NO BIRTHDAY!!!

Tagg started his 2nd birthday with a bang. A bang as in a thunderstorm, unfortunately! That pushed that party inside. Total bummer for me because I only cleaned OUTSIDE. Stupid rain! We made the best of it and Tagg was completely enamored of his Cars balloons, Cars cake, all the Cars themed presents, especially the books and swim trunks! He got a fabulous motorized Lightning McQueen car from Nana and Papa, which we thought was cute since that's what he calls the new boat. Don't mind the grouchy face in the photo. He really loved them both! Tagg had a ball with the wrapping paper. He was whipping it around, up and down...much more interesting than most of the gifts apparently.

In the weeks leading up to his birthday, we would ask him "are you excited for your birthday?" - his response? "NO birthday!!!" "What about presents?" "NO presents!!!" "Birthday cake? You love birthday cake!" "NO birthday cake!!!" All with a very scowly face and firm shake of the head.

Yep, that started a couple of weeks of "NO!!!" And "I don't want...", " I don't need...", "I don't like..." Just insert whatever you were talking about and it was no, no, no! Thank goodness that phase didn't last very long!

Overall it was a pretty great birthday...and this was just the first party!

You'd Never Know...

...that these photos were taken by an abandoned restaurant, next to the mall and Target in Sandy, Utah. Yep. I've just ruined the illusion that we were deep in the majestic Wasatch mountains.

So the short story is that we did family pix - had to update now that we have two new additions and Tagg is not "the baby" any more. We decided after our last pictures where we decided to just be natural (bad idea!) that a little color theme might be nice. We really looked like a bunch of mismatched strangers in the last photo!

Becky and I found these adorable baby outfits at Childrens Place and decided that was the theme. It was amazing that everyone managed to find cute, color coordinated outfits to match (although every time I wear that dress, I get a few too many compliments like "wow! your dress is a really interesting color" to make me feel comfortable in it!).

The babies were really good, even with all of the costume changes! Tagg had to be bribed with Chik-Fil-A (hence all the photos with his hand in his mouth). He's strategically sneaking french fries. Not too healthy but at least it made him happy!

Marc and Becky and Harper had oodles of amazing photos! They are a pretty damn cute family and Harper looks adorable with her little bows. You can tell that I'm not quite as savvy with the headband placement.

Tagg had a great time playing Cars with daddy and papa - in the gutter. Who would have ever though gutter pictures would be so adorable. Love the scabs on his two-year-old knees.








I don't care what Scott says...this little hat that we got for Sloane in Sonoma is darling! Purple knit - adorable! It's so NOT an old lady hat. And Nana and Papa were just sweeter than sweet with the grandkids, as usual.

Grandmas Are Great!

Nana, Grama...no matter what you call them, they're the best. Whatever happens at Grandma's house, stays at Grandma's house. There, I can make a mess, ask for blueberry muffins and have them fresh out of the oven within a half-hour, read all new books and play with all new toys, throw balls in the pond forever, and see my favorite cousins. And let's don't even talk about the Grandpas (aka Papa and Bompa). They're good for wrestling and shoulder rides, hugs and night-night stories and fixing bumps with bandaids. Most of all, we love Grandmas and Grandpas for all the love they share with us. We see it in their eyes, hear it in their "I love you's" and feel it in their hugs.

Photogenic!

This blog is easy. All photos!

The title of course refers to the kids...they take such amazing pictures! These were taken a couple of weeks ago for Tagg's 2nd birthday. We can't believe how big he's gotten. He looks like such a...boy!

I don't know that he'll ever have that cheesy grin. He's always been so serious in front of the camera. Sure it was over a hundred degrees this day, at 5:30 pm and he was a little hungry...I guess all things considered, he looks pretty happy! That little devilish smile is all him. It completely belies his sweet, sweet nature.

As you can tell, he's really into Cars (the movie) right now. Sadly, these two Lightning McQueens met an unfortunate fate when Tagg vroom-vroom-vroomed them right over that ivy-covered wall...into an atrium. An atrium that was one floor down, with no door or window access. I actually thought, for a split second, about scaling down this sad little aspen to try and retrieve them but then figured, meh...there's a Target on the way home! As he said "bye-bye Lightning McQueen!" One of Natalie's friends, Jodi (A Yummy Life photography) shot these pix for us at her studio downtown. Pretty amazing!

We got a few adorable pix of mommy and the kids and Tagg and Sloane too. I hope that someday they appreciate these pictures as much as we do!

Happy 4th of July!

Well, after almost a year away, we finally made it back to our home away from home - Lake Powell! It was heavenly! Liquid Courage (that's the name of our boat) was in pretty good shape, although we did have a few mechanical troubles with an engine that put us in the slip with some wrench-turners for a half a day. Hey! The ol' girl was a little rusty...I know the feeling.
We had wonderful time and found a really nice beach (a rarity for a holiday weekend).

It was baby girl's first trip to Powell and she loved it. The rocking boat (yep, it was a little windy), the warm weather (okay, it was over a hundred most days) and lots of people to cuddle with (and feed her...thanks Aunt Tiff) put her in a pretty good mood! She did great! Woo-hoo! Another Lake Powell baby!

Tagg had a ball! An absolute ball! He got to play "cars" on the boat, play in the sand and the water, and was super good about wearing his life jacket all weekend.

Probably his favorite part of the trip was the "tubby" in the plastic bin with his cars. He splashed in that thing for an hour, laughing and squealing. It was hysterical. Dude, there's a whole lake out here and you want to play in THAT?

And, since we can't get him to wear a hat anymore (sad...he has so many cute, overpriced hats) we tried a bandana. It lasted for awhile but he sure doesn't look happy about it!

Since it was 4th of July weekend, we stayed in the slips the first night and watched the fireworks from the back of the boat. Both kids slept through the festivities but we all had fun. And the fireworks were surprisingly good! Who knew you could get a good show at the Bullfrog launch ramp.

We indulged Scott with his favorite activity...wakeboarding? No. Tubing? No. Walking the docks checking out the boats...YES! Tagg enjoyed it about as much as mommy. I just didn't have a stroller to sack out in.

Other than the busted engine and a dead battery, the only real drama we had was a classic Lake Powell wind storm on Sunday. Hate those! It was crazy with boats losing anchors, a rope twisted around a friend's props (required scuba gear, a fishing knife, and someone who knows how to use it), beached wave runners and a lost raft or two. The kids and the boat made it through just fine. Me? Clocked in the forehead, bleeding like a pig. Luckily a Bandaid fixed the problem, no stitches required, no black eye...just a nice scab and bruise to come home with.

Pretty Baby

Is it too early to think she might be a model? Probably! Jeanette Soffe took these beautiful photos of Sloane, and a few with her somewhat willing (aka jealous) older brother. He's such a sweet boy. He was giving her "kisses and loves" in these pictures.

If you see the bracelet Sloane is wearing in some of these pictures, it's from her birth father's Sioux tribe. Pretty cool! And it fit (adjustable, of course!), which was a big bonus. She's so lovely and sweet and bright-eyed. The pictures are fabulous but they still don't quite do her justice!

ps...if you see any red splotchy stuff on her skin, this was the day she started breaking out in hives. Allergic reaction to regular formula. She's all better now that she's moved on to soy! And you'd never know she was uncomfortable based on these photos, huh? Yep, that's just how she was the whole time. Don't hate us but we are suuuuuper lucky!