our big girl has turned into quite the little sponge.

she loves letters and writing and painting and drawing.

she's learned how to write her name and frequently draws various {creative} things.

but her most favorite thing to draw and talk about...

animals.

we never know when there might be a jaguar in the living room or a spider on the wall.

or there might be a request to swim with the jellyfish {that don't sting because they are pretend}.

but while her imagination is running wild, she's often times digging deeper.
what kind of animal is a jaguar? what makes it a mammal? why is an alligator a reptile? and what makes birds different from other animals?

obviously, she doesn't verbalize her questions exactly like that, but our discussions often end up more detailed than expected.

so one morning while the little girls napped, we searched {on my computer according to addie} for pictures of animals. she'd decide on the animal. i'd find the pictures. she'd chose her favorite one.
then we categorized the vertebrates (animals with backbones), and the next day categorized the invertebrates.

her favorite? the mammals of course. according to her, they keep their babies alive. whew! thankfully. but they also have their babies alive unlike the rest of the vertebrate animals that lay eggs.

we had such a blast. her enthusiasm, even in the details, made it so much fun.

as we were charting, all i could think of was the i love charts song from sid the science kid. what? you don't watch that pbs program in your spare time? there are several things about that program that grate on my nerves, but i can't deny that it's got some academic value! here's a clip of the i love charts song.
happy charting!

Now Addie loved her some pots and pans, and she also wore her fair share of glad publix-ware on her head; but these little girls love pulling every piece of storage containers out of the bottom kitchen drawer!

It often times allows me to finish dinner.
Or clean out/load the dishwasher.
Maybe fix lunch for everyone.
Or just flat out entertain them.

But it always provides endless fun and laughs (mommy joy) for our girls!
With a little help...
...it took no time at all for Anne Perry and Audrey Kate to figure out where each plastic container needed to be placed!
these little munchkins are turning into quite the characters! i was beyond excited to get a picture of them together! i know they both look so serious here, but...
i think you can see how much fun they were having here:

heehee. i think i might have to do an extra load in the dishwasher before we use these again!

thankful. beyond thankful for these sweet memories!

...because we all need a little extra toilet paper sometimes.

Today, at 14 months, 2 weeks and 6 days old, I can officially say that Audrey Kate is a walker.
She prefers to walk instead of crawl. She rebalances herself if she starts to stumble. She can pivot and change direction. And if she falls, she gets right back up and keeps going!
She's been working on it for a few weeks now. She's made it on facebook far more than either of her sisters lately with all of her climbing.
Benches. Chairs. Tricycles. Sofas. Stools.

And she has her fair share of bumps, scrapes, and bruises already!
But she is oh.so.proud. of herself!
So today (really yesterday), I decided to take her out to the front porch and video her sweet toddling steps, just like I did Addie a little over 2 years ago! Seems like yesterday and forever ago all rolled into one!

and yes, i clicked at her like a dog! Finn even woke up when i was rewatching the video! whatever works, right?

I just love her excited noises! and she loved that flower i was using to lure her towards me.

yippee!

love this sweet big girl!
congratulations Audrey Kate on your first of many big steps! we love you baby girl!

they started off with many, many tears. lots of them. it took 2 and a half of the first 4 classes for them to turn off. tears quickly turned into defiance and manipulation, and it took everything within me to stay on the porch with the other parents so she couldn't see me!

but who can refuse a child a trip to the bathroom, whether it's out of avoidance or not. that is until you've taken her right before the class starts.

and that was it. there was no doubt in my mind that she didn't have to go. she knew she didn't have to go. and most importantly she realized there was nothing else she could manipulate about the situation and must have decided to make the best of it!

i was quite thankful, as i am sure were her teachers!

it's hard to know when to say no. when things move from legitimate fear of the unknown straight to defiance. and it's even harder to know when to put your foot down.

I signed Addie up for 2 weeks of 4 days each week of swimming lessons this summer. My goal? Not even for her to swim, but for her to be more comfortable in and around water.

And to respect it!

It started off with demands to hold a hand. And so Ms. Karen did.
but by the 2nd week, she was happily be-bopping her way up the diving board!
and stepping right off without holding a hand or even jumping to a hand!
and begging to jump off the side to her teachers! over and over and over.
i love the faces she makes as she jumps in!

the little girls even came with us one day...the hottest, muggiest, stickiest day! my lens kept fogging up!
now...the swimming was a completely different thing. her little bottom half is nothing but muscle and she just sank like a rock!
her teachers worked really hard with her to teach her to keep her legs up and kick, and she was very close by the end of the two weeks!
but it doesn't much matter to me whether she can swim or not. her confidence has skyrocketed! she loves to be in the water. and we ended the week with lots of smiles!
if you're on facebook, you've seen these. but here are two videos: the first from the first week and the second one from the second week.

