End of Summer Favorites

Summer around here has nearly come to an end... Here are some of my favorite pics of the last couple of weeks. Above you see Avery enjoying her first pony ride at the church picnic... :)

Here is Sadie thinking she would love to be a cowgirl someday...

And in other news... Sadie has learned to walk! She makes tracks all over our house, and it is now her preferred method of transportation. She almost seems too little to be toddling around

Playing in the back yard, as usual...

This is one of my favorite pictures ever! It just encompasses everything joyfully summer.

Sadie has taken a new fascination to babies, something her bigger sister never picked up...

My handsome little Charlie

Birthday Party!

On August 4th, we celebrated Sadie's first birthday. I finally got around to downloading all my pictures!

Historically, the little birthday girl (or boy) is sufficiently overwhelmed with all the commotion of the day. But we had a lovely normal day, beginning with a trip to the gym and coffee with wonderful friends (0ur favorite thing to do!) Elizabeth and Autumn treated Sadie to some special hairclips (note flower in the hair). Then home to a special BBQ and backyard birthday party. We enjoyed watching our little girl delight in her special day!


I finally got my husband to shoot some pictures with me in them... now it's documented that I DO actually exhist!

So exciting whenever you finally get a decent shot of all 5 of us... I've given up on all the kids looking at the camera at the same time. Suffice that you can just see all their faces!

Favorite all time Barefoot Contessa Coconut cupcakes, courtesy of Grammie, which Charlie insisted we frost with sprinkles.

It took her a few minutes, but Sadie did quite a number on her cupcake! We finally took it away from her for fear that she would actually eat the entire thing and get a tummy ache.

Uncle Craig, Sadie, and Grammie

Sadie and Nanny (Paul's mom)Paul and all his sisters! Bridgette, Jillian, Valerie, and Chelsy

Jesse, Grammie, Me, Sadie, Amy

Grammy Carol and Papa Tom (can you tell he's Pauls dad??!!)

Grammie with her girls...

I can't believe this little love is One. She just took her first steps tonight! Watch out world!

Happy First Birthday Sadie Rose!

Yesterday we celebrated my baby girl's first Birthday! We had a wonderful day with family and friends loving on our little munchkin. I can't believe it was a year ago that I was ending my month long stay in the hospital in an effort to try and keep this little one in my belly. She was our little surprise baby... and yet I can't imagine life without her.

Today my amazing friend Dana came over and did a little birthday photo shoot, and here is a little taste. I think she is an amazing talent and I'm so blessed to have these photos of my Sadie!

Beating the Heat!

We've been enjoying the hottest summer in memory! Thankfully we have air conditioning in the house, so we have been able to come inside and cool off.

Benjamin and Shepherd

The other day, we had some heat "refugees" in our friends the Thomasons. It was fun spending time with them, and they were able to get away from their hot house for a while! This is baby Shepherd, who is three weeks older than Sadie.

This was the first time that Sadie and Shepherd have really interacted with eachother. We are excited for them to be great friends just like their older siblings Charlie and Ben. They LOVED splashing around in the baby pool.

Recently Paul and I attended a surprise 30th birthday party for a good friend and Canliss restaurant in Seattle. Since it was the same week as our anniversary, we used it as a good excuse to get dressed up and celebrate!

Here we are eight years ago.....

And this is how far we've come... celebrating our actual anniversary in pajamas and no makeup!! We had done plenty of celebrating for the last couple weeks, so we opted for a mellow night at home, with some Princess Torte, of course!

Charlie also attended his first Skyhawks camp last week... Basketball, Baseball, and Soccer. He had a great time with some of his neighborhood buddies, and mommy enjoyed having him entertained for a few hours each day!

The kids have also been in swim lessons for the past two weeks, and they are having a blast. I keep forgetting to bring the camera, so I'll do that next week and post pictures soon.

Backyard Summer Fun

On any given evening during the summer weeks, if it is warm outside, you can find us in the backyard. This is where we spend most of our time and make most of our summer memories. I am so enjoying the kids ages right now... Charlie and Avery LOVE entertaining their baby sister, and Sadie is thrilled to be in their company. So aside from meals and bedtime, my job is pretty easy!

Random fact: Paul's feet are size 16. Let's all pray Charlie doesn't follow suit!!!

LOVE this baby right now. She is so sweet and easy, and is developing quite a little sassy personality. We call her "scrappy". Don't call her little! She gets in the mix with her siblings as though she were every bit as big and agile as them. Just starting to stand for a few seconds on her own, she's definately independant and opinionated... and I found her going up the stairs yesterday! Time to put up the gates...

Sweet boy. Charlie is the best big brother ever. He is so helpful and patient, and truly loves playing with his sisters. It's so neat that they have built-in playmates!

Who could resist this?