We had another busy week here in the Wells home. We even canceled on a friend who offered to take some free pictures of us at the park and another friend who offered free baby-sitting on Saturday night because we really needed to slow down and get things done around the house. We finally got to some much needed yard work, Chase grooming, and reorganizing the garage.  I had another great week teaching the Good News Club at my old elementary school. I taught the students about creation and what the Bible tells us about how God created everything. It is funny how God can use me teaching some of these simple lessons that I know like the back of my hand to remind me of His vastness. We truly cannot comprehend who He is and His power. I mean, He spoke….that’s all, and the heavens and the earth were created. Just by His words. This is no passive pansy God we serve, He will not remain dismissed from society forever. Anyway…we also had a great family night mid-week with a fresh Pappa John’s pizza on the tailgate under the Ringling bridge. Andy ran the bridge after eating the pizza, Cora and I walked.  Andy’s family came up to see Cora on Thursday, we hit the downtown Farmer’s market on Saturday, found a quaint train-station diner for breakfast, and enjoyed an awesome morning at church with great friends, hit a kid’s birthday party and attended a BBQ for all of the volunteers of the youth group. Whoa, ready for bed. Check out this video from last weekend’s trip to Ft. Myers to hang out with our BFFs and celebrate Brigit’s birthday.

Andy and I had been looking forward to a quiet weekend at the cabin for some time and our chance finally came when my parents planned to be in California and Andy had a Labor Day off. While Andy was at work on Friday I packed up half the house and loaded it all in the truck all by myself. Usually I pack and Andy loads. Having both tasks on my plate on top of keeping Cora entertained was quite the job. It took me from 10:30 until about 4 to get everything ready. Did I mention that I was also on antibiotics for a sinus infection? Yeah. We picked Andy up from work and headed out of town with the appropriate IPod mix blaring “Johnny Cash” by Jason Alden. We spent Friday night playing cards with my parents before they left and then half of Friday night getting Cora back to sleep after they left for the airport in the middle of the night. On Saturday, we woke up slow, ate huge bowls of our favorite cereals, and watched ESPN. Yes, the cabin has cable, and access to ESPN is a vacation in and of it self for my husband! We also took a long walk down the Withlacooche trail, had a picnic and took Cora for her first canoe ride. She loved looking around at all the tress and seemed mesmerized by the hum of the trolling motor. It was great! Andy and I also worked on a new puzzle, which we’ve learned is one our favorite ways to relax and be lazy together. Dorky, I know. On Sunday we played with Chase in the river, jumped off the rope swing and practiced our aim with the sling shoot. Then we got dressed up and took Cora to Uncle Ryan’s, Aunt Julie’s, and Hunter’s house where they baby-sat and we went out on a date. We headed to channelside, which apparently is pretty dead on Sunday nights, and then over to Hyde park to listen to some live music and have some “adult conversation.” It was fun to just be Andy and I again for a few brief hours. We spent most of Monday laying around the river again and trying to finish our puzzle. It took us about 2 hours to clean the cabin since we both took a vacation from doing the dishes and picking up after ourselves. My mom would have loved to see how messy it had gotten. I’m pretty sure there may be a diaper or two waiting to be discovered when she returns.

Monday also brought Cora’s 5 month birthday. Her latest discoveries are that she can get her foot in her mouth, she can scootch around on her belly a little, she can SCREAM and people come to check on her, and she can pull a blanket off her face to play peek-a-boo. She is sitting on her own for a few seconds at a time and still wants to put everything she can reach in her mouth. I’m not sure what her exact weight is, but she was about 14.5 at her 4 month appointment. I fed her rice cereal about a month ago, which she loved, but decided to wait until she really needed it to before I continued. She’s still sleeping from about 8:30 until about 7 without a peep. She is growing so fast, and it’s true, I’m loving every stage.

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As you can see Cora is starting to “tripod” and sitting up a little longer everyday.