The Archer Family

christmas 2011

2011-12-28T23:26:00.002-07:00

christmas eve we spend with my extended family

at the annual christmas fiesta

it is a blast

this year santa couldn't make it

so santa's helpers came instead

to help hand out presents to all the good boys and girls

charlotte (excited to hear santa couldn't make it)

waits patiently for hers…

santa's helpers make the children sing christmas carols

before handing out any presents

and the girls opening their gifts

(so exciting!)

that evening we open one present each

before going to bed

what a surprise!

it's christmas jammies

(yay!)

best pic i could get of my girlies in their matching jammies

and i got some hoodiefooties

(ummmmm, thanks ry?)

look what santa brought!

(too much)

(next year

i need to have a heart to heart with the man

about going overboard

and to try his hardest

not to buy just one more thing

every single time he goes to the ~~store~~ toy shop)

before

during

after

(what a disaster)

all in all, i'd say it was a pretty great christmas ;)

xmas activities

2011-12-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

we went to go see the christmas lights
we forgot our camera
it was beautiful
it was freezing
it was quick

we made gingerbread houses
it was fun
it was yummy
it was messy

we wrapped lots and lots of presents
my back hurts just thinking about it

santa!

2011-12-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

charlotte refused to see him
(only waved from a distance)
so just evie and santa got a picture together
(and not a very good one, at that)
oh well…
maybe next year

oh, christmas tree

2011-12-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

from start…

to finish…

and the best christmas tree accessory

(a dressed up lil charli)

christmas program #2

2011-12-20T23:52:00.000-07:00

this time evie got in on the fun
and grama and papa came to watch, too

love

2011-12-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

christmas with my favorite peeps in the whole wide world

a christmas feast

2011-12-10T00:07:00.000-07:00

our annual friends xmas dinner

like last year, we did ugly sweaters

and boy were they ugly

but the food was good

and, as always, the conversation was… interesting

we love our little dysfunctional family

{10 months}

2011-12-09T00:11:00.000-07:00

my evie at 10 months
scoots rather than crawls
is obsessed with pulling herself to standing
wants mommy or daddy- is afraid of strangers
wants mommy or daddy- constantly by her
is still nursing
loves eating whatever mommy and daddy are eating
hates getting her nails clipped
is kind of a "rough-and-tumble" lil girl
has 4 teeth and two more on the way
likes her tongue

preschool christmas concert

2011-12-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

charlotte's christmas program at preschool
was adorable
they sang songs
and many of them had lines to memorize and recite
since charlotte is one of the youngest in the preschool program
and not much of a "memorize and reciter"
she was selected to be one of the christmas dolls
and got to dance and smile instead-
two things she is really good at ;)

my adorable lil christmas dolly
(too bad we can't both be looking at the camera simultaneously)

winter wonderland!

2011-12-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

charlotte had a winter wonderland birthday party!

we had lots of good food

and a hot chocolate bar

and, of course, lots and lots of treats

the kids decorated cookies

and had fun in charlotte's igloo/castle

here is charlotte refusing to smile for a picture
(surprise, surprise)

here is charlotte opening up her presents
(she got way too many)

here is charlotte and her birthday cake!
(singing happy birthday was the highlight of the party-
she felt so special and really loved it
it was adorable)

here is charlotte basking in the glory of all her gifts
(so spoiled)

and here is daddy and evs

p.s. can we talk for a sec about my amazing friends and family
i know it's just a silly third birthday party
but seriously- it was a lot of work
and i pretty much have the most amazing friends/family in the world
you know who you are-
and if i haven't told you yet today- gosh i love you guys!!

three!

2011-12-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

my baby girl is three
gosh how time flies
she is a spunky lil girl
always has been
she loves singing and dancing
she can count to 20 (well kindof)
and knows all of her letters
she loves talking
(like nonstop)
and asking why
(after every. single. thing. i say)
she is learning how to color in the lines
and spell her name
she is very smart
and cute
and loving
(when she wants to be)
my "little" girl likes to go around to each of the children in her preschool class at nap time and rub their backs while saying "shhhh, it's naptime, close your eyes now"
she loves her teachers at school
and has a best friend (eva)
and a boyfriend (max)
but really loves all her friends
my baby girl is three
...going on sixteen, it seems

on her birthday
we asked her what she wanted for breakfast
she asked for her fav- toast and yogurt
instead i brought her toast and ice cream
you should have seen the look she gave us-
like "have you guys gone completely insane?!?"
then she gobbled it all up

gosh i love her
i love watching her grow up
i love watching her discover the world
i love watching her interact with others
i love watching her be a big sister
i love that i am her mom
and i love that i am so proud to call her my daughter!
how did i get so lucky?!?

