Dance, Dance, Dance!

I'm planning on enrolling Rachael in a dance class next year, and the studio allowed her to try one class. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited she was for this. And I was for, that matter! I took so. many. pictures. and so. much. video. Ugh, she was SO adorable!

 She happened to think so too. With an entire wall of mirrors, what's an adorable girl to do? Of course, stare at herself!

 Stretching.

 Painting the sky.

 She couldn't quite grasp first position. We'll get there, haha.

 Rachael's first barre.

 Tap shoes!

Tumbling. We definitely need to work on our somersaults.

These pictures were taken behind a window into the studio, hence the poor quality of pictures. I am so excited for her to start dancing! I hope she enjoys it as much as I did.

End of School

I cannot even tell you how sad I was to see Rachael's first year of school end. Her teachers have been so fantastic! Those of you who knew Rachael this time last year would not even know it was the same kid, she's talking so much! Every day she gets better and better. My mom and I went to observe her class on the last day. We were there during circle time and got to see Rachael be a helper.

 Lining up to go play outside!

 We all went back later for a pizza party. I love Rachael's face in this picture.

 Miss Rosalie

 Miss Yuko

Miss Kristi

This school district, I truly believe, is one of the reasons we were lead to Irvine. Fan. Tas. Tic!

*Shout out to my mom. She made Rachael's SUPER cute maxi dress! Thanks, gramma!*

Sea World

Sorry, this is out of order chronologically. At the end of May, my friend's son's preschool could get us tickets to Sea World for $5.75. Considering the regular price is around $60, you better believe we jumped on that! My parents, sister, and nephew, Liam, came to join us. It was SO fun, minus Rachael was Grumpy McGrumperson.

 Right from the beginning, grump.

 Whit was good, she eventually fell asleep in the ergo and took about an hour nap right before the Shamu show.

 Always happy when Auntie ZeeZee is around!

 Maybe not. Rachael got SO mad and me and Nate because we wouldn't let her touch the orca whales. We're terrible parents. So we sent her on down to Lindsey, because I'm also an awesome sister. :)

 Whitters was happy after her nap.

 And then Shamu splashed us, and Rachael was so mad! "No, no, Shamu!"

 Don't let the happy smiles fool you, she was NOT happy to be waiting in this line.

 Good picture of us!

 I splurged and bought some gross fish to feed to the sea lions. Ew, but she enjoyed it.

Aww, cute cousins!

Whitterbug's 1st Birthday: The Party

 Whitterbug. Ladybug. Get it? I know, clever.
Since we were still in St. George (and it is freaking hot there!), we invited cousins to the nearby splash pad for some fun and some cupcakes and ice cream.

 Rachael and Liam, best buds.

 What a haul!

 And of course, the delicious cake demolition!

 Love her facial expressions!

Happy birthday, to my precious, sweet Whitterbug!

And Then There Were KIDS!

 The girls were so happy to see us! And then they got out of the car... No, the girls were fine, its just a lot of work camping with kids. It was Whitney's first time camping, but since she was (and is...) such a wobbly walker she had to be watched and held onto constantly.

 In order to keep Rachael entertained for a while, I made a treasure map. It kept her entertained for maybe five minutes. Maybe.

 Watercolors and a giant coloring book. The paints were later used for face paints, but I neglected to get any pictures...

 Whit was taking a nap in the trailer so my mom was nice enough to stay behind while we took Rachael on a little adventure.

 How sweet is this picture?!

 Loving the outdoors!

 Loving her some super stale powdered donut.

 On our last night there, Lindsey and my dad brought my nephews, Jace, Owen, and Liam, for a night of camping. Rachael sure loves her cousins!

After three nights of camping, they didn't even make it past the bathroom door before I stuck them in the tub. Aaah, it feels good to be clean!

I might be camped out for awhile... but it was a super fun trip!

Grown-Up Camping

 At the beginning of June, we headed for St. George to finish off some of Nate's holidays before they expired. My mom was nice enough to take the girls for two nights so Nate and I could get some actual relaxation time. It. Was. Awesome. We headed up Pine Valley Mountain to escape the heat, stayed in a tent, ate delicious tinfoil dinners, played Yahtzee, took naps in hammoks, read, went on small hikes, and basically were just kid free.

Here we are, sad. Not because we're about to see our children, of course that was going to happen eventually. We're sad because we had to leave our awesome "tent only" camp site.

First Year

Oh my sweet little Whitney, I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by! It has truly been the fastest of my entire life. When I look back on what I was doing one year ago tonight, I can't believe how much joy you've brought me in these months. I remember holding you, not as scared as I was with Rachael, but just being in that hospital bed, staring at you. When you were under the bili-lights, it was killing me to not be able to hold you. Even now, all I want to do is hold you and cuddle you. You, of course, are a wiggly little one year old and won't be held for anything! If I'm ever having a bad day, truly, all I need to do is look at your big smile and it gives me a relief from my problems for that moment, and that is so precious to me. You are already such a determined little girl. Crawling before you turned six months old, walking before a year, you amaze me. Every time you get up to walk, you're so wobbly and crazy, and almost always fall on your little bum. But every time, without fail, you get yourself back up and keep right on walking because that's what you want to be doing. Always be like that, baby girl, always get back up no matter what happens. I hope you know how much your daddy and I love you. We're constantly running to get the camera to try and get video of you talking to us, or to catch how your eyes light up whenever daddy enters the room and you say, "Dah-dah!" and look at me like he's the most amazing person you've ever seen. When I was pregnant with you, I remember being so scared that I wouldn't be able to show you as much love as I was able to show Rachael, but now I just get to shower my love on the two most gorgeous girls Heavenly Father has ever placed upon this earth. How did I get so lucky? I pray I can be everything you need in a Mother. I love every little piece of you and just want you to stay my happy angel baby forever! But, as much as I want that, I am so excited to see you grow and learn and become your own self. I love you, little Miss Whit, more than I can ever express.