Dear Hayden,

Today Elijah came over and you had a splash party! You are lovin’ these summer days!

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

For the last 8 weeks I have been taking a photography class. It has been very, very enjoyable and I have learned so so so so much! I wanted to share my images with you, because usually you were the subjects of the images and I love to take pictures of you and the things that matter to you. I think it’s important to note here that we can never stop learning! I have had such a great time learning new things!

Love you,
Mama

Here are some of my images:

Dear Owen,

Today you are 8 months old! It seems like you came to join our family just last week, but in the blink of an eye, 8 whole months have passed! You have two big chompers on the bottom and you are oh-so-close to crawling! You are such a happy, easy-going little guy — we’re so lucky God gave us you.

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

This weekend Grandma and Jiddoh came to help us with a tile project in the kitchen. You helped paint sealant onto the tile and the grout — you had a great time!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Tonight we made a birthday treat for Grandma because we will be celebrating with her tomorrow. You had the most important job — sprinkle duty!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Owen,

Today was your first 4th of July! We had a barbeque with friends, and you fell asleep in your high chair at 6:30, so it was a firework-free holiday for you this year!

Here you are in my favorite version of red, white and blue attire:

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

There’a a book that we read together a lot — it’s called The Big Orange Splot. It’s about a man named Mr. Plumbean who decides (through a series of unusual events) that his house is going to be painted in a very unique way, and that he is going to sit in a hammock out front and enjoy lemonade with people. The neighbors get upset because they like having all the houses on the street look the same. When they ask Mr. Plumbean to paint his house back to the old colors, he says, “My house is me, and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams.” Eventually, the neighbors understand what Mr. Plumbean is saying, and they all paint their houses to look like their dreams. Every time I read it to you, I think about what my dreams look like. It turns out, my dreams look like a little girl and a little boy –both of whom I love so much. My family is me, and I am them. With them is where I want to be and they look like all my dreams.

Love you,
Mama

Dear Owen,

One of my favorite things about you is that you have such an expressive face! Today I took some pictures, hoping to capture some of your many “looks” and here’s what I got!

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

Who do you think you look like?

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

You have become such a good swimmer! The thing is, that makes you fearless and me nervous!! You LOVE to jump in and swim back to the edge, get out and do it all over again!

Love you,
Mama