My heart melts

every time I hear something new pop out of Quincy's mouth. Tonight I was sitting on the couch with her watching Hannah Montana (did I just admit that?) and she leaned over, rested on me and said "I wa wa mama". To translate, she said I LOVE YOU MAMA! She has said I love you in response plenty of times, but this was the first time she said it on her own without any prior influence :) Ahhhh, my heart is still liquid.

I love my niece!

Tessi and a friend came over this weekend for a sleepover. The day involved swimming, shopping and of course, a photo shoot! It was nice photographing subjects that actually stay still for more than 2 seconds (although not much more). All I have to say is that Tessi is a natural when it comes to posing for photos. She was AWESOME! Thanks girls for modeling for me!

Memorial Weekend Camping - Photos Galore

I have major issues choosing which photos to share. I'm working on my ability to pick & choose, but I didn't do so good here! Here are a ton of photos from the weekend! Gotta love the fresh mountain air!

Memorial Weekend Camping - Sneak Peek!

We had so much fun. We started out with a leisurely drive up to Payson on Friday morning. Marshal, Q and I (& the dogs too) stopped for lunch at Famous Sam's in Payson on our way up to Clint's Well. We had such a good time just enjoying the ride. It ended up cold and rainy all day on Friday, but we did our best at keeping the little shrimp entertained in the trailer (not easy). By Friday night, Mom, Dad & Scott, Laura arrived. By Saturday morning, the rain had finally settled down and we enjoyed a beautiful weekend in the fresh air. I think I have over 200 photos to choose from. Crazy, I know. I just have to find the time to sort through them all, but here are a few of my favorites so far.


Hmmm, interesting piece of grass... (Can you just see her plotting?)

Yep, perfect for tickling Grandpa! Tickle! Tickle!

Heading North

We're almost done packing the trailer for a Memorial Weekend camping trip! It is so much work to pack but it will be sooo worth it. It is set to be a beautiful weekend and we can't wait. Here are just some random photos from last weekend and the past week. I will be taking a ton of photos this weekend as well, of course. Practice, practice, practice. Happy Memorial Day (early) everyone!

We were at Grammy & Grandpa's house last weekend for my birthday. These are from Sunday morning with Grammy & "Papa" while Marshal & I slept in until a whopping 7:30 AM!


Quincy & I spent some time in the pool & sprinklers this week to get out of the heat. Of course, she had to choose her favorite boots to finish off her swim attire. That's my little cowgirl!

Bye Bye Twenties

Today I have finally reached the big 3-0. Yikes. I have to say I don't feel as depressed as I thought I would. I'm pretty much the same as I was yesterday :) I had a great birthday surprise thrown together by my hubby. I was such a fun night with many of my favorite people. It was perfect. Thank you to everyone for your gifts and birthday wishes, but better yet, your company! Thanks to Brent and Alex for hosting the wild "after-party" :) Us 30-somethings really know how to let loose! I have the best family & friends and I'm so glad I get to grow old with all of you.

Taming the wild beast (picture above... not referring to Tina taming my brother-below- although that would also be fitting.)

Thanks for the couple photos mom! I always focus on the kiddos and forget the grown-ups!

Ahhh, and my favorite part of the night was when the girls hugged each other which then led to Ring Around the Rosie. It was so adorable, even in the middle of a restaurant. I'm going for a desaturated vintage look to cover up for the horribly grainy pictures :) Buca is DARK with horrific carpeting and I seemed to have forgotten I have a flash!

Ready for the Weekend!

I am so glad it's Friday! Here we are just killing time this afternoon in the backyard. The skirt was my idea and the boots were Quincy's contribution to her ensemble. Turned out pretty cute. Now if only we could have managed to put a shirt on her. No downloading these pictures for future bribery!

Pee & Poo Never Made Me So Happy!

Okay, those are words only a mother would say, right? I just had to say how excited I am that Quincy got down from the dinner table, pulled down her diaper and said "Pee, pee". I helped her get the diaper off and she sat right on the potty and peed! Yay! We were shocked because it was so out of the blue. We'd been trying to get her acquainted with the potty for about a month but she must have been playing dumb the whole time because I thought we were getting nowhere. I guess in a month or two when I'm cleaning out a little poop dish I won't be as thrilled but for now, let's cheer for Q! Yayyy!!!

Happy Mamma's Day!

Well, a great Mother's Day weekend started out Friday when I joined Quincy at her daycare for "Muffins with Mommy". It was our first Mother's Day "school event", so I had to go. Plus, I had this awful vision of her being the only child there motherless with all the other mommies there with their kids. Ended up that it was only me and one other mommy and it was probably harder for Q to see me for a brief while than not at all. None-the-less, I felt good I went and could spend some time at her school with her. They gave us mother's day gifts (pictured below) that made me cry. Here's what it said:

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.

But every day I'm growing
I'll be grown some day
And all those tiny handprints
Will surely fade away.

So here's a little handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.

(I need a tissue break)
And, with that, Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there. I am finally getting a taste of the sacrifice, sweat, worry and glory of being a mother. I only hope that Quincy and I can be as good of friends as my mom and I. Mom, I LOVE YOU so much. I have to laugh at myself when I catch myself saying things you say or mannerisms you have. I love it.

I also owe my mom a huge thank you for coming out for the weekend to run around after the little energizer bunny so I could attend my long-awaited photo workshop. It was a great weekend and I learned a ton at the workshop. Thanks to my hun for the "early" birthday gift. While it didn't make me amazing instantly, I think I'm on the right track. I'll use having a toddler as an excuse for photos out of focus for as long as I can get away with it. Anyway, enough about photography...

Today was very low key. A trip to the grocery store was all we did, but it was nice to have a day at home. Q and I played in the backyard for a while (pictures below).

On a Whim

Last weekend, since Marshal was going to be working on the jeep again, Quincy and I decided she was overdo on seeing her Grandma Wood and Grammy & Grandpa so we headed over to the west side on Saturday for the weekend. Quincy got to spend the day Saturday with her favorite girlfriend (Grandma Wood, of course) where he got to play and play and play and I got to spend the day with some of my favorite girlfriends (Mom & Grandma). It was a heavenly day for me getting to shop, get a pedicure, go to a movie, shop, go to another movie... you get the idea. Here are some photos from last weekend!

Quincy and her Grandma Wood had a fun, full day. When I went to pick her up they had been playing in the backyard with the water. Quincy LOVES water. The little stinker thought it was great fun to spray Grandma with the hose. Thanks Grandma for the t-shirt and fun time!


The first thing out of Quincy's mouth when we arrived at Grammy's house was "Want to see turtle". I think Grammy was both excited (to hear a sentence) and disappointed (that Quincy wanted to see the turtles and not her!)... Sorry Grams, you will forever be the turtle lady :)


Ah, and the poor pets are so neglected these days. Here's poor Bradley. He's just so thrilled to be photographed.