long live summer {Olivie + Ocean}

Let Me See You Sparkle Photography

Now that it's September I am seeing endless posts of cooler weather, pumpkin and holidays... and in Arizona we're over here like, does summer ever end?! Ha! We still have a solid month (more like 2... but who's counting?) of swim weather left! Plus there is indoor swimming, vacations (who's planning a vacation so that I can live vicariously through you?!) etc. Basically swim suit shopping is totally acceptable all year round, mmmkay?! So now that you want to come swimming with us in Arizona, be sure to check out Olivia + Ocean for child swimwear... prepare to swooooon! These swimmers are so dang PERFECT!! We are 100% obsessed with Mia's flamingo swim suit! Don't be surprised when you see photos of her in every suit from the collection- that's how much we adore these gorgeous swim suits! If you know me at all, then you're not surprised at all when I tell you that my favorite detail is the back... dem ruffles and dat bow!! OBSESSED!

 Swimsuit c/o Olivia + Ocean

happy 11 months to my little love

I'm not sure how it's this time already (cue the ugly cry!!) but it's BIRTHDAY MONTH for my baby James!! He IS my second child... I SHOULD know that the 1st birthday comes way faster than I could imagine... yet I still find myself in total shock that he is 11 months old. 11 months of pure, mischievous sweetness, ha ha! And my goodness, we love him SO!!

- James is constantly pulling himself to the standing position. He's even stood on his own for a few seconds. It was when he was distracted so it was totally an accident each time, but he'll get it mastered long before I'm ready for it, I'm sure!
- Since my last update on sleep, James has given me 3 consecutive nights of sleeping through the night! Then he will wake up once to eat a few nights in a row, then give me another night or two of sleeping though the night. At this point, I'll take what I can get! SOMEDAY it will be impossible to drag him out of bed, right?! He still gives me 2, 2 hour naps, thankfully!
- James still eats all the foods even though he has just 4 teeth, ha ha. He also nurses 3 times a day (4 if he wakes up in the night).
- He is obsessed with water- drinking it, swimming in it and bathing in it! He can be super ornery (I know, not James?!) but as soon as you turn on the water for bath time, his arms are flapping a million miles an hour and he's shrieking with happiness, ha ha.
- James hasn't really added any more words to his vocabulary, though I swear when he makes the "geegee" sounds, he is really trying to say "binky"! Maybe that will be his first word (besides mama)!
- We have a clapper now (it's the cutest!) and he's trying to master the wave. It's more of holding his hands up in the air like he wants to be held but hey, he will get there, ha ha!
- Guess who also figured out how to throw tantrums? So, that's cute... 
- James is in love with balls and cars! All boy, I tell ya! He will crawl around the house with a car in hand, driving on the tile! I debated whether to do a car or baseball themed birthday party... I think baseball won!
- He doesn't road trip or adjust to change as easily as Mia did/does. We just traveled to Utah (minus Eric) and between travels, leaving him to be babysat a few times, and no daddy, James turned into one very needy little monster.
- At his 9 month check up last month (yes, at 10 months. Totally a second child, ha!) James weighed in at 20 pounds! He's finally so mobile that he's not adding the pounds on, just maintaining. He's such a big boy!! Mia barely weighs 30 pounds, ha ha.
- He wears 12 and 18 month clothes (crazy!!) I have no idea what shoe size he is but I need to work on that because it will start cooling down here... in a couple of months ;)
- James still wears size 4 diapers. 

Our family is so blessed to have James in it... he is a bright spot in our days and all of us, including Mia, are obsessed with him!
 

save this memory

Save This Memory- could there be a more perfect name considering the photos captured here?! I'm so in love with our family pictures!

Save This Memory

Don't even worry that these gorgeous family photos were taken 5 months ago... Also, don't tell me that I've aged since then ;) Seriously though, I can't believe what a slacker I am with this blog that I love so much!! Life is busy but I'm grateful for everything in it that keeps me busy- including this sweet family of mine! I just adore this phase of life I'm in with Eric and our two babies, and having it photographed and frozen in time means the world to me!
One of my best friend's moved to Arizona recently and I'm so excited to share her with all of you! Not only do we get our weekly play dates, but we get to take advantage of her incredible photography talents... score!! If you're local to Arizona, I highly recommend Save This Memory for your photography and videography needs! She covers it all from family photos to weddings, etc.We loved working with her and I know you will, too!! Now excuse me while I go cry a river because it's time to schedule James' 1 year photos. Time is a thief!!

THREEnager

I am sooooo behind in my updates but I can't let myself skip talking about our favorite girl in da house! Mia is 3 1/2 (closer to 4... how do I make it stop?!) and kills us every day with her sweet, silly, SPUNKY personality! She is so full of it and we just can't get enough!

