We recently purchased a giant new TV and we were fortunate enough to have someone give us their old antenna, so we didn't even have to buy one (you can't get any reception out here without satellite, and we'd already been down that road before and didn't want to get it again). Jared played with it FOREVER and tried many, many different things just to get reception and came in to find we only got 8 channels... I think only two were in English. So we thought about getting rid of the whole deal and going back to our non-flat panel, non-HD TV. BUT, then we got a tip from our buddy Mark, and now we've got about 40 channels (25 decent ones), and most importantly, now we can watch football!!

Jared is pretty stoked. (Excuse the cable hanging across the wall in the back... it's not staying like this, we just set it up temporarily before we hang it on the wall.)

And here is the very giant antenna...For weeks I talked about how much I missed sitting on the couch in the fall watching football, eating yummy food, and having a cold breeze blowing in the window. We had ALL of those things today, and it was fabulous. And then I remembered that it wasn't so much watching football that brought me such joy, but more so the wonderful set up it gives you for a sweet Sunday afternoon nap. I didn't last long, and Paka didn't really help since he laid on me and gave me some good sleep vibes.

Last week I made brownies, and I showed Leah the main reason we make brownies-- to lick the batter off the spoon, of course. She was a fan.

This picture was taken in passing, as most pictures are these days. She doesn't stay still for long, or ever. Unless she is sleeping (and even then there is a lot of thrashing involved).

Jared and I are often amazed at how little she looks like a baby, and how much she looks and acts older (except for her small size, of course). It's like we can already see what she is going to look like when she's a kid, and not a little toddler. And naturally, she continues to live up to her party girl status, with lots of impromptu arm-waving, hip-shaking dancing.

I counted up the other day, and Leah's got about 20 words that she says now, and she has just recently become willing to *try* to say most anything you ask her to. It's very encouraging, because for a while she would just stare at you and whine. We can also tell that she understands *much* more than she can say. It often surprises us when we say something to her and she actually responds in the appropriate manner. (For instance: close the drawer, where's your blankie?, go find Daddy, give Heidi nice pats, look at me, let's go to the tub, give that to me, etc etc.) This very small little girl is growing up quickly!