the 4th of . . . yes, july

a little ridiculous, i know, but the pics are cute and it included a special visit from gran.

it started with a trip to the zoo and some pretty magnificent face painting.  anabelle usually hates getting very messy or having anything stuck on her.  when i had henna done after emilymae was born she kept making yucky sounds and telling me i needed to clean it.  to our surprise she took us up on the offer to have her face painted, looked over the options and made a selection with papa (a tiger!), added that request for a purple tiger, and agreed with the artist that finishing it off with a little glitter would be the perfect touch.

it was pretty amazing to watch come together.

 

 

 

she got a lot of compliments throughout the zoo

 

rawr!

 

so much fun but time to take our tired tiger home

 

holding hands with gran

and . . . she’s out!

  ok, now for the 4th.  we spent the day in coronado with chris’ brother and his family.  we saw the parade, swam at the pool, and bbq-d on the beach – standard holiday festivities, right?!

we even stopped at a neighborhood lemonade stand on the walk back from the parade.

 

the hat came from mr. jake’s (my bestie’s husband) going away party the week before. 
it’s still a big hit over here.

 

cheers to sweet families, cheers to our lives and freedoms, cheers to awesome face paint, and cheers to all of the armed forces – serving and supporting.

be safe mr. jake.  see you soon!

touch car = touchdown

she’s picking out her own outfits, making her own rules . . why should football be any different?

she’s got pretty good moves.

wish someone would create a filter on the video to muffle all the super proud and excited momma chatter.  i always forget that i’m going to be the loudest thing on there.  (sorry)

ema magic

she’s still little at 15 months and i’m still completely smittin’.

 

her spirit is different than her sister’s (as it should be) but just as big and bright!  emilymae wants to watch everything that is going on while anabelle would like to be in it and they both have incredible smiles, giggles, and ability to steal my mushy mommy heart - everyday.

*thank you jen daniels photography for the delightful moments you captured of me and my ema last month!  there is a post coming about that lovely adventure later.

my little foodies

can you tell who is who?!

smiles, swings, and sunshine

looking through my huge pot of pictures & came across these.

this simple little swing on our tiny little porch has brought all of us so many smiles.  it’s our little ‘outing’ when we don’t quite get out.  both girls love it and on this day they loved it together – those moments are even more special!

fresh air & a little sunshine does everybody good!

i’m loving watching them interact (ok, 75% of the time it’s a happy situation), copy each other, & giggle.  emilymae searching for anabelle’s belly button tonight was pretty darn funny! 

i look forward to seeing them grow into lifelong besties . . .
and of course photographing it along the way!

she found more

the closet was open and she saw more boots so, of course, try carrying three on day 2 of your real deal walking.  she’s so brave and confident.  she climbs, she tumbles (sometimes with a little help from her big sister), she climbs some more, she walks with three boots.  and she is so proud of herself.

she’s moving quick so pictures are still fuzzy

*please disregard the giant pile that needs to go out to recycling

this boot is made for walking

yep, just one boot – at least that is what emilymae has decided on . . for now.

she’s not a big fan of shoes on her little feet but yesterday she started toting around one of anabelle’s ladybug rain boots.  she must have dreamt about it because today she was marching up a storm – with one little boot in her left hand.

most pictures were fuzzy today with all of the new left foot-right foot business.

of all things to carry while you’re learning to walk.

will she be our little lefty?  maybe!  chris is holding out hope.

time for a change

these girlies of mine are growing and changing every single day so i figured it was time for a change on the blog too.  (my old header was a picture of the day after emilymae was born.   now she’s over 14 months old!) 

well, what do you think?  i’m kind of in love with it!  thank you etsy for so many creatively delightful and affordable options . . . for just about everything.

last month i took a little trip up to monterey, just me & e.  it was really good for all of us.  my heart and brain are still buzzing with excitement and ideas for new things – i’ll get into the trip and all of that later.  this post is just a little check in and a test run of the new look.

man.  pretty & clean & . . . totally me, right?!

- - - - - - - - -

we’re all busy, as usual.  even though some days we don’t even leave the house -
(see pictures below)

 

we are doing great, still looking forward to more sleep (who isn’t really?), madly in love with each other (the big ones & the small ones too), managing the 3 year old crazies that sometimes creep out (ok, 3 is definitely it’s own critter!), celebrating true life potty training success (sporting awesome batman & superman undies), watching ema and her wobbly march (ara is her favorite person to walk to), enjoying a variety of homemade cookies (it’s my beer), and trying to figure out the best way to soak up our last year in san diego.  yep, moving in june 2014!  it’s still sinking in a bit.  there will be another post with those details later.  good news is the marine is stoked about this opportunity and the four of us get to go & stay together – my favorite place to be!

that’s it for now.  i do enjoy the occasional quiet ‘me’ time but i’d better get to bed.

ok, maybe just a few more pictures first.

first powdered sugar donut hole.  yes, she only had one of them.  i know, kind of lame but we also had one glazed and one chocolate . . . and we walked there.

my latest ikea purchase – anabelle’s road mat . . complete with one cutie emilymae-zilla!

anabelle told me they were all waiting in line for parking at the baseball game.  her little brain gets more and more creative everyday.  you don’t realize how much the little people around you are soaking up.  it’s fascinating, entertaining, and so darn cool!