Baby me, Baby Ellie

{Ellie's hair gets curly like this too when it's wet.}         
















{But when it's dry like this, people have asked if we rub it with a balloon to get that look. Umm, no.}

{Bath babies}

 

{I think it's funny we are both sticking our tongues out and smiling in these pics. And Notice my cloth diaper. Love you, disposable Huggies.}

Do you think we looked alike as babies?

Mini Vacay

Clay, Ellie and I headed up to Park City for a getaway last week.

It was the perfect mix of lounging, sunshine and Glee. {More on that in my next post. I might give you a sneak peek at the high school glee club I was in. I said Might.}

I actually lived in Park City with my dad for a year. I love that place. It is so beautiful and there are so many unique little shops and restaurants.

{Ellie's first legit day at the pool. She loved it.}

{But she doesn't get in the sun without her shades, of course.}

{We went for a killer run on the poison creek trail. look closely at the tree — it has tons of shoes on it!}

{Dinner at Cicero's on Main Street. So delish.}

 

{Hiking by the Alpine slides}

{See ya again next weekend, PC!}

Swagger Wagon

Have you watched this? Please do. Hilarious.



How do you feel about minivans?

Happy Half-Birthday

{My happy baby in her stylin' Roxy outfit. Do we look alike? Please say yes!} 

Guess who is six months old? I know — she's basically a teenager.

I would say I miss my newborn baby ...

... but I honestly don't. I mean, she's really not that much bigger than she was at birth. And I find myself loving each new stage she reaches. It's so fun to watch her discover everything around her for the first time. Also, not having to wake up to feed her every hour and 1/2 is a bonus.

So, I finally found a pediatrician I love.

Maybe it's because he told me I need to eat more fat {so Ellie can chunk up}.

Maybe it's because he introduced me to Harper's Homemade bread — it is the original Grandma Sycamore's bread. {The owners, who are here in Utah, sold the recipe to Sara Lee. Sara Lee altered and added to the recipe a lot, so the Harpers decided to go back to the original. It's delish. And way better for you than a lot of breads on the shelves.}

Or maybe it's because he was extremely patient and understanding when I expressed my concerns about immunizations.

Ellie is a whopping 12 pounds. 5th percentile, ladies and gents. But she is in the high percentiles for height and head size. We're going to start feeding her solids tomorrow. She seems so excited to eat.

I love her sweet smiles, girly jabber, infectious giggles, attempts at raspberries, crazy kicks and untamable hair.

{El loves to slide out of her swing and chill.}

Oh, and some of you have asked what she looks like with her hair "down." So, for your viewing pleasure:

Love you, baby.

How does your garden grow?

Once upon a time, there was sunny Saturday. Sounds like a fairytale to us Utahns, huh?

Clay and I decided to take advantage of it and acheive a dream we've had for awhile: plant a garden.

Since we don't know the first thing about gardening — OK maybe the first — buy seeds, right? My stellar step-dad, Craigeroni, happily lended his years of green thumbing experience.

The result was a well-planted garden of strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, beans, snow peas, spinach, lettuce, and onions ...

... and a very happy new gardener.

We just hope this random blizzard didn't nullify our hard work. I haven't been sweet talking to those seedlings for nothing.

Ellie can't wait to bite into your first carrot, garden. Don't disappoint.

Today I discovered I have baby's breath in my garden, along with these fuzzy purple flowers. Lovely.

Now that I'm pretty much a legit gardener, I think I am going to plant these:

And these.

What's in your garden?

We are Family

A few favorites from our family photo shoot. Our friend Tara took them. Anyone who can get a hungry baby to smile is one talented photographer!

Beauty

I have a lot of heroes in my life. Most of them are mothers.

One of them is Stephanie Nielson. Watch this video. It reminded me how beautiful motherhood is and how incredibly grateful I am to have the sweet little angel who made me a mom. And her daddy, who is the best husband and father I could ever hope for.

Sometimes I might miss my pre-mom self like Stephanie misses her pre-plane crash self. I would never trade my baby for anything — I'm talking about missing a good night's sleep, a flat stomach and eyes without dark circles under them. And while I have my vain moments worrying about how I look, Stephanie, whose beautiful face was burned, is more gorgeous than ever because of what she's been through and what she's made of her trial. I want to be that kind of gorgeous.

It's good to remember what matters most. It's that sweet baby girl I get to wake up to every day — not the tired face and messy hair I see in the mirror. This is my new life. And it is so good. I can honestly say it is better than life has ever been — dark circles and all.