There are so many reasons I love this picture

Even though it's not really anything special, there are so many reasons I LOVE this picture.

I love it because it's a picture of Utah clouds. I swear, Utah has the best clouds in the world. I've been to a lot of different places, but none of their clouds compare to Utah. Utah clouds are the best. Even in Africa, there were some pretty cool clouds, but Utah clouds put them to shame. And really, in my opinion, these are cool clouds, but they're not Utah's best. Utah has some AWESOME clouds.

I love it because it was taken on the morning of Hannah's second birthday. I love you Hannah! Happy Birthday Baby.

I love it because the reason I got it is Bart called me on his way to work to tell me there were some cool clouds in the sky. He knows I love beautiful clouds and thought I might want to take a picture of them. I love you babe!

I love it because he noticed them because Addison pointed them out to him. (He was dropping her off at preschool before he headed off to work). Addison is so good at seeing the beauty in the world. I can just picture her gasping, pointing, and saying, "Daddy, look at those beautiful clouds!" I love you Addison!

And I love it because when Bart called, the babies were playing contentedly and were patient with me as I opened the door and slipped into the front yard to snap the picture. Thanks for being good my little ladies. I love you guys!

Practicing on my Brother - Engagements Eric & Courtney

So my brother and his new fiancee, Courtney were sweet enough to pose for me so I could practice taking pictures on someone other than my kids! And man, it's tough! I have SOOOOOOO much to learn. But I still had a lot of fun, and wound up with a few images I liked. So here they are.

Thanks guys, for letting me practice on you, and Courtney, thank you for agreeing to marry my quirky, awesome brother. We're excited to have you in the family!

A Little Mommy

Today after I nursed the babies, I set them down in their crib to sleep, and when I turned around, Hannah had her baby and was putting on my nursing pillow.

I ran downstairs for the camera, went back up and sat back to see what she would do.

I have to admit, I half expected her to pull up her shirt and try to feed her baby the way mommy feeds her babies.

But she was perfectly content just lovingly cradling the baby.

I love the way my girls play with babies. They are just so sweet and tender. True, our being in the room for more time caused the real babies to wake up, and it took me longer to get them to bed. But in my opinion, getting pictures of my baby caring for her baby...totally worth it. :)

Drawing Summer

So the other day while Hannah and the babies were taking a nap, Addison was out in the back yard drawing with sidewalk chalk (judging by the number of sidewalk chalk pictures I've posted lately, you can probably deduce that this is a VERY typical activity at our house...especially when the weather is nice).

So she comes in the door and says, "Look mom! I drew summer!" I went out the back door very curious as to what summer looks like and saw this:



So here is what summer is to my daughter:

Hearts


Our cherry tree


Daddy and Addison riding a roller coaster (when she's all grown up of course).


The sun, sky and clouds....especially heart clouds


Addison and Hannah playing on the grass with a butterfly (do you remember this post?)
Update: I just read this post to Addison and she informed me it wasn't her and Hannah. It was her and her cousin Mckenna...sorry for the mistake.


Our house with a pink door. (We didn't have any red sidewalk chalk. if you look closely, you can even see hinges!)


She worked hard on it



And was very satisfied with her work:


I love summer. :)

Just Playing

We've been having some fun around here.

Hannah loves putting this wire "trash can" on her head.

I use quotes because we never really use it as a trash can, and when we do it's just for paper. So it's not really that gross that she puts it on her head.

Addison got it in her head that if she put it on her head and clapped these two easter eggs together she'd look like the scarry monkey on Toy Story 3. With those eyes, she kind of did.


One of the kids (and my) favorite afternoon snacks is apples and peanut butter...heavy on the peanut butter.


And for Hannah, well, sometimes she just skips the apples.


Maya was having fun playing with daddy the other day.

Wait, that looks familiar, where have I seen something like that before...Oh yeah:
(that's Addison by the way).
By the way, Addison was almost the same age in that photo as Maya is in the one above.

Maya sure loves her daddy...almost as much as daddy loves his Maya.


I also noticed some really pretty light while I was changing Maya's diaper. So I grabbed a camera and snapped a few pictures...this one was my favorite.

I wish I had a macro lens to really get a good picture of Maya's eyelashes. They're so long and beautiful!

I'm also learning to take pictures in different types of light. I took this one yesterday and rather like it. :)


And now I'm feeling guilty because there are no pictures of Lilly in this entire post! I have to go and get one....Ah, here we go. Lilly in her Bumbo.

She's pretty good at sitting in the Bumbo...when she wants to. :)

A Letter to My Kids

I don't really consider myself a very sentimental person. In fact, I am generally not a fan of when people get all honeyed and mushy...especially in public. But I am going to break from my traditional demeanor in this post.

I have been feeling extremely grateful for my kids lately. They are really challenging a lot of the time, but they're also incredibly sweet and I don't know what I'd do without them. For Mother's day all I wanted (other than a nap) was some pictures with each of my kids, and Bart was happy to oblige. So, here they are, along with some thoughts about why I love each of my children.

And as a warning, this one's gonna be sappy. Read on at your own risk.

