We are alive!

But we've been melting! Oh my- let me tell you how hot it has been. Whether is 95, or 105, it all feels the same to me. I've been getting cabin fever, because we always have to be inside- this is not what summer is supposed to be! But hopefully relief is on the way and in a month or so, we will be able to open the doors again! Here are some updates on the Bradford's!

Lily- 7 1/2 months







Lily is such a sweetie, so smiley and lovable. Here's what's been going on with Lily...

1. Lily has been doing great with baby food- mostly homeade food, made by myself- her favorites are apples, pears, and sweet potatoes

2. She sits up like a champ- working on crawling, she's just not quite there yet

3. No teeth in sight

4. She loves reading books, touching the pages, and listening

5. She loves songs with motions- wheels on the bus, and itsy bitsy spider are sung daily

6. She adores her sister. Lily is always following Halle around the room with her eyes. I can count on Halle to keep her entertained

7. She does great playing independently, mostly if she doesn't see me around. The other day, 45 minutes went by with her just playing on the floor with her toys, before she spotted me and wanted up.

8. She's still a little peanut. She's weighing about 15 lbs, and many babies her age have passed her up!



Halle- 3yrs.





Halle is just growing up so fast, I want her to stay little forever. Next week, she'll be moving up to the pre-school class at church and I'm so sad!

1. Halle is making a lot of progress with her writing- she's starting to make things I can recognize. The other day, she drew me a sun and a river- mostly she draws faces with eyebrows underneath the eyes, hands, feet, and hair all coming out of the head. She can draw all letters of her name, but mostly writes her H, L, and E.

2. Halle asks me 100 times a day, "So what do you want to do today?" She likes to have a plan!

3. She's gone to many birthday parties this summer, she loves knowing what the theme is, and what kind of birthday cake we'll be having.

4. She's really into puzzles lately- she goes in spurts of things she's into.

5. Everything to her is "magical" or "beautiful," she uses these words to describe many things.

6. She is such a good helper, she almost always listens when I ask her to help me with something. I love having 2 extra hands.

7. Halle is obsessed with this set of Winnie the Pooh books we have. She knows most of them by heart, and will read the entire book to you- dialogue and all. And these are not easy books. Sometimes after I put her to bed, I can hear her reading, so I know she's gotten out of bed and will read them to herself and then go to sleep.

School is starting here next week and it's hard to imagine in just 2 years, I'll be sending Halle off on the school bus. Boy would she love to go now! So I will treasure this next school year with her at home and we'll see if next year she may go to pre-school or not.

Brian:




Brian is busy as always with church events and just work. We just had our second baptism service since we've been at the church. We had it at the aquatic park in town on the hottest day of the year! But it was a great time of celebration for many and a lot of fun. He continues to work on his dissertation and we are praying he finishes in time for graduation this May!

Me:



I'm mostly staying busy with my 2 girls, keeping everything in order. It's amazing how much time it takes to make sure we have clean clothes to wear, food to eat, and to be where we need to be at the right time. I'm really enjoying the Mom's group I put together at our church. And I'm helping with our Christmas program- planning and helping choreograph some dance numbers for that. Oh I can't wait until it's cold!