sweet harte & sis

what. are you kidding me. this was the most magical moment ever. with the most amazing photographer ever. you have got to see her blog. smittenphotographyblog.com and go to her nov 14th pics.

bffs

stella and harte.
we love art.
we love to bake, we love to read.
we love to sing but would for sure fight over the lead.
our mommies try to influence us with liturature,symphonies, and plays
but really all we need is chalk and we are happy for days.
we love tiaras and wands no matter the size
and boy, can we ever accessorize.

I am loving these Minnetonka moccasins for Harte. I just haven't pulled the trigger yet because I am not convinced she will wear them. Maybe If I buy mommy a matching pair...or sell them as 'pocohantis boots.' Hello, with tights and a dress. Done. So cute. (moccasinsdirect.com)

So if you ask Harte what she was for Halloween, her answer: Mary had a little lamb little lamb....and Gracie was my lamb!"

We had such a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa here. Not many pics to show for it, as it was such a busy day and night. (sorry her 'staff' didn't make a debut in the photos...and yes, she won the shoe battle). To my surprise she has only asked once about the candy she got with her friends. I for sure thought that would be an every day all day question. I just hope the lamb outfit was worth it. I waited forever for it to show up in the mail. Finally realized it was still in my amazon shopping cart. And the price had gone up triple (no joke) and then I had to pay for quick shipping too!!!! What a pricey little lamb, you would think i had a sheep shaved in New Zealand and flew the wool in overnight!

Seems to be this little number has turned into a pumpkin patch tradition. Started off with those sweet nieces of mine (2005), then Harte last year and Gracie this year. This pics just make me realize how quickly time passes. Pumpkin today, princess tomorrow.

We may not have heirloom Christening gowns or silver trinkets to pass on, but we'll always have the Pumpkin Patch Sweater.

We did a grandkid photo shoot at My Mom and Rog's house while out in Ca. Tell me again why I ever moved away...

Here is another want. I love these euro-trash children's kicks by Bensimon. They are so gosh darn hard to find. I think Crew Cuts had them for like a day!

We did it! I finally had the girls baptised. Whew. Check that one off the list...the girls are good with Jesus. Check.

I wish had a picture of the church we go to. The most beautiful stone building. They do it right in the South. I was afraid I would get dirty looks from the congregation with my sans white dresses and a walking, talking toddler. (It's a big to do here, most everyone does, the long white gown on their infants, invitations, parties, flowers galore). We kept it clean, simple, and intimate. Gracie did a fantastic job, aside from her goose egg bump on her head from hitting it in the pew. And Harte, said "No" and ran the other way when our minister went for her. But then when he had her, she actually rested her head on his shoulder for a brief sweet moment.

A random side note but here is a verse that was a deciding factor for me in naming Harte...and one that means a lot to me:

Trust in the Lord with all your HEART and lean not on your understanding. In all your ways he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Just a few pics from Charlyn's Picture Perfect wedding. Harte was a flower girl. I was a bit nervous..but then when she came in the room to get ready, she was very very serious about it (per picture) and wanted to get to it and go down the aisle. When she was dropping petals in the dressing room, we kept putting them back in her basket. Soooo. Of course, what do you expect. When she went down the aisle...she couldn't help herself but to pick up all the petals the other flower girls had thrown. Too cute, now if only she would clean up like that at home. No really though, I was so proud of her for taking so seriously and trying so hard I get teary eyed just thinking about it.

The good news is, she didn't make it to the reception. Thank goodness she didn't have to see her momma and Auntie Char (the bride) rockin out to 'Pour Some Sugar On Me.'

I am not sure if anyone really reads this anymore. But I have decided to share some of my favorite things. Trying to offer up more than just photos. I have so much useless knowledge and have sooo many favorite children's websites, why not share them up. While I have the kibosh (sp?) on my internet shopping habbits, posting my wants may help me move on. So I guess this is really more about me than you. Ha.

I am obsessed with these cute shoes and love the cause. But shooties, they don't come in Harte's size.

She is the most beautiful doggie. And I always tell she just gets by on her good looks (certainly not behavior).

How beautiful you are Ariel, let me count the ways. So what do you do when you have a husband that works late nights? ...Take the kids to Chick-Fil-A to meet Princess Ariel. That's how we roll on weeknights, chicken nuggies for all.