Save This Memory

At 3 1/2 Mia is constantly talking about when she is "big like mommydad". "When I'm big like mommydad, I will drive a big, red truck like daddy used to. 'member dat?! He had a big, red truck!" "When I big like mommydad, I will 5 kids. I will be a mommy and you will be my kid." "When I big like mommydad, I will go on a mission to Mexico!" She loves to take all the stories we tell her about our past (like the big, red truck and daddy's mission in Mexico) and spin the story to make it about herself :)

She talks about going to school every. single. day. She is going to die when I tell her she gets to start preschool in just a couple weeks! But I'm sure she will be equally bummed when she discovers she doesn't get to ride a bus to preschool, ha ha!

Mia can spell her (first) name and write it! She can identify all the letters of the alphabet and is so eager to learn how to write them (but mom is a slacker and hasn't really worked with her like I should!).

She is a total tease. She actually reminds me a lot of my older brother which totally freaks me out at times (because we totally didn't get along growing up) but makes me proud at the same time because he's pretty awesome! It's my favorite thing to watch Mia and Eric interact and play off each other! She fits right in this family with that teasing personality! Now to teach her that it's not fun anymore when people (kids, ha!) start crying!

I don't even remember the days before Mia could talk. Like, I'm sure she was born talking, ha ha. Sometimes I forget that she's only 3 because of how well she talks! She also has the BEST imagination! One day during dinner, she was playing with a toy and I took it away because, "we don't play with toys while we're eating!" She gave me a very annoyed look then started playing make believe with her HAND! I mean... I can't take her hand away?! ha ha! Sometimes I feel guilty for not doing enough projects at home with her but at the same time, she's developed such a fun imagination and can play and play... and I love it! 

Mia is fiercely loyal as a daughter, sister and friend. She has the biggest heart and sometimes I just can't believe she's mine! She makes me sooooo proud! I am forever thankful to be her momma!

We are pretty obsessed with Mia (James more so than all of us!) and I thank my Heavenly Father every day that we were chosen to be her parents! I wish I could slow time down, but since I can't, I'm doing my best to soak up every second at this amazing stage in life with our Mia girl!

happy 10 months to my little love

Poor James is suffering from the second child syndrome (but of course he doesn't care, like at all ;) ha ha) and I missed the last couple of months of his monthly updates! So today I'm sharing updates from 8-10 months to help keep my mind off the fact that we have double digits. My baby is too close to turning 1!! How did this happen?! Time is flying!

 Let Me See You Sparkle Photography

- James totally mastered army crawling (something that Mia totally skipped) and he army crawled for a solid 2 months or so. Our whole house is tile and James figured out how to scoop his elbows so that his body slid right right over the tile and he is fast, ha ha! It's like he's swimming across the floor ;)

- He started crawling right after he turned 9 months. At this point he mostly crawls, but we still see the swimming army crawling each day!

- Nothing motivates James more than getting his hands on something he's not supposed to... he learned to pull himself to a standing position when he was trying to get a hold of the computer, ha! So he can also pull himself to a standing position!

- James has slept through the night a total of 2 nights. Such a tease!! He still wakes up, usually around 4am, to sleep. Every night I cross my fingers/pray/hope that it will be the night that he finally just sleeps, HA! 

- Let's talk food- he is an eating machine!! James downs everything we give him, including chunks of meat, sandwiches, etc. He's pretty much over being spoon fed. He loves to have his food placed on his tray where he can shove it in at his own speed and make a mess ;)

- James just cut his two top front teeth and man, they are huge, ha ha! 

- He still loves to be swaddled with his arms out! Such a snuggle bug! He also really loves his bink's! When he wakes up crying, I'll find him sitting up in bed with a binky in his mouth, and fumbling a second binky between his hands until I pick him up, ha ha. 

- We are so lucky to have such a happy, easy baby!! He's always smiling and it seriously melts our hearts!

- James is a total water baby! He gets SO excited when he see's me turn on the shower each night (the kids shower together because the water that comes out in the tub is too hot- good ol' Arizona summers!) and looooves the pool! Fits right in with his sister and momma!

- He has mastered "mama" especially when he's upset or wants to be held. We often find him calling for "mama" but crawling after Eric, ha ha! He's dabbling into other sounds now and says "baba" a lot! Eric told me said "dada" for the first time the other night! He is much less chatty than Mia was, ha! 

- Mia and James are the CUTEST together! Their relationship is so fun to watch as they play more and more together. They love each other more than anything!!

- James wears a range of sizes from 6 months (when I squeeze him into that crap- second child problems. Ain't no momma got time to clean out the drawers, HA!) to 18 months! I take him in for his 9 month check up in a few days (again, second child probs) so then I'll know his exact stats!

- He's wearing size 4 diapers. 

Facebook has been pulling up a lot of my "memories" from this time last year when I was pregnant and my goodness, it all feels like just weeks ago, not a whole year ago! I can't believe we are only 2 months from having a 1 year old! Time, PLEASE so down!! We love our James soooo much!