above all else....

my lil' girl knows how to make my birthday most memorable! 

after nearly 5 days of fever, flu, crying, painting herself and the carpet with poo, running out of diapers (using size one and two leftovers for a child that is about to be in a size four only makes the situation more comical), roseola rash combined with eczema and scratching herself till she bled, and overall misery... my little bug decided today was the day (after 2.5 months of going in reverse) to crawl forward! I really thought she was going to just skip over the whole crawling business as she has been pulling herself up on furniture, people, toys, her crib, etc... this milestone just made my day week month! i think she must be on the way to feeling better! 
 

when the boys are away, the girls will play!

since 2 of the 3 hubby's were out of town on work, we decided to have a girls day... and since jayme looooves the swings so much, we decided to hit the park again with her girlfriends (i think we are definitely gonna have to invest in a swing set!)

jayme wanted to show audrey how to play with her toys

audrey's first time on the swings (jayme loves to buddy-swing)

playtime (before the gopher appeared)

"where's jayme?" (she actually knew to point to jayme!)

peek-a-boo!

love this picture! riley and her future baby brother

ready to roll!

mom's get exercise while babies get nap time (well they were supposed to nap, they had other plans)

annnnnd passed out before she could finish her dinner

not even 7 pm and they are wiped out (as were we!)

yay for aunt tay!

besides great food, good friends, and a fantastic game... the highlight of our weekend was aunt tay coming to visit! she brought love & snuggles, giggles & tears ("charlie bit me!"- probably had-to-be-there-moment), adorable handmade headbands (for my lil' accessory queen), and some more threads to remind us where her heart is.... keepin austin weird!

lovin up on aunt tay before she goes back to austin

rockin her new (18 month onsie)

super sunday...

jayme sported grampa's favorite colors... and after sharing a crying sesh in the nursery at church, the J's shared some pre-game playtime...

jayme loved grampa's bbq about as much as the rest of us (even if she didn't get to taste the deliciousness until several hours later)...

uncle buck shares num-nums with aubrielle and jayme...

ryan was the designated sue chef to assist grampa and bo-man...

with 70-something degree weather, and a clear blue sunday...
                                                                 plus an exciting game...
                                                                         i would say we had a super sunday!

park play date with the other j...

swing time

play time in the warm SoCal sun

 

checkin out each others' toys

he's over the toys... give me grass and acorns!

J invited J to check out her newly houdini-proofed crib

a night with uncle buck...

clean booty in uncle buck's face (serves her right for letting her roam diaper-free)

"MOOOOMMMM! No camera's please! Can't you see I'm in the nude?!"

not quite how mommy does bedtime stories, but i suppose uncle buck's method works

after nugget went to bed uncle buck felt like baking...

this is how well that idea turned out...

buh-bye round one brownies...

note- no bueno! brownies without gluten are not brownies- more like charred dog poo!

excitable sunday...

for nana lynn's birthday we went to dinner with uncle reed and aunt becca (uncle buck). two things made the lil' bug super excited...

got him on her leash! (or his ear buds... either way, she's got him)

 

 

can't let go of her uncle reed

 

 

meet my chocoholic in the making (she takes after her mommy)

giving us a hard time about not letting her have the handful of chocolate cake she grabbed

pure joy...

after i failed as a fun mommy at the park the other day, we revisited the park the next day (daddy came along this time to ensure mommy didn't hold out on the fun this time)... annnnnnd this time i was prepared for the swings with my handy dandy de-germing wipes!

so excited to be at the park again

daddy had as much fun pushing her as she had swingin'

when she gets excited she clasps her hands (love it!)

check out those baby thighs! (i just wanna squeeze them- eek!)

nature walk time

visiting the local horsies

daddy went a little nuts with the fun

pure joy (daddy does the best stroller-coaster)

typical californians in january...

80 degree weather calls for being outside and soaking in some pure vitamin d... so we packed up bob, lathered on spf 50, and went to the park up the block... and in typical new mommy fashion, i didn't leave home without my camera... (sorry i'm obsessed much with her)

spf 50 baby... she is a white after all ("pasty-melanoma-prone" may as well be tacked onto our last name)

"swings please" (maybe next time i'll bring the sanitizing wipes, they looked absolutely disgusting)

staring at the other kids on the swing (in envy of those whose parents aren't germ-a-phobes)

like 3-5 minutes straight of staring at the kids on the swings (i felt bad at this point)

distraction (clearly when she's focused... she's focused... no matter what is in her hands)

8 months and already knows how to beg

when all else fails, try to distract again...

hamster wheel is spinning trying to find a way to get to the swings herself

babbling away some good conversation with her mama (even though all she wants to talk about is "dadda")

nap buddy...

uncle buck insisted she just needed a nap time buddy...