my baby girls

We have loved the opportunity to have our girls' first year captured with a great photographer. As I can't believe my baby girls have flown through (and past!) their first year, I'm so thankful for every single moment Chanel captured for us.

Chanel put together a slide show of the girls' first year and I thought I would share it with you. She quite aptly described the sessions as at times "wearing" . . .what she was sweet enough not to mention was that it was probably the over-tired mommy at times that was the highest maintanence. Ahh, blessed sleep how I love that you are back in my life (as do those around me). : )

God has been so faithful and given us so much to be thankful for. . .enjoy!

is there anything more fun than cousins?

it's a hard life

Turns out my girls are as crazy about back scratches as their daddy was and is (I should have gotten a picture of Ryan like this from when he was little).

It'd be almost pathetic if it wasn't so adorable. : )

Lucy

Aunt Callie brought home a puppy for a little while that our whole house fell in love with.

Meet Lucy - isn't she precious?

Long story short, Aunt Callie decided Lucy would be better off at another home. To the panic of many in our lives, we seriously considered bringing her into our family. Ava was in love and while we knew it was half-crazy (ok, maybe fully), so much about Lucy was exactly what we would want for a dog.

Yet practicality won out this time and we decided to let Lucy go live with her brother Ozzie.

We went to spend one more afternoon with Lucy before she went to her new home. I told Ryan, I kind of realized I liked her about as much as Ava. She was pretty sweet.

Although I think shortly after we got there, Lucy was thinking, "Thank you that I get to go live with Stephen and Liz. . . "


And then she said, "THANK YOU that I get to go live with Stephen and Liz."

Then I think I heard, "PLEASE let me go live with Stephen and Liz NOW."

The twins wouldn't let her out of their sight and just tag teamed her around the house.

Ava and Lucy

Ava's favorite part of having a dog. She feels pretty grown up holding on to a leash.

Give her lots of snuggles for us Stephen and Liz!

we take bed head very seriously around here

fishing!

Ryan took Ava fishing for the first time last week with Grandpa and Aunt Callie. She had lots of fun and did amazingly well . . .even when the fish weren't biting for a while.

Aunt Callie and Grandpa show her how its done.

This shot makes me giggle. Not sure why - Ava just kind of looks like she has no idea what's going on but still thinks it's pretty cool.

This just makes me smile - having fun while waiting.

Hmmm, so this is what it's all about?

Taking a turn herself

For a long while, Ryan wasn't having any luck. Ava was just hanging out beside him. At one point, Ryan looked over at her and said, "Ava, I'm not sure if we're going to catch any fish today." Ava just looked sweetly at him and replied, "Maybe next time Dad." : )

They just had to wait to catch the biggest one. Who knew there are fish with teeth in the lake?!

Checking out the final catch with Grandpa