Where has it gone. And the sad thing is I don't even have many pics to show for it!

We have had a family filled past few months. From visiting cousins in Cali to have Kentucky cousins come here. Gracie can hold her own these days. Has been crawling for months now and pulls up on everything. Harte loves to squeeze the life out of her and we are working on 'hug her under her arms, not around the neck.' They are quite a pair and together cause a lot of commotion.

We started off with a little Dean and Delcua breakfast with Daddy. Then ended the evening out to dinner for some Mexican food, her fav. She must take after her parents who could live off of chips and guac. Gracie even got dressed for the party.

Here is Harte in all her birthday glory.
Sweet little Ellie is rockin the sombrero.
And then the cake eating kiddos: Grant our twineroo frien(sans Lily), Ford who took a swing at the pinata like he'd been playing t-ball for years and our bestie Claire from across the street (Ellie's little sis).

The fiesta was a hit...the true inspiration behind it was...what can i do in my backyard that will work with all my plastic colored crapola (that and the darling pinata stamp i found). Of course all I wanted was the burro pinata and lesson learned, don't try to find a pinata the week before Cinco de Mayo. My bad.

The pinata was a hit. Josh had to eventually take it down because they are seriously kid proof. So he had a Corona in one hand and was beating the sombrero to a pulp with the other. Might have frightened a few of the kiddies but once the loot went flying they didn't care.

I made Harte a darling fiesta head wreath and am thinking head wreaths will be my birthday tradition for her. The problem with this one was the paper flowers were so darn big she ended up looking like Frieda (is that her name).

She was in heaven. Eating cake, holding on to her lollipops and had blue marker all over her legs. Next time I need to remember to take a pre-party pic of my toddler all cleaned up. (We had a super fun play house that all the kids colored, didn't realize they would all color themselves..yet another lessoned learned). I will have this party thing down by the time Gracie's roll around.

Here is the fam. (please excuse my post preggo self and focus on the cuties). A pic of my favorite baldies. Harte my little rascal. Such a paci swiper. This is her dancing with glee with Gracie's paci in hand. I don't think I have one photo of her precious shoes and socks on. She is all about freeing the toosties right now. And then the babies. Such a boy baby Jack Jack is (Harte's name for him).

So the Casey Crew came for a visit this Easter. What a treat and what a wild ride. They flew in and then we drove to Pinehurst for a stay.

4 pac n plays, 2 highchairs, 1 bouncy, 1 saucer,1 jumperoo, 2 strollers, 1 double stroller, 2 sound machines, a pump for me....poo poos on the floor, pee pees in the pac n play, barfies in the car....one Easter Vaca spent with our favorites cousins and my dear sister = PRICELESS.

I will say though, 4 kids in diapers was 4 too many. ha.

So...let's see, yes I am a blog slacker. It seems like there is no down time still...and if I do have a night when I have some downtime for myself it's between the girls' bedtimes and I'll pour myself some vino and watch a little A.I. or veg out to some Daily 10(when really i should be doing dishes or toy pick up or any other glamorous chore). Even now I am doing this with one hand while Gracie sleeps in my other....she is abit of a night time stinker.

Here is a shot of Harte and Ellie. Ellie had the best bday ever...she turned 3 and we had an Easter Egg hunt at their house. So fun to practice for the big day. Harte opened up her first egg...that was all she needed a couple of jelly beans makes for a sticky mouth and good times.

And a St.Patty's Day shot of Gracie...my little Irish lass in shades of green to represent our people.

Last, here is Harte with her school bag. I love that it is like half her size, it's even better when she attempts to carry it. My favorite line is when I ask her to tell me what we saw at the Nature Museum last week she says, " a vacuum cleaner"....not the baby chicks hatching or the owl, but the dude cleaning up at closing time. I try.

Ok so I know that snow should be exciting and all but hello...to me it means no school and trapped inside all day. I must admit it was a beautiful sight and much much better than a rainy day. Harte and I went out for a bit while sister was napping and here is my SoCal attempt at a snowman. Pretty pathetic. I asked Harte what she wanted to name hime, Frosty the Snowman of course!

Random side note ...Harte is obsessed with egg salad right now. If I ask her what should we draw, ''egg salad"...what is your favorite color, "egg salad"...and so on...