One of my favorite photo walls in the house is this canvas cluster in our dining room from this mini session on the beach when Alana was 2 and we were in Fort Lauderdale for a summer vacation. I’m not necessarily saying that we plan to replace that canvas cluster with these photos in particular, but we definitely went back to that same beach in an effort to take some family photos that include Sierra, and I absolutely love the new photos!

Rich and I took turns with the camera, and the evening could not have been more beautiful. The kids were in heaven with the sand, wind, and waves. Even though the weather is so beautiful and temperate in the winter in South Florida, the ocean water is still too chilly to enjoy, so the kids are looking forward to summertime and bathing suits at the beach!

I’m so thankful to have an (extremely gifted) husband who shares my passion for documenting family memories. It means so much to me.

Usually I don’t have a chance to post a blog while still in Fort Lauderdale…it typically has to wait until we get back in town. But today, mom and Alana are running some errands, Rich, Sierra, and Amber are napping, Shawn is in the keys with friends, Dad is working, and I am sitting in a completely quiet house. I am savoring these quiet moments, because even though I ADORE the laughter and commotion from a full house of loved ones, I’m also excited about this time to post photos from a mini photo shoot from yesterday at a nearby park!

I have a series of photos in my hallway at home from a photo shoot that Rich did for my family back in 2008. They were in town for Alana’s first birthday the week of Thanksgiving.We had gone downtown and Rich, behind the camera, captured me and little Alana with my family: my mom, dad, sister, and brother. That was four years ago.

Fast forward to this Christmas holiday in Fort Lauderdale, and it was at the top of my Christmas wish-list to have an updated family photo shoot while we are here. I asked Rich to bring his tripod so that he could be IN the photos this time, rather than only taking them. I’m so thankful that he’s willing to grant me my photo related requests, because this is the stuff I care the most about. Christmas presents are wonderful, special, and many of them stand the test of time. But for me, nothing really compares to freezing these moments in time when we are all together, laughing and enjoying each other like we always do.

There’s so much love in this family; so much genuine enjoyment of one another. I do not take this for granted, and I’m aware that not every family is blessed with this kind of harmony. I relish our times together, and I am so thankful for the time that God has blessed me with my family. And I am deeply grateful for the times my kids enjoy with their Nana and Papa. Truly, our girls are blessed beyond measure with their two sets of grandparents who love them and want the best for them. They are safe, secure, and loved. What could be more valuable?

It has been an extra special Christmas because we haven’t seen my beautiful sister Amber (Aunt Pixie) in an entire year since she lives in South Dakota, and my brother Shawn has just spent his first semester away at Taylor University in Indiana. So this past Fall, after 31 years, my parents became empty nesters and my brother is officially a college student. And last week I turned 32 and tomorrow Sierra turns 2! Lots of birthdays and holidays all squished in together!

And so I bring you our little session from yesterday afternoon at the park. It was crazy windy so we are windblown in some of the photos, but I love them all the same.

Representin’ for the Taylor Trojans! Go #27! Seriously cannot wait to go to one of his games – we weren’t able to make it up for a game for his freshman year season

The reason for this trip was my brother’s high school graduation. But the sad part is that Rich had already booked two weddings for the weekend of Shawn’s graduation well before we knew the date of his graduation. I was extremely sad that Rich would not be able to be there for this event, but I knew that I wouldn’t miss it for the world. And so, the girls and I headed south for almost two weeks without him.

It occurred to me shortly before the trip that I would be without a professional camera since Rich would need both for his weddings. I was upset by this fact, because if you know me at all, you know that documenting my family’s life is a passion of mine, and I tend to be of the opinion that photos from a “real” camera are prettier than photos from a phone, regardless of the quality of said phone Now please hear me, I realize that partly this is because of my ability. I am simply NOT incredible with my phone the way that some people are. I definitely have some iPhone photos that I am very proud of, but generally speaking, I don’t adore my iPhone “work.”

So, here are the photos from #shawnsgraduationweek – all the photos I posted with that hashtag (via Instagram) while in Fort Lauderdale over the past (almost) two weeks. Warning: I went a little crazy taking photos since this was such a huge life event for my brother and I am feeling very emotional about the fact that he is growing up and about to leave home. I also went a litte crazy because this was Sierra’s first time to actually play at the beach. She’s been to the beach several times before, but she was never old enough to really enjoy it and play.

And so, in six years of blogging, I bring you my very first “iPhone only” post.

This is Alana and Sierra the morning after we arrived and Sierra had to get used to being around Uncle Shawn again since it had been 5 months since we’d seen him last. She’s still unsure at this point!

Sierra found a quiet book reading nook in the living room and settled in for some alone time. She doesn’t often self-entertain, so I savor the moments when she does

Alana found Papa’s glasses and put them on claiming that she was “wearing them the way that Papa does!”

Both girls have loved Nana’s piano from a young age. I have photos/video of Alana also playing at this age. Precious.

Enjoying our first morning out in the pool. Love my parents back yard. It’s a summer paradise. Thank you for this photo, mom!

Sadly, my mom had to work most days while I stayed at the house and let the girls play. I was so thrilled to be present for Shawn’s big week but it would have been awesome for Nana to have had more time off! It’s just not the same when she’s not with us!

We took two trips to the beach while we were down, and this was the first visit. Sierra clung to me and cried when we first arrived, just like Alana used to do. Both girls have been terrified of the beach in their first several exposures! I was thankful that she eventually let me put her down and she played happily in the sand. 

Nana thinks of everything. Horseshoes at the beach! Alana’s first time playing. 

I don’t usually buy matching anything for the girls, but these suits were too cute to pass up when I found them at Baby Gap last summer. Love these girls to pieces. 

