Nine months?!?

Tomorrow my baby Paige will be nine months old! I am posting today because we will be packing tomorrow and I am sure I won't get any pictures taken, let alone posted.


This one is blurry, but it was the only one where they were both looking NEAR the camera. Ha! Paige loves Lauren and follows her everywhere, always wanting to be doing what big sister is doing!


Right now she -- tries to repeat many words and sounds, pulls herself up to her knees, blows raspberries and makes herself laugh, waves hello, sleeps 11 hours through the night, claps her hands, prefers to eat table food no matter WHAT, lifts her hands to be picked up, still sucks her thumb for comfort, and crawls REALLY fast!


Here's what we call her "scrunchy smile"! Her top right tooth has just broken through and the left looks like it is not far behind. She is easy going, good at playing by herself AND with someone (which is more than I can say for a certain three year old), loves to laugh, and prefers to be in sight of Mama (which she still won't say).


Happy 3/4 birthday, baby princess! We love you!

Beach Retreat

We just got back from a relaxing beach vacation with our good friends, the Swope family - it was amazing! Both girls really loved the water and the sand!


Paige's first time at the ocean


Lauren loved playing in the waves


Happy girl with sand EVERYWHERE! Amazingly, she never complained about the sand on her face, and hands, and feet... and in her mouth... ;o)


Lauren stopping to give me a quick pose. She always had a great time but stressed Mommy out a little by getting so distracted with playing that she would NOT listen!


Daddy and Paige playing. Love her crazy hair!!!


Lauren did not really like Daddy burying her. She stayed put just long enough for a picture and then clambered out like her life depended on it!


Lauren and Porter playing in the sand. I think two seconds after this they were pouring sand on each other's heads. Fun times!


She was thrilled when I showed her how to "draw" in the wet sand.


These pictures just help me to relax all over again! What a great vacation!

Just in the mood

I was in the mood for a photo shoot today, so I plopped the girls down on my bed and tried to make something happen. Lauren was refusing to give me eye contact, and Paige was just enamored with Lauren and nothing else. We still had fun and got a few fun shots. Enjoy!


Surprisingly, Lauren thought this was as fun as Paige did! ;o)


At least one girl was happy to look at the camera!


I always thought black and white was my fave for pictures... but color sure is tempting me these days!


Awful composition, but such a sweet sister moment - there was a full hug that followed, but all I caught on film was a blurred streak. That's photographing children for you!!!

Contagious Laughter

Laughter is one of those words that JUST doesn't look right to me today. Do you ever have that happen??? Really annoying. ANYway...

Lauren loves to make Paige laugh. Her favorite technique for enticing the laughter is to laugh herself. This really loud, obnoxious, FAKE laugh. It kind of reminds me of the Riddler... but it does it for Paige! We had one such episode after lunchtime today:


See? Cracking UP! That is just the best.
I had to try and get a shot of what she was seeing during all of this hoopla...


but no matter how close I got to that wall (while kneeling on our couch and trying oh-so-hard not to flat out ruin the moment with the presence of my camera), this was the best I could get.

It is these adorable sister moments that make me glad we didn't just have one child. Hopefully I can remember to dig out these kind of shots to relax me when they are fighting over who gets to wear what shirt in 13 years or so. Eeeek!

Break in the mountains

We were able to go to Flagstaff for the day on Saturday to escape the heat. Yay!!! We all had a lot of fun - going to the Arboretum and walking around downtown. We even got a little rainstorm, a very refreshing Saturday!!!

My pretty girls!

Lauren and Daddy had a lot of great quality time together.

Paige hanging out by the pond. ;o)

Stopping to smell the flowers. The gardens were all very beautiful!

Paige loves playing with the grass - I couldn't even talk her into looking up from it!

Lauren running off some energy before heading back down the hill! She soaked up every minute of playing outside. As you can tell, she couldn't have been happier!

July 4th weekend

We were able to go up to Payson for the three-day weekend and enjoy the cooler weather with Justin's parents. Lauren LOVES spending so much time outside and just had the best weekend! We pushed the girls to their limits with early mornings, late nights, no naps for Lauren and fewer naps for Paige - but other than the occasional emotional breakdown they were both troopers and really enjoyed our little getaway!

Daddy and Lauren fishing - she finally got to break out her birthday fishing pole and was very excited!

Paige hanging out in the shade.

The girls all dressed in their patriotic best! Lauren was able to go see her first fireworks show with Grandma, Papa, and Daddy - but Paige was SO tired that Mommy thought it best to stay home and put her to bed!

On Saturday we went to Flagstaff for the day (yay!) to see the horse races. It was really fun and a beautiful day weather-wise! Lauren loved watching the horses and was always ready to cheer for the one wearing PINK! ;o)

Grandma Nel and Papa Jody were able to soak up some much needed Paige time!

Lauren playing with Grandma Nel's "sparkle beads" - all the little girls seem to just love this activity at Grandma's house!!!

New wheels

Well, J finally sold his truck last week - a good thing overall, but still very sad. After a few days of shopping he found a very good deal on an Acura TL! At least it will get better gas mileage - and we can still all fit in it if necessary! Lauren was very confused that Daddy didn't have a truck anymore - but was pretty excited to go sit in the new car, especially once she realized what a sunroof was! :o)