with baby Abi…or so she thought. Isaac Trey Lewis was born August 14th, weighing in at 7lbs. 11oz. A he is very much a boy! Sunday (less than two weeks after Isaac’s birth) Tyler and Kari hosted a BBQ to introduce Isaac to the world. Btw, Isaac means "God is laughing." Fitting, right?

Isaac has the coolest hairstyle I’ve seen on a baby.

Kari, Isaac, Ali, and me.

The sisters looking odd.

Ever odder.

And normal.

Monday we went with my dad and Alyssa to visit my grandparents again…for Nana’s birthday. Here is an adorable picture with Ali and Grandpa. Notice ali dressed the part is Nana’s favorite color.

We came down Friday morning to spend a long weekend at my parents, seeing family and showing Ali off. We were glad to be taking Trista back with us…someone to assist if Ali was cranky in the car. Miraculously, the child slept the whole way down! We timed our departure with her morning nap and left right at 10am. We stopped for lunch at the first Burgerville (Tony’s favorite) down I-5, about 12:30, just as she began to wake up. We all ate and got back in the car. Ali fell right back to sleep and slept until we arrived around 2pm. Alyssa was the only one home. She is enduring the dreaded daily doubles this week for high school soccer and was one break from the grueling schedule. My mom was still at her last day of school [for awhile] and my dad was sleeping off his graveyard shift. So, about twenty minutes after getting home, we headed back to the car to go introduce Ali to her great Nana and Grandpa.

Note: The pictures in this post are kind of wonky because I’m missing my compy and photo-editing program. Resizing the images in wordpress doesn’t really due the photos justice.

Alizabeth Shirlie and her namesake, Nana Shirley.

Grandpa, Nana, Ali, and I.

Friday night Uncle Bill caught word of our arrival. Small towns are crazy like that (my brother’s girlfriend, Becky, works at Blockbuster where he stopped on his walk that night). Saturday afternoon my mom’s side of the family came over. First, my Grandma (now great grandma) came over. Then my Aunt Pat, Uncle David, and Cousin Brandon dropped by. Last My Aunt Yvonne and Matthew made time in her crazy day of soccer tournaments and a wedding to see Ali. She was joined by my Uncle Don before everyone hit the road to return to the bustle of outlet malls and soccer games.

Ali and her great uncle Bill.

Great grandma Carol (not to be confused with Carroll). Ali looks like a little munchkin here.

Aunt Pat got a whole bunch of smiles.

Great Uncle David.

My cousin Brandon. Ali’s…second cousin? I’m not sure. That baby looks good on him!

Ali sure was calm with her great aunt Yvonne.

Great uncle Don and company.

Four generations!

Saturday I found out a dear friend of mine, Laurie, had died Thursday night. We were planning to go visit her this weekend, as she’d been waiting eargerly for her chance to hold Ali. I met Laurie when I worked at Subway in high school and we’ve remained in touch ever since. She has two daughters, one older than me, one younger. My heart breaks for her girls and her family. Laurie, I’m so sad that you have gone. The world doesn’t know what it is missing without you here. In light of this tragedy we are staying in town until the funeral Wednesday afternoon.

Coming soon: The Lewis BBQ on Sunday. Also, Happy Birthday to my Nana today!

This is the mobile we scored on Tuesday. We saw one just like it yesterday at our local Mommy’N'Me consignment shop. Twenty-five bucks used! The whole thing turns like an amusment park ride and plays fifteen minutes of Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. Best of all….she loves it! She has just sat and watched it, gurgling, for 15-20 minutes on two or three occasions. What a godsent, a little get ready time in the morning!

Yesterday we ventured out to the usual (Target and Costco), beforementioned Mommy’N'Me, and, for the first time, the Mukilteo Farmer’s Market. This summer WIC is giving out coupons to local farmer’s markets. I’d been the the downtown Edmonds one here before, but they don’t accept the coupons so we visited nearby Mukilteo last night. It was the first sunny, warm-to-hot, day in about a week and the waterfront down there was gorgeous. The market was pretty small, but vibrant. They had a band performing and was bustling for 4pm on a Wednesday. WE picked up some green beans, zuchinni, bread, peppers, plums, nectarines, and kettle korn. The produce tastes so much better that supermarket produce, but you really have to readjust your degree of pickiness. What would be a "bad" apple at Safeway is superb if homegrown. All that genetic modification has skewed our view!

