Bunny Ears

 Grandma Bunny hopped by our house this morning. The purple ears even matched Camille's outfit today!

 Not sure if you can really tell here, but Camille got her first ponytail this evening from Mommy...Daddy thought it looked precious when he came home! :) As a side note, Camille got her top two teeth last week, bringing her grand total up to 4 teeth now. And for some reason, she thinks my shoulder is a teething toy...um, I think not, sweet girl. :)

 Claire (3 and a half) and Camille (9 months old tomorrow). This will be Camille's very first Easter! Everyone is getting excited over here at our house...only a few more days until General Conference, and then Easter Sunday!

Spring Happenings

 Claire started Primary this year, and so I decided she was big enough for a very special magazine...the Friend! :) Here she is with her first copy. She absolutely loves reading it together. :) I can't believe how grown up she is getting! She loves Primary, and is trying to choose the right every day. :)

 So excited!

 Tonight Claire also had her summer hair cut. I cut a TON off!!! She was very excited about her new "hair-do." I bet it will feel nice and cool now that we are having true spring weather these days. :)

I just love this adorable girl. Every day seems to pass by so fast, like I'm living in a dream world...or maybe that is just because I don't get as much sleep as I like these days. Oh, well. My two girls are worth EVERY BIT of my time, energy, and love. :) I'll have to post a couple of pictures of Camille tomorrow. :)

Happy Spring!!!

My 2 Favorite Girls

 Sisters forever...Claire and Camille, my sweethearts. They love each other so much, and are always snuggling and smiling and being sweet to each other. I know this won't last forever, but I sure am enjoying the newness of this life-long relationship. :) It is so heart-warming to watch them show their love to each other every day.

 This isn't the best picture of Camille, but I love how natural and happy Claire looks in it. Today was BEAUTIFUL outside--over 70 degrees! Of course I packed the girls up out of the house as soon as naptime was over so indulge in some much-needed relaxing play time outside. I spread out a big blanket for Camille, and Claire and I ate oranges for snack time while Camille played with her toys.

 Camille has been a little cranky and fussy today, but I think at least one tooth should pop in here pretty soon...if not more than one. I just love babies in sun hats! :)

 Look at those bare toes...ahhh! I cherish remembering beautiful moments like this when I have to put up with the exhausting days of 100+ heat  through September and October.

 Is there anything more precious than your own children? I don't think life gets better (even if it is harder, sometimes) than this. :)

Lest anyone think our "relaxing" afternoon was completely comprised of laying back and looking at the clouds, here is a silly picture for you. :) Claire relaxed for about as long as I took these pictures, and then she was up and RUNNING her heart out around the yard, kicking the ball, swinging and sliding, and telling me all sorts of fun stories she thought up. :) All the while Camille played...and then started crawling backwards!!! I was not prepared for that, although she has been up rocking on her hands and knees every once in a while. Later tonight while I was giving Claire a bath and letting Camille play in the hall with her toys where I could keep an eye on her, she crawled/scooted backwards almost into the living room, and then rolled herself into the doorway to my room. Watch out! This baby is going to be going places all on her own here pretty soon. :)

All in all, today was a perfect day. I'm tired, but happy. I'm very thankful for such wonderful girls to call my own. I'm especially thankful for a sweet and amazing husband who is so very helpful and good to me and these little sweeties! :) I can't imagine my life without them.

Life as the days go by...Part 1 (Pic Heavy)

 These are pictures from the last couple of weeks around our house. Camille is growing by leaps and bounds every day! She is growing so much, so quickly...it's hard to believe how much she has changed over the last seven weeks of her life. She is getting so big!

 For Aunt Kristie. :)

 I love this picture. She looks like she is saying, "Oooh, Mommy! Don't get that camera too close to me!" :)

 Claire has been so good to her sister. Sometimes she is not quite as gentle as I would like, but at least it is always well-intentioned. :) Claire is my big helper these days, always running to get Camille a burp cloth and her binky. Just about every time I change Camille's diaper, Claire makes sure to come, too...and she will stand right by the changing table and talk to her sister until everything is cleaned up. :)

 My sweet girls in their matching dresses the first day back to church since I had Camille (this was a few weeks ago).

 Camille is getting more and more alert every day, but I sure do love those sleeping pictures.

 This was taken a couple weeks after Camille was born, when Momma took Claire, Camille, and I to the temple. Claire loved being at the temple for the first time.

 Can't go a day without a headband!!! :)

 We even played outside in the early evening / late afternoons when it was cooler here a while back...Claire especially loved getting out of the house and playing in the backyard.

 My sweet Camille Rose.

 This is the crazy volunteer watermelon that has been growing in my flower garden this year. It's M-U-C-H bigger than these pictures now...it fills up the entire pot tripod stand Austin made to support it already! It will be fun to eat when it is ready and ripe. :)

 This picture is from when Camille was about 5 weeks old. Not long after Camille was born, she was still about the size of Claire's baby Squeaky (pictured here with Camille). Can you see how she's grown? Now Camille is even bigger than this, and still chunking up fast! :) I love little kissable baby rolls...it just makes them extra cute!

