Time With Amelia

Not much to share today, so I decided to post a few photo's of Amelia taken throughout this month. She is so funny and constantly makes her daddy and I laugh. I wish I could capture all of her many expressions, and hope I never forget them, but here are some of my favourite moments...

There's a time to laugh.

and a time for bed...although something tells me she's not quite sleepy just yet.

A time to sit.

And a time to look chic..."Oh hey there!"

A time to be on top of the world!

And a time to rest...

And there's always time to pucker up...kisses anyone?

Have a lovely day!

Future Archaeologist?

We enjoyed some beautiful weather this past weekend, so, Matthew continued to work in the back yard. Later in the afternoon, after her nap, I took Amelia outside, she of course headed right for the dirt. I tried to keep her head covered with a hat to protect her from the sun, but she didn't really keep it on very long. She also had sunscreen on which acted like a magnet for all the dirt to stick to.

She doesn't mind the dirt at all, but seems fascinated by it when it's on her hands.

How does she balance like that?

mud, mud, glorious mud...

What are you thinking about little one?

Just relaxing in the warm sunshine

Who knows, perhaps she's going to be an archaeologist and is practicing for a future day, when she may be digging for ancient treasures.

Of course, pulling her hat off became quite the game.

And then she discovered how to make the dirt even more dirty!

I cannot wait for the garden to be completed, not so much because I mind her playing in the dirt, I just look forward to being able to spend time out there playing without having to completely strip Amelia down and bathe her afterwards.

Ah well, at least I got some cute pics, and she had a blast, what more could a mother ask for?

Knee High to a Grasshopper

Our back yard has been in need of a little, ok a lot, of TLC since we moved in,and unfortunately has always been on the bottom of the 'to do' pile. Finally, last fall, Matthew's dad helped us a lot and worked really hard, which resulted in a fabulous new concrete patio, and so, now that the weather is better,we (well, actually Matthew) have been working outside preparing for some much needed grass.

Amelia loves to be outside, so, daddy picked her up her own set of 'Dora the Explorer' gardening tools, complete with a kneeling pad. She was so excited a couple of weeks ago, when we dressed her up warm and toasty and sent her outside to dig. She was such a helper.

As you can see, she's not that much taller than daddy's wheelbarrow.

Here she is digging with her new tools.

As grandpa would say "I've hit a wall!", I think she even looks like him in the photo below...time for some well deserved rest.

I took more photo's of her in the yard yesterday which I will post another day.

The yard is really coming along and we're almost in the home stretch. It's just so cute to see Amelia in the thick of the action, or should I say mud, daddy's little gardening helper.

Tummy Buttons, Kisses and Naptime

It's funny how the most precious moments are the smallest, strangest things. One of these precious things is how Amelia is quite fascinated by her tummy button, especially at bathtime. On this particular lazy Sunday afternoon, I happened to have the camera handy to capture her delight at finding it.

There it is!

Next, it was time for kisses (this is also a great exercise for those biceps), lift, lower and kiss, repeat...

...and more kisses.

Finally, it's naptime...

Sweet dreams baby girl.

I love you!

It Was Five Years Ago Today...

...that Matthew and I went out on our first date. Sometimes it seems like a long time ago, but at other times not. I suppose a lot has happened since that Friday evening, when we sat at John Thurman Fields in Modesto California,with my best friend Penny and her husband Todd, waiting to see Bryan Adams whilst Matthew explained what a 'doug out' was.

That evening he came to pick me up and my hair was still in rollers (attractive), when we headed out to the concert he opened the door of his truck for me, and Penny called it, perhaps she knew before I did, what was about to happen. It was on that first date that our lives together began.

So, five years later, we have four years of marriage behind us, have moved to a new state and are blessed with a beautiful daughter, life is great. Always easy? Of course not, but worth every second. I love this man more than words can express and am grateful to be his eternal companion.

Tip-toe Through The Tulips

Every year since we moved to Oregon, we have visited the Wooden Shoe Tulip Fields each Spring. It has become one of our family traditions. There are so many different varieties of tulips, and the colour is spectacular. Last year when we went, Amelia was just 6 months old, this year she was able to walk on her own, I'm not sure if that made taking photo's easier or not.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't so great, it was quite cloudy and the wind was cold, but it was still fun to spend time together, surrounded by such beauty.

Here's a collection of photographs to remind us of our special day out and to share with you.



















By the way, if you want to see just how much Amelia has grown in the last year, check out my blog posts for April 2008 - wow!