airport shoot

so, I was obsessed with the idea of having an old truck in our photo's this year, it just seemed like a fun background that we could play around with. but after scouring st george and finding the perfect setting that turned out to be a farm surrounded by barbed wire that nobody seemed to own or have any contact info about who did own it, I was about to give up on the idea of a random, fun, unique background when justin came to the rescue and thought of the airport! he does deals for them at work and they were totally up for it. It was perfect. shaded, colorful, and there was even this random bench that is so retro its cool just hanging out waiting for us to put it to good use!

this is my absolute favorite of the kids.

I love this one especially in black and white.

ah, the tender couple shots.

who wouldn't gaze longingly at that man!

something about the way this picture is configured makes me so happy.

love.

my shirt is sitting funky, but I still like it.

ali doing things her way as usual.

I LOVE how this candid shot turned out.

he is even cute when he looks melancholy.

this is one of my over all favorites. it just makes me happy to look at.

and I love where the plane is in position to us.

look family pictures can be fun, our faces prove it...even if there are some death stares I may have neglected to post.

I am also a big fan of this one.

this is why I love val. some photographers would have been impatiently yelling at ali to stop wondering off...she sees a moment and captures it.

just for fun.

another successful shoot. thanks val!

if you are looking at getting family pictures done, you cannot beat val, nor her prices.

she is good with kids, stays calm, is genius, and will get just as excited about the shots of your family you love as you do.

if you are interested you should head on over to her site.

http://photographybyvalerie.blogspot.com/

(you will die when you find out what she charges, so inexpensive and for her quality work...it's insane.)

potty princess part 2, for real this time, hopefully.

(not a potty picture, but at least a potty pose! I think this picture is funny and it will so not be making it into the family picture montage soon to appear on our blog, so I went with it.)

ok, so a few months ago I posted that ali was obsessed with the potty, which she was. so after dragging my heels about going through the stress of it all I decided not to be lazy about it and just get going.

well, of course ali decided that it was no longer interesting the moment I jumped on board...knowing ali I am not surprised. she is a stubborn little thing and it had to be on her terms.

so imagine my surprise when her lonely bright pink potty go some major attention last week when she suddenly decided to pull off her diaper and wander in on her own to do her very lady like business.

a fluke maybe? I decided not to get too excited about this, considering her waining interest the last time I got my hopes up. but it continued all day, with no accidents. then a dry diaper in the morning followed by an immediate trip to the potty all on her own. all day I would hear her stop what she was doing and run downstairs to use her potty.

this has continued for several days now. most mornings are dry diapers and she even has dry diapers after running errands for hours (and she goes straight in to go when we arrive home.) I was really floored when she got out of the pool yesterday and went in the restrooms instead of in her swim diaper.

now there is one comical thing in all of this. she is good to go when she has to pull the diaper off, but the underwear are apparently so light and breezy that she forgets they are there, and thus forgets to pull them down and pee's right through them into the potty.
I guess though that if this is the only thing she needs work on I can handle that!

this is so ali and so a foreshadowing of years to come. it has to be on her terms. no matter if she is capable or not, it has to be her idea.

little stinker, it's a good thing she's so cute!

I know this was a lot of potty talk, but this is life around here!

tutu excited!

we have waited a long time to throw this baby shower...

and so we couldn't have been happier when the day finally arrived!

last month we got to have a mini reunion and celebrate one of our best friends becoming a mama!


lindsey and I planned everything from 2 different states! can you believe the decor all ended up matching and coming together so well? we were pretty excited about that part.
lindsey had the fabulous idea to make these flower clips and use them as decor and favors...she is genius. and we were so happy when our flower fabric ended up matching after all of that long distance planning!


lindsey made these cute tutu's...which wendy got to keep for her little ballerina!
and we played a who-done-it game of wendy and adam's baby days, followed up by the opening of gifts...all while eating yummy food.


at one point, we thought everyone had arrived and the doorbell rang. lindsey went to open it and that was followed by a squeal. we looked around the corner to see marjorie...from chicago!
I totally teared up and still get goose bumps thinking about how fun it was to all be together again.



we are all SO excited for wendy and that we all got to be together to celebrate the soon-to-arrive baby jensen.

party girl

today I turned 2.

I was a little happy about it.


of course I needed a party. daddy said I could.


so I invited a few friends for an impromptu birthday bash.

having them come was present enough, but then they brought REAL gifts.

some of them were hard to open, but Cole came to the rescue for me. he is such a doll.

I had to show daddy the goods.

they sat me next to a GIANT princess castle cake.

then they all broke out into song, I guess I bring that out in people.

I sat in awe of this touching gesture.

then...just when I thought it couldn't get any better...as if friends, gifts, and cake weren't enough...fire!

mom and dad wanted to get a bit more intense with the decorating on the cake, but time just got away from us this weekend. ah, the social life of a 2 year old...run run run.

I totally didn't mind, I mean it tasted delish!

and I didn't want them to feel bad, so I went straight for the draw bridge and used it as a spoon. don't judge me, I had to show them how grateful I was.

then I realized that cake can be messy.

and I didn't know how I felt about this.

I got over it.

I tried to eat as daintily as I could.

but with eats this good, I decided to throw caution to the wind.

after all, you are only 2 once.

mom and dad hooked me up with some awesome gifts too!

first an adorable big girl bed...which I have been sleeping in for a few months now...I was so over that whole crib situation.

not pictured here, but sure to be pictured on many a future post, is the MICROPHONE they gave me. I beamed, found the on switch, and went to town!

these people so know me.

(direct quote: oh! I sing songs!)

then they gave me a cash register...complete with my own

credit card.

SCORE.

dad said he could already feel his wallet tightening when I wielded the credit card with such ease.

dad also picked out some awesome cooking supplies for me.

he knows how I can't resist breaking in new pans, and of course I made sure the first meal went to him!

over all it was pretty much wonderful. mom, dad, cole, and my pals all totally hooked me up.

is it wrong to admit I loved being spoiled for a day?

yep, I think 2 is going to be a good year for me.

moose

my son is a...

cole had his yearly check up and at 4 years old he is weighing in at 44 lbs. that's the 95 percentile. but don't worry he is in the 95 percentile for height too...so he is proportional.

he is our huge boy who watches daddy's every move, and then tries to be just like him...so his size may come in handy someday if he likes everything dad does.

but for now he loves swimming, riding his new bike (when it's not 110 degees outside), playing with friends, and being a hilarious boy.


he continues to be a compassionate little man who hates dissapointing us, and likes to make others happy. he is adorable with his sister and incredibly protective of her.

he makes us laugh with everything he comes up with, and is such a good boy.

we are just grateful he is ours.