21 Months

Today Bayli is 21 months old.

My baby is growing up so, so fast...

• I've noticed her sweet chubby, chubby baby body has gotten longer & leaner.
• She's talking up a storm and putting two & three words together.
• She calls herself "Baby".
• She's loud when she doesn't get her way.
• She's using words like "Hey!", "Mine!"
  & "No!"
• She asks me to put a ponytail in her hair every day.
• She gets her little feelings hurt and has almost figured out the fit-throwing (so far, she just throws herself on the floor...)
• Her wet baby kisses are the most precious thing in the whole world.
• She loves, loves, loves to watch Barney! She actually watches it now and can't get her face close enough to the tv screen.
• She still loves nursing.
• She loves riding in her jogging stroller and going to the park.
• She eats cereal & milk in the morning - and always reminds me to put it in a "bowl" with a "spoon".
• I can't even imagine life without her.

Don't Worry About Me...

For those of you who were concerned that I might not know what to do with myself with the big girls back in school,

I just wanted to ease your worries by letting you know that Bayli has it covered.

Between asking about her sisters all day long, she has redoubled her efforts in an attempt to keep me from missing them too much (or being too productive).

This is what I found on Day #1, when I foolishly attempted to shower, leaving Bayli temporarily unsupervised...

Yep, that's Eucerin (again).

You'd think I would learn.

It is really, really hard to get out of hair, carpets, down comforters & clothing.

It definitely kept me busy.

And for the rare quiet moments when I am not cleaning up the most recent catastrophe,

I am super lucky to have some great family to meet us for a fun lunch...

My Momma, Day #1

my Squeester, Day #2

(not pictured) my Hubby, Day #3

He's not as fond of my camera...

Anyway, don't worry about me - she's got a lot planned...

Back to School!

my new 8th grader!

It's crazy that our summer's over already - my girls headed back to school this week!

Ryann started her 2nd year of Jr. High on Monday.

I promised not to follow her around with the camera (I know, I'm the best mom ever), so I don't have a lot of pictures...

But she looked great with her cute new haircut and Converse...

Poor Ryann - while she was already back at school, the rest of us had fun...

meeting Madi & Skye's new teachers

and going out to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe...

But yesterday, everyone had to go back...

It's been so crazy-busy that I forgot to prepare myself to be sad! Madi literally jumped out of the car and ran to find her friends, but at least Skye let me walk her to class. :)

She seemed a little hesitant when we both realized that she was going to be there all day...

Luckily, she loves her new teacher and had a really great day!

Hooray!

Then, even though Ryann had lots of homework,

we celebrated a successful first day back

in a most summery way...

Family!

I am so lucky to have such a great extended family!

Even though we moved away when I was 12, I have such great memories of spending so much time with my aunts, uncles & cousins, and we've been lucky to stay close all these years.

I especially love my two really wonderful aunts, Marilyn & Carolyn, so I was obviously thrilled to hear that they were coming to Colorado!

It was icing on the cake when they ended up bringing my cousin Christine, who has been my best friend most of my life.

It was really so much fun to see everyone!!

The timing was a bummer, since they got here the day Bayli was so, so sick and we had reservations to camp at the yurt during the time they were here.

I hated not being able to spend more time with them, but loved being able to see them as much as I did.

Whenever we visit Utah, everyone is also so good to us, so it was nice to be able to return the favor slightly and have everyone over for a BBQ one night and a pizza party another.

So fun!

We hope to see you guys again soon!

Yurt Camping!

Even though I thought I was crazy

to try and plan a camping trip days before school starts

(not to mention the scary-sick baby

& fun family unexpectedly in town...)

our trip to Golden Gate Canyon was so, so fun!!

The girls came home and told my aunts that we did "nothing",

but here's my highlights...

• the stars!
• the campfire
• learning how to tie knots
• roasting marshmallows
• lots of card games
• Madi sleepwalking out of the yurt (okay, that's more of a scary "lowlight"...)
  laughing sisters
• camping breakfast
• s'mores
• reading a really great book
• staying dry! :)

Thanks to my amazingly handy hubby, who not only did an emergency roadside brake pad & rotor replacement on the way up, but didn't even let it dampen his spirits! :)

I'm a lucky girl...

Bayli Update

Thanks to everyone on Facebook who freaked out with me this morning when my baby had a fever of 105.2.

Scary!

But for those of you that didn't see my Facebook comment, it looks like she just has some kind of virus. The Dr. saw a couple of little ulcers in her mouth and her throat looked red. ??

So hopefully it will be a quick bug

and she'll be back to normal soon.

Today was day #3 of both of us being exhausted.

She was super, super fussy so I got nothing done.

Even though today was really my only day to do the last-minute errands before school starts and my only day to get the house straightened up for our fun family company.

I'm so trying not to freak out. :)

It's 5:37, she's sleeping peacefully, so I'm hoping to at least shower before my hubby gets home...

:)

The Best Day Ever!

Yesterday was the best day ever!

My hubby is gone a lot on the weekends, but this weekend he was all ours!

It was so much fun!

After a wonderful lunch at my favorite restaurant (Heart of Jerusalem- just the two of us!), we all went swimming. He rarely comes to the pool with us, so the kids had so much fun being in the water with him and showing him all the things they could do. He even went down the waterslides! He BBQ'd dinner and we all watched Kung Fu Panda. Ryann has been at the dance studio so much, it was amazing for all six of us to actually be together doing the same thing! We went for a walk after dinner, then when the kids went to bed, we watched a totally hilarious episode of The Office.

So much fun!

Thanks Baby for a Perfect Day.

I Love You!

What I'm Doing After Midnight...

It's a good thing I had such a great day since as soon as I started getting ready for bed, this one was awake...

Fussy, fussy and looking totally pathetic (obviously).

Something's up...

:( Aagh!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Auditions, 2009

After a lost summer spent at the dance studio, 4 days a week for the past 6 weeks, 11 hours a day for Ryann, last Friday both Ryann & Madi both took part in ensemble auditions.

And yesterday, all their passion, hard work & dedication paid off!

Madi was so thrilled to get a spot in the Pre-Jr. Ensemble!

Way to go Baby!

Ryann scored really high and of course, got a spot in Jrs.

She also scored high enough to be offered a spot in the Senior Ensemble!!!

I'm so proud of both of you!!!

It's so wonderful to see you both doing something you love and doing it so well.

Congratulations!