papas bday

2011-12-02T23:58:00.000-07:00

happy birthday to my dad
and his dad
two pretty awesome guys
(even with all your unique quirks)

two peas in a pod, these two

and don't forget about the enchiladas

a collection

2011-11-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

of some camera phone pics

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T23:51:00.000-07:00

thanksgiving 2011
gama and papa's
unseasonably warm weather
cute girlies
delicious food
what could be better?

New York New York

2011-11-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

i turned thirty

lets not talk about it

for my bday

we went to my very favoritest place

ever

new york city

just ryan and i

in the big city

for 6 whole days

had the most amazing time

(even though i missed my kids a really lot)

(you know you miss your kids a really lot

when a screaming toddler on the 5 hr plane ride home

makes you excited

instead of all headachy)

we stayed in a hip hotel

(with tiny rooms)

(and great views)

(and neon lights)

saw a couple plays

(avenue Q- very funny)

(lion king- love)

visited the 9/11 memorial

(but then couldn't because advanced passes required)

had some great food
sushi, thai, italian, indian

and even found some good mexican food

enjoyed lots of fun nights out on the town

and did a few other touristy things too...

like take a pic of an archer ave sign

grab some pizza at grimaldi's

ride the subway

shop on canal street
(ryan loves his new scarf)

visit the empire state building
(i love instagram)

eat brunch at the park

play with toys at fao

and go to the letterman show

p.s. here is a pic of my geeky hubby

...can not wait to go back
i really love it so much

Florida

2011-11-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

in november we headed to florida
for a little family vaca
(there are some benefits
to having a hubby that travels so much)
we hit up seaworld, epcot, and (of course) magic kingdom @ disneyworld

this is the second time charlotte has been to seaworld
the first time it was a miss
but this time it was a hit
the key: she is older and has a longer attention span
one thing, tho, she was scared-to-death
of getting splashed at the shamu show
(i guess maybe she is my daughter ;))

we went to epcot

just for a brunch with the princesses

it was fun

(despite the looks of being tortured on charlotte's face)

wish we coulda done more at epcot

it looked like a place

we could really enjoy

sans kids

(they were having a food/wine tour)

...maybe next time

the princess brunch

belle was the first to great us

charlotte was scared of her

refused to take a picture with her

is that normal?

to be scared of a princess?

i don't think so

clearly i have done something wrong as a mother

while i ponder how i have failed as a mother... here is a picture

a picture of her holding a picture of a me holding her next to belle

each of the princesses walked around

to sign autograph books and say hello

really charlotte was so excited to see them

looked like this while waiting for her turn

but somehow

turned into this

by the time they stopped by our table to say hello

thankfully, by the time sleeping beauty came around

she warmed up a bit

and even gave her a big hug

we spent the rest of our time at magic kingdom

it is set up very much like disneyland

so, of course, we had a blast

but if i was going to compare world to land-

(and i totally did the whole time we were there)

land would win

world was crazy busy and seemed a bit more amusement parky to me

land is less busy and more clean

(i like clean)

(which is why i don't so much love lagoon/our local amusement park)

on charlotte's fav ride

dumbo!

on charlotte's least fav ride

...but this time she loved it

yay!

even evie got in on the fun

(lets talk about her nose for a second-

the first night in our hotel room

she fell off the bed right on her face

it was really sad

yet another example of what an awesome mommy i am)

it's a small world!

after all!

let me reiterate how crazy busy it was...

insane.

we lucked out

both girls napped at the same time :)

and the castle...

happily ever after

the end.

there was so much more to do at disneyworld

like universal studios and animal kingdom

we will have to go back

either when our kids are a little older

(and can enjoy more)

or by ourselves

(without the kiddies)

or both

(i like both)

{9 months}

2011-11-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

my evie at nine months
still as smily as ever
still as bald as ever
still prefers swaddling at naps and nighttime
still not quite crawling
still a mama's girl
loves bathtime
loves grinding her teeth (much to daddy's dismay)
loves hair- pulling, chewing on
loves making messes
loves books and being read to...

loves fighting with her sister
they always want what the other has
and so it begins...

no hands!

