The Elusive Smile

So Sabrina has definitely been our mildest baby (especially when I am careful what I eat).  But you would think by the pictures we have taken that she wasn’t very happy because no matter how hard we try (or how tricky we think we are) we haven’t been able to capture her smile.  We were lucky enough to get a picture of Sydney and Chloe’s first smiles just as they happened, but Sabrina is easily distracted and will not smile if the camera is anywhere near.   We have a whole collection of near misses, taken just after the smile disappeared.    

 

 

 

 

 

I even got to a point where I was frustrated at just missing the cutest smile and, in frustration, begged Chloe to make her smile.  She was more than happy to help me out in her own little way.

 

 

 

She’s been smiling since she was 4 1/2 weeks, so its been nearly 3 weeks of near misses, but I am happy that we can finally share her cute smile---even if its only a half smile and its a little fuzzy. (Notice how she had to be looking away from the camera!)

For My Momma

So I totally thought that once I set this blog up, I would never update it except when under extreme pressure.  But here I am finding so many things I keep telling people about and finally am getting around to showing.

Ever since we moved to our new home almost a year ago, we have loved how beautiful Maryland.  Even the brown of winter wasn’t as dreary or windy as New Jersey.  So when my mom came to visit when Sabrina was born, she gave me the motivation to finally take pictures of some of our beautiful scenery on our main roads right here.  Enjoy our heaven!

  

 

Also here are some photos of Sabrina chubbing up a little bit.  She is by far our most petite baby, but still long in comparison to other babies.

 

 

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Isn’t she sweet (ignoring the mohawk of course!).  I swear I see Matthew’s brother Stephen in her.  When will one of my children come out looking like me!?!   

Itty Bitty Sabrina

May 24, 2010—4:07 pm—7lbs 12oz—20.5 in

I know we’ve already sent pictures to most of our friends and relatives, but what better time to finally succumb to the “you’ve got to start a blog” pressure than a new start with a new little one. 

We started calling our new little baby "Itty Bitty” right away because she was so much smaller than we remember babies coming out…and she has stayed tiny. 

She’s also the best sleeper we’ve ever had and we finally have a baby that follows all of the descriptions of newborns in all of those books I was ready to toss after my first colicky child. (There were a lot of books!) She sleeps a ton, soothes easily, eats only when she’s hungry, and actually had a distinct 3 week fussy week that you read about, but I was never able to distinguish in my other babies.  Now at almost four weeks, I’m counting my blessings that I’ve been able to enjoy this newborn phase instead of pseudo existing in a delirious state of exhaustion.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m still tired.  But at least I am cognizant of the world around me.

Here’s a video of Syd & Chlo meeting her for the first time.

 

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The Ranch

We went to my grandpa's ranch near Aripine, Arizona for the month of July(which is about 45 minutes away from the Snowflake temple). This was such a special place for my family growing up as we would spend our summers here to get a break from the heat. At the same time, we learned to climb trees, that beautiful sunsets mean grandma and grandpa love us, and its okay to get dirty!

It was such a treat for my girls to play with their cousins just like I did growing up (even though there was a LOT of us in my mom's nice new little cabin). It was funny at first to see how much of city-girls they were tripping through the forest, constantly trying to wipe their hands clean, and running from bugs (and dogs!). But in the end, they adored their aunts & cousins and brushed away a little of their city-girl edge.

March 2008

Waiting to hunt Easter eggs

Showing off their goodies

Point Pleasant Beach
We decided to take a trip down to Point Pleasant Beach, even though it was still cold.  This is a picture we
took for cousin Rachel's "Flat Stella" school project.

Jenkinson's amusement park
We spent most of our time at Point Pleasant on this amusement park on the boardwalk.  The kids had a blast!

The pony cart

The choo-choo train

In the belly of the dragon

Chloe's favorite--the fire truck

Point Pleasant beach

Good morning!
 I don't know why I took this picture, but I love it.  She just looks so morning-ish.

Welcome home!
This is the view from our new apartment window just after moving in.

At the top of the Twin Lights lighthouse

Twin Lights lighthouse
We love the lighthouses here and used Rachel's flat stella project as a good excuse to go ,
even though we were in the middle of moving!

February 2008

Favorite Holes

Sydney & Chloe love to climb in baskets together. Matt made the mistake of pushing them around our wood floor once and they wanted to be pushed around all the time after that.

Its Frosty
Actually, Sydney corrected me and said this was Frosty's mommy.  The next day when it started melting, she kept crying, "Where is Frosty going?"

The kids with Viola
Viola is our deaf neighbor that likes to come hang out with us occasionally.  She helped Sydney & Chloe build this snowman.

Brrrr!
This tells you how bad our apartment is.  We had one big freezing snow and woke up the next morning to 1/8-1/4 inch thick ice on our living room window...on the inside!!

Emily's birthday

I am always a princess!
Ok, we have way too many crowns in our toy chest, but I just love these  moments when Chloe is not so princess-ish, but still wants to wear the crown.

Another hole
Sydney discovered that if she pulled all of the blankets out of the hall closet, she would have a comfy little hiding place. She told me she wanted to "go to sleep", but we all know Sydney does not take naps!