Just say NO!

She's learned the word NO.

The funny (or not) thing is that she's much better at saying it than obeying it...

Add this to her expanding lexicon of words that she readily says and repeats and we recognize and she is probably up to at least ten words. Yay!!!! AND(!) she's also doing the sign for "more"!!! I'll try and get that on video at some point as well.

BTW - Sorry I've been so absent and lacking in anything newer or fun! First day of school (for me - D's was on Monday) is TODAY and I've been busy writing graphic design and 3D art curriculum, preparing lesson plans, piecing together a stock photography library, cleaning and organizing the art room, and everything else that I was doing before the "regularly scheduled" program of school began again. Last night I was up until 1AM and that wasn't the first night that I did that. I was up at 5AM this morning. Do I look like a zombie yet? Well... I think I might be OK with that but I definitely feel like one!

Don't worry. I'm not kidding myself and I know the bags WILL come in time and I need to prioritize getting some good sleep ASAP. Being so out of it that I almost put my husband's deodorant on (as I did this morning) is not a habit I want to get into.

Anyway, stand by!!! (Per usual.) And as the school year gets me back into a routine I should also be able to be better about blogging. :)

W-I-P

Little miss A comes from a looooooooooooong line of "artistes." Today we let her loose with some paints and though she still needs a little work on understanding composition *heh* she sure did a great job with getting a feel for color mixing!

I'd say she's a natural, wouldn't you? A drip off the ol' palette she is!

What a summer

Last year was huge for us! We got married and then we had our beautiful daughter. Little could top that and as life continued to throw us some major hard balls, we continued to swing away and hit them straight outta the park! This summer has brought us full circle as we bought our first house and though it seemed as though it might never happen, here we are enjoying our own little slice of heaven here on earth...


It has been a joyous time for us and just this past Saturday we were able to celebrate something even more momentous when Baby A took her first steps!!! One of my cousins was in town visiting us and happened to have a camera in hand (he's a great photographer as you can see!) and he caught the moment just as it happened. I think this is seriously one of the most incredible family portraits ever taken of us. Look! Even our dog got in on it!!!

Baby A continues to grow by leaps and bounds every day. Though she's still not walking completely, she is getting around just fine toddling the best way she can and is ALWAYS into SOMEthing or other.


No matter her sassiness, we just love her to bits. But how could you not? I mean just look at her...

We're getting there!

We settled on our new house (pictures to come hopefully very soon!) and are in the process of unpacking the last of our boxes and organizing things. So far the only casualties have been our lost box of cooking spices. This might not seem to be such a travesty but my whiz in the kitchen of a husband, D, is running out of delicious things to cook with! We haven't a clue where they could have disappeared to but we still have half a dozen places still to look so we're hoping that hope will float for them.

In other news, we are juggling life as usual and getting used to suburban bliss. Baby A (especially) loves our new digs and was able to try out her new baby hippo splashing pool yesterday evening! I'd say it's a winner especially seeing as how she usually flips out just taking a bath by herself...



I've got a ton to catch up with and am backlogged with pictures and entries and I'll try and get in gear in the next few weeks as the summer winds down and we get ready to head back to school - so then we aren't delayed even longer. Hope you all are having a great summer!

Swingin' and chompin'

This morning I woke up early and dragged Baby A into church with me to take pictures of some of the staff for the church website makeover. I figured that we could snap the few pictures that we needed and then stay for Sunday school. Well, turns out they don't do Sunday school during the summer!!! BUMMER!!! Guess I would have known that had I actually been reading the church bulletins and newsletters like I'm supposed to.

Anyway, Baby A and I hung out in the church nursery for a little more than an hour until the late service started (our usual service time) and it looks like Baby A is just about ready for her own table and chair set!! There was a cute little picnic table that was just right for her and she snacked on some animal crackers and had a grand time swingin' her legs while she ate.