Mischief

I love how delightfully curious Annie is .

Yes , it often results in major clean up on my part , but the wide-eyed look and huge grin that creeps across her face as she wreaks havoc on our house makes it totally worth it .

Those big , beautiful eyes get me every time .

Even when she's making a mess .

Next up , walking !

We have a stubborn girl on our hands . When she wants to get something she wants it right then , so taking the time to walk while holding Mommy's hands is kind of out of the question .

I know every baby has their own timetable , so I'm trying not to get stressed !

Just thinking about the upcoming months and everything that we have going on :

Annie turns one !!!

My in - laws are coming home for their mission

Trip to Dallas for Annie's first birthday and my in - laws homecoming

Many family reunions

Painting our house and doing other projects

My parents are visiting in Park City for five weeks

San Fransisco with friends

Seattle with friends

My brother and sister - in - law are coming to Utah for school

And then I head to Dallas for four months of work , during which we will be doing lots of back and forth and more fun trips !

The next few months are going to fly .

Taking it one day at a time and enjoying every moment .

- e

Weekend Update : St. Paul, MN

This past weekend we went to visint my Aunt Marg in good old

St. Paul , Minnesota.

I absolutely love the St . Paul / Minnieapolis area . It is one of my favorite places to visit and would certainly be towards the top of potential places for Blake and I to settle one day .

The homes are beautiful , the neighborhoods are shaded by canopies of massive green trees , there's fabulous shopping , and delicious restaurants. Plus , you can't beat that midwestern friendliness .

My Aunt is always incredibly generous and so much fun to be around . She even treated Blake and I to a Twins game and babysat Annie for us so we could enjoy an afternoon to ourselves !

Here are some iPhone photos from our weekend : )



Annie on the plane !
So excited to see Aunt Marg !

Stopping at one of my favorite stores , Patina , for some laughs .

They also have tons of cute kitchen items and home decor !

So excited to be at the Mall of America !

Annie on the carousel ( her current fav )

and Blake and I on the Log Ride ( a classic ) .

The Twins ' Game at Target Field .

They lost ( boo ) , but it was a very fun and relaxing afternoon !

Happy Father's Day , BW !

We love you SOOO much !

Exhausted and happy on the plane ride home !

One of my biggest regrets was that I forgot to take pictures of all of the INCREDIBLE food that we had over the weekend . 

Darn , I guess we'll just have to go back to all of them again !

Aunt Marg , you're the best !

We can't thank you enough for everything ,

and we can't wait to come back !

- e

Summer Days via Instagram

Life lately via Instagram .

As you might be able to tell , the bulk of our time these days is being spent by the pool .

That's what happens when you have incredible friends who never seem to tire of having you over , and if they do , they are wonderful enough not to say anything .

Needless to say , it's summertime and

Life . Is . Good .

How I love watching my baby girl splash in the water , squeal with excitement watching the dogs run in the yard , and snuggle close to me on a towel underneath the trees for an impromptu midday nap .

She is the absolute love and light of my life .

- e

Camera Search and a Sick Babe

I have been desperately wanting a new , higher quality camera for a while now . . . pretty much since Annie was born.

The problem is , I know nothing about cameras , so I have absolutely no idea which ones are the most "user-friendly" or would be good for a beginner . I don't even know how to go about researching something like this.

I took to my blogs and looked through posts of the bloggers whose photos I most admire . . . only to find that the cameras they use are far out of my price range and I'm sure beyond my skill level .

I did find that one of them started off with this camera and was quite happy with it :

The Nikon D40.

 I am considering purchasing one of these used on Craigslist for a much cheaper price and seeing how I like it for a while.

Anyone out there know anything about these cameras ?

Or do you have a different suggestion ?

On a different note, baby girl has been sick all week , so most of our days have looked like this :

You definitely know they're not feeling good when they keep their head on your shoulder through most of a swim class that they usually love.

I absolutely hate when Annie isn't feeling well.

It is such a helpless feeling.

I just want to take away any discomfort she might have.

And if that means letting her lay on my chest for hours because that is the only way she can sleep , I'll lay here for as many as it takes.

If there were a day to lay inside and do nothing, today would be it.

The sun is hiding and temperatures have dropped to sweater weather.

Ahh June in Utah.

Now all we need is some take out , a movie , and a daddy to snuggle with and things could be pretty near perfect.

Don't worry baby girl , you won't miss a single day of summer fun.

And if you do, mama will definitely make up for it : )


- e

You Have to Start Somewhere

Hi everyone!

So, do you know that I've had this blog set up for MONTHS?

MONTHS!

And this is my very first post.

I had this whole idea in my head about what my first post was going to look like...a collage of Instagram edited photos of Blake and I, and eventually Annie, through the years as a little guide to where we are today.

And then jobs and babies and travel and everyday life took over and it just never happened.

Shocker.

But the reason it never happened was because I wanted it to be this perfect little thing announcing our arrival onto the blogosphere.

And then I realized...nobody cared but me.

The most important thing is that I start and that I get that thing crossed off of my list.

So here we are today.

Just today.

- e