Nana trying to talk Sierra into the idea of going in the water. She cried when we first took her in, but she ended up loving it, as long as she was being securely held and snuggled with. Little scaredy-cat snuggle bug.

A less-than-awesome but still special self-portrait of the girls! (We needed Aunt Pixie but she was also shooting a wedding and could not come. Boo!)

Backlit Sierra. I looooooved going to the beach in the mornings for so many reasons. The primary reason was to avoid the crazy-strong heat of the midday sun for the girls’ sake. But peripheral benefits included quick and easy parking, no crowds, mild temperature sand, and directional sunlight!!!

Back out at the pool the next morning. Sierra is so bipolar about water! She’s either laid back and loving it, or frightened and fussy about it! I’m thinking she was missing Nana, who was at work

I’d ordered some Sticky Grams for my mom for Mother’s Day, and they finally came in while we were there! She’d never seen them, and she loved them! Anyone who has seen my #psychosierra photos on Instagram may appreciate that the stickygram in the background includes my favorite #psychosierra photos I love that these are individual magnets that can be left together or taken apart – such a fun and unique gift! Now I want some for my house! 

The girls had soooooo many fun moments and games with Papa, it is beyond difficult to capture people running around the house chasing each other. Bad photo, fabulous memory. 

As per tradition, we had breakfast one morning at Jet Rumway Cafe and had a blast watching the planes take off and land. Amazing food, too. Every single time. 

The photo below just happens to be my most “liked” photo on Instagram EVER. Hahaha! I was very, very excited to capture Sierra doing this silly baby thing…and my mom has a similar photo of me doing this at this age.

Then came baccalaureate night! It was an amazing night with a few tears but a lot of laughter. 

Every part of Baccalaureate was stellar, and the main speaker – a pastor of a local church and father of one of the graduates – gave a phenomenal message.

My sweet brother on the big screen (in a video presentation about what has most impacted him in his time at Calvary Christian Academy).

The teachers, administrators, and pastors praying over the graduating class. Moving and powerful. Most amazing school ever. 

The next morning I grabbed a self portrait while hanging out with my girls! Love them to the moon and back. 

As I was getting ready for graduation that evening, Alana asked me if she could wear some of my lip gloss. I put some on her and could not believe how much older she looked. No more lip gloss for this pretty girl – way too grown up! 

Right before Uncle Shawn walked out the door for his high school graduation, I got this photo of he and Alana. We had a babysitter for both Baccalaureate and Graduation, so the girls stayed at the house and I wanted to make sure I got a shot of these two on this momentous occasion!

Shawn on the big screens again, but this time live! He spoke for a few minutes and gave his class a meaningful charge as they move forward. I am beyond proud of him. 

Receiving his diploma! So surreal. 

Immediately following graduation! Thank you for this shot, mom!!! 

Post-graduation self portrait!

Love love love these people!

Once graduation was over, Shawn had about four graduation parties over the next few days, so we didn’t see much of him that weekend! We had some down time around the house, with plenty of relaxing, games, and movies. Here, Papa and Sierra are spending some quality time reading together  

Uncle Shawn and the girls! They adore him. 

Back outside for some more pool time! It’s been so fun for me to see Sierra in the bathing suits Alana wore at this age. Too adorable! 

The beloved sand and water table! 

The adorable canoe that my parents bought for Alana when she was only two and Sierra didn’t exist! She’s been loving this thing for a couple of years now!

Relaxing with Nana over the weekend! Yay for no work!  Sierra was playing in the hose water with Nana, and truthfully, I was pretty proud of this image that I captured.  

We realized that our time together was winding down, so we fit in a trip to the beach over the weekend. It was gorgeous, and we had so much fun! These were the shots I took while walking across the street to the beach that morning. Love that light.

My sweet and beautiful Alana…

The Goodyear Blimp. Alana cracked us up attempting to say the word, which kept coming out like “plimp”  

Thank you for this photo, mom!!! You rock! 

Here Uncle Shawn is presenting the girls with their gifts from his recent trip to North Africa. He gave Alana this beautiful scarf, and a little hand stitched, decorated camel for Sierra!

This was particularly adorable! I walked into the back room and Alana was very busy doctoring Papa, who wasn’t feeling too great. She had COVERED him in stuffed animals to keep him company, put pink sunglasses on him, and was taking his temperature with a princess wand. Oh man I love this photo.

This shot is from Lime Mexican Grill…a place we frequent when we are down. I was so excited to have a lunch date with Shawn and dad while mom watched the kids at home. Thank you for letting me enjoy some quality time with my guys, mom!!!

Then a quick afternoon trip to Menchies was in order…since Nana and Papa hadn’t been before. Fun times, getting caught in a torrential downpour  

Then we were off to a graduation party for Shawn on Monday afternoon that my parents were co-hosting with some other families. It was an absolute blast, and I FINALLY had a chance to hang out and talk with Liz, Shawn’s best friend for years, who will be moving up here to go to Covenant College (my alma mater!) in the fall!

Loved getting to see the kids that I already knew from this class, and meeting some new friends as well! They were incredible with Alana and Sierra, and it was so much fun to watch the girls thriving with all of the attention! 

On Monday morning, Shawn and I ran to the mall together to do a bit of shopping. He will be going to Taylor University in the fall, and the weather will be a bit different than South Florida! On the way back, we hit up Jamba Juice and I grabbed this shot of Sierra enjoying her first ever “pink star!”

