kherington's 1st birthday party!

You can't have a party without sharing lots of pictures! Especially when it's a FIRST birthday, right?

KK's party was lots of fun, and I had so much decorating and preparing...Graham always laughs at me 'cause I go so "over the top" for my kids birthdays, but really...it's fun for me and they love it, so everyone wins. (And Graham secretly loves it, too...he told me that night that he was blown away by the decor...I just laughed!)

Anyways, I decided to stray from my usual "pink" for this one...I know, what the heck? But when we were at Target in February I came across this black and white wrapping paper, plus all the cute yellow party stuff and the decision was made...yellow it would be!

The one thing I always dread about my kids birthdays is the cake. I hate decorating cakes. I suck at it. So we went for mini cupcakes this year with a little icing, and then Kherington's cute face on top of 'em. Done.

Oh, and what's an Audenart party without tissue pom poms? Gotta have 'em!

Kherington was an absolute doll. She loved her pizza, presents and cake and was just so darn cute all night. It was so nice to have our family there with us to celebrate...we love you!

Oh, and KK...we love you, too. Now stop feeding the puppy your cake!

:)

Tal

happy birthday sweet baby

Today is a big day.

My baby is one. One.

I can hardly believe it. I can hardly believe that it was already one whole year ago that she came into our lives. That she changed us forever. That she completed our little family. She is, quite simply, such a blessing. Such a joy. Such a little angel.

Kherington truly has been nothing but a lil' ol' piece of heaven in our home! From day one she has been the easiest and sweetest baby. Her big sisters adore her so much...we love seeing them interact with her and take care of her. Gabby always climbs into her crib in the morning to keep her company if we're not out of bed yet (haha), and Payton is always on the look-out to see if she's getting too close to the stairs, or if she has something in her mouth or if she's hungry for a snack or a bottle. It is so very sweet.

We are busy busy getting ready for her party tonight...you only turn 1 once! I still am trying to accept the fact that my baby won't be my baby for that much longer! Soon she will be walking, talking and going to school. AAaahhh! (yes, I am jumping the gun, but I'm sure all mama's can relate!)

We love you, KK. We couldn't live without you. You are so cute, sweet, funny, special and perfect. Have a Happy First Birthday, little bug.

Hugs and kisses,

Mama, Daddy, Payton and Gabby

xoxoxox

looking back

I just wanted to share this layout that I did a while back for my friends circle journal. I had so much fun with this page! It was so fun to go through old photos and just see how much I've changed and to take a little walk down memory lane.

And my favorite part? Seeing the resemblance between me as little girl and Gabby. Holy cow. I can now see that she is the child that looks like me. So cool.

Love old photos.

:)

a photo a day

As many of you may know from my little "project 365" button in my sidebar, I have jumped on the photo-a-day bandwagon for 2010 and I am absolutely loving it. There is something about capturing all of these little moments in our life that is just making me so happy and so excited.

Since having Kherington, I have to admit, keeping up with my scrapbooking has been next to impossible. I miss being able to sit down and create and play and most importantly, record and document our memories. Taking a photo everyday has helped me to still do something when it comes to my families memories. Instead of just giving up altogether, at least I can say that at the end of the year, I'll have 365 pictures that tell our family's story. I've already captured so many moments that would have been missed and forgotten if it wasn't for this project 365 exercise. Like this one. And this one. Oh, and this one, too.

My main worry about committing to a photo a day was probably the same as everyone else's..."Will I actually be able to keep up with taking pictures every single day of the year?" You know what, at first, I definitely found it difficult, and I found that I constantly had to be reminding myself to take a picture. Now, it has become a habit, and a normal part of our everyday. I got a new little point and shoot for Christmas that is super small and easy to carry around in my purse with me so I'm not always having to lug around my good camera. It's easy to grab at a moments notice to snap pictures here and there. I am loving finding new things to document, as well as the practice taking pictures everyday is giving me with my photography skills. I guess you could say it is a creative outlet for me that is just plain do-able in my life right now.

And I have I missed a day yet? Sure. Here and there. But you know what? It doesn't matter. Most days I take a handful of pictures anyways so I can just pop those in if I happened to miss a day. What matters is that I'm telling our story, not that a certain photo wasn't actually taken on that certain day. Or that each photo is perfect. I'm just trying to capture our life as it happens. So it's all good.

And you know what makes me most happy? When we all crowd around the computer after I've posted a bunch of new pictures and laugh and talk about all the things we've been up to or how cute the girls are. Last night Graham was taking a look and just laughed and laughed when he came to this picture 'cause it is just so Gabby. So taking these pictures and posting them on my little blog has been worth it.

Have fun lookin' around.

Tal:)

if you're gonna be cleaning...

...you may as well look cute doin' it!



Spring cleaning has been in full swing at my house, so my little apron has been my outfit of choice as of late. I made this a few weeks ago while at my mom's one afternoon...what started off as a cute dish towel ended up being an apron. I was just so in love with my ruffles that it had to become something that I could wear! And thanks to my mom's mad sewing skillz, we added on a top and ties and there ya have it...a cute apron. (It makes cleaning soooo much easier! wink!)








All the fabric were just scraps that I've had sitting around...it was time to put them to good use! Anyways, these ruffles helped me clean out my bathrooms, the front closet, my pantry, the laundry room, AND the basement! We even totally organized all the kids toys and chucked stuff they never play with and those toys that just become "junk". So...it feels good!



I am sooooo ready for spring. Now, please?



