my little valentines

ever since hendrix found out that christmas is over he has been looking forward to the next holiday.  this one is full of red and pink construction paper and heart stickers.  

what is not to love?!

while i am not sure that i will ever be able to compete with the awesome valentine themed photos i took of my kiddos last year; i have come to accept the limitations my kids have for photoshoots, and am learning to work within those parameters. 

simple is best.

if i am lucky, i might get 2 minutes out of hendrix.  

for blaire it is more like 45 seconds.

aww, but they are cute, even if i do say so myself.

and all that cool dude attitude is still quite endearing to me at this point.

awww, this little peanut is really just bursting at the seams with independence and excitement as she discovers new things.  she is a professional squealer, and seriously prefers to use intonation to communicate as opposed to words.  daddy is about the only clear thing out of her mouth, and everything else is just mumbling.  we all know where he stands (and thus where mommy stands, somewhere much lower than daddy in her book).

she has the biggest smile and it just lights up our family.  we are all smitten with her - especially big brother hendrix!

oh, and do you see those sweet little pink fingernails?  she really wanted me to paint them the other day, and i can't believe how grown up that made her look.  she has already started toddling around with much more coordination (even bending her knees), and is mastering running......

these kids are growing up.

love them to pieces!

easter 2013

so on saturday night before easter morning, we all snuggled up for a family movie night.  we watched 'the rise of the guardians', which was a really fun family flick, and it really got hendrix talking about the easter bunny.

he told us that he was going to see the easter bunny, and he went to bed very excited for morning.  

his enthusiasm sure was contagious as i giddily put together the kiddos' baskets - filled with some clothes and toys that i had been stockpiling.

and then daddy and i hid a bunch of candy-filled eggs down in his playroom, wondering how much he would enjoy the hunt, and hoping that he would teach blaire all about it!  lol

they both woke up happy and smiley, and we bounced downstairs together.  hendrix was so pumped about the things in his basket, that we had to open them and play with them right away.  his favorite item was the sidewalk chalk, which we did use on his chalkboard in the playroom then, and also outside later on in the day when the sun came out ;)

blaire liked her new sippy cup, and actually she has been gripping it and swinging it around today.  maybe i will be able to get her to take milk from a sippy since she won't take a bottle?!?  lol

they both got new umbrellas, and hendrix has been obsessed with carrying both of them around the house.  he loves that blaire's has minnie on it (from his beloved mickey mouse clubhouse show), and he keeps telling me that he 'thinks it is raining'.

my happy girl loved watching hendrix run around collecting eggs 

and of course, it didn't take him long to realize that the fun part was opening them up to gather and taste his loot!  

my kiddos do clean up nicely! 

oh, and this one is all cheese for the camera!

i was thrilled that we got ready with enough time to take a few photos before church.  

i love the precious interactions between my two little babes.

such sweet siblings.

they are my joy!

my boys.

and us girls!

then we came home to the first ham i have ever cooked (it turned out great!)  

it ended up being just our small little family of four for the day; and while i missed seeing our families, it was really nice to just enjoy each other!  

this little man kept us chuckling and counting our blessings all day long!

happy easter!

my valentine sweethearts

hendrix - 2 years

blaire - 4 months

happy valentine's day!

here are a couple behind-the-scenes shots of our mini valentine photo session.....i always find these interesting when other people post them, so here you are. 

as you can see, i have a very big prop helper ;)

i know there are far fewer photos of my little guy than there are of my little gal, but he just doesn't lay still and cooperate the same way that she does.

in fact, i may or may not have had to bribe him with cookies.

love these chubby little legs.....i just want to photograph them over and over again, since i know she will lose her baby chubs and slim up when she gets mobile (just like her toddler brother) far too soon.

and i LOVE her baby blues!

this little man is such a cool little guy, with so much attitude, and still so much sweetness.  

i just adore him.

these two are the best valentine's a mama could ask for!  ;)