every 4th of july needs...

...a cake decorated like a flag with blueberries and strawberries,

root beer floats,

lots of flags,

and rocking chairs with family on breezy back porches.

fireworks

We had such a great time with our family on the 4th! The picture below is so funny...Mark is the culprit (above), shooting off pretty tame fireworks at the end of the dock...

...and then look at all the kids versus all the adults who don't seem to care that the kids don't like it!

functioning again

It has been ages since I've been able to blog, for all sorts of reasons...poor Katie was sick, I was with the girls in South Carolina for 2 weeks, then my computer software has been down for the past week, and on top of it all I just don't function very well on little sleep. But now, thankfully, Katie is well, I am slightly more rested thanks to my wonderful family who have helped me take care of Meg and Katie, and my camera is up and running again. The picture above is my mom, thinking she had the baby bjorn on the right way, all ready to put Katie in there and go for a walk!

My parents have a playroom with toys for all of their grandkids, and this doll kept fooling us - I kept doing a double-take, thinking it was Katie! I actually did put Katie to sleep in this doll's cradle one night!

garden goodness

I don't get to go blueberry picking this year, but we have received some amazing produce from our friends and neighbors with greener thumbs...huge and perfect squash and zucchini from our friends Caroline and Will and last night our neighbors' kids brought over corn that they grow (surprisingly discreetly) in their front yard! Fresh produce trumps grocery produce every time - what a treat.

2 1/2 weeks

It feels like we've had her with us forever (in a good way).

tahini and blueberries

It is about to be prime blueberry-picking season and this is the first year living in Tallahassee that I won't get to pick them. It is something I so look forward to but it is just not possible with such a newborn...I nurse her too often to leave her at home and it is too hot to bring her with me.


So in honor of blueberry season I will share one of my all-time favorite things to eat for breakfast: a whole wheat english muffin with tahini and blueberries on top. If you haven't tried tahini, you should! It is just pureed sesame seeds and can be used like a spread in place of peanut butter although it tastes pretty different.

first haircut

Meg finally got a haircut a few nights ago. It was a long time coming! She had some strands that were longer that others but she had one curl in the back that I was resisting cutting off. But since it also looked like a rat-tail I had to bite the bullet and even it all out. I'm glad I did. We turned on Teletubbies and she was absolutely transfixed by it! Note the mouth hanging open. She wouldn't take her eyes off the tv for a second.