On Tuesday we picked Rich up at the Fort Lauderdale airport and he was able to join us for our last day and a half in Florida. The girls were SO excited to see Rich, and I grabbed this series of Sierra bouncing on Rich, then kissing him, then poking him in the eye, and then standing on him

Our time with Rich went by WAY too quickly, but we hit up a couple of our favorite places while we still could! We were off to Einstein’s for breakfast…

Some pool time as a family…

Some Lime Mexican Grill and Coldstone Creamery with Shawn…

And some delicious dinner and dessert and game watching/game playing all together and with Liz! We attempted to play Clue AND watch the Miami Heat playoff game against the Celtics, which led to the most drawn out and disjointed game of Clue we’ve ever played  

And that concludes my review of our trip!

Now for my thoughts on using only an iPhone on a vacation:

1) I loved the concept of using only my phone simply for the fact that I always, always have it with me. It’s beyond convenient to be able to capture moments and memories with the phone that I always have in my hand or very nearby.
2) I can’t stand not having control of shutter speed in particular. Moving objects, like my kids, are nearly impossible to take sharp photos of, so I am constantly taking unusable photos! I think the bottom line is that I plan to keep using one of our pro camera bodies whenever I have the chance. And when I don’t, I want to continue trying to hone my iPhone taking skills since I have a long way to go!

Sierra keeps me buuuuusy. She, like Alana, is busy, full of life, and completely hilarious! We had an absolute blast visiting with Nana and Papa and Uncle Shawn over the holidays, and if my birthday being 4 days before Christmas isn’t crazy enough, Sierra’s birthday is 3 days after Christmas…exactly one week after mine.

So, for her first birthday, we were in Fort Lauderdale and had a sweet little party for her. Particularly exciting was the fact that Amber Holritz had some sessions booked in the Fort Lauderdale area, and was going to document Sierra’s party to conclude Sierra’s first year of sessions with her! Oohhhhh! So exciting!

I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos here, but the full blog post and slideshow are on Amber’s blog – and crank up the volume for the slideshow song…so much fun!!!

Uncle Shawn had to leave very soon after Amber arrived, so he and Sierra were able to take a few photos together! Hooray for Uncle-Niece time!

Sweet, sweet, happy girl!

Some party details!

My beautiful, wonderful, amazing mom!

Sierra and her Aunt Pixie! Oh the adorable factor here is through the roof!
Fun games with Nana!
Sierra is, um, a well documented baby

Wonderful, wonderful Papa! It was almost as if Sierra was asking permission with this cake sitting in front of her!

She got into it
Poor Alana! Oh the patience she had to channel while watching Sierra chow down on cake She grabbed a bite or two after asking me oh so politely!

Oh, the video we have from these moments is insanely cute. And like I said, well documented!

Slowing down…
But definitely still going…

She hung in there so well while sleepy, and opened some presents. 

Be sure to head to Amber’s blog to see the rest of the photos and the adorable slideshow!

Amber, Amber, Amber!!! How to thank you for all of these PRICELESS captured moments??? Oh, words are so inadequate!!!

It also bears mentioning that this special blog post is my 500th!!!! It hardly seems possible that I’ve been blogging since October of 2006 and have written 500 posts, starting before either of our children existed!

So since we try to alternate holiday locations, this year we headed south to bask in the warm Fort Lauderdale sun! We had an all-too-brief (but very wonderful) Christmas celebration with Rich’s wonderful parents and then left the next morning for 11 hours in the Pilot with our little ones. And let me just say that we are SO proud of these two! The trip from Chattanooga to Fort Lauderdale can often be 12-13 hours depending on the number of stops we make, and of course the traffic, but we actually made a beeline there and arrived in just under 11 hours! The girls did an amazing job of tolerating the drive, and are turning out to be fabulous little travelers.

It’s actually been a little over a week since we have been back in town from our 3 weeks in Florida (yes, 3 whole weeks. Running our own business requires a ton of hard work, but it also allows for some flexibility in the off-season). The latter half of our week home has been spent sick. Well, let me rephrase: the girls have been sick and Rich and I have been waking up in the middle of the night for 3 nights straight to clean up vomit So I’m feeling sorry for the girls and going a bit stir crazy myself. And if I do another load of nasty laundry, it is highly likely that I will go completely insane.

So hopefully I’ll get through this blog post: it’s the kind of mommy day that makes me feel the need to go to the loony bin. Sierra is soooo fussy, clingy, needy, and clearly just doesn’t feel completely back to normal yet. As I type, she is loudly fighting a nap in her crib. Give in, baby, just give in. Mommy wants to blog. An overdue blog, at that.

Most of our Christmas vacation was spent in absolutely beautiful weather, in the 60′s, 70′s, even 80′s, which allowed the girls to play outside and have a blast. The pool water itself is actually really cold in the “Florida winter” even when it’s warm outside, so the girls mainly played with the sand and water table and enjoyed all of the pool toys.

Examining the sand…

And deciding to eat some. 

And deciding that it doesn’t actually taste good at all.

Alana has an absolute blast hanging out by the pool, even when she doesn’t go in the water. She has always loved it out here.

Her own little pink net for cleaning the pool – she loves it and hey, she helps the pool stay clean. Nana is brilliant  

Go Miami Heat  

Thank you so much to Rich for these photos of the girls (minus Aunt Pixie, whom we eagerly awaited the arrival of on Christmas Eve)!!!

I loooooove this series…

This was Sierra’s adorable little Christmas Eve dress – too cute

Thank you for the Christmas Eve family photo, mom! 

Christmas Day was just the sweetest thing. Since it was Sierra’s first Christmas, Alana wanted to properly introduce her to the wonderful presents. She was a little smothered, but hopefully she felt loved

Since Aunt Pixie had flown in late the night before, the girls had not seen her yet. So when we’d all waited as along as we could handle, we snuck in with the girls and let them crawl onto Amber to wake her up. It was so cute. Sierra was only 6 months old when Amber moved to South Dakota, so it had been 6 months, but her reaction was adorable and we all deduced that she totally remembered Aunt Pixie

We ate a delicious Christmas morning breakfast together and then began opening presents. 

