Vacation – Part 1

The party.

Last Thursday the kids and I set out on a little adventure. We visited friends, ate good food and ended up at Brian’s parents for the night.

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Friday was a Dr. visit – Lance only holds an inch and two pounds on Ivy. They had a ball playing with the paper and tape measure and both had the staff charmed from the time they walked in the door. Afterwards we drove to visit another good friend then back to the Cahill’s for dinner where Daddy joined us!

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Saturday was cousin Oliver’s first birthday! He loves monkeys and his mom and aunt Kim did a great job on the cake don’t you think?IMG_1128

Lance wasn’t so sure about the monkey (a puppet). When he finally worked up courage to touch the monkey (with daddy’s help), the monkey bit him! Daddy and Uncle Nathan laughed so hard! It took Lance the entire weekend to come to terms with the monkey.

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The morning started out with a game of “darts” – even Mrs. Cahill played! Brian and Benj. really had it out.

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Lance made a couple good shots too.

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After morning naps came birthday party time! The boys donned their hats.

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This is Ivy, moments before snapping herself in the face with the elastic band. She won the sympathy of the crowd.

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Lance still isn’t sure about the monkey – “Who keeps putting him next to me?!”

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Ivy enjoys the benefits of being in the presence of doting relatives (everyone gets presents!) While Lance goes the more direct route and commandeers all of Oliver’s gifts by right of being the biggest,,,,er, oldest.

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Bubbles completed the day and after loads of fun and too much cake all three cousins were tucked away for nap time.

Stay tuned for Part 2 – Mom and Dad’s trip!

Bluebonnets – Take 2

Feeling somewhat optimistic yesterday I decided to revisit the flowers – there was better lighting and no wind so I dressed up the kids and walked to a nearby patch. I think I managed to get 3 good shots.

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Here is my Lance man – sweet, mischievous smile

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Our baby doll – happy and adorable.

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And a rare shot of both kids looking at me and sort of smiling!

What is it like photographing small children? I’ll show you.

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Living in their own little world, almost nothing will hold their attention in the direction of the camera – not even “ Hey Lance, fire truck!”

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Lance checks out a lady bug while Ivy gives me her cheesy smile.

This series marks the end of the shoot:

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Belly button….

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Ears…

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Something is tickling me!!!

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Are we almost done yet?

Thank the Lord for digital cameras.

Blue bonnets

My parents took pity on me and mailed me the camera (actually I think they just wanted to see pictures of the kids). So yesterday I celebrated by going out to do pictures in the bluebonnets.

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Due to no nearby parking we had to trek a little ways to make it to the bluebonnets. Since I was carrying two babies in the middle of no where some nice guy stopped to make sure I was okay and not trekking to a gas station.

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Ivy liked picking the flowers too.

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The kids loved the flowers….too much! I could hardly get them to look at me!

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And when they did the sun was too bright. There was also some major wind blowing.

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Ahh, finally a shot where she’s looking at me with a decent expression. I’m thinking next time I’ll bring along some help!

Smiles

Having left my camera at my parent’s house I am at a loss on how to post. I used to write for this blog all the time but pictures are easier, and much more fun. I am going through camera withdrawal – my kids are being so cute and I have no way to capture the moment except in my memory….which has been known to grow hazy when it comes time to recall events. Therefore, in an effort to preserve a stage of life (and to make journaling in my photo book easier) I shall endeavor to conjure up some mental images…ones that made me smile.

Balmy weather made for balmy souls and yesterday the kids outdid each other in giving me cute moments, bringing a smile to my lips and gladness to my heart. Except for the moment where Lance went into the throes of despair on reaching the end of his apple juice box, they were the best babies in the world. (That would have been funny too if I hadn’t been trying to keep them quiet because Daddy was sleeping).

We went to Burger King for some playtime because they have equipment Lance’s size. Lance still managed to get “stuck” at the top which necessitated a rescue from Mom (much harder than McDonalds due to the “kid-friendly” size). However, the slide proved less scary than imagined and better yet it could be used in reverse! This discovery led to a solid 20 min of up and down. Mommy then put a chair near the “up” tube and Lance found new mobility in completing the whole circuit. All this activity was accompanied by ecstatic noises and happy laughing.

That afternoon I decided to give Lance an edge on Easter egg hunting. After he thoroughly inspected the new toys I tried “hiding” them around the living room. The concept of gathering was a while in coming so I decided to up the incentive by adding raisins inside the eggs. Something must have clicked, though it short circuited. He proceeded to gather the eggs and put them in his bucket – apparently oblivious to the treasure inside even though he had watched me fill them. I re-hid the eggs then went to do something. Realization must have hit because when I came back 12 eggs were open on the floor and Lance has happily munching away.

During another egg hunting session Lance took it into his head to put them all on a folding chair. Egg number 7 didn’t have room and kept rolling off. At first frustration surfaced, then the episode struck him funny and he giggled as he replaced the egg twice more. Finally the egg stayed put and Lance went into a full fledged victory dance while I laughed and wished for my camera.

Finally, as I was trying to vacuum before Daddy got home, I heard Lance singing. I went to check on him and found a wet pair of underwear in the bathroom and Lance on his potty doing opera impressions. I shook my head an went on vacuuming.

Ivy did her best to compete for smiles by playing games during meal times. She happily waved things around, spit food out, smeared her meal everywhere and graced her shenanigans with a heart melting smile. While nursing she kept putting her hand to my mouth to be gobbled or kissed and responded with little chuckles. Every time my attention was diverted by her brother she would jerk her whole body once or twice and give a half smile when I looked back at her.

When Daddy came home Ivy charmed him into a game of tummy gobbles and both children did their best imitation of a thunder storm in the bath tub to entertain Daddy.

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And now, because I can’t resist, here are two smiles I haven’t posted yet.

Cookies

Yesterday we joined Logan and the twins to make and decorate some Easter cookies.

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Don’t they look so cute and organized at the little table?

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Landon was a double dipper – more in the mouth than on the cookie.

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Logan tried the Chinese style of decorating with “chopsticks”.

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Addison was the sprinkle queen.

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And Lance was Mr. neat freak – more concerned about the sprinkles that fell in his lap and icing on his hands.

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All went fairly well until the kids had their first taste of icing. From there on out it was pretty much a sugar fest. After finishing their cookies they all had a half hour of hyper play before everyone was carted home for naps.

We love playdates!

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