T:)

my little babe...

Isn't she sweet?

Love.

:)

just for fun

One of my favorite things is just getting my girls dressed up and taking lots and lots of cute pictures. These ones were for Valentine's Day, hence all the pink! Well....wait a sec, I guess I tend to use pink all the time anyways, right? Hee hee. Anyways, it was still fun and I got so many cute ones I couldn't narrow it down. Thank goodness Daddy was home to make everyone laugh...I am finding it harder and harder to photograph the three of them on my own! Busy, busy girls.




My intention was to get these photos done and make valentine's for our families and get them off in the mail, etc, etc, etc...but we only got as far as making them for the girls friends, so oh, well! This will have to do!




:)

another sneak...

I can't resist sharing little peeks of my recent photo sessions. See more from this one here. This family is just so dang cute!

I'm really hoping I can blog again soon...lots of things I want to share! But for now, I gotta run...it smells like my husband is painting upstairs, so I'm going to go see what he is up to. Haha!!

T:)

a little getaway and some scrapbookin'

This past weekend Gray and I took a much needed little trip to Montana, just the two of us. It was so awesome. I can't even remember the last time we went somewhere alone...maybe before we had Payton? So needless to say, it was long-overdue. We farmed the kids and the dog out to all the grandma's and great-grandma's and headed south. Our weekend was filled with eating, shopping, going to movies and SLEEPING. Oh, the un-interrupted, glorious sleep! It was fabulous. Thank you to everyone who helped with our kiddos, we love you!!!

(Oh, and on Valentine's day I even managed to get Gray to watch New Moon with me in the hotel room! What a trooper, hey?)



And moving right along...



I found some time last week-ish to do some scrapbookin'. I'm rusty, but I got some pages done nonetheless!







I wish I had more time to scrapbook, but man, life is busy. My room calls to me on a daily basis, but...so do my girly-girls. So for now, I need to be okay with only getting a little done here and there. It's okay. One day, I'll have that time again to scrapbook to my hearts content. One day.



T:)

P.S. I have some new pictures on my 365 blog, too!

some valentine loves...

It isn't Valentine's Day yet!! There's still some time to get busy makin' cute stuff for the ones you love. I've been super inspired by all that is going on over at House of Three, and the girls and I made similar valentine's from last year for them to give to all their friends...so so cute!



Just a quick post tonight, time to go watch all of my Thursday night TV! (wink)



T:)

(oh, and thanks so much for all the b-day well wishes! I'm actually a tad excited for my 30's...thanks everyone!!)

the big 3-0!

Yes, yes, today marked a milestone event in my lil' ol' life...my 30th birthday. Holy cow.



In some ways I was dreading this day...just feeling old, and it's weird to be out of my twenties! But at the same time, I am totally ready to embrace my 30's and all that life has to offer. I have been told by many that "30 is the 20" so that is the mantra I'm going with! My 20's were just so full...and in many ways I feel like they defined me as a person and truly made me who I am today. I worked professionally as a dancer, I travelled, I got married, I worked, we became home-owners, I had 3 children...it has been a busy decade! On top of that I feel like my faith and beliefs in the gospel have grown from simply a way of life to my true purpose and meaning in this life. When I think of who I was at 20, and who I am today, I just feel like I have learned so many life lessons.



Life is good.



I have a crazy awesome wonderful man who I am lucky to call my husband. He knows me inside and out, we been through thick and thin, and he loves and supports me no matter what. I love where we are today...just the best of friends, going through this crazy life together. Oh, and he bought me these awesome boots and flowers, too. (thanks, babe!)



I have 3 perfect little angels who I am lucky to call my daughters. They truly are my everything. I can't imagine my life without them...they have taught me what selflessness is, and what and who is important in this life. Couldn't. live. without. them. Actually, it was funny, today Payton asked me, "Mommy, do all girls have to be mommies when they grow up?" I replied, "Well, no sweetie, not all girls have to be mommies, but wouldn't life be boring without'cha?" To that, Payton giggled, but in all seriousness, my daughters have just enriched my life to such a degree...they have taught me so much and brought me so much happiness, I wouldn't trade them for the world.









I just feel like one lucky gal today. Thank you soooooo much to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday today! I never really think of my birthday as that big of a deal, but I was just so touched by all the phone messages, facebook messages, calls, and people who stopped by today...I just truly feel loved! One lady from church left me a message that had me in giggles and tears, it was so sweet. My BFF's took me for dinner on the weekend, my parents watched my kids tonight so Gray and I could go out, my friend dropped off a fabulous cupcake tonight, I'm going out with my sis tomorrow, my girls have been saying "Happy Birthday" since Friday...so...I have been spoiled. Thank you, thank you, thank you.




So bein' 30? Ah...I suppose it's not that bad. In fact, I plan on making this my best decade yet.




:)

another sneak peek!

I have another sneak peek over at Talia Audenart Photography...my brother-in-law and his little family. They're living in Australia for school right now and we miss them so much!



Enjoy.



T:)

happy birthday...cards

So, you know when it's someone's birthday and you need to give them a card, and you have none in your stash and no time to make one? Well, that's happened to me one time too many, so I cracked down the other day and made a handful of birthday cards. And I have to say...I had so much fun!

I went crazy with my glimmer mists and Heidi Swapp stamps and masks...it was fun to get my hands dirty again (or should I say "glimmery")!

So now, when a birthday comes...I am ready. I've already given a couple away!

Have a happy day!

T:)