I love my “I’m taking a picture of her taking a picture of her taking a picture of him” image  

Sierra didn’t actually make it too far before she needed her morning nap. So most of our gift opening was spent sans Sierra. But at least we had a happy baby later on! 

I put Sierra down for a nap and the opening continued! 

I made fun of my mom for getting dad – among other things – socks for Christmas. But dad reeeeaaalllly wanted some new socks. And the fact that he’s rubbing them on his face, well, that’s a really funny family joke going back a few Christmases  

Dad surprised mom with an iPad for Christmas – so cute! She was so excited! Mom and I found the MOST hilarious slippers for Amber – they looked like the abominable snowman – we were pretty happy with ourselves. Sadly, they shed like crazy! Might as well have a pet!

Gifting dad some happiness:

Ya, you really can’t go wrong with cash.

Alana sporting Aunt Pixie’s new slippers  

Yep, Rich got the coal in his stocking – I think he may have gotten it last year as well He and my mom have a special (i.e. feisty) relationship. But don’t feel bad for him, he can dish it out!

Stockings!My adorable mom, checking out her new work toy! 

Sierra woke up in time to have stocking fun – she kept putting candy canes in her mouth with the wrapper on, probably wondering why in the world we like them  

Then we let Sierra open her Christmas gifts that had been left unopened while she napped. Oh, she did not disappoint. I’ve come to expect babies to have more fun with the paper and boxes than their gifts, but Sierra, on Christmas Day, was an exception. She let Alana help her with the opening, but then she would hold up her gifts, give Nana a HUGE smile, and then proceed to play with and enjoy her new toys. Really, I was so impressed with her! It was the most rewarding baby gift opening episode I’ve ever seen  We might be the last young family on earth who did not yet have Sophie the Giraffe, but Nana got her for Sierra!

Both girls LOVE to be on Papa’s shoulders, mess up his hair, slap his head, giggle while he runs around the house…

And giggle when Nana comes to get them!

Then, once Amber was in town, we needed to take a few more photos with all 3 girls! Thank you again to Rich for these photos! They make me so happy  

Soon I will be able to blog Sierra’s first birthday party because the one and only Amber Holritz flew down to document it! We are so excited to share those photos as well!

I mean, seriously, wow.

I cannot believe it’s been nearly two months since I last blogged. That MUST be a new record! I don’t think I’ve gone two months without blogging since the inception of my blog in October of 2005.

It’s been busy, to say the least.

After my last blog post (from our trip to Dauphin Island), we returned and had only one week left with my sister and Nick before they moved to Rapid City, South Dakota. We spent as much time with them as we could, and then had a little bitty going away party for them. Here are the last couple of photos we took with them before they left. We miss them terribly! We are hoping VERY much to be able to see them around Christmas time. Any longer and I don’t think I’ll make it

After Nick and Amber moved away (boo!), we had Sierra’s six month session with the phenomenal Amber Holritz.

As usual – not to sound cavalier – she blew us away with her ability to capture moments and memories for us that will grow in value as time passes.

Here are a few of my favorites from the session, but be SURE to head over to Amber’s blog and see the whole post, including a slideshow! 

When Amber arrived, we were giving Sierra her first few bites of solid food ever! It was squash and she wasn’t a fan. But with the knowledge that I have in writing this blog post a month past-due, I can say that Sierra has been doing great, eating like a little champ, and she now enjoys squash (along with lots of other fruits and vegetables

Another funny thing about waiting so long to post this blog, is that at six months exactly, Sierra was still toppling when she tried to sit. Like in the hilarious image below. Now, she’s been sitting for over a month and is doing so brilliantly. AMAZING how much she’s changed in a month! 

I love all of these self-portraits too much for words  

After we had this session with Amber on June 27th, I left for Fort Lauderdale to help take care of my mom post-surgery and ended up staying for a whole month! Thank you to everyone who prayed for her and brought meals! We are so thankful for all of you! Her surgery went well and she is mostly recovered, though she still needs to take it easy.

To Amber, for another incredible baby session. We are always at a loss for words to describe our gratitude for the family treasures. You are a treasure.

To my sister and Nick: We love and miss you more than we can say. You’ve taken part of our hearts with you.

To my mom: I love you and it was an honor to help take care of you. You’ve always taken incredible care of me. Pleeeeaaaasssseeee take it easy so you can heal!

And to my blog readers, sorry for being MIA, and I hope you are all doing wonderfully!

Rich started off with the camera, taking shots of Alana’s bliss Oh how I love beach pictures. Give me snow pictures and beach pictures and I am a happy girl!

Then my mom took over and with a little instruction from Rich about shooting with the 70-200mm, she did a fabulous job with these images of the four of us! Thank you mom!!!

Then Rich used my mom as an assistant with some external lights and took these photos of me and Sierra. Love!

So these beach portraits conclude our Spring Break 2011! Happy Spring everyone!!!

We LOVE this place…great food, great service, and best of all, the private jets take off and land RIGHT outside the windows! Alana loved it just as much as always, and I think this place will be a tradition for years to come!

She loved every second, and her enthusiasm was pretty contagious.

Thanks again, mom, for taking another photo! You should go pro  

Could they be ANY CUTER???

Pretending to be an airplane…

Happiness…

Once we were done at the cafe, we hit up the Boca Town Center Mall for a little Baby Gap fun and then made lunch out of Jamba Juice – and we brought some to Papa at his job site.

