Echo is Five!

 My baby girl is turning five today. Five! For some reason there is something about that number that just screams big kid to me. Five feels like we are entering a whole new era.

Echo, I am beyond proud of the girl you are growing up to be. You are strong, beautiful and imaginative. You are also one of the sweetest most caring people that I have ever known.

You haven't always been easy on me. In fact you challenge me like no one else, but because of this I feel so incredibly close to you now. All of our struggles throughout the years have helped forge the wonderfully strong relationship that we have.

 On your Birthday each year, it's fun to think back on your early days. Your soft, fuzzy head of hair. Your tiny hands and wrinkled skin. The countless sleepless nights and the wonder and joy that we had created something so perfect. None of this compares to knowing you as you are now however, I wouldn't trade my days with you for anything.

I can't wait to see what this year has in store for you. You are a truly beautiful spirit and I love you more each day.

Happy Birthday my darling girl! I'm so lucky to be your mommy!

August Photos

As is typical of August, I have very few photos. Not only was I super busy but it was also really hot! I usually get tired of lugging my camera around in addition to lunches, sunscreen and swimming gear so a lot of our August activities remain undocumented. Oh well. I do have a couple shots from Clover's Birthday. We had some friends join us at the piedmont park pool for swimming and cake.

 Here is a random shot of the lovely Pandora :-)

We went to Ponce City Market for my mom's Birthday and I got a few pictures of that as well

Lastly our friend Remy having way too much fun with our gel pens on a playdate ;-)

Look forward to more pictures with the cooler temperatures of September.

Clover Turns 3

Happy Birthday my sweet Clover! I can't believe how much you have grown this year, your baby fat turning to long lean muscle, your body stretching and your proportions changing from toddler to little girl.

But it's not just physically that you've grown. Mentally you have taken major leaps this year! You have come into your own so much in the past 12 months, people have gotten to know you for yourself and have gotten past just seeing you as the baby of our family.

You are sweet, silly and smart as a whip. You also have a teasing, playful sense of humor and you never cease to make our entire family laugh.

You love your big sister and delight in your games together. You've learned to hold your own against her strong personality and be yourself though.

You love to be the center of attention, you love to get a laugh, you love playing with all kinds of people.

You have focus and determination. You have an incredible attention span for art, puzzles, music and animals.

I have a feeling 3 will be a very exciting age for you, who knows what kind of mischief you will get up to? You are my risk taker where Echo is my cautious one. You're always the first in line, the daredevil, the boisterous, spirited one of the family.

I can't believe our baby is turning 3, I'm so incredible proud of the girl you are becoming and I can't wait to see what the next year brings for you.

Happy Birthday Clover, you are so loved by so many!

July Photos

Here are a few photos from July 4th (which have already been posted on facebook) followed by photos from our big road trip out West for Eric's sister's wedding!

We started our trip in Saint Louis and honestly it was my favorite part! We loved Saint Louis and stopped there again on our way back.

The City Museum was a highlight, it's like nothing I've ever seen before!

Forest Park was pretty incredible too.

Next stop was Sioux Falls, SD. It was soooo hot! Pretty though, we enjoyed it.

 We made a stop at The Badlands on our way. It was really interesting and alien looking.

A pretty sunset in Sturgis, SD.

We made an unexpected stop in Spear Fish to get a flat tire fixed. Luckily we were able to check out a beautiful park and fish hatchery while we waited.

Sadly I have almost no photos in Bozeman where the wedding took place. I was busy with wedding activities :-) I'll have to wait for the professional pictures of that.

We had long hours in the car and some fun gas stations to stop at.

We had some great food on the trip. These photos are from a diner in Wyoming

I don't remember where this was, it was by some gas station on our drive home.

We had so much fun seeing a whole new section of the country and the girls did amazingly well in the car. It has definitely encouraged us to take more road trips in the future!