 Lately I have been wanting to make Claire and Camille matching clothes...so first on the list was some quick matching skirts! I sewed Camille's first. I'm still working on Claire's at the moment. My favorite part is the eyelet trim on the bottom. But I just love how cute it turned out...almost as cute as my precious girl! :)

 I love this sweet face. I simply cannot get enough of her. :)

This last picture is from today. Camille rolls over from her tummy to her back now any time I lay her down on her tummy. She is getting really strong, and can hold her head WAY up high when she is propped up on her arms on the blanket on the ground for tummy time. Her favorite thing is laying down on her back though, and looking up at the fan in our living room...but she also likes the fan in our bedroom, too. She is smiling A LOT now...I tried to post a video that she is smiling in, but apparently the file is too big. :(  Camille is also really starting to find her voice, and loves to coo at me when I change her diaper and after she has eaten (if she didn't fall asleep, that is). 

I love this sweet girl (and my bigger sweet girl as well), and every day seems like such a gift getting to be with my two precious blessings from Heavenly Father. I am definitely more tired than I would like to be these days, but it is so worth it--I wouldn't want anything else. Being a mother is the best job in the world! :) Frustrating sometimes, but still the best. :) I can't imagine a more rewarding job, and I'm so grateful for my sweet little family. :)

39 Weeks

 Ta da!!! I have survived. :) Here I am at 39 weeks, with less than a week to go until my due date! :) Camille has gotten bigger, but she has been a bit kinder on my body than Claire. I have gained 20 pounds now (I gained 40 with Claire), and am feeling more than a little squished. :) However, since I have a comparison of being (what felt like) much bigger and lower-carrying with Claire, I don't feel too awful like I remember being the first time around. But...it also isn't the dog days of summer yet, and we have yet to see if Camille will come on time or not. I'm holding out for the end of this week! :)

A close-up of my baby belly. Kristie and Barth and their kiddos arrived today, and I'm so excited to spend the next couple of weeks with them! :) I'm sure that even if I go overdue, there will be plenty of fun to go around (and still keep me distracted from thinking about being overdue). I am excited to catch up with Kristie, and I know that Claire is SO excited to play with her cousins (even though she is pretty shy at first)!!! :) Here's hoping that the next post I make will have a cute new baby picture instead of just a baby belly! Come on, Camille! :) We are all looking forward to meeting you, little one. :)

37 Weeks

 We got another picture of Claire the other day in her ladybug dress (since the ones I took before disappeared), and I just wanted to post it on here. :) The ladybug bows are ones that I made from a bow website that Kristie told me about. :)

Here I am at 37 weeks with Camille. Hooray! Camille is technically "full-term" now. On Friday at my appointment I was measuring right at 37 weeks, and Camille's heartbeat was 148. She is looking good! :) I got to see her on the sonogram because the nurse practitioner that saw me at my appointment thought Camille was head up. Nope! She is definitely situated head down, with those cute little feet and bottom stuffed up into my ribs these days. Usually her head is down (with her fist next to it) in my left hip...with her feet up on the right side of my ribs, and kicking on over into my diaphragm. But it was sure fun to see her. She was pretty quiet during the sonogram, so I was able to get a good look at her. :) Hopefully soon (if she can come out on time) we will ALL be able to get a good look at her! :)

Claire and Camille

 So...I took about 15 pictures of Claire this morning before church because she was looking REALLY cute in a ladybug dress that Momma got for her recently. Since I had made some ladybug bows recently as well, I decided to put them in her piggy tails to match her dress. She smiled really well for the camera and everything! However, this is the only picture that is showing up on my camera card (and I am QUITE grumpy about it, since I'm not always the best at remembering to take pictures in the first place!). So this is the only picture I can post. :( But at least Claire is smiling! :)
She looked especially cute today, and was very happy (a miracle with her two-year-old "spunkiness"), and I was hoping to document it. I love this sweet girl and all her silly little girl antics. Claire has been saying such cute things lately, and seeming to grow in knowledge by leaps and bounds. Lately she likes to say silly things like, "I love my cozy feet!" :) I am not sure where she picked that up, but she laughs like crazy when she says it. :) She also has started doing really well at the "thumbs up" sign, which she thinks is very grown up. :) Her favorite thing today was to say, "Daddy, are you alright?" when Austin sneezed...it was too cute. Not that he sneezed more than twice today, but I just think it is adorable, and she knew it...so she had to keep saying it, of course :) At dinner time tonight, she proudly informed Austin and me that: "I'm two years old!" :) It seems like just yesterday I brought her home from the hospital...time is flying by, and my baby is growing so big.

Speaking of growing big, I have gotten a little bigger these days as well. I'm officially in my last month of pregnancy now. After next week's appointment, I will be going in once a week until little Camille gets here. Hopefully she decides to come sooner than Claire...maybe I should give her the evacuation notice sooner? :) Just kidding. Anyways, I'm getting pretty excited to meet my newest little girl. :) Only a little bit longer now! :) It seems a little easier to wait for Camille since I have Claire to run after these days...and it helps that this pregnancy (so far, knock on wood) has been quite a bit easier on me than when I was pregnant with Claire. However, I will say that--especially this last week--I have been t-i-r-e-d. I can tell that this is the end of pregnancy just by the fact that I'm getting up a million times each night, and waking up feeling like I didn't sleep at all. And wondering "when is naptime again???" :) about 30 minutes after I get up in the mornings. Haha! Wouldn't it be nice to go back to bed and sleep? People always say, "Rest up before the baby gets here." What they don't mention is that you don't really "rest" when you are 9 months pregnant. You get "power naps" (at best, if you are lucky). Good thing these sweet babies are worth EVERY bit of it!!! :) My appointment is this Friday morning, so I guess I'll see then how I start out this last home stretch. Hopefully everything will be good to go as I finish up so that I can get have my VBAC with Camille. :) Time will tell. :) Happy Memorial Day weekend!