Mabel Rose Turns 2

Happy Birthday to our sweet Mabel. Today is bittersweet for me. Don't get me wrong, I love celebrating today and what it is about. After all it's the day Mabel came into this world and also the day I became a Mom. It's been 2 years since our eyes first met. 2 years feels more like 2 months. You hear it so often and everyone knows that time flies but sometimes it's just too hard to deal with that.

Last night as I thumbed through photos of the last 2 years with our girl on this planet, I was overcome with emotions. I was sad. I was happy. I was proud. I felt blessed to call her ours. She is so much more than I ever imagined she would be and I can't imagine my life without her. She has grown into a beautiful, smart, quirky, lovely little girl who captivates those around her and never ceases to amaze me. You can't help but smile when sister is near. 

 

 

This morning Sam and I woke up and put all of our emotions to bed except for happy, proud, and excited because it was time to celebrate our girl. We had a special pancake breakfast with lots of balloons and Justin Bieber. We spent the morning at the library with friends where Mabel proudly announced to everyone "It's my Birthday" and "I am 2!" We stopped to take some pictures, it's getting harder and harder to capture this girl on the go. We had a special picnic lunch in the living room while watching Elmo and then went down for a nap after reading 2 extra stories rather than our usual 2. Tonight she has requested to eat dinner at Daddy's work so that's what we'll do because it's her day.

 

This girl is special. We love her and couldn't be more proud. We can't wait to see her grow even though it will be tough on this Mama. 

Happy Day, Happy Year, Happy Always and Ever!

Some Change and an Update.

The weather is finally starting to cool down and fall is upon us. I love this time of year and all we have to look forward to. In addition to the usual holidays and birthdays this year there are a few other things going on for us. It's a time of change around here and thankfully it's all good change. 

 

 

Sam and I were talking the other night how fast the next few months will fly by and all of the exciting things going on with our little family. First of course was our wedding a month ago. We finally got hitched! It was all we hoped for and more. We've always felt like an official family but I have to say it feels so nice to be able to call Sam my Husband. We're so blessed to have one another and it was the perfect way to celebrate exactly that.

We did everything ourselves and almost everything went off without a hitch. Thankfully I have awesome family and friends who came together and helped me bring my vision to life. I should probably take this time to apologize for any "Bossy Bridezilla" moments I may have had.

Right after the wedding Sam got a great new job opportunity. It was unexpected and not part of the plan we talked about when we moved to Sedona, but who are we kidding, we're definitely not the planning type. I'm a firm believer in the phrase, " You make plans and then life happens".

Sam is now the Chef de Cuisine at a resort in Sedona. It's definitely the step up he needed for his career and we're all very proud of Daddy around here. Though he will be working more hours and further away from home, it's an exciting new venture for our favorite Chef and we'll all manage just fine.

Mabel will turn 2 in a month. Lately we've been getting creative in order to keep her curious mind  occupied. I'm so proud of how smart she is and  her curiosity about anything and everything. My days are spent answering her constant"Who's that" "What's that" and "Why's". Each day I try to spend at least 30 minutes or more doing what we call projects, where I am 100% focused on her and teaching some sort of a lesson. Some days we work on the traditional things like colors, counting, or ABC's and others we get more creative with our projects by doing things like collecting leaves or rocks, painting pumpkins or cooking.

Mabel loves taking pictures with an old camera we gave to her.

 

Mabel could have spent all day balancing on this beam we found on our nature walk in the Canyon.

 

 

Collecting leaves for her "Leaf Collection"

Mabel is so creative and I love that about her. She is always coming up with her own way of doing things. Her vocabulary is expanding every day and is quite impressive. I love being able to communicate with her about how she is feeling or what she is thinking. Her little brain amazes us every day. Her need to be independent is growing and she is becoming very social. She loves to introduce herself, as well as Gus and I, to others where ever we go. She is such a doll.

Baby Gus is now 8 months Old.

This photo was taken on his 7 month mark.

I have come to terms with how fast this kid is growing. I'm just trying to savor these last few baby moments I have before another toddler pops out of nowhere. Gus is one big baby. Last time we weighed him at 6 months, he was just over 19 lbs. He grows out of clothes faster than I can buy them... which is fast. He is not quite crawling yet but I'm certain he could roll to the grocery store if I allowed it. He also does this little army crawl when he really wants something. We all cheer him on when he starts and he get so bashful, it's adorable. He can pull himself completely up to a stand in his crib, which I found out when I walked into his room a few days ago and he was standing. It was a little bit of a shock.

Last week we found his first tooth coming in on the bottom and shortly after another popped up. He has been eating solids for a couple of months now and finally starting to enjoy it, after a rough start. His favorites are bananas and avocados, he can't get enough.

 

 

He is such a good little boy and has the sweetest personality. He is always smiling and looking for a good laugh. A couple of months ago we moved Gus and Mabel into the same room. I love seeing 2 white Jenny lind style cribs when I walk into the room. It always makes me smile. We haven't taken the plunge to let them fall asleep together. Last time we tried they practically had a party and we had to start the whole bedtime process over. Each night he falls asleep in our room while Mabel falls asleep in their shared room. Once they are both asleep I move him into his crib. That's one of my favorite times of the day. I can't help but stare at his sweet face and laugh at how cute this kids is. It's hard to put him down at that point. 

So all is well with our little family. We're feeling Thankful this time of year for our many blessings. 

 

Halloween 2012. Not so Spooky but definitely Squeaky.

This Halloween was a lot of fun. Mabel really enjoyed it this year now that she understands it a little more. Gus just looked cute :)

Sunday before Halloween we carved our pumpkins, 1 for each member of our family. Or should I say Sam carved our pumpkins and did a wonderful job while I drank a glass of wine and snapped a few photos.

 

 

Tuesday I took the kids to a Halloween party at the library for music, treats and Halloween crafts. I made their costumes with some onsies and hats from American Apparel and less than a yard of fabric. I surprised myself at how cute they came out.

 

Mabel's "Sppooooky Spider" and "Spppppooooky Pumpkin" Spooky is one of the newest words in her vocabulary and she loves to use it.

The big event on Halloween night was spent with our favorite neighbors, The Schmidt Family. We gathered for chilli and pumpkin cupcakes then headed out for some trick-or-treating. It was beautiful out and both our babes lasted a good hour. Sam carried Gus around and Mabel walked like a big girl. She had the "Trick-or-Treat" down perfectly and followed it with a "Thank You" each time. A few times she even said "Squeak, squeak" and it was adorable.

 

 

Our babies couldn't have been cuter. We just love our little mice.