2011-11-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

school girl

2011-11-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

my lil school girl

one more

2011-11-05T23:59:00.000-06:00

from halloween

halloween

2011-11-05T22:35:00.000-06:00

halloween 2011-

so much fun.

the weather was great

charlotte loved trick-or-treating

ran from house to house

we nearly made it around the block

before she turned to us and said

"just only one more house, okay?"

"i'm soooo tired"

it's hard work trick-or-treating

school halloween carnival

2011-11-05T22:26:00.001-06:00

it was ~~our~~ her first school carnival

she played all the games

(except the cake walk-

because that's the only one

mommy was really looking forward to)

she won lots of prizes

she played with her little friends

she was in awe of the big kids

and she was totally enamored with the rapunzel princess

our lil butterfly

our lil butterfly
and her lil sis the caterpillar

her favorite activity-
face painting!

her second favorite activity-
making this super cool punkin!

sleeping beauty

2011-10-18T20:00:00.000-06:00

my sleeping beauties

number one

and number two

fall fun!

2011-10-17T21:14:00.000-06:00

at thanksgiving point…

family

2011-10-17T20:00:00.000-06:00

Schools in

2011-10-16T10:46:00.000-06:00

Ms Charlotte's Class

Top Row: Humph,Dottie,Max,Bernard,Ribbit,Lucy,Benji

Bottom Row: Hunter, Doug,Rosado,Snooki,Santa, Berry,Hetty

sis

2011-10-14T09:00:00.000-06:00

look at these two

best friends

i love it

charlotte is such a good big sister

i am still in awe at how helpful she is

nothing like having a baby

to help you realize

how bright, sweet, and old your toddler is

she is growing up too fast

but i do love to see her turning into

this amazing, intelligent, clever girl

evie loves her

gets so excited to see her

can not wait to play with her

only problem…

charlotte loves her so much

sometimes she squeezes a little too hard when she hugs

and evie loves her so much

sometimes she pulls her hair or grabs her face

...we're workin on it

{eight months}

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

at eight months
my little sweetie
hit some major milestones

she has two teeth!
she has {a little} more hair
(enough for a baby mohawk, at least)
says mama
(not dada, yet)
(i win!)
claps her hands
and she really, really wants to start crawling…

best of all-
she slept through the night
(i'm hoping it wasn't a fluke)
eleven whole hours without a feeding
(i still can't believe it has taken this long)
what a big girl
and what a happy day for mommy
(i'm really hoping it wasn't a fluke)

go utes (part two)

2011-10-12T22:00:00.000-06:00

last time it was sunny

just one week later

we were bundled up in coats and hats

the result was the same

(a good time

and a utes loss)

two more

2011-10-08T11:27:00.002-06:00

of our favorite ride at disney

(by our, i mean ryan and i)

he always wins

(by, like, a lot)

but it sure is fun pretending like i might defeat him

charlotte rode with me

(even though you can't see her)

and evie rode with daddy

the moment we walked out of the park

i could not wait to go back

we really love that place!

in awe

2011-10-06T18:29:00.001-06:00

watching the first snow storm of the season

wasn't it just sunny and 90º yesterday???

Cali

2011-10-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

we vacationed to cali a couple weeks ago

went to the happiest place

enjoyed the beach

and did some shoppin

gosh, it was fun

i love my cute family

i love traveling

i especially love traveling with my cute family

here are the girls

having so much fun

at brunch-with-disney-and-friends!

charlotte was a little nervous at first
(are you surprised?)
but then warmed up a bit
everytime a new character came to say hello
she warned "don't touch me, okay!?"

but when minnie came by...
she was so excited
she even hugged her!

evie,
on the other hand,
loved hugging, touching, laughing
(and sometimes eating)
all the disney friends

two-and-a-half
(or, i guess, two-and-three-quarters)
is such a great age for disney
she was so excited for everything she saw
like these drums

and this cool theater room

then we made our way
to the happiest place on earth
and here is the classic disneyland pic

and here are the classic
mickey mouse ears pics
(oh, i wonder
how would it be
if your child
actually looked at the camera
every once in a while???)

