Heaven

Just looking at these pictures makes me feel a little closer to heaven. Tanya has always been one of my favorite people to take pictures of. She has such a fresh, unique face that is so photogenic. And taking pictures of newborns will  a l w a y s  be my favorite. So I guess what I'm saying is that taking pictures of Tanya  p l u s  a newborn was a dream! I took close to a thousand pictures, I just couldn't stop! :)
Julian is such a beautiful boy, and Tanya's love for him is just as stunning.

Welcoming Sweet Baby Julian

I got to throw  t h e  beautiful Tanya an openhouse-style baby shower a couple weeks ago. 

She let us use her lovely backyard and all her catering dishes. 

(I'm telling you -- I  s c o r e d  with this friend!!)

She also had the brilliant idea of having the baby shower once she had an actual baby to show off. 

It's my new favorite kind of baby party -- one where you get to come and hear the birth story 

a n d  hold a precious newborn. 

Who wouldn't love that?

^^^ My talented sister-in-law made those adorable stuffed animals for tiny Julian! Love.

^^^ Homemade mini apple pies made by my sweet friend, Julia. They were  s o o o  good!

^^^ Meet precious Julian. I love him so much!

It was such a fun evening. Tanya is a beautiful mother and I look up to her so much.
She is always so kind and welcoming. And funny. She's always making me laugh, and I love her for it!

Six Months

You're halfway to one and I have officially started planning your first birthday.

There, I said it.

And I'm trying not to be sad about it.

Cause you are so freaking cute. And you only get cuter.

And a little one year old you is going to make my heart explode.

You're up on all fours now.

You get into the crawling position and just rock back and forth.

I think you'll actually take off crawling any day now.

You are really good at scooting backwards.

You've scooted your way under your crib and halfway under the couch before.

You can sit up and roll all over.

When I'm in public complete strangers will come over and start talking to you. They can't really help themselves, because you smile at anyone that looks at you.

You've found your toes, and they have found your mouth.

You like to spit.

Annabelle made you full on belly laugh this month, and it was my absolute favorite moment. Ever.

And she's still the only person that can get you to laugh like that.

You've eaten all sorts of foods now, including Otterpops.

You  l o v e  hummus. And watermelon. And blueberries. And Uncle Tom fed you french fries and a shake while sitting in the backseat with you. Yeah, totally not cool. But again, you loved it.

I'm pretty certain you're gonna make us poor with how much you like to eat.

You are so so wiggly. You never sit still.

You love to kick your legs. Constantly.

You're a little bit of a diva and want to be nursed to sleep every night.

And you've also taken over my bed.

I'm not really complaining though - I love your little body snuggled up to mine.

Daddy was just telling me how he only remembers you being a newborn for about 5 minutes, cause you've mostly been as big as you are now for the past 6 months.

You flap your arms a lot.

Annabelle takes care of you like you're her babydoll "Lissie" - and that's saying a lot.

Sometimes you bite me while nursing, and I sternly tell you not to. And it doesn't matter where Annabelle is in the house, she will come running and say: "Mommy, be nice to my Henry-Boy!!" 

She's got your back.

(But seriously, stop biting me!)

You're cute.

So so cute.

And this spot that you've created in my heart - it just keeps growing!

I love you forever.

Sitcom

I recently read a post about how hard it is to find friends once you're married. The author used an analogy about how it's like you're in the dating world all over again, except it's much harder 'cause you're trying to match up  f o u r  people instead of two. You have to find another couple you have things in common with, but still enough differences to keep it exciting. And of course you get slightly jealous when they choose to hang out with another couple over you. Haha. 

After reading that post it made me realize how grateful I am to have Tom and Tanya. We've found our "match" and have been going steady for 3+ years. Haha.

(enough with the analogy?!) 

A while back I was telling Marie about how Tanya will just call out of the blue and ask if she can make me dinner (I know, I scored with this one!!), and she commented on how my life seems like a sitcom. Haha. And now Tanya and I like to joke about which episode we're on, and sometimes she'll text me after going home and say: "T h a t  was my favorite episode yet!" 

 I definitely don't see my life as a sitcom, but sometimes it can be very dreamy.

I mean, a talented chef offers to make me dinner at least once a week. 

Sign. Me. Up.

Every Wednesday for the past couple of months we'll have dinner together. Tanya will whip up some delicious dinner that tastes better than any Italian you've ever had, or she'll bring over fresh limes to make Brazilian Limeades. And one Wednesday evening the boys pulled out the guitars and serenaded us. 

(Is this sounding too sitcom-y?) 

But for reals, it was  t h e  most perfect evening. The kids wrestled while giggling. Tanya just sat there looking beautiful. And the boys played music. And I got to capture it all.

One memory I will love forever.

No, my life isn't perfect. And it's definitely not a sitcom. 

But there are perfect days that fill in the weeks.

And for those, I am so grateful.

Warm Weather

A couple weekends ago we kicked off the summer season at Josh&Ashley's house for a little Hermann birthday party. 

The kids took turns pushing each other on the swing, and Henry Boy pretty much owned the hammock. 

It made me wanna get a little baby hammock for his room - he  l o v e d  that thing. 

I also finally got a picture of what he does when I'm holding him: Rests his hand on the back of my head and gently plays with my hair. 

Stoppit. Melt my heart. I love you!

That little sweetheart also took a liking to his Uncle Matt, which is great. 

Because we're still trying to convince Annabelle that he's actually very nice. And not just tall and scary.

We grilled up some brats, drank pink lemonade, and had a huge bowl of the best chip dip. Ever.

I took a million pictures of my people, and not at all of any food.

But believe me, it was delicious.

We ended the night with a yummy ice cream cake and Happy Birthday wishes for our sweet Uncle Drew.
It was our first real summer night, and it was lovely.

Welcome, warm weather!

Hailey&Henry

These cuties are just 3 months apart, and we like to joke that they're the 

"Annabelle&Maddy - New Edition." 

And with their similar personalties, you could also call it the "Sweet&Mellow edition."

(I'll let you know how "sweet and mellow" they are around age 2 though.)

Aren't they both so adorable?

My kids have been blessed with so many cousins, and I really hope that these two grow to be good friends.

And I have a feeling Henry will be passing up little Miss Hailey in size in about 3 seconds. 

Aaand, done. He's bigger. ;)