Who could resist?

Who could resist a cupcake with sprinkles?

Especially when someone else made them for you (Thanks Derek and Taylor).

Who could resist taking a picture of a cute girl covered in frosting?

Not I.

Who could resist this sweet face and refrain from grabbing those cheeks and smothering them with kisses?

Not I.

Who could resist this toothy grin?

I most definitely cannot.

I love my life.

Especially these precious joys.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't blame her for being too anxious to give a proper smile... this girl finally went (#2) in the potty!!!!!! WOO HOO!! Okay, I know it's silly when parents make a big fuss over their child's bathroom accomplishments, but you don't know HOW LONG we've been working on this and struggling with this! I couldn't be more proud of my girl. Determination kicked in the other night and ALL she wanted to do was try to go! She sat on the potty for a combined total of about an hour and a half, just waiting. She kept saying, "When I go, then I'll get a BIG Barbie surprise!!!!!!" So how could we not comply after such a victory?!

She was so excited to open it, that she barely held still long enough for me to take the shot.

silly sisters

I love each stage that my girls are at.

2 yrs. almost 3, Layla says the silliest things and is so full of curious wonder for the world around her. She's super sweet, with occasional bouts of craziness. She's extremely independent, yet very cautious and careful at the same time. She still loves MILK, her blanket and piggy, and has formed a new love for: Blue's Clues, Kipper, and Barbie.

Gwen has just about hit the 7 mo. mark and OH BOY does she know it! She seems to be very determined to grow up and move out of babyhood. With a big sister like Layla, I don't blame her for wanting to be big enough to play. She scoots (mostly backwards) but all around trying desperately to snatch up anything within reach. Her little shrieks and squeals fill the air as she is so intent on communicating the only way she knows how. (We think it's cute, although Layla does have some issues with the volume of Gwennie's little screams and often times you'll hear her scream right back at the baby). Gwen also loves baths, carrots and sweet potatoes, elmo, and my hair. (She's always loved to play with my hair while she eats and amazingly enough will rarely pull it, just hold it.)

(Oh and Tanner, I tried to crop you out of the background as much as possible. Sorry. These pictures were just too cute not to post!)

How do I even manage to get a THING done with all this cuteness surrounding me?!!

Love Sun

I crave the sun.

I long for the warmth of Summer to finally get here and stay.

I want to take my girls to the park daily, wearing shorts, with our hair pulled back.

The smell of sunscreen.

Smiles stained by vibrant popsicles.

Picnics and campfires, Pasta salad and corn on the cob.

Sun, please come out to play.

Scooting

My little baby Gwen is growing up! She has two little teeth, is starting to like baby food (carrots especially) and is now starting to scoot around! It's tough for me to think that my little one is already at this stage... why do babies have to change so rapidly! I just want to find a way to bottle her sweet, innocent babyness up and keep it forever.

I suppose that's why pictures are like treasure to me.

Gotta love the post nap hair...

I love how HUGE layla looks compared to Gwen, just because she's closer to the camera. She looks giant! haha

Swing baby swing!

One of Layla's favorite ways to play with her sister, is to swing her HIGH in her baby swing. Don't worry, I am always nearby to keep things under control. But as you can see...

Gwen loves it too!

little vampire?

Carrots.

blustery

Layla (like most other kids) is obsessed with playing outside. This day was rather windy, creating a whirlwind of fun for her crazy imagination.

Here, she kept saying, "just... keep... walking... hehehehe". Tanner and I were really laughing because it seriously looked as though she'd blow away.

I looks like she's running here, or trying to run, but she's not. She's actually posing. She found a little action figure toy, stopped and said, "Oh, hi there!"

Recently

We've had a few more gorgeous, sunny days lately and we've taken full advantage of each of them. Layla is once again OBSESSED with the park and talks about it all day long. Although, she still is quite scared of even the most simple playground activities. Such as walking up the stairs to get ON the jungle gym... she crawls. And there's no way you'll catch her walking across that insanely scary bridge. Absolutely not. It's quite hilarious actually to watch her get on the "toddler" jungle gym and have babies passing her up and doing things Layla wouldn't dare do... such as go down the slide. She's a scaredy cat for sure, but we sure love her.

Lately Layla has started speaking for Gwen. She'll inform me when she's happy and likes something or if she hates a certain show on t.v. She even told me that Gwen didn't like my hair-do the other day. Nice. And whatever Gwen has, Layla will usually let me know that Gwen told her she could have it. Like this Boppy.

Silly.

Gwen is at the stage where she is getting more and more interested in toys and actually showing some attachments to certain things. Such as this Elmo. This is the one of the first things (besides Layla) that she has shown such a strong liking to. She gets extremely excited when she sees it and instantly strikes up a converstation with the little monster.

I should get a video of it, it really is cute.

Here she is practicing her sitting.

Proof

(sorry Gwen)

Oh, and cookies.

I'm doing a Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge.

Each weekend this summer I will be baking a different choc. chip cookie recipe in search of our (my) favorite! This was the first one I tried... good but not GREAT.

Birthdays Shmirthdays...

I am yet another year older... and feel no different. Sometimes it amazes me how quickly these last few years have flown by. My life before marriage and children was very different, so self centered and boring. Yuck.

I'm so grateful to be able to share these years of my life with people I love and that make me feel so special and worthy of happiness.

I made two fruit pizzas (my favorite treat) anticipating a big group to show. Almost everyone cancelled, so we gave one away.

DELICIOUS!

My beautiful first born and her cheesy smile

(literally, I think there's some left over mac n cheese on her face)

This picture is really blurry, but I love how sweet my baby looks.

She is an angel.

Overall, I had a great Birthday! Thanks to all of you who wished me one!

Love being their Momma