charlotte actually went on

AND enjoyed all the rides

(even the haunted mansion)

but her favorites were

the dumbo and rocketship rides

and here is evie-
in the stroller
(it seems i have a lot of pictures
of evie in the stroller...
i promise she is not always in the stroller
we do let her out
...every once in a while)
{see.}

(gosh she's cute)

next, we hit up the beach

here is daddy and charlotte on the bike

(doesn't she look comfy?)

and here we are on the beach...
(hey look!
pictures of evie
not in the stroller!)

charlotte loves the beach
well, she loves the sand at the beach
(not a big fan of the ocean)

here she is...
dancing in the sand
(side note: the girl will dance and/or sing
every single chance she gets
it is adorable)

digging in the sand

"baywatching" in the sand

getting buried in the sand

the water was FReeezing

so we spent our time

on the boardwalk

at the shops

in the sand

i especially enjoyed

the view from my beach towel...

and some snippets
of a night out on the town...

go utes!

2011-10-03T09:00:00.000-06:00

even though they lost…

my girlies still had a good ol' time

charlotte is the best lil cheerleader

she cheers "go utes"

points and yells utah!

stomps her lil feet

and evie-lou

had fun, too!

now…

if we could only convince daddy

it's just a game!

rub a dub dub

2011-09-24T09:00:00.000-06:00

one cute girl

in the tub

and out

for some live action:

sleepyhead

2011-09-22T15:00:00.000-06:00

and this is what my sleepyhead

looks like in the morning

this is charlotte.
does not love bees
or stretching in gymnastics class
or brussels sprouts
and definitely does not love waking up in the morning
(or after naps)
(which are becoming few and far between)

but don't worry...
she does become quite the little happy morning girl
after some warm milk,
cuddling,
and a little Franklin

she might be a little spoiled
might

the view

2011-09-22T09:00:00.000-06:00

...from up here

she is starting to scooch!
exclamation point!
she hates tummytime
but is willing to roll, stretch, and scooch!
if it means reaching that ever so desirable red ball

she is much more mobile than my last one
and, apparently, much more into red bouncy balls...

favorites

2011-09-21T09:00:00.000-06:00

how we pass the time

at seven months…

bouncing in this thing

(that makes lots of noise)
and playing with this thing

(that makes lots of music)

happy birthday!

2011-09-20T22:50:00.000-06:00

to my amazing mom (50!)
and beautiful grandma (70!!)

we put together a little surprise party
for my mom
at Vu'z Restaurant
it was a good time
mostly because my mom is so fun
and amazing
(have I mentioned that?)

some pics from the night...

g&p

2011-09-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

golf & popcycles

in a dress.

{7 months}

2011-09-14T09:00:00.000-06:00

while the cat's away

2011-09-13T22:15:00.000-06:00

the mice will play…

while daddy was out of town

us girls had ourselves a wild weekend

-late night movie and popcorn

-big messes

-'go fish' in the bath

Labor Day Weekend 2011

2011-09-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

parkcity staycation

hottubs and pools

lots of bathtimes

shopping and out to eating

the alpine slide

bbq at grama and papa's

a lot of fun.

one more

2011-08-31T09:00:00.000-06:00

a picture of my FOUR girls

quilla

rozie

charlotte

and evie

(listed by birth order…)

fun with camera part II

2011-08-30T09:00:00.000-06:00

this time it was evie's turn

i snapped some pics of by babe at 6 months...
of course, charlotte had to join in the fun...
gosh they are cute

...go here for charlotte at 6 months

thanks grandma

2011-08-29T20:22:00.002-06:00

charlotte: "i gotta owie. wanna see?"

daddy: "oh no! OUCH!"

charlotte: "yah"

daddy: "can you say OUCH!?"

charlotte: "i can't"

mommy: "we don't say i can't"

daddy: "we can do anything we want"

charlotte: "i want to say dammit"

great.

thanks grandma!

