Dear H and O,

We spent this week at Vacation Bible School at church! Hayden, you had a great time in the preschool class — you did some very fun crafts, played games and sang a lot of songs! Owen, you hung out in the nursery, and they did crafts and sang with you, too! I volunteered with the big kids in the Chadder Movie Mania room. It was a great week — one of my favorite weeks every summer!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Owen,

Today, you are seven months old! You are such an easy-going, happy baby!

You are cutting two teeth on the bottom:

Which is making you drool even more, which I didn’t think was possible:

You have become a fan of your pacifier, but only if you are tired:

“Owl” is your favorite thing:

And, you greet every happy face you see with a big ol’ grin:

You are such a precious part of our family, big guy.

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

There was a 3 month period when you wore your Snow White dress-up dress every single day, for most of the day! Well, you haven’t worn it in a while, so I thought maybe you were done with it… but today you put it on again! I had to take a picture because you look so cute in it and I am reminded how quickly each little phase of your childhood is passing by!

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

We spent this weekend in Flagstaff celebrating with Amanda and Will! They had a beautiful wedding and we were so blessed to be included! Here are some of the highlights:

The rehearsal was windy and cold. You are so lucky because you have been in two weddings, and Meggy has been right beside you for both of them!

Hayden, you kept sneaking marshmallows from the pocket of Meggy’s sling — it’s okay, though, because they were there for you!

After the rehearsal, we went to the rehearsal dinner — you played with Ashley’s iPad, which you loved.

After dinner, Amanda gave you a Barbie wedding set — and you played, and played and played with it!

Owen, you and Owl had a great time, too. You did a lot of hanging out!

On Saturday, we started by doing your hair — there was a LOT of waiting, and you were very patient, Hayden! You did awesome!

You wore the first lip gloss of your life in the wedding, too.

Owen, I made you and Josiah tuxedo onesies because Amanda wanted you to be honorary ring bearers.

Then, we went outside for professional pictures! And there was even more waiting!

Then, we went inside and waited some more for the ceremony to begin! Thank goodness you had those special Barbies! Abby played with you to help pass the time!

And then you decided you wanted to be the photographer for Barbie and Ken’s big wedding day!

You and Abby (who is 17 years old) have almost the same size feet! Hers are little and yours are big!

We prayed over Amanda before the wedding – you took this very seriously.

Owen, you and Josiah hung out with Daddy and Jeffrey while all this girly stuff went on!

Then, after the wedding, they did more pictures and you found creative ways to pass the time, like trying on Meggy’s fancy shoes!

Owen, you got passed around at the rehearsal by our church family — we are so blessed to be surrounded by people who love you!

Amanda and Will chose this scripture as their wedding scripture: (Colossians 3:12-14 – Message)

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Weddings come and go — you’ll go to a lot of them in your lifetime — I like to always pick a specific thing to remember about each one — for Amanda and Will — it will be these words.

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

You have become such a good writer lately. Here’s your first solo attempt at writing your name. You’ve been tracing for a while, and writing it with help for a while, but here it is — all on your own!

Nice work!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Owen,

For about a week now, you’ve been sitting up. You wobble a bit, but you are doing a great job!

Love you,
Mama

PS — Did you catch my owl reference in the title?

Dear Hayden,

Last night after you were in bed I made a quick run up to Target and found these adorable rain boots on sale for $3. I was thinking I’d bring them out the next time it rains but then I left them on the counter. Well, as soon you saw them, you insisted on wearing them! You’ve been wearing them all day! I love your spirit and how happy you are — you make this pair of rain boots look adorable… even when there isn’t a drop of rain in sight!

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

Today, one special part of our life found the end of its season. Our playgroup, which has been meeting at Erin’s house for the last 3 1/2 years met there for the last time. You have looked forward to playing with the kids each week, and we have all grown so close as we have shared this special season — the season when you were little! Some of the moms in our group are moving to the next stage — all of their kids are in school, so their days of playgroups are giving way to days of after school activities and classroom volunteering. We will find other playgroups, because you are little and need time in playgroups, but I have to tell you, I don’t know if we’ll find one quite like this. I’ve heard it said that if you have one true friend in motherhood, you are good. Through this playgroup, I found seven. This group of moms has meant so much to me. Being with them every week has been so encouraging… it’s been so much more than a playgroup.

Love you,
Mama

The Mamas:

The kiddos (minus 8 who are in school and you, Hayden):

Hayden, you aren’t pictured here because you weren’t in the mood for me to be The Mamarazzi!

Dear Hayden,

You are mastering the twirl!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Today marks six months of being a big sister! You are such a good one, too! You are always thinking of your brother, you are usually gentle with him and always eager to show him some love! There’s no one he’d rather be with than you.

Love you,
Mama