Happy Birthday Allison!

Happy Birthday to Allison!


This is one of my favorite pictures. It was taken Christmas of 2007, when we spent the Holidays with Allison and Jeff in California. Look how little Chloe is!

Allison, I hope today is memorable and fun. Please know we're thinking of you and wishing we were there to join you in celebration. Happy HAPPY Birthday!

Summer

Here's a glimpse of our summer.

We've taken lots of evening strolls around the block...


Stopping to smell the flowers, of course...


We've swung at the park...

Well, some of us have swung while others have simply watched on...


We've played on the banzai slide at Celestia's house...

Helped Mommy out with various "Mommy" tasks...


And made plenty of mischief too (as if THIS and THIS wasn't enough)...
"What? Jello can't be so bad to clean up, Mom!"

At least he's showing a little remorse in this one.


We've built a shed...

Well, started one anyway. All that's left now is paint and a door! Good job, Neil! You're amazing!


Made some jam...


Rearranged a certain little Princess' bedroom...


Received loves from Grandma Jill

(and plenty of others during our 4th of July Utah trip ...still need to post about that...)


And just sorta played around...


Most recently, we've started swim lessons...

And, obviously, had the time of our lives!

BOO!

It's been a fun and full summer, as you can see! Wow, I'm tired now.

Picture This...

It's official! My photography blog is up and running! Check it out HERE.

My mischief boy

Ryan refused to take a morning nap.

Instead, he screamed in his crib for 45 minutes before I finally gave in and rescued him.

Upon entering his room I was startled to find a naked boy sitting in one corner of the crib,

and a diaper sitting in the other.

Seriously?

Ryan figured out how to take his diaper off? Seriously?

Despite my shock and slight annoyance, I was relieved to find no wet spots anywhere (or worse). Then, because I'm me, I decided to grab the camera. After all, this was quite a monumental moment in this boy's first year of life, and what kind of mother would I be not to capture it?

I raced to the office then back to his room, crossing my fingers the whole time that he hadn't peed.

Naturally, as I was ready to take a picture, he did just that.

Lovely.

He was quite pleased with himself, as if you can't tell.

Suddenly duct tape has a whole new meaning.

Long time no see!

This evening Neil and I headed to Denver to meet up with my childhood friend, Char, and her little family. They are visiting her sister-in-law, who lives just West of Denver, in Lakewood. We drove about equal distances to meet up, and enjoyed a nice visit over a good meal! I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Char, but I know it's been at least 9 years.


Funny what that kind of time can do to you! Here we are with, between the two of us, 5 kids!

{Her Lyndie and my Ryan are 3 months apart.}

Char will always be special to me, and she knows why. It was great to see her and catch up for a couple hours. Hopefully another decade doesn't pass before our paths cross again.

Already?

Has this "into everything" stage really begun? I thought I had at least 2 more months to prepare!

(Notice he's dipping the toilet paper into the toilet. Because pulling it off the roll isn't entertaining enough?)

In case you're wondering why Ryan isn't wearing bottoms or why his onesie isn't snapped, let's just say changing this boy's diaper is close to impossible these days. I'm lucky to get a diaper on him let alone pants, before he's wiggled out of my hands and taken off. Some days he just looks like this! And it's perfectly fine by me!



Apparently the toilet paper lost it's thrill. And now he's off... to bigger and better things!

Baby Grant

Look what I got to photograph today. My first newborn.

6 days old. Could he be more precious?

{I was going to save these for my photography blog, which is in the works, but I simply couldn't resist. Hoping to have the blog up and running by this weekend. You'll see more from this session there. Stay tuned.}

Summer fun

I know I've been a blogging slacker. There just isn't enough time in the day. Here's a quick update and some pictures.

Ryan is now crawling. No more army crawl for this boy. He picked it up during our Utah trip and has been gaining speed every day since! He often crawls into little corners and cubbies only to realize he doesn't know how to get himself out.

"Would ya put the silly camera down and help me already?"

He's also pulling himself up on EVERYTHING! And oh, is he proud?


He's eating more and more table food. Saturday, in an attempt to keep him content, Ryan enjoyed his first oreo. What do you think? Did he like it?

And here he is last night after his dinner. I love how he squints his little nose.


Between the drool, all the chewing and recent fussiness, I suspect tooth #1 will be breaking through any day!

Here are some pictures I got of the kids yesterday. Thank goodness for friends with access to swimming pools. Thanks again, Melanie!

I still need to post about our 4th of July weekend in Salt Lake, among other things. Soon!! Hope you're all having a fun-filled summer!

Flashback Friday

My little ham at 16 months! Love this girl.

Chloe & Chase

Just got home last night from celebrating the 4th with family in Utah. It was crazy as always, but wonderfully memorable too. I have no business being on here right now with all I'm trying to catch up on, but just had to quickly post this very precious picture. Could these two be any more adorable? My very best friend, Wendy, who also happens to be my cousin had this sweet little guy, Chase just 16 days before I had my Chloe. As if there weren't enough parallels in our lives already, there we go having our firstborns just 2 weeks apart! Amazing. As you can see, Chloe and Chase are quite fond of each other. They were darling chasing each around Sugar House Park.



I will post more pictures from our trip when I get the chance, so stay tuned! Hope you all had a great 4th!