Maybe a summer baby isn't so bad!

You would not believe how much I dreaded having a summer baby! Up until the summer, (which wasn't much of a summer at all) I swear I complained to almost everyone I knew how sad I was to miss out on all the ' fun stuff' summer has to offer. But you know what? I think I might have to start campaigning that having a summer baby is actually not so bad. I was still able to do a lot of summer activities pregnant (view the posts below), and am now realizing that a newborn is EASY to do things with since all they do is eat and sleep! I love that the nice weather forces you to be out and about (which for me is good... with Malia, I sat on the same spot on the couch for 3mo.), and I really LOVE the fact that I don't have to worry about keeping Allie bundled up and warm. I don't even think we have put her in an 'under' shirt onesie yet! Don't get me wrong... having TWO kids is still a challenge, and I am still a little sad that I wasn't able to wake board this year, but there is always next summer right?

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So... I guess what I was trying to get at was that we took our 1mo. old camping! We braved the mosquito stricken island again with the neighbors and were pleased to find zero mosquitoes and beautiful weather! I was a little nervous to head out without Aaron (he was meeting us after he got off of work), but we survived and I somehow managed to get all of our camping stuff set-up with out his help!

Allie's first boat ride!

I guess safety doesn't always mean comfortable...

Malia and Laelle LOVE riding on 'Dan's boat'. Here we are leaving the dock at Ridgefield. (Amy is our neighbor across the street.)

I've been feeling guilty for not taking as many pictures of Allie as I did Malia (she's already filled two 500-count photo albums), so here is my attempt at making up for lost time. Allie was such a good little camper. She pretty much just ate and slept! Everyone joked that they wanted to be the tent furthest away from ours, but both nights, Allie only woke up once to feed!

Here was our attempt at a family picture. I love that we are both focusing on a child. That really has been our life lately!

Allie looks NOTHING like me. We decided that it might be less complicated if we just told people that we both came into the marriage with a kid: Malia from me and Allie... well... let's just hope she doesn't grow up looking exactly like Aaron. :)

My birthday was Saturday and Aaron surprised me by filling up our tent with balloons! However, due to the static and heat, they started spontaneously combusting... SURPRISE!

How can one enjoy camping when they sleep it all away!?!

Malia LOVES camping. We hope Allie comes to enjoy it someday too!

Malia will always be Daddy's little girl.

What? Allie wide awake? Can it be!?!

Hanging out and camping on the island is so relaxing!

Love this one :)

Malia still has accidents here and there, but for the most part, she is a potty-trained pro!

GREAT tent sleepers!

Good morning happy baby!

Getting ready to leave. I just can't get over how beautiful (and crazy tan) Malia is!

When we got home, I got to open my birthday present! A Nikon Coolpix L110! We've had the same camera since we got married over 5yrs ago, so I am superdy duperdy excited! Stay tuned for some AMAZING pictures!

1mo. Comparisons

Malia

Allie

Malia

Allie (I couldn't get this without the binky... she HATED this pose)

Malia

Allie

Malia threw a fit that she wasn't in the above picture with Allie (since it is Malia's doggy), so I gave in and let Allie cry instead since she is much easier to pacify...

Our girls...

are WONDERFUL!

Malia has been such an incredible help and really seems to be enjoying being a big sister. Thankfully she has always been incredibly independent and self-entertaining, which makes it nice when I have to focus on Allie's needs. (Which by the way, feeling like a 'boob' is no fun. I can't wait till Allie realizes I am sooo much more!) I feel bad, but Malia sure spends a lot of time playing by herself. I can't wait to Allie get's old enough to be a playmate! Malia loves holding her sister, giving her hugs and kisses, helping with diaper changes, she loves 'checking' on her and telling me when Allie is crying, she's good at finding the pacifier, stays quiet while 'baby' is sleeping, and loves to take pictures with Allie.

Don't you love how Allie is choosing this moment to spit-up? So far, she is less of a spitter-upper than Malia was. Allie nurses very well and eats every 3 hours or so.

This is really poor picture quality, but it really highlights how different these girls eyes are! Malia's have seemed to turn a hazely gray, while Allies are bright blue! Allie still seems pretty fair skinned and I am still getting used to her 'blemishes' being more noticeable. Her hair is still blonde, though sometimes in the right light it appears almost orange.

Though Allie was a big baby, her face was deceiving due to it's tiny features. But lately, she is seeming bigger and bigger! She has officially 'unraveled' (a huge difference from Malia who loved the fetal position), holds her head up well, switched to size 1 diapers after only 3 boxes, and has out grown her newborn outfits in only a couple weeks! (Malia followed the clothes sizes pretty much month for month.) Check out the monkey arms! This was Allies first (and last) time wearing this cute little outfit since the long sleeved jacket became a stylish 'elbow' length.

And since I neglected taking pictures of Allie the past few weeks due to her revolting baby acne... here are some of our cute little girl!

Allie LOVES tummy time!

It's funny when you have your 'second' child; they spend soooo much less time being held! Thankfully Allie appreciates her bouncer and swing.




Just for memories, (since our blog is like a journal), I want to note that Allie has been taking 3 hour naps at the same time as Malia. It is amazing the 'freedom' felt during nap time; I LOVE nap time! Allie has also been going down for bed around 8ish and sleeping for 12 hours with only one feeding in the middle of the night! Both girls seem to be great sleepers! Whoa hoo!

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I love these pictures of Malia pushing her cousin Merilee... it makes me so excited for the day when Allie and Malia can interact play! I hope and pray that my girls will be the bestest of friends, and that they will have a wonderful, close, sisterly bond.

Clark County Fair!

You may call us white trash, but we look forward to the fair every year! We had TONS of fun despite the sweltering heat, the looks we got as I blew up my 'owie bum donut' (as Malia calls it) every place we stopped to sit, the weird man who praised me for 'breast feeding in public', (which ironically occurred right in front of the cow milking station), and the part where Malia pooped her pants after wetting herself minutes before. Gross! We LOVE the demolition derby, the greasy fair food, the fantastic milkshakes, and for Aaron... he considers it 'people watching' heaven!

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We wanted to do some fun things with Malia this year. First stop: face painting!

She was a little nervous that some weird sweaty lady was touching her. But the butterfly turned out cute!

Malia loved seeing all the animals. This was our first time at the 'petting' zoo portion of the fair.

$6.00 for a stupid pony ride! What a rip!

But I suppose it was worth it... she had so much fun!

I can't wait till Malia is old enough to enjoy more rides. For now, she will just have to enjoy the dinky little kid ones. She threw a fit about NOT wanting to go, but luckily Aaron's buddy from work had some kids that went, so Malia bravely followed suit. But seriously... we had already spent money on those fair 'coupons' so she was going to go regardless! :)

Would you look at that smile!

This year they added a 'truck' heat to the demolition derby. It was awesome! The trucks went so much faster and the sound of them crashing was incredible! I bet those poor guys and gals went home with some major whiplash. Here's a pic of the fam enjoying our white trash fun!

Aaron enjoys the fact that he gets to spend more time with Malia since it seems that I am constantly busy with Allie. Aren't they cute!

After the show we wandered around a little while longer and enjoyed the lights. Malia seemed mesmerized by it all.

Hopefully next year we can hop on this ride as a family. It seemed too risky to leave behind our stroller and all the stuff we had to 'pack in'.

Not the cutest picture of Allie... but she was AMAZING! She even slept through the loud demolition derby. Poor baby has a case of bad acne and heat rash on her face. As soon as it goes away I promise to go picture crazy again :)

On our way to the car we passed by this totally smashed up car. See? Now don't you want to join in on the fun! Hooray for the Fair!