San Fran

2011-08-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

we went for a long weekend
which was much too short
we fit in as much as we could...

the exploratorium.
was so much fun
we could have spent all day
(and probably the next day, too)
(which is saying a lot when you have a toddler)
daddy and charlotte checking out the twirly water tornado
and the twirly ball thingand the twirly twirly thingand then being twirly-twirled around
silly kidschecking out the tiny colored roomsand the funky colored shadows
makin silly faces
and a little musicand BIG bubbles
all while this cute girl playedand, of course, a family pic in the house of mirrorsme and the girls
just outside the exploratorium
in front of the palace of fine arts

after the exploratorium...
we grabbed lunch at a little corner shop
(mmm)
(yummy)and took a drive around town
(while the girls took a little nap)
a cute street in san franand my most favorite place-
the little town of sausalito

next up...
the golden gate bridge
(it's windy)driving across
(and foggy)on the other side
(just waking up from her nap)

that night we went to the stinking rose
(a restaurant that specializes in garlic-y foods)
(each of the girls even got a garlic-y toy to take home)(and daddy got to take home a full tummy)

back at the hotel...
this cute girlthis cute girlmy cute girls

the next morning we headed to muir woods
to take a little hike explore the luscious forestlook at all the cool trees and pose for lots of pictures

that afternoon?
wine country...
(so beautiful)
we managed to find ourselves
a family-friendly winery...
(and, of course our little social butterfly found herself a friend)
and no trip to san fran is complete
without a visit to the pier...
it was chilly
(it always is)
evie in her new san fran animal print jacket...
dinner at the rain forest cafe
and a ride on the merry-go-round!

ever been?
you should go.
it's my favorite

fun with camera

2011-08-16T09:30:00.001-06:00

speaking of christmas jammies…

she begged me to take some pictures of her

she didn't really have to beg

she loves getting her picture taken

and i love taking her picture

such a difference from last year

and some of her and baby sister

pearly whites

2011-08-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

this little girl had her first visit to the dentist
and {thankfully} she passed with flying colors
p.s. yes, she is in christmas pj's

don't judge

{6 months}

2011-08-12T09:00:00.000-06:00

my sweet girl is 6 months old

wow.

where did those last 6 months go?

too fast.

at her 6 month appointment…

evie weighs 16 pounds

is in the 60th percentile for weight

70th for height

and 80th for head circumference

milestone checklist?

rolling over, check minus

(only from tummy to back)

(and only because she hates tummy time so much)

sits on own, check plus

(prefers to be sitting up watching the world)

stands with support, check

(also a good way to watch the world around her)

makes vowel-consonant sounds (i.e. ah-goo), check plus

(are you kidding? the girl can talk!)

sleeps through the night, no check triple minus

(wakes up one to TWO times a night)

(acts like she's starving to death at midnight)

(and sometimes again at 4 am)

(HELP!)

(good thing she is so freakin adorable)

evie is the sweetest thing

lets her sister maul her

lets her mama smother her with cuddles

lets her dada tickle her

and throw her high into the air

smiles for everyone

laughs at everything

laughs just by hearing me laugh

(sometimes we just stare at each other and take turns laughing)

(in between mommy-baby make-out sessions)

is a pro at nursing

(as opposed to her sister at this age)

loves rice cereal and oatmeal

but is not so sure about veggies…

is intrigued by the dogs

and loves to wave and bang her toys around ever so enthusiastically

and she looks more and more like her big sister everyday

gosh i love her.

so much.

much.

The Hogle Zoo

2011-08-11T23:30:00.001-06:00

even after all our fun

at the zoos in texas

we still hadn't had our fill of zoos

a couple weeks ago

we visited our local zoo

this time…

she didn't really like riding on the alligator

but loved riding on the horse

and love loved riding on the carousel

one of those moms

2011-08-01T10:10:00.000-06:00

yup.

i am totally one of those moms.

summa summa summa time

2011-07-28T09:30:00.000-06:00

besides dancing in the front yard

and riding her new motorcycle
and wearing her sunny glasses all over town

charlotte also enjoys playing in her pool

Pioneer Day

2011-07-27T13:50:00.000-06:00

my favorite thing about pioneer day falling on a sunday?

four whole nights (fri-mon) of fireworks!

fireworks waking my kids up at all hours

every. single. night.

for four nights

yay!

somehow we managed to have ourselves

an okay weekend

{despite the overall lack of sleep}

full of bbq's and birthdays

with friends

and family

some pooltime

horseshoes

and a baby eatin' a cracker

caught in the act!