Back at the house, I snapped these of Alana:

And then we went out back to play. This was Sierra’s first time in a bathing suit, and we squealed about how cute and chubby she looked! 

(Thanks again for this photo, mom!)

Sierra was reclining on my lap and this was my perspective of her round little face  

To supplement the fun Alana had in this little canoe last summer, we made sure to add Sierra this time…

Lounging. It seems that both Alana and Sierra have inherited my dad’s piercing blue eyes…and I’m wondering why I wasn’t so lucky! 

Kissable chubby cheeks:

And some Papa time! 

One of my favorites: 

One of our last days in Florida, we decided to head to the Promenade and have a DELICIOUS lunch at Lime Mexican Grill. Oh, we love this place! And I’m so mad for not getting a group self-portrait!

Super cool architecture! 

30 year old me and 17 year old Shawn. I don’t want him to get a big head so I’m not going to talk about how stinking cute he is. 

Then on Friday night we went to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate dad’s birthday. With our 45 minute wait, we decided to be productive and take pictures

Impromptu self-portrait…

Kinda sad I didn’t think to include mom in this photo…I didn’t get a single one with both my parents and both girls! Shoot!

On Saturday we had one last backyard fling: 

My parents backyard is a beautiful Florida oasis! 

The End

In some ways, it becomes harder and harder to leave because as Alana gets older, she is increasingly aware that we are leaving Nana and Papa’s house in Fort Lauderdale and we won’t be seeing them again for a while. She was VERY sad to leave, and as we drove north on Sunday, she mentioned (many times) how much she will miss them. So we talked about the fun we’d had. The beach. The pool. The sand & water table. The book reading with Nana. The toys at Nana’s house. Hanging with Papa. How much we love Nana and Papa. And we talked about how, Lord willing, we will see them again before too long.

It occurred to me that Sierra was ten weeks old as we went to Florida for the first time, just like Alana was ten weeks old when she first crossed the state line! So in light of this being Sierra’s first time in my home state, we pulled off at the Florida Welcome Center and snapped a few photos. It’s strange looking at these photos now that we are a family of four!

Here is Alana when she was only ten weeks old (terrible quality, taken with a point and shoot at night – but a memory nonetheless!):

And here is Sierra, also at ten weeks old:

One of the first things I do when we arrive is to get our camera out, make sure there is an 8-gig memory card inside, and put it on my parents dining room table so that I can quickly and easily grab it all throughout the week. I’m always glad I make photos a priority when I look back over the memories. There are definitely moments that are missed, but the photos we do take make me happy – even though they are not comprehensive.

Rich grabbed a couple of photos on day 1.

Me and the girls: 

All four of the girls  

Here is my mom with Sierra, who is growing like crazy, and very different from Alana! From day 1, Alana has been VERY petite for her age, always below the 10th percentile for weight and height, and sometimes off the chart (on the low end) altogether. But Sierra is my little chub She’s in the 75th percentile for weight and height, and is outgrowing her 3 month clothes already I’m thinking that she will grow into Alana’s clothes around the time Alana grows out of them – even though there are 3 years between them! Ha! 

Adorableness in the car before doing some shopping at Sawgrass Mills Mall

This was Sierra’s first time in my parents backyard and she seemed to love the warm Florida weather! It was so fun for me to have all the help with the girls, and particularly exciting to have someone else to interact with Sierra so that I could grab some smiling photos She had started smiling at two months and I had yet to capture her contagious grin on camera! I just snapped away, happy that she was so happy and thrilled to be documenting her joy!

Rich took these of me and Alana, and I love them. We were just on the street outside my parents home, and you can see the stereotypical bright, sunny Florida skies giving way to the rain clouds. I love Florida and I love the weather.

And I love my ‘Lana.  

We have so much fun in Nana and Papa’s backyard that we actually don’t go to the beach that often! It’s only 15 minutes east but we only went twice during our week-long stay.

This was the first trip, and Alana was in HEAVEN. Granted, she is scared of the water, but she will love it in time. She was just overjoyed to have so much sand at her disposal

I love this first shot because she had no idea I had the camera…she was just running around, plopped down, and sat like this for a split second. I am getting quicker with my camera, since Alana is not still for ANY amount of time! I just love how sweet and innocent and adorable she looks in this photo. 

I’m so proud of my mom, who was willing to brave my big camera to get some shots of me with Sierra, since it was her first time at the beach! Thank you mom! Way to go! 

The next day I grabbed a few photos of Rich and Alana having some cute moments…

Don’t let this sweet little feminine photo fool you…

She loves to play in dirt and she thinks there is nothing better than rocks and sticks. Look at her filthy hands!

And to conclude part one of our trip, here is an image that Rich took of me…

And a Rich and Alana self-portrait in my glasses

Stay tuned for part two, coming right up!

I am so incredibly thankful for many things, including the time that my mom spent here, friends and family bringing dinner (HUGE, HUGE blessing!!!), and already being on a very predictable schedule with Sierra.

I wanted to go ahead and blog these photos from our first couple of weeks together before too much time passes…but I’m pretty tired today so I’m sure I won’t do justice to the images with my commentary.

This first set of images was Alana’s first official time to hold her sister. My mom was taking an iPhone video, my sister was handing Sierra to Alana, I was taking iPhone pictures, and Rich was taking the following images with his professional camera. It was a collaborative effort!

Here is Alana, waiting to hold Sierra for the first time!

Aunt Pixie handing the baby off…

I think we can safely say Alana is a proud big sister…

Thankfully, Alana is not phased by Sierra’s crying at all! It surprises me, but she really doesn’t seem bothered! 

