HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAMRYN!!!

Our little Kamryn turned one on August 1st. We can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. She is such a sweet and loveable little thing. She is walking or should I say running all over the place. She loves playing with Cooper and doing everything he does. She is quite a Mommy's girl yet very independent. Although she is pretty easy going, she won't hesitate to tell you if she is not happy. We love her and wouldn't change a thing about her.

Special Delivery for Kamryn . . . My parents were in town for Kamryn's birthday and to watch my sister's kids. They came up the day before her birthday party and we pulled out the car seat they got for her.

Can you believe they all fit in that box?!? They had more fun that night playing with that box than any other toy.

THE PARTY:

The day before Kamryn's birthday we threw her a birthday party. It was so much fun. We had all of our friends and family there. These are a few pictures of the cute decorations.

I just fell in love with the ladybug theme.

We had live lady bugs and let the kids catch them. What a hit! I had no idea the kids would love the lady bugs like they did.

Even the parents joined in.

1500 ladybugs is a lot of ladybugs!

Kamryn loves kissing babies . . . here she is smooching on her little man Emmett.

Zach showing me his ladybugs.

Cam was one with the ladybugs. He had them all over him.

Owen trying to catch one.

Tyler was the most determined child there. She was outside for most of the party trying to get as many ladybugs as she could in her jar.

We also played "Pin the dot on the ladybug".

Kamryn even joined in.

Cute little Presley smiling big for the camera.

Kamryn and Mommy resting before opening presents.

Kamryn and her cake. She was not timid at all. She dug in to that cake and ate tons of frosting.

Kamryn sharing some frosting with Daddy. Thanks to everyone who came to share Kamryn's birthday with us. We had so much fun!

Cute But Random Pictures

I have so many pictures and a lot of the time they don't warrent an entire blog entry so here are a few of the best ones . . .

Cooper after pooping on the potty for the first time . . . I love that little face. He was so proud of himself.

Kamryn loving on Papa.

Lexy and Cam spent the weekend with us and the kids just loved it. Here they are getting comfy and cozy for a movie.

Kamryn and her first OREO. She loved it!

Cooper dressed up as Woody.

Kamryn dressed up for the 4th of July fireworks show.

Our tough guy with a black eye.

UTAH

We went up to Utah a month ago and had lots of fun. The trip started out as a trip for the kids and I and then I decided to talk Mike into joining us and it turned into a quick family trip. My parents live up in the mountains in Utah and when you step out their front door or back door this is what you see. Pretty amazing! Cooper had so much fun exploring and hiking and Kamryn just loved trying to keep up.

We found a patch of snow on one of our hikes. Cooper had so much fun running in it.

Cooper loved hiking up to this stream. He would run back and forth through the icy water and eventually decided to sit in it. Needless to say, he was frozen on the walk home.

Of course Kamryn saw what Cooper was up to and had to join in.

Kamryn started walking a couple of months ago and while we were up in Utah she started to walk around with her arms extended behind her body. What a funny little girl.

Kamryn, what have you done . . .

I came into the bathroom the other day to find this . . .

Oh Kamryn, what have you done?

Then I saw this . . .

I should have known! You had help! I guess this is what I can look forward to.

Swim Lessons

This past month Cooper took swim lessons. They were three times a week for two weeks. These are pictures of Cooper on his very first lesson. He was a little nervous to begin with and didn't want his teacher Jenny to take him into the water. She had him sit on the side of the pool and then she would pull him in and have him swim to the side.

As you can see he did it!

Once he was able to swim to the side of the pool, Jenny worked with him on coming up for a breath of air. She would throw a ring in the water, push him down to get it and have him swim up (with the ring) to take a breath and swim to the side of the pool.

Although we are still working on this, Cooper is quite the little swimmer. He loves to go to the pool and is fearless. He jumps off the side of the pool and swims to the side all-by-himself. I am sure by the end of summer he will be swimming from one side of the pool to the other. Good job Coop!

Cooper and the bucket. . .

Cooper loves to play outside in his water table. A couple of weeks ago he was playing with a bucket. With a little help from Mommy the bucket became a very fashionable hat.

Kamryn was outside playing in the water as well so naturally she had to have one too.

I guess this is what happens when you have kids and you get board. I still laugh everytime I see these pictures.

Photo Shoot

Right before our California trip I had the kids' pictures taken by my good friend Liz's sister Jaime Harper. She did an amazing job! After fighting with Cooper to get out the door and forgetting all of the clothes I had packed, Kamryn having a blow out all over her only clothes and forcing Cooper to sit still and smile, we got the most amazing pictures of the kids.

If you need any pictures done of your family or kids you have to contact Jaime. You won't be disappointed. Here is her website http://jamieharper.typepad.com/.