Gabby's pride

Gabby is so proud of her first steps! Look at that gorgeous & radiant baby smile :) She is proud of her accomplishment and happy to be mobile (her little baby knees are happy too!).

Gabby's First Steps!

Gabby took her very first steps yesterday while holding onto her walking toy! She did this all on her own....she just crawled over to her toy, pulled herself up, and began taking steps forward. She is our youngest baby to take her 1st steps....only 10 1/2 months old! Go, Gabby, Go! We're so proud of you!

Princess Tea Party

Hannah & Lily celebrated their birthdays together with a princess tea party yesterday! Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) attended and served the girls tea, sandwiches, and cake. The girls were delighted to dress up in fancy princess dresses, beads, gloves, etc. They had such a wonderful time. This is what little princess dreams are made of....

Gabby @ 10 months

Well, this is the perfect picture of Gabby at 10 months...since standing on her own earlier this month at the beach, she wants to stand all the time now. On this day, she pulled herself up by holding onto our cabinet knob. Can you see that proud little smirk on her face? She's saying, "Look what I can do! Yup, I did that!" She's an 18 lb little genius :)

Sleepy Lily

Tired children will fall asleep anywhere! Lily was so tired, she fell asleep with her head over my chair. I can't imagine how that could be comfortable, but I guess it doesn't matter when you're 3 and exhausted! Hannah is the product of a scrapbooking mommy, and wanted to get in the photo too.

Happy 5th Birthday, Hannah!!!

Hannah Rose turned 5 years old on June 21st, the summer solstice! She was so excited! She woke to balloons, gifts, a cake made by mommy, and best of all...cheers and love from her family. She says she feels 5 now, and loves it :) Happy Birthday, my beautiful Rose.

At The Beach- Our Last Day

Here we all are on our last day at the beach. We had such a wonderful week! We drove back home yesterday (Saturday). It was a very long journey. We stopped to help a family in distress, which added a lot of time to the drive home. They had a flat tire and a flat spare! The grandparents had their 3 grandchildren with them and no way to repair a flat. Dan used his tire slime kit to plug the hole, which was enough to get them on the road and on their way to a service garage. The delay caused us to have to stop to feed the children 2 meals instead of just one...we got home at 9pm! By the time we got the children tucked in bed and the necessities unloaded, Dan & I were sitting down taking our first deep breath at 10pm, feeling quite exhausted. What an adventure! We're looking forward to doing it all over again next summer!!! The relaxing beach life is easy to get use to :)

Pool Fun

On day 6 of our vacation, we decided to take a dip in the pool. Lily did not want to go in, so she sat on the edge & dangled her toes in. It was fun, but everyone agreed that the ocean was so much better!

At The Beach - Day 5

Here are some highlights from day 5 of our vacation.... Hannah dipped her hair in the water and threw her head back to get it out of her face...very Hollywood starlet. Gabby warmed up to the ocean, crawling in the water as it lapped around her. Daddy & the boys buried their feet and legs. Hannah faced down a wave. More surfing, running, and mommy & baby time.

Gabby pulls herself to standing!!!!

No way!!!! Wow, Gabby discovered how to stand up by herself while on vacation at the Beach! Way to go, Gabby!! This was completely unprompted...she wanted that clear bag on the table.

Baby, you're brilliant! We adore you.

At The Beach - Day 4, MORE!

More surfing fun!! We head out to the beach every morning, then come back in for lunch and Gabby's nap. After her nap, we either head back to the sand & surf, or do some other activity. Then it's time to eat dinner and head out for a walk on the beach before the children go to bed. It's wonderful!