Then my sis grabbed a few photos of me and Sierra. I will *try* to document these first weeks and months for Sierra the way we did for Alana, and my goal is to eventually finish Alana’s “First Year” scrapbook and to start (and finish) one for Sierra as well. 

Another sister-holding session. Alana wants to hold Sierra every day, and typically when I try to pick Sierra back up again, Alana grips tighter and says “No. Don’t take my baby!”

I adore Alana’s expression in these images. 

Amber took this photo of me photographing the girls with my iPhone…and I love it! 

Sierra and Aunt Pixie! 

These are some of Alana’s friends who have been keeping her company. This is Waddles and Safari, and basically, they go everywhere with Alana. Just thought I’d capture them too  

A couple more adorable little friends of Alana’s…

This is my Boppy breastfeeding pillow, which Alana snatched up, put around her waist, declared to be a “floatie” and said, “Let’s go swimming!”

Aunt Pixie and Uncle Nick, entertaining Alana during the first week after we came home with Sierra. They (and my mom) were an ENORMOUS help for this reason. I was so thankful that Alana’s life was enjoyable for these first few weeks. It would not have been without these awesome people…I didn’t have the energy or emotional strength to really engage her or entertain her at all. Craft time was a life saver! 

The results of craft time

Nana and Sierra. For all of her help with Sierra, I did an absolutely horrible job of taking photos of my mom with her! But I love this one!

The iPad also did it’s part to entertain. Games, games, and more games. This one, apparently, is quite serious! 

Daddy-daughter-daughter time…

And Nana-leaving-time. It was a sad, sad day.

I miss my mom a ton, but God has been SO GOOD to us and we have been surrounded by friends and family who have rocked our world with their company and with DELICIOUS dairy-free meals. We found out the day we were discharged from the hospital that Sierra likely has a milk protein allergy just like Alana did Needless to say, I’m on my ultra-restrictive diet again…no dairy; no milk proteins (casein and whey). Fun times

Here are just a couple last photos of Sierra – in her swing – which has been really helpful during the evening hour fussy time. Thanks to my sis for these two images! Love them and love you!

I’ll be back soon with more photos, hopefully…I’ve actually been feeling good enough during the day lately to get a little bit of work done. Funny how different having a newborn is the second time around…I have not taken a single daytime nap since Sierra was born and I feel like that’s mostly what I did when Alana was young! Having an active 3 year old who doesn’t nap means that I get up in the morning and just keep going till night time!

But again, I’m so thankful for all of the prayers and help! We are doing well!

I blogged family photos from our wonderful winter wonderland on Christmas Day, but failed to blog our fun times from the day AFTER Christmas, because things got pretty crazy with family fun, and then, on the 28th, I went into labor and had Sierra

Anyway, without much commentary (because I will soon need to feed the baby), here are our SUPER fun snowy photos from the day after christmas. Our neighbors let us borrow their sled and hang out in their yard with them, so now we’re thinking we need to buy our own sled so we are prepared for days like these!

Watching the neighbor kids sled…right before they came over and invited us to join

Snow angel!

Sledding with Uncle Shawn! This was Alana’s VERY FIRST time sledding, so I’m excited to have grabbed some photos, even though some of them are blurry and not great quality

And Aunt Pixie! You better believe I was not about to go sledding while 9 months pregnant! 

Even Nana was up for some fun sledding! She’s the best! 

My mom’s Florida minivan Looking oh-so-out-of-place all covered in snow!

Happy New Year, everyone!!! Happy 2011!

Well, except for the fact that my dad was not able to be here for Christmas Day!

But we all woke up to a WHITE CHRISTMAS!!! It really could not have been more wonderful! When we woke up around 8am it was snowing like crazy…and we were all giddy with excitement when it didn’t let up for HOURS. We ate breakfast, opened presents (had a TOTAL blast), and decided to head outside for some hard core FUN.

We ended up with about 3 inches of snow throughout the day and enjoyed every second. Here are Rich’s photos from our morning round of play:

The view from our front porch:

Mom and the siblings! Note my belly popping out from my jacket since I refused to buy a maternity coat/jacket It was so fun to have such a fun family photo opportunity just DAYS before Sierra makes her debut and causes me to go into hibernation

My 3 year old princess

Then we went back inside to thaw out, relax, and get the turkey in the oven. We cooked for a couple of hours and were just waiting on the turkey, so we all decided to bundle back up and head outside again.

We. Had. So. Much. Fun.

Oh my gosh, I love my mom so much. And isn’t she the CUTEST snow bunny???

Uncle Shawn and Alana – cuteness overload. 

Aunt Pixie got our her Tele Skies and went trekking across our front yard…how adorable is she???

Eating snow. A trend that continued all day for Alana. 

And this is me, laughing at Alana’s CONSTANT ingestion of snow.

Aunt Pixie and Uncle Shawn are incredible with Alana. I love them both so much.

Two of my new favorite images of all time. These photos make me insanely happy. Best Christmas EVER. 

Thanks to Rich for these photos of me and Alana. LOVE them. 

Then a spontaneous snowball fight broke out – but I stayed safely off to the side so as not to invoke labor on Christmas Day

I think my mom and brother ganged up on my sister

Ya, that’s my mom. She’s adorable. I’m so proud

More photos of me and Alana that I couldn’t choose between:

Aunt Pixie and Alana skiing  

And kinda-sorta building a snowman. But we weren’t really committed, so he never fully materialized

I grabbed the camera for a couple of minutes so that Rich appeared in some photos from the day! I need to figure out a way for him to be taking photos and appearing in them simultaneously

Thank you so much to Amber for taking the following photos of me and my honey! You ROCK, sista! 

The Lashbrook-Smith family snowman from Christmas Day 2010

Hanging with Nana = pure happiness! 

