we were in dallas for a whirlwind trip that included a family shoot, a wedding, meeting cousins for the first time and a party for miss eve. all in 2 1/2 days! it was a great weekend and we really had a wonderful time seeing old friends and enjoying a night out without kids!

here are a few snaps from eve's lunch

yummy cupcakes from the hostesses - amanda & katy!


poor eve was too pooped to party


the happy couple gazing at sweet eve


yummy red velvet


meg and eve regard each other with suspicion


my girls


what eve thinks of all this fuss over little ol' her

just another day with my family. coo's from a sweet growing baby. watermelon juice dripping down a toddler belly. chalk fun that leaves the sidewalk looking like a crime scene. goodnight guitar singing. what a wonderful life :)

i was not entirely on board with the decision to move to at&t and jump on the iphone bandwagon, but since the girls gifted kevin with a brand new iphone for father's day, i reluctantly gave up my google phone and left t-mobile behind.

so i'll admit it... this is one pretty darn amazing phone. it really does blow the google phone out of the water in a lot of ways. one of my favorite features is the video camera- the quality is awesome and you can upload to youtube in seriously a matter of seconds!

here are two from today, but don't be surprised if you see a lot more videos of the girls on here! pardon my loud obnoxious voice in the first one. kevin is right, i AM loud!

this was lily's idea i SWEAR...

FINALLY!!!!! i finally captured the energy and wonderful happiness that shines on miss eve's face when she smiles. eat your heart out!!! :)

i'm such a lucky mama!

we just got back from a whirlwind trip to the lake. i wish we had more time to stay, but it was fun! lily enjoyed the boat rides much more than last year and didn't try to eat her way out of her life vest, so that's improvement! :)

we were joined by our fun neighbors who graciously accepted a last minute invite to disappear for the weekend. i do love not being able to stress about laundry, cleaning, and errands on the weekend- it was a real treat!

here are just a few shots from the weekend...

ready to hit the water

first jet ski ride!

my big girl

sweet eve

my beauty

love relaxing in the afternoon

not sure she wants to go on a boat ride without mommy

lily isn't so subtle about loving erin's nose ring

eve couldn't be more excited :)

sometimes she's so precious it hurts

ready for her boat ride

such sweet trust

my hottie driving the boat

back at home- the girl knows how to relax! :)

you can see the whole set of images from the weekend on my flickr :)

it has been brought to my attention from a loyal reader and friend that i neglected to shout from my blog mountain top that my sister is PREGNANT with TWINS!! (thanks murff!!)

my sweet sister (also known as auntie e) and her husband mike have been blessed with twins that will rock their world this winter. her official due date is january 1st but anything post-thanksgiving would be a fabulous time to make their debut.

i posted a few pictures of her growing bump on my photography blog, but in case you missed them, here she is in all her twin pregnancy glory at 10 weeks. many many more updates to come!

lily's latest obsession is multiples. no, not twins like e is having, just multiples of anything she can get her hands on. if she gets more than one cup in her grubby little paws, she excitedly yells 'TWO CUPS!!!!!' then proceeds to look for another to add to her collection. today it was spoons. she opened the kitchen drawer and pulled out 5 spoons and carried them around all afternoon.

i had to take a few pics just to memorialize this (hopefully passing) phase. you'll note she put the spoons down long enough to build a tower and then quickly gathered them back up again :)

eve had her first big par-tay this weekend. auntie e, gaga, and aunt michelle hosted a sip n see in her honor. it was such a treat to celebrate sweet eve and get together with friends!

bonnie took adorable pictures as always. head to her blog for the rest!

a thunderstorm rolled through the other night and there was a huge cloud that kept illuminating in this gorgeous glow with lightening.

i thought it looked really amazing- these pics don't do it justice!

i was rocking eve to sleep earlier tonight listening to her steady sleepy breath, and kevin and lily's faint laughter from the room directly below me while he got her ready for bed. (i found out later some of those laughs were due to the fact that lily snuck her blankie into the shower with her- so blankie is squeaky clean now!).

from eve's rocker i could see across the hall into lily's room & from my vantage point i could see two cribs and suddenly i felt incredibly thankful for the two amazing, thriving girls that sleep in those cribs. thankful for the husband that works so hard to keep this roof over our heads. thankful for a moment of peace and quiet in a comfortable chair with my baby girl after a crazy day. i really should take a few steps back more often- its good for the soul!

also, by kevin's request, here is a side-by-side of eve's pic from a few days ago and a specific picture of me it brought to mind for him.

whaddya think babe? still think she reminds you of me? :)

the good news is, he makes both of us smile pretty darn big.

just a few pictures i managed to get while staci and i were dealing with two toddlers, two infants, a few tears, 1 scraped knee, some laughs, yummy pizza, and candy!

window shopping

strike a pose

stinker and grumpy face

petting the horse :)


the breeze feels great


waiting for homeslice pizza to open


metal tables make the best sounds! (i love her cheeks in this one)

wondering when the candy store opens

really wanting the candy store to open

seriously, when does the candy store open?

gorgeous, dahling

yay for the candy store! (love the identical poses)