I don't often blog about what I'm doing outside our girl's lives.

Mainly because most of my time is spent with our girls. It's my job, and I take it very seriously.

However, that doesn't mean that all of my time is spent with them. That wouldn't be good for any of us!

I have the most incredible husband who's supported my love of photography for many years now. He'll pull over on the side of a random country road to let me get some pictures. He'll sit with me for hours while I edit. He'll drag everyone out to the front yard and jump up and down to get the girls to smile. And he'll spend whole days, from the time the girls wake up until they go to bed, being mommy and daddy. 

That love has grown a little over the years and has become more than just a hobby.

It might be once a month. Sometimes twice. It's always on a Saturday. And it involves long, exhausting, joyful days of celebration.

And it's spent not only with a very talented lady but an incredible friend.

I've learned more from Allison while actually doing something I love than I could ever learn reading a book or studying a technique. I could quote you terms or explain how something should be done.

But doing it is a whole different ball of yarn!

I'm pretty honored to be second shooting weddings with Allison. Honored and humbled and nervous and probably a little giddy at times! When I told her I'd do it (ok, when I begged her to let me do one with her just for fun), I had no idea we'd be where we are today...with weddings not only booked out a year in advance on her calendar but now on mine too as her second shooter.

I am so thankful for each opportunity I have to shoot with Allison. I am thankful for my dedicated, fully present husband who is the most amazing daddy to our girls. I am thankful for Allison's friendship and her willingness to share her talent with others. I am thankful. God is good. All the time.

And so is His timing.

While the goal of a second shooter is to stay out of the photographer line of vision, it's pretty much impossible and other times purposeful to end up in a few (when you have your camera pointed straight at her and her's straight at you!)!

Here's a fun post Allison did that I think you might enjoy...

Ode to Second Shooters

No. I haven't lost them.

Yet.

Not all of them at least.

Addie was given the Hungry Hungry Hippo game for her birthday from one of her great-aunts. Fun game.

20 marbles.

We currently own 14 of the original 20 marbles.

I have always kept the game put up when Addie wasn't playing it so the baby girls wouldn't swallow any marbles.

This morning I found a bunch of the marbles loose in Addie's closet.
The following {paraphrased} conversation ensued.

Me: Why are the marbles in your closet?

Addie: I needed the {play kitchen} pot they were in.

Me: Why are they all over the place?

Addie: Because I spit them in there.

Let me pause here and say that even at age 3, Addie still puts everything in her mouth. it makes me cringe for health reason as much as it makes me crazy for safety reason!

But back to the back and forth.

Me: I need you to help me pick them up so your baby sisters won't swallow them. {as i start picking them up quickly and counting as i go. 12 of the 14.}. We're missing 2 Addie, where are they?

Addie: What would happen if my baby sisters swallowed them? 

Me: well, they'd have to go to the doctor and maybe the hospital.  it could make them very sick.

Addie: oh, then we could ride in an ambulance. that would be great fun! 

Me: {getting suspicious}

Addie: but i would miss you mommy. would you ride with me?

Me: no, that would not be great fun. yes, i would ride with you. now help me find the marbles.

Addie: I swallowed them.

Me: {calmly} you swallowed them? {quickly running through my head the size of the marbles. the fact that they are round not jagged. whether or not they could block something. who to call.}

I grab my phone and call Diane. Her kids are 7 and 9. I figured she'd probably dealt with something like this and could talk me through some options because at that point I was {calmly still} starting to panic!

Addie: who are you calling mommy? {starting to panic herself}.

Me: {talking to diane. thinking through the best options}. did you swallow the marbles? you must tell me the truth!

Addie: no, mommy. i didn't swallow the marbles. {tears starting to flow}

Me: are you sure? are you telling me the truth? 

Addie: i didn't swallow them mommy.

Me: {searching behind/between her close door}

Finding the other 2 marbles.

And having a very long timeout in her room alone and an even longer talk about being truthful, how to honor God and Mommy with her words, and why this could have been much worse!