Snow angels: 

Absurd, I know. My belly makes another appearance. 

And so, there are our images from yesterday. We hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and enjoyed time with friends and family. Be blessed this year!

She is of the opinion that every baby needs to be celebrated, even if the new baby is the same gender of a previous child. So, even though we have much of what we need because this is another little girl, I was thrilled that she wanted to do something for me anyway!

Saturday morning, some dear friends and family members came to Susan’s home to celebrate Sierra with me! I am 33 weeks pregnant and can’t believe we will have little Sierra at the end of next month! It was an awesome and special shower, and I enjoyed every second.

Before we left the house, Rich took some photos of the girls and I love them! Thank you so much babe!

Here are a few photos that my sister grabbed and I am so thankful that she did! Thank you Amber!!!

AMAZING cakes made from scratch by Susan. To. Die. For. Not to mention all of the other incredible food that was in abundance! Randy and Susan are amazing in the kitchen. Everything they touch tastes like heaven. Thank you also to my sis, and mother-in-law, and Briana for delicious food and drinks.

And thank you to Rich for the group photo! Amber Holritz had already left but everyone else who came is included. I SO missed some friends and family who could not come due to sickness Thank you so much to Susan and the other amazing friends and family who helped to make this such a SPECIAL day for me. I am blessed beyond measure.

On Friday morning, Rich, Alana and I were spending time together, running errands, getting things done, and enjoying each other’s company. Rich suggested – after accomplishing several business related tasks – that we go celebrate the beautiful day by grabbing a nice lunch together at Abuelo’s.

I never refuse a lunch or dinner out, so I agreed, saying that mexican food sounded wonderful. Rich told me that he’d also invited my sister to join us, so I was eager for a leisurely lunch and a break from all the hard work we’d been doing all week!

We arrived and sat down and minutes later Amber arrived. As she walked past me to sit in our booth, she said, “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a friend with me.” I turned to see who she referred to, and shrieked when I saw that it was my MOM!

I. Love. Surprises.

I screamed loud enough to draw some attention, but thankfully the stares were approving and happy ones once people realized I wasn’t in labor, but rather, had been surprised by my mom

And so began a perfect weekend. My mom had collaborated with Rich and Amber for several weeks to pull off the surprise – to be here for my baby shower on Saturday.

So Friday evening we celebrated Alana’s third birthday JUST with “Nana” since Alana’s official party isn’t until this Sunday and Nana will miss it.

So the first of my weekend blog posts is our intimate little birthday celebration for Alana. My mom and Amber had picked up a Bread Basket cake (YUM), gotten balloons, presents, etc. We let her open her presents from Nana, then went to Red Robin for Alana’s birthday dinner (where we failed to take ANY photos) and then came home for cake! Here are the photos from our afternoon and evening

Sitting on her trampoline in the living room, surrounded by “Happy 3rd Birthday” balloons

Her first gifts were a little ballerina outfit and tutu…which she wanted to put on right away

Nana filled up a whole bucket of super fun Hello Kitty items…could life get any better? Oh, and I think she makes an ADORABLE ballerina

And she’d wrapped up two new charms for Alana’s Baby Gap charm bracelet! The two on the left are the new ones from Nana…sunglasses and multi-colored hello kitty! 

Alana’s gift from Uncle Shawn was her very first REAL digital camera…hello kitty, of course! Alana says that she wants “to be a ‘tographer like mommy and daddy.” Aunt Pixie showed her how to use it Aunt Pixie rocks. 

The cake! Bread Basket is just. so. amazing. 

Daddy lighting the candles…

Alana’s reaction to our birthday song…

Blowing out the candles; although “spitting them out” would be a more accurate description of what actually happened   Nana, thank you for the WONDERFUL surprise! Your presence is the best gift of all, but we definitely enjoyed the party, the presents, the cake, and balloons VERY, very much also! We love you!!!

Baby Shower photos coming up next!

I say little because she is 3.5 years younger than me.

I don’t need to mention the fact that she’s taller and more beautiful than I am. We will just skip over those facts

Since Amber and Rich are leaving on Saturday for Sweden (Rich booked a wedding in Stockholm a while back!), we knew that today would not be an ideal day to celebrate because of travel prep. So we decided to throw an early birthday party last Thursday. I am glad we did, because we were able to relax and enjoy the evening rather than rush through the festivities to pack! We enjoyed a yummy southwestern taco salad recipe (thank you to Bri and Heidi for the amazing recipe!), awesome cake, and several games.

I am soooo excited and insanely jealous of the experience Rich and Amber are about to have in Sweden, but I had decided to stay here with Alana even before I found out I was pregnant. Now I’m certain it was the right decision since I simply don’t feel well enough to travel, and certainly not well enough to do a Swedish wedding justice! I cannot WAIT to see the imagery they come home with!

But without further ado, here are a few fun photos of our birthday celebration for Amber (Alana’s “Aunt Pixie”):

Amber is a chocolate lover (especially dark chocolate) so I made sure to provide plenty of it

Favor boxes:

A Kahlua chocolate cake from the Bread Basket. Their cakes AMAZE. They. Are. So. Delicious.

The gift table. I brought gifts home from my parents in Florida as well, so Amber had quite the opening ceremony Part of the present fun: new outfits for her Sweden trip. She’s gonna be sylin’.

Oh, and I should mention that Alana picked out the party colors while we were shopping for favor boxes and wrapping paper

Our parents and little brother even helped us celebrate via Skype on our iMac. Gotta love it! Amber opened presents while they participated:

And we sang happy birthday together and cut into the amazing cake while they WATCHED. Haha! I don’t have any sympathy, though, because every time they are at Cheesecake Factory in Fort Lauderdale, they send us photos of their scrumptious cheesecake so that we can be totally jealous

Alana helping to clean the candles. All 26 of them

A cute, fun interaction. LOVE THESE TWO!!!