Texas

2011-07-26T10:00:00.000-06:00

ever been to texas?

reckon i hadn't until a few weeks ago…

we went down yonder

and done had ourselves a real good time

while there we

enjoyed the 100+ degree weather

were pleasantly surprised by the amazing southern hospitality everyone showed us

were equally shocked at how horrible the drivers were

ate some good mexican food

got lost a few times

and visited two zoos and an aquarium...

The Dallas Zoo

the first thing we did:

the merry-go-round!then we took a ride on the ~~cool~~ monorail

(woulda been a lot cooler if they had air conditioning on the ride)

(literally)

in their sunny glassesmeasuring upattempting to cool off in the shade
some beautiful giraffes
charlotte thought this guy was coolusually she'd be scared to death

never get that close to the window

but an older cool girl was kneeling down

checking out the lions

…so she decided to do the same...

this guy thought ry was pretty cool

wouldn't stop staring at him
work, work, working

even at the zoo
the coolest part was the "children's zoo"

a.k.a. a little kiddie pool to splash in
or maybe the coolest part was the "special drink"

it's a toss-up
evie had fun too

sort of

mostly she was just a sweaty hot mess

The Fort Worth Zoo

despite the heat

it was a lot of fun

(the fort worth zoo is one of the top zoos in the nation)

first we stopped by the world of primates

daddy and charlotte smooch

as the two monkeys in the background are totally smooching

after looking at all the pics we snapped

i guess charlotte spent most of the afternoon

on daddy's shoulders
we attempted to get a lil family pic by the elephant statue

first, me and the girls
next, daddy and the girls
then, a charlotte meltdownin their sunny glasseswe ended the evening with a ride on the merry-go-roundand a train ride back to the entrance

The Aquarium in Dallas

it was a good time

especially since it was indoors and air conditioned

checking out the hugemongo crab

and the flamingos

sitting under the aquarium tunnel

with these swimming above us

pretty cool.

oh and we saw some crocodiles

or alligators?

and this was charlotte at the end of every day

it was a good little summer family vacation…

we also went to the pool

ate at daddy's favoritest place

and hung out in our cozy hotel room

the end.

FiReCrAcKeR

2011-07-23T21:00:00.003-06:00

no, not the ones you light on fire…

i'm talkin 'bout this little girl

here she is

shakin her grove thang

ya ya

mr. sun

2011-07-19T10:45:00.000-06:00

mr. shiny sun!

we are lovin summer!!

and this cute girl

loves her sunny glasses

so much

she refuses to take them off

...even in doors

even if it means bumping into walls

{5 months}

2011-07-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

my lil' cutie is five months old...

she is sitting on her own

she is ever so inquisitive

she is such a happy, smiley, laughy lil' thing

and no one (and i mean no one) can make her laugh like her big sister

the 4th

2011-07-16T17:35:00.000-06:00

the fourth, 2011

fun, food, family, friends, and fireworks

{also, a nosey neighbor, the police, and one cute naked girl}

binky fairy

2011-07-16T17:30:00.000-06:00

our little two year old ~~loves~~ loved her binky

i don't know a two-year-old who loved her binky more

so it was a bittersweet day

the day the binky fairy paid a visit to the archer home

it was a rough couple days

she would ask for it everyday at nap/bedtime

it would take her a second

and then she would remember

her favorite thing in the whole world was gone

it broke my heart

and then it was fine

like it never happened

she moved on

and hasn't looked back

plus she has a really cool binky fairy present/motorcycle

to keep her occupied

i have to document this

so if we have to go through it again

i can look back and know-

we will get through it.

we will survive.

(and by we, i mean me)

happy day

2011-07-16T17:25:00.000-06:00

happy day

handsome couple

hoppin' party

congrats to my ghazal and her new hubby!!

happy birthday auntie!

2011-07-07T09:20:00.000-06:00

Where?

2011-07-06T23:59:00.005-06:00

where did june go?
i can't believe it's already july
time flies when you are having fun
i have some major catching-up to do
{see previous few catch-up posts below}

here are a couple silly videos
to remember my girls by
in june of 2011

here is charlotte
acting silly
one summer night
in our front yard
(not unlike most summer nights at the archer household)

here is evie
jibber jabbering
one monday morning
at my place of work
(i am very lucky i get to bring her to work with me)

two-and-a-half

2011-07-06T08:30:00.000-06:00

things i want to remember

about my girlie

at two-and-a-half...

she is very friendly

calls everyone her friend

(sees a kid at the park?

she will immediately approach the child

start a conversation

"i go down the slide!"

