Little Moments

You know those little moments?

The ones that come and go so swiftly...but you know you never want to forget. This was one of those moments that I never want to forget.

While picking up sticks amongst the dirt and muck in the backyard after our recent storms, Ella exclaimed "Wait Mommy, stop! I see something beautiful!".

She promptly ran over to a grouping of weeds, plucked a yellow dandelion from the ground and brought it right back over to me. "It's for you Mommy, it's beautiful and it smells like sunshine".

Ella, 

I love how you find little bits of beauty everywhere we go, I pray you never loose that vision because there is indeed beauty everywhere you will go. But if your eyes and heart aren't trained to find the beauty in all that is ordinary...life can become dull.   

Keep looking for that beauty my dear, even amongst the weeds.

Flashback Friday

2008 - Aidan at 12 Months

2012 - Lauren at 12 Months 

Wordless Wednesday

Goodbye, Sweet Abby!

Today is a sad day in our household as one of our family dogs - Abby - had to be put to sleep this morning.

I credit Abby with being the primary "matchmaker" for Mike and I. We lived in the same apartment complex, just one floor apart. Not long after I moved in, Abby quickly became obsessed with my dog, Ripley, and would go crazy barking and clawing at the door to go out each time I came by with Ripley.

Abby even grew to know the sound of my car, knowing that when I came home, Ripley would be coming out to play! One day in late 2000, Mike and I finally stopped in front of our building to let the dogs "meet" and we have not been apart since.

Sweet Abby, you were greatly loved and will be greatly missed.

One

Happy First Birthday Lauren!

As of 3:32 PM on July 1, 2012, you had offically been in this world for one whole year! You are now considered a toddler!

My how you have grown in just one year:

July 1, 2011
Weight: 7 pounds, 7 ounces
Length: 20 inches

July 2, 2012
Weight: 22 pounds, 3 ounces (65%)
Height: 29.5 inches (62%)


You are one active little girl these days...though you are not yet walking (you are close), you are crawling all over the place, climbing stairs and getting into everything you can possibly access!

What an amazing eater you are! We are done with bottles and formula and have switched to whole milk. You are doing really well with plates, and absolutely love to hold your own spoon. There is nothing we have found that you will not eat, but honestly, spaghetti is hands down your favorite food:

Sleep seems to finally be returning just a bit...a typical night finds you in bed by 7:00 - 7:30, and typically up around 5 AM, but if you come into our bed, we can usually get you to fall asleep again until around 6:30 or 7 AM.

You still have just eight teeth, but I swear you are on the verge of more....your gums have been so swollen! Despite any discomfort, you are by far the happiest baby around....

You love to wave to everyone and even blow kisses...as well as make your cute little kissy noises!

Aside from Mama and Dada, Lala, you don't really have any true words just yet. You do however; point to all sorts of things we may ask about, and you babble and order us around quite well! I have been worried about your lack of a true word, but I think that you are just opposite of the twins - they were very cerebral and slower to pick up the physical side of things....you are decidedly more physical!

Baby girl, I cannot believe that you are one year old. My heart wants to simultaneously weep with sadness that you are growing up, and cheer you one with great pride and knowledge of all that lies ahead of you in this world.

You have brought me unimaginable joy and I am go grateful and honored that we were chosen to be your parents. Words cannot express how you have completed our family in ways we never imagined. 

Welcome to the world of toddlerhood!

Flashback Friday

July 4, 2011 (3 days old)

July 4, 2012 (1 Year, 3 days old)

4th of July

On the spur of the moment, we decided to take a road trip up to Highlands to spend the 4th of July with Opa and Grandma Shushi.

We arrived a bit later than anticipated, and after a nice lunch, we wandered around downtown Highlands and took a break fo a few photos....

That evening Mike joined Opa and Grandma Shushi and took Ella and Aidan to see the fireworks while I stayed with Lauren in the hotel and struggled to get our own little firework to sleep (you can see that I caved and gave up on the Pack n Play)!

Mike and the big kids got home around 11:30 PM.....nothing like a midnight snack of doughnuts!

The next morning we checked out....

....and spent some time exploring Highlands...the last time we were here I was pregnant with Lauren, but had no clue! It was wonderful to come back to this very same spot (the first picture below) and take a picture with our now three kiddos!)

What a wonderful way to spend the holiday!

Happy 4th of July!

Lauren's First Birthday Party

We decided to celebrate Lauren's birthday in a joint party with the three other babies in our playgroup - and it was such fun! Each of us picked our favorite children's book and we did a personal table with that theme, and the rest of the party was a picnic theme with yummy food!

Despite the intense 100 degree heat, everything went as planned and everyone had a wonderful time!

I chose The Very Hungry Caterpillar for Lauren, and from the invitation....

....to the decor and the food....the theme was carried throughout everything!

Even her smash cake stuck with the theme....

The main cake was a picnic theme topped with elements from each of our books - a bunny from Lavery's "Guess How Much I love You" table, a caterpillar for Lauren, and a bear from Lucas and Ryan's "Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See" table.

We held a mini smash cake session before the party and had a framed picture from the session on the cake table....

That morning, the birthday girl was ready to go, looking adorable in her caterpillar dress!

Smash cake time....

....and that is a wrap!

It was a wonderful party and Lauren was sacked out for several hours that afternoon!