Blast From the Past

Lots of people will roll their eyes at me... I know I am!  But I feel the need to 

give an update for the last year and a half of our lives that I didn't blog.  I just need it written down so my kids can see it when they're older.  My kids were tiny a year and a half ago!

October 2012

Halloween pumpkins!

 This is one of my all time favorite pictures.  I just laugh every time I see it.  She wanted to ring the doorbell!

November 2012

Here's what Owen looked like back then!  He stole a sucker from his brother's Halloween candy.

Around Thanksgiving we had a little reunion with Derrick's family and stayed in a church that was remodeled to fit a whole family for reunions.  It was really fun!  We have since added a new sister-in-law and sent Aunt Megan off on a mission.

December 2012

Halle had her first dance recital, which was adorable!  Look how little she is, and her chubby cheeks!  

I don't have the video from the actual recital, but here is the video I got at her dress recital.  She's the back row, far left of the screen.  It was fun to watch and see how much she has improved since then.  I was nervous that at her recital she would be really nervous and maybe refuse to go, because it would be the first time she had been on stage ever.  There were so many people!  It was held in a high school auditorium (the normal kind, not the small town kind Derrick was used to. :)  )  But she did great!  

Hayden lost his first tooth.

 And we celebrated Christmas.

Newborn Photos

 (don't worry, I was wearing my swimsuit.)  :)

baby feet!

I love these!  Valery did such an awesome job, and my baby is just the cutest.  She was so fussy this day!  It was a rough photo shoot, so I was amazed at how many beautiful ones she was able to take.  Of course right when we were finished Millie filled her diaper and was calm and peaceful the rest of the day! 

Birth Pictures

These are the pics from Millie's birth.  The birth happened so fast that the photographer wasn't able to make it until about 10 or 15 minutes after the birth (I think... time was still a little unclear!) so my doula, Marcie, took some.  I am really grateful for that.  I remember when we decided to go ahead and break my water, I turned to her and asked her to take pictures. I'm someone who loves pictures a lot, and I'll go back and look through them for hours to remember everything. I've never had any pictures of any of my labors, so it was important to me.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to share them because it's a really sacred and personal moment, but I just don't want them to sit on my computer untouched forever.  They are begging to be shared, and hopefully they can just inspire someone who has a high goal to reach.  

I was actually smiling here because Owen had said something cute, as I'm sure you can guess by his face.

 Concentrating.

Those were all the shots taken by Marcie.  The rest of these are by Valery Bunnell Photography, who I would highly recommend!  http://www.valerybunnellphotography.com/

 My  midwife and doula, and exhausted husband!  Check out Marcie's website at http://yourchoicebirth.com/.

 And maybe you can see why there were no other pictures of Hayden.