The fourth day of this seventh month

 Don't we look so patriotic?  I love all our faces in this picture!  Haha!  Bellana was in her lovely blue wrap and pretty much slept the whole time.  We were in the shade, so her hat was just so people could tell she was a girl.  (Yes, I care about that.)

Once again we went to Caldwell for their parade because we wanted something that wasn't too crazy to extricate ourselves from afterward.  We waited 30 minutes for the parade to get to our cool spot under a tree and the whole thing lasted 30 minutes and then we went home!  They have a big to-do in the park with vendors and booths but it wasn't going to start for another hour and we didn't want to wait.

 Someone in the parade was handing out free little flags--what a deal!  I remember that in Idaho Falls people would sell them for $1 each.

 The kids liked the army tank, the horses, the band, and the CANDY!  We were near the front of the parade, so everyone had tons of candy still to throw out to us.  It's a small enough parade and crowd that it's not so scary to have your kids run into the street for the candy.  I was happy with how laid-back it all was.

The kids were happy with their haul, which filled Daddy's hat.  (They only got to eat about half of it, spread out over the next month.  Daddy and I took our Parent Tax on the good stuff.)

I love that lately Annalee has been more open to trying new things.  She used to absolutely REFUSE to wear jeans.  Her cousin would send us all these adorable, girly jeans with embroidery and cutesy stuff that I would have loved to have when I was little!  (My mom bought us boy jeans because they are cheaper.)  But she wouldn't wear them because they felt tight and constricting.  She only wanted to wear sweat pants or stretchy ones.  She also didn't want to wear skirts or play dresses or even shorts!  But when she turned five she suddenly started saying things like, "I didn't like to wear jeans, but now that I'm five, I like it."  And she does!  I'm so glad she was willing to wear this adorable skirt.  She and I actually matched in our red shirts and denim skirts.  It has been soooo hot this summer that I practically live in my skirt.  Fortunately, it was a surprisingly cool day on the 4th (in the middle of a week of 100 degree highs) and in the shade as we were, it felt like the 80s.

 To finish up the rest of July, baby girl is growing and Annalee just looooooves to hold her or play with her.  This day she said, "Can you put Bellana in my fort?"

Annalee and Bellana are sharing a room now, too.  My original plan had been to have Annalee and Vander share until Bellana was old enough for a toddler bed, at which point there would be a Girls' Room and Boy Room.  I wanted the solitude of a baby nursery when I had to nurse her in those midnight hours.

But God laughs and kids scoff when we make plans.  Annalee and Vander had turned into demon-children in the week or so before Bellana was born--just at bedtime.  They used to go to bed so quickly and sweetly, but now they would play and fight and stay up and cause Daddy and I endless headaches.  Nothing we did made any difference.  Even my mom came and tried to put the fear of Grandma into them but they still wouldn't calm down and go to bed.  So now the girls are sharing and Vander is in the butterfly room.  He ripped half of the butterflies off the wall within the first week--not because he doesn't like butterflies, but because he wanted to hold them. -sigh- 

After a few nights of Annalee complaining about baby crying she got used to it and I figured out that as long as I wasn't nursing when it was Annalee's bedtime she pretty much slept through the nursing sessions.  On the plus side, I've now spent hours and hours and hours watching my oldest daughter sleep, and I've decided she looks just like Sleeping Beauty with her dark blonde hair, her red lips, and those perfect eyelashes.

I sure love these kiddos, especially when it's Daddy's turn to watch them!

And wouldn't you know it?  At exactly six weeks, Bellana laid in her Daddy's arms and not only gave him her first real smile (with eye contact), but several laughs!  Her first laughs went to Daddy.  I got a video of it happening and called him a booger because all she had done for me up to that point was cry!

But I guess it's fitting that she'd give her first laughs to the man who brings our family so much joy.