Love is a Verb

Holly cracks me up daily with things she says. One of my favorite things about her language is how she uses the word "love." It's always very active. A while back she was talking about our little friend Knox whom she loves! She said, "I love Knox!! My favorite part about loving him is jumping on the trampoline with him." Then, when I asked her what she missed most about Joseph, she said, "I miss loving him."

This morning, Holly was in my lap and June got very agitated that she wasn't the one in my lap. So we got her up there too and all 3 of us were snuggling when June reached over to pinch Holly's face. I said, "No, Ma'am" to June and she squealed at me, which made me laugh for some reason. Holly said, "It's okay, June I still love you." Then, because she's particularly sensitive to being laughed at, she said, "And don't worry, we're not laughing at you. We're loving you." Which made me howl even harder.


And I have to show off this little craft Holly did. She is really into art and comes up with crafts to do all on her own. On this one she punched out the little dots from all the ladybugs to create the border. I think it's a framer.

And, the best morning face ever:

Happy 1st Birthday Maggie June Peabody!!

Here are a few pictures of June's birthday party. This year, we had a pool party with a few of June's little buddies (i.e. Holly's friends' little siblings :)).

Happy Birthday to you!

This is my favorite face she makes. It is accompanied by a low "ooooh" sound.

Tentative at first...

But not for long!

This kids knew what to do with the remainder cupcakes. :)

Proud big sister!

June loved feeding Holly.

My little thumb-sucker.

So, Logan, how's your juice box today?

June and Knox protecting baby Ty.

June with her little friends.

It is so hard to believe June is one. In some ways it feels like eons since she was born but then in other ways I feel like she should still be a little baby. But she is a walking, talking, bundle of personality these days. Her favorite words are "Dada" and "Mom." No Mama for her. She has skipped right to "Mom."

She smiles at everyone and doesn't give up until she gets a laugh or a smile back, which of course everyone is happy to do. For many months (well, since birth) she has been a mommy's girl, but lately she is very much a Daddy's girl, too. She goes ballistic when Allen gets home from work and will race over to hug him. She laughs and laughs with him and gets a little hyper (very surprising, I know) when they play

She is very affectionate and loves to snuggle. We got her a baby doll that makes noises for her birthday, and she carries it around and kisses it and hugs it like it's a real baby. Her kissing noise is more like a clucking noise but I think she's just trying to imitate us.

This girl loves to eat. Her favorite foods are avocado, carrots, bananas and crackers. She also loves biter biscuits because she is getting a few teeth. She has four teeth and one more just popped through, so now it's five.

She is also very advanced physically. She is learning to ride a bike with training wheels:

She's training early for her triathlon. :)

We are so thankful for our Junebug. She brings us lots of joy and laughs! Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Beach Trip

We were able to go to the beach early in August since someone canceled last-minute at my parents' beach house. We were all set to go to a cabin, but were happy to have a week at Destin instead. It is probably our favorite place to go. We are familiar with the area and never get tired of going to the same beautiful Sandestin, with its rolling golf-course hills and gorgeous peaceful views. We are so grateful my Mom and Dad let us use this each year!

Did We Just Make Babies Too Fast?

Shaped for speed...

Shaped for agility...

Did we just make babies too fast?

(In case you haven't see it, I am quoting the Huggies commercial. :))

I have so many pictures to post on here it is a little overwhelming. But I at least had to show our Junebug walking!! She took her first steps in the first week of being 10 months and is now taking 10-15 steps at a time. It is really fun!

Tune back in for some more summer fun pics...when my nanny shows up.

The Beginning and the End

The beginning of the school year:

Holly's first day of school!

The last day of school:

So grown up!

And a little Holly/June comparison:

I just now realized that this house used to be white. What in the world?

It did live outside for several months...so maybe that dyed it. Bizarre!! It is really yellow now. The music and everything still works, which is unbelievable. Joseph and Holly both loved this little schoolhouse and so does June (and Holly still does!).

Outside Fun

The weather has been so very beautiful in Atlanta these days. And Allen has been working a lot this month, so we've tried to make the most of the weather and stay entertained. The trampoline is one great source of amusement:

A few weekends back, Allen was working so I took the girls out to pick strawberries. It was a really great experience overall. The only downside was the 1.5 hr. drive home due to construction. Happily, Holly enjoyed listening to John Moessner's CD over and over again (she kept asking to her Joseph Moessner talking to his Daddy). It is our new driving music and I love it!

Here we go, ready to harvest the fields:

Choosing oh-so carefully:

Yum, delicious!

And of course, we had to DO something with the strawberries:

Mommy was tired at the end of that day! But I did get to spend it with my two favorite guyyls in the whole world!

Oh, and I almost forgot! Holly filled out a little form at school entitled "My Mom" for Mother's day. It was so funny. Here are a few highlights:

Her hair color is: black

I think my mom weighs about: 5 lbs.

Her favorite food is: salad (oh, how I wish!!)

If mom were an animal she'd be a: giraffe

Things my mom doesn't like to do: cleaning the house (she knows me!)

I love my mommy because: she is nice to me