Tea Party Fun

I met a friend that I haven't seen in over 10 years this last week.  She was doing me a huge favor by letting me take pictures of her aborable little girls and I've been super pumped to have the opportunity to shoot new subjects...the week started so warmly, I envisioned adorable outdoor photography where my camera is at its best...instead we had freezing rain, but she had a great plan B - Let's Pretend Tea Party.

Despite the chilly weather, we still had fun catching up and letting the girls be princesses...I definitely want to go back!  I will have to try and organize a play date there soon...

 

 

Sweet Leah "Bean"

Oh my sweet Leah...how you get overlooked in the mix at times with your slightly dramatic big sis...you had your 6 month check up last week and you are 17 lbs 12 oz and 27.5 inches long...just 4 pounds short of your 18 month older big sister - and a FAR cry from the 6 pounds you dropped down to in August.

You are the sweetest baby...the only time you cry is when you are hungry and we better not fool around with that baby food stuff!  You want your bottle.  You like soothie pacifiers, which is different from your big sister, who never quite got into the whole pacifier thing.  Many times I will come into your room in the morning and find you wide awake - just peacefully kicking around in your crib.  You have mastered the "paint the fence" move from the Karate Kid...this could be useful at a later date with Kendall for certain!  Just don't be too rough...you will likely be the bigger little sister (I know this role well, as I outgrew my 6 years older sister at the age of 12).

Your temperment could not be more different from your sister Kendall...we still have to work hard for a smile with Bee, but you flash your gummy grin to any happy face that you behold.  You are the life of the party anywhere we go...everybody just loves those chubby cheeks and your chubby little legs.

We love you my sweet pea...my, how quickly your half-birthday has come and gone!

"happy" birthday...and some other randomness...

Poor Kendall...her birthday was hardly happy...and it was a little rough for the rest of us as well. Wednesday began normally...Kendall crying and pitching the usual fit at my feet while trying to drop her off at daycare...meeting and dropping Leah off with my parents...work is crazy crazy busy...errrrrrrrrrrr....but then the really fun stuff began...

I had an old filling replaced that afternoon during my lunch break, which that wasn't horrible....until the pain medication began to wear off around 6 - right as I'm leaving to pick up Leah.  I realize that my cell phone has two messages and as I'm dialing to check it, the battery dies.  I make it to pick up the baby, my mouth starting to hurt worse at every moment, and I come home to realize that the daycare called because Kendall had a 104 degree fever - poor baby!

So Kendall had a great birthday of going to a brand new class with a bunch of kids she doesn't know with a teacher she doesn't know (she still cried with the old teachers she liked, but that is another blog or another day....) and the following it up with a 104 fever and pain medication being forced down her throat for the next 10 days...

I was going conclude with some cute stories, but Kendall has dumped her entire toy box on the floor and completely stripped nude...I guess she is feeling better!

Kendall's 2nd Year

It's hard to believe another year has gone by and Kendall will be two this Wednesday, January 20th! As with last year, I have strong memories of just two short years ago...the extremely cold winter night...the hours of contractions that seem to NEVER end...and finally my water breaking at 1 am...our lives will never be the same again!

We love our little girls SO much...I mention them in thankful prayers to God every day.

Happy 2nd Birthday Miss Bee!

We love love love you!

Prayers

It's interesting how God works everything together...for example, Kendall in the past couple weeks or so has started asking to pray before bed. She will clasp her hands together and gleefully shout "Gawd!" (aka God). She then bows her head and closes her eyes and, as patiently as a two year old can, waits for you to begin to pray. At the end, she always nods her head and says "AMEN!"

She first began making this request to Trenton...which began the conversation - how should we be teaching her to pray? When I was little, but old enough to remember, I recall my dad teaching me to pray. He told me to always start by praising God, then asking for forgiveness for our sins, then thanking God for his blessings, and then conclude with our requests.

Ironically, today the topic in Bible Study was "Teach Me to Pray"...it was a great lesson as always, and it still amazes me how God's timing and teaching work so perfectly together...

Reflections on a New Year

I usually try to have a point for my blog entries...at least I begin with one, and sometimes get off topic, but for those who know me well, that is not too terribly surprising. This one, however, may be a bit "Seinfeld-ian"...

I was getting ready to wrap my week at work last Wednesday (two days before Christmas) and I overheard a coworker tell another coworker "Merry Christmas" and to that they responded "Merry Christmas for a self-proclaimed atheist." For hours and even days after wards, I thought about how sad that statement and that person must be. What hope in this world would you have, if this world was all you had? Fleeting moments of joy in a harshly, cold world...it was an oppressive thought that troubled me for quite a time. How scary life, and of course death, would be if you thought you would just sink into...nothingness? How do people live that way? It made me think...what am I doing to help? In anything? So that's what my New Year's Goal is going to be...find a way to involve the kids and Help. Do. Live. Hopefully this will be a goal I can accomplish on a daily, weekly, monthly basis...

I've been working on Kendall's "Second Year" video...call me the queen of multi-media, but I love things like that. Finding the perfect transitions, perfect pictures, and of course the perfect song, is very fulfilling. I have yet to watch it without my heart feeling a little heavy...I can't believe my baby is almost two! I love the beautiful little person she is becoming every day, but nostalgia can be swift and painful. I frequently remind myself that this is such a precious time in our lives and perhaps that is why I take pictures with such a vengeance...I never want to forget :)

All for now...Happy New Year!

December Snipets

I finally had to chance to upload some photos this afternoon and wanted to share...

Leah is starting to show interest in the Baby Einstein series and suddenly Kendall has re-discovered it. She now asks for "baby all-stan" more than even Barney. Below is a snap shot of the sisters enjoying a morning show:

Leah and Kendall playing the evening I caught Leah rolling over...this picture was taken shortly before:

Once I realized the squirt had rolled:

Leah and her beloved "Ma"...