Addison:

Oh, my Addison. How I love you. In church on Mother's day, someone commented that often Motherhood is a thankless job. Well for me it isn't. Not with you around. Every single day I can count on you for at least one (if not many) spontaneous hugs accompanied by an, "I love you mom." Just the other day you told me, "Mom, all I want to do is get some hot chocolate, turn on a movie, and snuggle with you." Thankless? Never. I love you Addison.

Hannah:

Dear sweet Hannah. Just thinking about you makes my heart swell! I remember the first time I heard your, "I yuv you." I nearly melted. And I can always count on you to make me laugh with your quirky little antics. Lately, I love how you'll call out, "I yuv you mommy," and then pause, think about it, and follow up with, "I yuv you Addison." Or Daddy, or Maya, or Lilly...but I especially love the Addison right now. It always comes when Addison is away at preschool. It makes me happy to know that you love her so much, even when she's not around helping you. I love you sweet Hannah.

Maya:

Maya, I cannot explain the elation I felt when you first smiled at me. It was such a spontaneous, sweet smile. And it lasted for so long! I spent so many hours worrying about you when you were in the hospital. According to the ultrasound, gestationally, you were a few days younger than your sister, and when you're born at 32 weeks every day makes a big difference. Yours was the placenta that abrupted, and you had a hard time at first. But now it's like you're making up for all that worry you put me through. You are my angel baby. You are so easy going and relaxed. Don't get me wrong, if you have had enough for the day, you will let everyone know. But those days are few and far between. You are the perfect complement to your drama queen sister. I love you my Maya.

Lilly:

Oh my little Lilly. I'm not going to lie, you have been my most challenging baby. Your dad says you're a drama queen. You're either extremely happy, or EXTREMELY unhappy. The SECOND something does not go your way (be it having to wait while I change your sister's diaper or being set down when you want to be held), you will cry out to let EVERYONE know! On the other hand, when you're happy, you'll smile and coo at me for what seems like hours.
When you were in the hospital you were my rock. Every time the nurses would give me bad news about Maya ("She has to go back on the CPAP machine," or "She's not tolerating her feedings well") they'd give me good news about you (she's ready to move on to the next step). I remember looking into your little blue eyes and just feeling you tell me, "It's okay mama, don't cry. She'll be fine. See, I'm moving forward, she'll be there soon too." I knew she'd be fine, but I can't tell you how much comfort your progress brought me.
Then, as we were about to leave the hospital, your oxygen levels started dropping at your feedings. I told the nurses that I didn't understand. You were the one who was always doing better and now you were having a hard time. The nurses told me, "Sometimes it's like these little babies are just giving it their all, and they finally just poop out and say, 'I'm sorry, I just can't do it any more.'" I felt like that's what you had done for me. You worked so hard to keep me going when Maya was struggling that you finally wore yourself out. Thank you sweet Lilly. You were there when I needed you most, and in the grand scheme of things, a few weeks with extra oxygen and a monitor were a small sacrifice to have you home and well. I love you my little Lil.

Planning Dinner

As I was typing that last post, Bart was in the other room searching through our recipe books, looking for a few meals for this week. Here's a conversation we had:

Bart: Is Fennel Good.
Rebecca: Yeah.
Bart: What does it taste like?
Rebecca: Um....kind of like Anise.
Bart: ANUS?!?!?

LOL!!!!

::::an explanatory conversation and few minutes of quiet later::::

Bart: What's Ja-cam-uh (Ja as in the beginning of July, Cam as in the beginning of camera, and uh as in the beginning of um.)
Rebecca: You mean Jicama (As in Hick-uh-ma)

Never a dull moment at our house.

Addison

So today I wanted to take some pictures for a photography assignment I did. However it required someone who would sit still for an extended period of time. I realized that the babies were probably my best option, considering they can't really run off, but they were asleep and I worried they'd get fussy if they were forced to look into my camera lens for too long. I knew Hannah was out of the question, so I decided to bribe Addison with some brownies if she'd sit still and let me take some pictures of her. I asked her to sit in one position and not move. How did that work out for me? Well, you be the judge:

Addison: Mom, I'm going to get some brownies for doing this right?
Mom: Yes Addison, just sit still.


Addison: Can I get the brownies now? I'm really hungry.
Mom: Not yet, don't move, you're supposed to be in the same position. I'll give you some when I'm done.


Addison: I sure wish I were eating brownies right now.


Sigh. Oh well, they were close enough.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there, and especially to my Mother, Mother in law, and Grandmothers (that includes you Clara!).

I cannot explain how grateful I am for all the wonderful mother figures in my life. I really don't think I could have gotten any luckier in that department!

I also am so grateful for my kids (even if they do ware me out). In honor of Mother's day, I compiled a group of pictures I took on a "Hannah & Mommy day."



Hopefully I'll be able to make one of these for each of my kids soon.

Enjoying the Weather

The weather has FINALLY warmed up. Can I get a hallelujah! We've been taking advantage.

Ironically, a few days ago Addison decided she wanted to play with her umbrella for the first time on the first not-a-cloud-in-the-sky day we've had in a long time.


As you can see, we weren't too meticulous about cleaning faces after lunch.



She also enjoyed moping


Hannah discovered that sidewalk chalk can also be used to color various body parts.




She also enjoyed watering the plants.


And both girls loved playing with the rolly pollys.



Today was a bubble day.







And this picture is from tonight. I feel like it accurately portrays the way I feel life is right now...moving so quickly, everything is a blur.