"i wear pink, too!"

and turn to me

"mommy, that's my new friend")

she is a goof

(to which she always responds

"no i not

i minnie!

you goofy")

she loves watching movies

~~even~~ especially really scary ones

(not how-to-train-your-dragon-scary

more like jurassic-park-scary

she is such a goof)

she loves to eat peanuts, popcorn, or paper

while watching her movies

(yes, paper

she'll chew the edges off books

or nibble the corners of her flashcards

lets hope she grows out of this one

such a goof)

she loves to go on walks

loves to dance and sing songs

loves to ride her "motorcycle" (motorized car)

and she loves to do all of this

(demands to do all of this)

in a twirly skirt

she hates flies

(or any creature with wings)

(or really any creature/animal/thing with more than two legs)

right now,

she likes to call us mother and father

and say "huh?" in response to everything we say

she wants to be around her sister all of the time

(but hates that her sister takes attention away from her)

and she loves to reminisce

(charlotte: "bember, we had ice cream one morning?!!"

translation: "remember how much fun it was when we had ice cream after dinner one night two weeks ago?!!")

the girl has such a big personality

she is very energetic

(even though she has decided to stop taking naps)

she loves to make people laugh

she wants to do everything herself

{thankfully} she is a very quick learner

she definitely gives me a run for my money

and i wouldn't want it any other way!

petting zoo

2011-07-05T22:29:00.000-06:00

we met up with our favorite friends
at the petting zoo
sounds like a good idea
until i remember
my child is petrified of all things not human
she has a hard time looking at creatures with more than two legs-
let alone touching them!
oh well- at least we had good company

charlotte, lilly, and max

camarie and baby lilly

awww! max & charlotte

my babe

caption: max: "he looks like he will bite but i'll put my hand in here anyway"
charlotte: "no i will not get any closer than at least five feet away from any and all fences"

the one thing she enjoyed- singing and dancing in the little playhouse

happy dads day!

2011-07-05T02:52:00.000-06:00

he got himself a new edger for father's day

just a little token of appreciation for

the hardest working dad we know!

thanks for all you do for us, Ry

we are definitely lucky to have you.

daddy and his girls

the three best daddies in the whole world

kick off the summer bbq

2011-07-04T22:28:00.000-06:00

a few weeks back

we hosted a little kick-off-the-summer-bbq

because it was finally here

and we were so excited to celebrate it's arrival!!

i love summertime.

there is nothing better

(well except for maybe this or this or this

but it's the next best thing)

love these girls and little baby O

and love love love this cute girl

(can not wait for November!!!)

some good food, good company, and good fun

practicing ;)

and some healthy, competitive games of tetherball…

this little girl was too funny-

just woke up from her nap

it took her nearly the whole bbq

to fully wake up and join in the fun

...i don't think katie minded too much cuddling with her, tho ;)

rice cereal

2011-07-03T22:30:00.000-06:00

4 months old = rice cereal!

she has been very interested in food for some time
so we were not surprised she loved her first try of rice cereal...

yum!more please!
sooo full!

bathing beauties

2011-06-23T11:06:00.000-06:00

while we were on our glorious memorial day weekend trip
the girls enjoyed their first bath together
i think evie's still a little too little for baths with her sister
but, oh gosh! big sister can hardly wait till they get to play in the bath everyday

school pictures

2011-06-15T13:34:00.000-06:00

my little girl is getting so big

she's already getting school pictures!
and here is one of her class

too cute
and here is one from last year

(it's amazing to see one years worth of hair growth!!)

three things...