And then I walked in the kitchen to find Audrey Kate had opened the cabinet and had her arm in the cat food container and was chomping on a handful! 

a few days ago, the girls and i went to a local skating rink that has a toddler time/day each week.

i had absolutely no idea what to expect. i was told to bring a ride on toy for addie and that a friend with a little boy the twin's age was bringing a walker for him, that there were bounce houses and a snack.

that's it.

and on top of that i was with some new friends, so i wasn't sure how much trade off there might be (like when i have to run go grab one baby girl when the other is going in the opposite direction/change a diaper/take addie to the potty/breathe/whatever...that someone would keep an eye out for the other kiddo/s). 

when we showed up, addie had a complete blast! she loved playing with her sweet friend, riding her tricycle and jumping in the bounce house.

i didn't get a single picture of that because my 2 eyes, 2 arms, 2 legs and one body was going in 3 different directions {almost} every second i was there!

but in the few seconds {98 to be exact} when i knew where the other 2 girls were, i grabbed these videos!
oh gracious lands! when did they get so big?!?!?!?

i love looking through pictures that bring back such sweet memories. i'm always reminded of what a precious family we have, who love our girls so deeply and surround them with such love and care!

thank you nana for inviting us to your beautiful retreat in the mountains, feeding us such delicious food, and letting our girls completely take over your downstairs! thank you rierie for braving the trip up us. and thank you gramma and papa al for spending time with all of us! and most importantly, thank all of you for loving our girls!

ok. so only 2 more highlands posts to go!

we chose the 4th of july weekend for several reasons, one of which was the small town 4th of july celebrations!

we started the morning with a trip to the creek (again) with just Addie, Paul and me. she had so much fun (again) jumping around and playing with just us; and i got to grab a few of these flower shots! we {forgot} to bring her a change of clothes, so we just stripped her down and put her in her carseat wrapped in a towel!

after showers and little girl morning naps, we headed to see the birds of prey from the Balsam Mountain Trust Nature Center. Addie was mesmerized, but the little girls not so much. so paul strolled them around until we all piled in the car and drove {more than} a few blocks to the 4th of July picnic. there was a fire truck with the ladder fully extended that spewed water from the fire hose all over the field for the kids to run and play in at the end of the picnic after the medical helicopter took off and did a fly over!

but before all of that, addie jumped inside the firetruck and didn't want anyone else to get in!
so we pulled her out and grabbed some lunch with Nana, Rie Rie, Gramma, Daddy, and the baby sisters.

picture attempt of all 3 girls #1:
picture attempt of all 3 girls #2:
perfect picture: fail.

perfect memory: success!

there were so many things to watch!


i love how very different yet so similar these little girls are.
then it started to rain right before the helicopter took off, so paul loaded up the babies while Addie and I stood and watched it take off and do a fly over. wow! (sorry, no pictures. the camera was staying dry in the car too!).

then we headed home for naps.

after naps, gramma and papa al came over with the yummiest home smoked pulled pork bbq ever, and we had delicious cold salads and grilled corn on the cob and divine peach/blueberry cobbler and ice cream made by my aunt/nana. then a few of us and Addie went to hear the patriotic program (complete with a bagpipe) at the local church but headed home early to wait for the fireworks.

we put the (completely exhausted) little girls to bed and watched the fireworks with an excited Addie, who's emotions ranged from utter amazement to complete bury-your-head-cover-your-ears fear! it was sprinkling again, so i didn't take a single fireworks picture either {sad!}.

barring the limited number of pictures i took, it was a wonderful day of celebrating our country and the men and women fighting for our freedom, all while being surrounded by wonderful family!

paul's mom, aka gramma & margaret, also has a house in Highlands. so the girls and i spent a morning with her and started with a beautiful waterfall!

now, i can wear one baby; but there is no way i can wear and/or carry two babies totaling close to 50lbs together (down steep, slippery steps), and this {short} trek to the waterfall was no place for a stroller! so anne perry (who's a bit of a mama's girl right now) was on my back and gramma strapped audrey kate to her back in a second baby ergo and off we went!
and as we walked down, this was our first view. beautiful, but...
we rounded the corner to this:
if you look closely, you can see a wooden fence behind the falls. we were able to walk down there and addie found this. she was much more excited about it than this picture shows, but i still thought she was cute {grin}
there are many words that could describe a waterfall, but about all i could think of was...

wow.
now, don't get me wrong, addie loved that waterfall and talked about it for days; but she had more fun splashing in the tiny creek that ran down the walkway!
jumping. hopping. swinging. stepping.
and smiling :)
thank you for taking us to this beautiful waterfall gramma! we can't wait to go back when we visit in the fall!