New Windows, First Food, and Mommy's Helper

My dad returned to CO with us after our visit in CA to put in a few new windows. Paul took a couple of days off of work and they installed the kids' bedrooms and the living room. What a difference it's already making! It's so nice having a dad that can do this, and do a great job at that. Paul's been learning a lot too...so much that he's inspired to do the family room windows before winter comes. We were going to wait on those, as well as the bathroom windows because they're so small, but now we think we can get them done. It's been hot this week so they're already being put to the test...much better! All they need to do is paint the siding on the house for these two below:

Hard at work!

Mommy's helper: Allison loves to be a mommy to Rachel. This isn't anything new...she's done it since we brought Rachel home. She has, however, begun picking her up and carrying her around. This wouldn't be a problem except she occasionally drops her. Yesterday she dropped her (or Rachel slipped out of her grasp) onto the porch. We didn't know that had happened until I was giving Rachel a bath last night...there was a good size bump on her forehead which had been concealed by her ever-growing red hair. Allison didn't own up to what had happened at the time; Rachel was just crying loudly so we assumed Allison just handled her too roughly. It's my fault for leaving her alone for a second with Allison- she was in her baby seat- but we have to nip this in the bud before she really hurts her. She also managed to carry her IN HER BABYSEAT down the 4 steps between our living room and family room. Hardwood floor steps! How she managed it without falling or dropping the chair, we'll never know. Luckily we caught her before she was aiming to take her down the 10 steps to the basement...

Here she is, actually being helpful by pushing her around on the sidewalk.

Had to include one of cutie pie Tom.

Dressing her up is another fave pasttime...here she is in Allison's dentist-given shades. Lookin' good.

And lastly, here's Rachel trying out her first taste of cereal. Since I really lagged with giving Thomas his first taste of "real" food, I thought I'd try harder to get Rachel going on it sooner. Well, with the help of Allison and much encouragement from Thomas, she did great. She didn't eat too much but she seemed to enjoy a new taste. She did suffer some belly problems, though. A middle-of-the-night blowout, to be exact. Oh, the joys of parenthood!