2011-06-14T14:56:00.001-06:00

{4 months}

2011-06-12T23:10:00.001-06:00

my little girl is 4 months old

stats: 50th for height, weight, and head circumference

can you say perfect?

but actually her stats came back 90th for weight

my cute little chunk

apparently they measured her wrong

so 50th it is

(but have you seen those leg rolls?)

on top of growing like a weed

my baby girl is also

jibber-jabbering

giggling

growling

smirking

smiling

she is almost rolling-over

she is her big sisters biggest fan

and she is still waking up at least once at night

(unlike her sister at this age)

and getting cuter and cuter by the day

gosh, i love her

so much

big sister still suffocating lil sister with her love

Fish Lake 2011

2011-06-02T00:10:00.002-06:00

last minute, we decided to go to fish lake for memorial day weekend

well, actually

i decided i wanted to go to yellowstone

but the weather guy predicted a big storm up that way

so then i decided to go to st. george

but everything was booked, totally booked

so then i decided we would go camping down in southern utah

but all zion and bryce canyon campgrounds were booked

so then i decided we would go to las vegas

(there is a theme here)

(hint hint, warm weather)

but when i told ryan of my master plans

he didn't seemed too thrilled

which brings us back to-

last minute we decided to go to fish lake for memorial day weekend

(a definite deviation from the warm weather theme, no?)

we packed up the good ol' prius

to the tippity top

and went on our merry little way…

we stayed in a cute little cabin

called Pinewood

and ate dinner at the cute little restaurant

in the quaint little lodge

and rented a cute little pontoon

to go fishin in the big beautiful lake

it was a little bit chilly

and a lot bit windy

and…

(this is where the story gets good)

within minutes of arriving at our vacation destination

the wind blew something into charlotte's eye

and the poor girl got a little scratch on her eye

ouch!

and then every time we went outside

the poor little girl would throw a fit the second the wind picked up

which, unfortunately, was pretty much all of the time

which, very unfortunately, meant going outside was a miserable experience for all

and, then,

(this is where the story gets really good)

ryan lost his fishing pole in the lake

his very nice, new fishing pole

…so much for a fishing vacation...

no fishing?

that's okay

we'll go on lots of outdoorsie adventures and hikes instead

but not near fish lake, of course

(it's much to windy)

so the next day we decided to take a little drive

to warmer (and hopefully less windy) weather

we ended up at Capital Reef National Park

it was beautiful

it was breathtaking

it was a disaster

not only did the wind follow us

but i also forgot to pull charlotte's hair back

just great.

and i forgot evie's carrier

awesome.

without a way to keep charlotte's mane out of her face

or lug my chunky lil lady around

how were we supposed to go on a hike?

thank goodness i found one of evies headbands

i used it to pull charlotte's hair back

and we were able to go on a couple little half-hikes

here's the thing

sometimes i think we are in way over our head

who do we think we are trying to raise two children

how am i going to plan a family vacation

when i can't even remember to pull my daughters hair back

after our "hikes"

we ate at a yummy little burger joint

it was good

and, then

later that night

(get this!)

i realized i left my camera at the yummy little burger joint

double super awesome.

no biggie

it just meant we would have to travel

an extra hour or two out of our way on our way home the next day

and, then

that next day

all of southern utah was without power

which meant- none of the gas pumps were working

which meant- hopefully you liked your vacation destination

because nobody was going anywhere anytime soon

it was really fun

see, here we are eating brunch in the dark

also,

it snowed our last day

a blizzardy, gusty kindof snow

at least we can look back and laugh

right?

on a much happier note…

fish lake sure is beautiful

and ryan did get some really good fishing in

(that first day)

yah,

i think we'll go back...

after i get some lessons on

how to be a more organized and responsible parent

or, at the very least,

how to plan a more successful family vacation

up to

2011-05-31T22:19:00.005-06:00

what we've been up to…

playin in the rain-

did you know this is utah's wettest May on record?!

watchin tv (or tt as charlotte likes to call it)-

did you know utahns are watching more tt now than ever before?

i'm just guessing

you know, 'cause of all the rain

we like to watch lion king and tangled

and maybe a little reality tt, too

playin in this contraption-

did you know i bought this bouncer in gender neutral colors?!

you know, because i was going to have a boy next

but then i had another girl

can i tell you a secret

i would be happy with all girls

but don't tell ryan

and a little bit of this-

did you know the average mom sleeps less than 6 hours a night?

i call 6 hours a really good night

you know, because of all the late night blogging…

night, night!

what happens in vegas...

2011-05-20T10:27:00.002-06:00

stays in vegas...

we went for ghazal's bachelorette celebration
it was fun
really fun

3 months old

2011-05-10T22:46:00.002-06:00

and getting so big!

filling out those cheeks (and look at those legs!)

getting stronger (sits in her bumbo like a champ)

and more alert (noticing her hands)

just like her sister at this age