Loving the month of June!

The month of June has been a great month for the Bury family so far! Weather in Oregon fluctuates between cooler, overcast days and brilliant sunshine...causing us to run for the parks as soon as the sun peeks out. We had a great BBQ with our friends, the Johnsons, at our favorite park to kick off the month. Silas's pals Connor and Aiden always provide energy outlets and entertainment!
Then we had Chris and Christine and baby Ellsie at our house for a long weekend. What a treat to finally get our hands on this precious little niece of ours! She is beautiful and such a sweet little baby. Silas absolutely loved his time with Ellsie. From the moment we picked them up at the airport he was very interested and concerned with her every action. On the way home from the airport, Ellsie was such a trooper. She had already been on a delayed departure and long airplane ride, and was still hanging in there as we inched through slow traffic on the way home. This was mostly remarkable because Silas was sharing the back seat with her and any time she started to drift off he would shout "Wake up, baby Ellsie!" and then tell Christine "she is sleeping now, Aunt Christine" and then before we could stop him "Baby Ellsie, WAKE UP!" We tried to convince him that it was OK for her to take a nap and we would wake her up when we got home, but he couldn't resist...he was too anxious to interact with her.
And interact he did! Anytime Ellsie was on the floor, Silas was there with her. He helped her play with the toys and showed her how they made noise. He had conversations with her as she kicked around on the matt, all the time talking to her in a very quiet and sweet voice. He would gently rub her head and say "Hi Baby Ellsie" in a little wisper.
If he couldn't see her he would ask "Where'd baby Ellsie go?", and if she fussed (or not) he was quick to find her chupee (I have no idea how you spell that Christine!) and offer it to her...we all know the importance of the chupee and the pie. It was so fun for Jordan and I to watch him interacting with her in anticipation of our new addition in September.
Ellsie also got to experience a few new things while at our house. We introduced her to the bumbo seat...a huge hit! It is amazing how a tiny baby all of a sudden looks so much bigger when sitting in these little seats...but she enjoyed taking in the scenery from a new position. Her mom sang to her and tried to coax smiles for the camera...only to have Jordan remark that poor Ellsie is going to be tone deaf from all the singing she endures from Christine. Ellsie also met Elmo...Tickle Me Elmo to be exact...while at our house. There are videos of these new discoveries for all of your enjoyment. I am sure Chris and Christine have better pictures and videos, but you'll have to wait for their blog to see them!

Of course no visit is complete without a trip to downtown Portland, a visit to the fiesty ducks at the library pond, and a few Wii tournaments of bowling and tennis (I won't expose the sad story Chris and Jordan had after challenging me to "winner stays" in tennis...let's just say I had to stop after a while since I am only suppossed to be having so much time on my feet, lucky for them). We totally enjoyed having them at our house and it made us even more excited for the Bury reunion in July.

We also welcomed another new niece to the Baker side of our family. Hessel, Heather and Audrey are now joined by Evangeline Grace. Heather had a great delivery and another beautiful little girl...we cannot wait to meet this little sunshine and cover her with our kisses and snuggles!
On the baby subject, we had a very encouraging appointment with the doctor this morning. I am measuring the same length in my cervix today as I did three weeks ago! This is excellent news, and although I am not out of the park yet (27 weeks is good but not in the clear), the specialist was feeling confident that we are on the right track. So I am continuing to take things as easy as I can, and will go back for another measurement in three more weeks. We did get to see the baby on ultra sound again this time, and we certainly have a wild one on our hands! The baby rolled, flipped, kicked and punched throughout the entire exam. The tech was very impressed with the strength of this kid as it popped the ulta sound wand off my stomach with kicks and caused measurement to be more than tricky. We also got a chance to see the face and hands in 3D video. At 27 weeks it is amazing to behold the baby that is alive and active and so intricately formed inside of me. It was just an overall really great appointment.

OK, videos below...we miss you all and of course love you TONS!!

ps...Christine, while waiting for my doctor appointment today I saw a magazine article about the levels of sound decibles that certain toys produce, and I didn't get to read the whole thing except that I saw Elmo was near the top of the list for the most...and I certainly believe it!




Sorry some of the videos are dark...it's not my house I promise :) I need to get some editing software so I can lighten and crop these videos!

And one more, just for fun :)
This is Silas going potty outside (his FAVORITE big boy thing to do) and he usually narrates for me by saying...I take off my shorts, see Mom? I take off my underwear. I push out my buns, like this, Mom. And then I go potty! I'm a Big Boy!