oh, these babies have stolen my heart.

i am so in love with them. their chubby legs, soft skin, their “ba ba ba ba ba bas”.

in love with their downy hair, their pumping legs, gummy smiles.their big eyes, their hand sucking.

no matter how bone tired i am…when i drag myself into their room (at 5:30!!!!) i can’t help but smile when i hear their coos and see those big grins.

i have started making baby food. and can someone please tell me why i didn’t do it before now? it’s so easy. and so much cheaper. and they LOVE it! their favorite so far is a recipe that consists of sweet potatoes,white beans, and cinnamon.

we still GO everywhere, every day. we get stopped about every 3 feet and we love it. well i do, the bigs do, and lucy (the grinner) does. cate? gives the suspicious one over+the stink eye.

i think she might take after her daddy that one.

they have started sharing a really really funny dynamic. one of them is always poking or grabbing at the other one. lucy is really good natured about it (see video for proof). cate? not so much. here’s her reaction:




i have to tell you that photo above makes me laugh out LOUD every single time i look at it. the look on lucy’s face? HAHAHAHAHHAAHA. this is the best photo ever.

 

lucy:

weight: unknown. but i suspect it’s somewhere in the “sack o’ potatoes” range.

teeth: none. but lots of slobber.

party trick: sucking on EVERYTHING. sitting in a straddle and leaning down until she is pretty much doing the splits. blowing spit bubbles.

clothing size: can fit into some 12 mos things. mostly 9 mo.

favorite food: not this one

favorite toy: crinkly book

favorite sound: her sisters voices

happy time: right after she’s eaten

favorite joke to play on mommy: poop up the back. several times a day. always in the jumparoo.

personality: happiest baby in the world.

 

cate:

weight: unknown, but still about 2 lbs less than miss sack o’ potatoes.

teeth: none. but copious drool.

party trick: rocking back and forth and scooting like an inchworm. all the way across the room, in the blink of an eye.

clothing size: can still fit into random pieces of 3-6 mos.

favorite food: sweet potatoes

favorite toy: sophie the giraffe

favorite sound: music

happy time: when mama is holding her

favorite joke to play on mama: see lucy’s favorite trick.

personality: she studies everyone. you can’t win her over as quickly as you can win lucy over. she gets her feelings hurt easily.

 

 

xoxo

s

to live in this great country

to be FREE.

to think as i please, dress as i please, come and go as i please, worship as i please, speak as i please.

grateful that i don’t live in fear.

grateful that i have choices.

grateful for him

and countless other men and  women.

grateful for all of those fathers,

mothers,sisters,brothers,daughters,sons.

husbands,

and wives.

they are our hearts. the hearts of those who miss them.

grateful that THEY are willing to serve.

as we speak. at this very moment.

so that we can afford to be grateful.

we miss you, j!

happy, happy, HAPPY fourth of july everyone.

let freedom ring!

xoxo

s

getting this one up a bit early!

 

papers- authentique,stickers-american crafts,labels-twogirlzstuff, punch- corner rounder, apron lace

all the papers here are from a new company called authentique.  the roses are also patterned paper, i just hand cut them.

one of my favorite items were these sweet little word stickers. you’ll notice i used them along the left side of the top photo:

but my FAVORITE paper is by far this one, which i am scared to touch. i need about a zillion sheets:

 

now for a bit about this page.

here’s the journaling:

that sadie might look sweet, but don’t you dare mess with her big sister.at the ymca one day, a “big girl” was bullying harper. telling her to shut up and that “babies cry, you’re a crybaby!!”.

sadie stepped in,pointed at the girl and said “HEY! YOU MEAN! BACK OFF!!!!”.she might drive h crazy, but she’s got her back.

i love this story and had to get it down ASAP. this story came out after we’d been home for a few hours and sadie told me a girl made harper cry at child watch. getting this story out of them took WORK. those two are tight lipped!

but oh does it make me happy that sadie took up for harper. thanks to jimmy for teaching her the term “back off”. not sure how i feel about that. hahahah! but in this case? warranted.

i think they will truly treasure this story one day.

hope your sunday is beautiful!

xxo

s

how was your week? ours went QUICKLY! which i both love and hate. i pray for the passing of time so that we can be together as a family, but at the same time i DON’T want time to go quickly. i love the ages the girls are right now and i want to savor it.

wow. too early for deep thoughts. moving on.

our week was full of the usual things.crafts,water play,target trips,the ymca…

speaking of the ymca, kickboxing=the devil. it hurts. and my limbs are WAY too long to do it gracefully. last night? i fell OFF of the exercise ball. that’s right OFF. during ab work, i rolled right off in slow motion. and the guy behind me? snickered. whatever, he’ll get his. haahah!

i wanted to share some photos from the last week. hope you don’t mind!

here’s a sneak from the sara jane boutique advertisement shoot. miss h won a contest a while back and she is one of the “faces of sara jane”. how fun is that? shana cawley did the shoot and i think she is just fabulous. and harper? worked it. i was dying laughing. she was totally POSING. heeee!

 

last sunday we were invited to a brunch for all of the ranger wives and children. a wonderful, GENEROUS local couple threw us all a gorgeous brunch at a country club, complete with gift bags. it was overwhelming and so kind.

here’s the howell chickies before the brunch:

 

i don’t know what this is all about…but harper? looks EXACTLY like me here. hahahahhaha!

this one makes my heart ache.

sadie says “what in the JOSE?”

i don’t know what’s up with these two, but they have NO personality. snicker.

precious precious girls. sadie’s not sure about how to smile here. 🙂

a. why is their hair connected? b. the bigs are screaming in this photo. can you tell by the look on lucy’s (left) face? hahahaha. oh my. this one makes me laugh hard.
 
lucy reminds me so much of harper as a baby. i had to take a photo of the two of them together.

and one of all of us during art time this week:

hmmm. attractive. and a reminder that art should always be VERRRY VERRRRY serious.:)

happy friday, hope your holiday weekend is beautiful!

xxo

s

**SCT giveaway still open below!**

what IS it about  baby toys?

what makes them so alluring no matter your age?

the other day:

and close to three years ago:

 

 

 

or maybe the title of this post should be

miss harper never changes? hahahaha!

have a beautiful thursday.

xoxo

s