presents

Before we left for Oregon I was kinda irritated
I know I know, this is a perfect world, perhaps I shouldn't admit that
But, it happens, even in this world of perfect pictures.

Sometimes life is real
It all stemmed around my birthday and our trip
and well a comment that went something like this
Oh, you wanted a present for your birthday?
What?
Doesn't everyone?

I stayed kinda annoyed for quite some time

Maybe perhaps longer than I should have been :0)

He got the point....

So while here in Eugene he took me on a date

Just the two of us.

He told me to dress up

(which took a little shopping)

Then he kept a secret

Longer than he ever has

2 whole days

Then he teased me at dinner

told me

perhaps we were going diving with sharks

maybe playing a little paintball

or a trailblazers game

After dinner we took a evening stroll

Our walk ended right here.

Ahh....

he is good

This I would have never guessed.

That man of mine he is a catch.

And just for the record wiked is fabulous.

new lens

My new lens is gonna take some practice.

It has no auto focus so I am having to go cold turkey manual focus.

I've gotten a lot of blurry shots but the quality of the pictures when in focus is amazing.

I am gonna love love this.

So here are just some practice shots

who doesn't love a little salami nose :0)

Growing

We've had a girl who is overcoming fear.

First she came home and told me she needed a little scooter.

She said Paxton taught her how to ride it.

She wasn't kidding.

Next a certain bunny visited her classroom.

I told her teachers that this might be stressful for her

(I have to reroute any mall trip near a holiday cause even a glimpse of any holiday character causes a major melt down)

I didn't send a family member on purpose

I knew with one of us as a crutch she may succumb

to the same old behavior

I was sent this picture in the middle of the day

This is the closest she's ever been to any dressed up character.

And she is smiling!!!

She chose not to sit on his lap but this is HUGE progress.

(We are planning a Disney trip next year I think she is ready)

And here is the biggest and last show of bravery this week

For her 4th birthday she got this big girl bike

for two days she rode her bike

Then....

she almost fell off

(I'd like to point out I caught her and the bike)

I kept pushing her to ride it all the way home through lots of tears

I thought if she could keep going she would push passed the fear

Well......

the bike has sat since that day and collected dust

UNTIL

Apparently a boy at school took a scooter from Lily

she went and found something else to do

but decided in this moment that she needed more options

On our way home out of the blue she said

Mommy I'd like to go home and ride my big girl bike

And that she did.....

Today we are driving 8 hours to see some of our favorite relatives I'll see ya all soon with pictures galore I am sure Oh and I got a new lens it arrived yesterday I am so excited!!!

Need a good laugh

People who dress up their dogs are dumb.

Perhaps they should be entered into the local assylum.

Hope my own insanity brightens your day.

Lily will not let me dress her this way

but.....

she has no problem dressing the dog.

Love these two

We had another Guatemala Get Together

These two have really become great friends

They are so funny together

Sofia told her mommy that Lily is shy for a little bit then she's fun

Quite observant friend she is.

On this particular day Lily didn't take long to warm up.

I forgot my camera.

I had given clear instructions to my camera man

They sounded like this:

Dude take a lot of pictures alright.

I had even charged the battery.

I guess my instructions should have been:

Dude don't let me forget the camera.

So thank you thank you Meredith for taking lots of pictures.

Baseball season

Did you know it's baseball season.

I have been told the giants are playing.

I think they've appeared on my TV.

I've been trying to pretend it's not happening. But someone in the family is getting into the spirit.

Perhaps if the giants looked this cute I'd watch.

She's got a pretty good stance.

And a pretty good shot.

And she scores.

Do you hear the cheers!

I was told to put down the camera clap.

I am hoping that this great weather brings the camera out more often.

Seriously there was dust collecting.

pictureless~

5 1/2 almost....

Fun, funny, laughter, a bit of ........sass, some eye rolling, and more giggling.

Lily has her first bonefide best friend. His name is

Paxton. They are by their teachers admission two peas in a pod.

Lily thinks he hung the moon.

She has learned to giggle and tell boy jokes.

She often hits herself in the head

and falls to the floor laughing in pure delight at her

own comic talent.

She loves the words actually.

It can be used as an emphasis

anywhere in a sentence.

I didn't actually know this.

She has FOUR loose teeth.

I don't know who actually told her she could grow up so fast.

She recently went to the dentist and had a big girl check up

with all the scary tools a dentist uses.

She told me before hand that the dentist was mean

and that she under no circumstances would cooperate.

Then she went and was only mildly uncooperative

during an x-ray

and then was fully cooperative durning the cleaning.

Her mother did not turn bright red or start to sweat the whole appointment.

Her favorite color is blue but her Thomas Trains are slowly

being left behind being replaced by

coloring writing and studying flash cards with no

encouragement from her mother.

She rides her tricycle in the house and worries about her wheels

getting dirty when taking it outside.

She is taking gymnastics and since shedding her socks

for that class has been caught GASP

sockless all on her own accord.

She is uniquely perfectly her own person

and I love every little bit of IT!!!