Ah, spring

Hazel and I (and Charlotte, asleep in her sling) went outside last week for a walk. It's so fun to see the tulips popping up in people's yards (ours too!) and to have green grass to walk on instead of snow. Hazel loves birds and tries to follow them into her secret hiding places, telling me to "shhhh." I hope to get some good pics of Charlotte this week; she is smiling all the time now and is trying so hard to laugh. Love these girls.

P.S. A BIG thanks to my amazing photographer friend Camille for editing these pictures for me. You rock. Check her out.

Where have I been??

Well life is picking up pace and I'm struggling to keep up. We had these family pics taken a while ago by our good friend Brandon Payne. Check out his photography website: brandonpaynephotography.blogspot.com. So here are a few of our latest family pics:







Life is goood. We're getting excited to plant a garden in our backyard and work on a few other projects now that the weather is warming up. Our girlies are doing well and keep us overwhelmed and underpaid, but we love them and enjoy the little things they say and do every day.

Love, the Phipps

Activity Time

Ever since Hazel hit toddlerhood, I've tried to have a short activity planned for her everyday that would help her learn her colors, shapes, numbers, etc. I've collected some ideas off of the internet, from friends, and from last minute desperation. I decided to post a few ideas on the blog (on the right)to share with any of you who have toddlers. These activities work for toddlers ages 1-2 because they don't require too much coordination or a long attention span.

PLEASE send me your successes as well! I'd love to hear more ideas.

Janelle

We've survived one week...82 days to go.

Charlotte's Blessing

On March 8th we blessed our daughter, Charlotte Phipps. Luckily for us, David's younger brother Collin was married the day before, so all of the family was in town for the blessing. It was perfect. Congrats to Collin and Tiffany and their two kids, Danika and Carson (I don't have pics of the wedding yet; we'll post those soon). Here's some pictures of the blessing of our sweet baby girl.
This was my first attempt at sewing a little dress and shoes. It was difficult but I was happy with the outcome so now I have the guts to try more with clothes.



We couldn't get either one of them to smile, so we thought we might as well just embrace reality.

Charlotte with Kevin and Vicki

See what I have to look forward to when I'm forty-seven? (Hopefully)

My cute little brother Bradley.

Hazel LOVES her Papa Jay

Hazel with Phipps grandparents and great-grandparents.

Unfortunately, I don't have pics with David's brothers, Chris and Tyson and their families (oops). Thank you all for coming and supporting our family.

The Phipps

She's back...

What were the judges thinking?? If it wasn't for the fact that Anoop is back, I would be tempted to stop watching the show. I'm pretty sure they brought Tatiana back just for pure entertainment. Thoughts?

Having a bad day? Cut your toddler's hair!

The other day Charlotte was really fussy and needy, Hazel was being more emotional than usual and threw the biggest tantrum I had ever seen, and I was just beginning one of my biggest sewing projects I've ever attempted. So I decided to do my part and ADD to the stress by cutting my little girl's hair for the first time. What was I thinking?

This is what I wanted:

And after running back and forth between the bedroom (where Charlotte was screaming) and the bathroom (where Hazel was sitting in the tub with a sucker "holding still"), we ended up with this:

It's a little bit shorter than I wanted, but it looks pretty dang cute as long as you don't look too closely... Luckily I have family that can fix it this weekend and a little girl that can make any haircut look adorable. I'm not sure I'll ever attempt that again.

Here are some more pics of my girlies that my friend Camille Garrison, a very talented photographer, touched up for me. (Click on her name and check her out).

I took this while Charlotte was asleep in her sling. She intertwines her fingers like this all the time. She's a thinker.

There's an old oak tree next to the barn at my grandparents farm that my dad and I use to hug every time we visited. It may sound ridiculous, but have you ever hugged a great big tree? It's a powerful thing. Do it.

Hazel loves rocks. In fact, she has a little collection in a bag at home and one time I found a few in Charlotte's crib. (She's also learning to share.)

It feels like fall!

"Mom, quit taking pictures of me!"

Love you all.