Alana getting a little ahead of the game. Pinching off pieces of cake to eat before it was even cut Love Amber’s reaction. She’s the best aunt!!!

Cute birthday self-portrait! We love you Amber and Nick!

Happy, happy birthday sister! I love you so much. You are the reason I want another girl this time – I would be so ecstatic for Alana to share the kind of relationship with a sister that you and I have!

Muah!

I don’t know how, but a week always manages to fly by as if it were three measly days, and we always find ourselves driving home feeling like…well, like it just wasn’t enough time. This trip was no exception and yesterday I was sad, both for myself, and for sweet Alana, who is going to seriously miss her Nana and Papa.

Sad times.

When we arrived at my parents house last week, the first thing we did was to see everything that my parents had bought for Alana for their backyard. Basically, they turned it into a water theme park wonderland

These first few photos are of Alana playing with the sand and water table they’d set up for her. It was completely adorable, and I don’t think any of us could have foreseen just how much Alana would LOVE it. I think it wins “favorite activity” in her book for the week.

She was SO busy and so focused at the table. Playing is very serious business.

Shovels, buckets, sand molds, rakes…it was all here

And then there was the dinosaur land pool When my mom told me she’d picked up a little pool for Alana, I had visions of the small, round, hard plastic Walmart things that I grew up with. I didn’t know to expect THIS: a slide, a palm tree, and yes, a waterfall. Completely wonderful.

Alana loved it, loved it, loved it! I had serious fun taking photos of Alana on this slide:

Round One:

Round Two:

Here are some awesome photos that Amber took…I love them!

Floaties:

More sand and water table fun…

And even some time in the “big pool” in her hippo floatie with Nana:

Some fun bonding time inside on Uncle Shawn’s bed:

Out and about

Family Lazer Tag…SERIOUS FUN.

My attempt to look intimidating while playing Lazer Tag. Thanks for the bandana, Nick

Alana and Papa!

My mom even found Alana her own little pink net for catching stray leaves and bugs…we had a clean pool because of mom and Alana!

Thanks to Amber for this photo!

As if the sand and water table and dinosaur pool weren’t enough, mom couldn’t resist this toddler canoe for Alana

I freaked out about it because my mom had one for me when I was even younger than Alana. Now we just need to find the photos of my mom and I and scan them in so I can add to this blog post with a baby photo of my own. Thank you to Rich for the canoe photos! LOVE THEM, babe!

It’s called the “S.S. Otter Spotter” :):)

Are you kidding me? Cuteness overload. A toddler canoe with it’s own oars and even a little pillow for back comfort

She didn’t want anyone to touch her canoe, so she floated away and said “bye-bye.” She’s quickly getting more independent in the pool, so I’ve decided to enroll her in swimming lessons this summer.

Oh, Shawn. When Alana was done with her oars and threw them in the water, Shawn grabbed them and used it to paddle his raft

I grabbed a few shots of Rich and Alana relaxing in the water…

Rich snagged one last shot of Alana before we went back inside for the day. She’s my sweetie. And oh, so adorable.

Headed out for the afternoon (and Alana trying to smile with a big peppermint in her mouth).

So cute. Nana and her sweetie!

On our last day outside I had my first pool-related scare with Alana. My mom was in the shallow end of the pool, I was in the middle, and Alana was playing in her dinosaur pool down by the deep end. I didn’t realize it, but she’d decided to try and get onto this big green raft by herself. I turned around just in time to see her falling into the deep end of the pool towards this raft. I panicked and was there in just a few seconds, lifting her from under the water. I tried to stay calm for her sake and told her she was going to be just fine, but of course, I was shaky and upset too. She was terrified but recovered pretty quickly – with many thanks to my mom – who had the presence of mind to say, “Alana! Good job! You went underwater!” and helped Alana to feel like it wasn’t the end of the world. Alana is such a cautious and often-scared toddler that it helps to reassure her and encourage her when it comes to things she’s been avoiding. I’m thankful it was just a minor scare and that I was there to grab her…parenting can be so terrifying sometimes. I think she is going to be VERY hesitant about swim lessons…this is the first summer she has even let anyone get her in the pool at all.

Here she is a few minutes later, scary episode forgotten, and enjoying the raft with Nana holding on right behind her.

One of our traditions from the past few visits is to enjoy breakfast at the Jet Runway Cafe. This is at the Fort Lauderdale executive airport, and the cafe (which we didn’t know about until about a year ago), is completely charming. The food is excellent and the view of the runway could not be better. Alana LOVES airplanes – big and small – and has so much fun watching them land and take off through the windows!

A typical gorgeous South Florida day, with bright blue sky and big, puffy white clouds. And to make our visit even more fun, there was a TON of activity on the runway this day. Loads of planes taking off and landing!

Making an Alana sandwich

And that concludes my blog post from our 2010 Summer Family Vacation!

But that is NOT to say that I did a great job of taking photos every time I should have. I missed so many opportunities…namely, our 4th of July family dinner at Houston’s – which may need to become a holiday tradition. We ate a divine meal inside and then stepped outside onto the restaurant dock to watch the Fort Lauderdale Beach fireworks display! No camera! Ugh!

I also failed to take a photo of my friends Lacey and Leslie (from Longview, TX) when they stopped by for lunch, and our friends Lisa and Lauren and their kids who also stopped by to visit. I’m reprimanding myself!

Anyway, happy summer everyone, and happy summer vacations! Make lots of memories and enjoy your loved ones – life is so short!