Ali has slept through the night every night Trista has been here! I hope, hope, hope this is the way things are going to be from now on. It lets me get up at seven or eight instead of nine, ten, or eleven and makes for a muhc longer feeling day.

Three days old…..Fifty days old.   

In the morning sunlight. Seven weeks old. Today we ventured to downtown Seattle where we picked up a kickass mobile from the Baby Boutique (for free). Then we tagged along on some business stuff. Now we’re all enjoying some drama filled America’s Next Top Model reruns. Except for our little sleeping angel.

Two nights could be a fluke, but the night before last Ali slept from eleven-thirty to six-thirty and last night she broke that record by sleeping from twelve-thirty to eight-thirty! Maybe she just picked up on how exhausted I was. The last couple days I’ve felt so much better….even if I’m getting the same amount of sleep (or less!) in hours. It makes such a difference if the hours are consecutive.

I don’t know if it’s possible to take too many pics of your growing baby. With digital cameras I’m going to say no. It could be argued that I lack discretion when it comes to choosing which to post….and, most often, decide to just post them all.

"No way Trista!"

That bow is struggling.

She wants a finger in there so bad.

CHOKE!     This picture cracks me up every time I see it.

Such a happy, stretchy, girl in the morning.

No, she didn’t sleep in her crib. I set her there after changing so I could pee.

She has been sleeping soundly in her crib for the past hour and a half though!

Miss Alizabeth has begun to bless us with her grins. Also, yesterday she weighed in at 9lbs. 14.5oz and measured 21.5 inches! In about an hour we will be picking Aunt Trista up at the train station. She’s staying with us until Friday, then we’re heading down to Oregon for the weekend! We hope to see you ALL and are very excited.

Sitting so sweetly on the counter…

Give mommy a smile?

Not quite.

There’s a lip.

And some feet.

Bless you!

She doesn’t let me out of her sight.

Pretty close….

…getting warmer…

What a little ham

We are wondering who all reads this….though this blog is partly for us it is also to keep contact with family and friends we don’t see enough, to provide a record of our child-rearing experiences for online stumblers, and to earn forty cents a month or so in Google ads. Knowing your audience is key to catering to their needs. So, who are you? Lurkers out there, make yourself known! Even if it’s just a hey, I’m so-and-so from here or there. Also, we’re very interested in how you found this blog.

Thanks all, and don’t be shy

August 11th was Billie’s birthday, and last night we went out for thai to celebrate. Ali was wearing her new (five-dollar Freddy’s clearance) outfit, bought especially for the event. I wish all the clothes she has could be interchangeable, no matter the size. She has so many adorable dresses for 3 months and over, and none that quite fit yet. Then again, I know she’ll be filling them out before we know it.

Ready to hit the town.

You can totally tell she’s starting to listen.

I thought he looked mean but apparently this is Shpang’s normal look.

The Royal Palm.

Spit-up.

She tends to get cranky in the evenings.

Sleepy girl.

Not for long!

So tired…is it time to go home?

She looks pretty stoked.

You get a child dressed in the morning.

First time she’s worn those pants.

Not twenty minutes later.

Round two.

That bow lasted less than five minutes.

Ali looooooves to move. To be carried, bounced, swung, driven, strolled…you name it. I have also found the PERFECT mommy device. It’s my yoga ball. I can sit on it and bounce…it’s a rest from constantly walking, she likes it better than the wing because she’s still with me and if I hold herfacing out towards the window she enjoys looking outside. The last few days I’ve turned music on and sung along….she’s goes to sleep within 2-5 songs. Doesn’t tend to stay asleep once she’s set down, but still. Also, it’s a really good ab workout. The bad? After all this recent bouncing and the constant rocking before, during, and after feedings I think I messed my inner ear up somehow. Since last night I’ve been feeling really dizzy and off-balance, as if I just stepped off of an elevator. We walked through a neighborhood park this evening and Ali got her first ride on a playground swing. I could hardly even watch her though, the motion made me feel all loopy.

In her swing this afternoon.

Not so sure about this.

REALLY not so sure.

Photoshop.

Those dangling feet.

Calming down.

Just having a chill.