Amelia and the beach...

Amelia has found the beach and from the first moment, she was in love! She has always been an outdoor kind of girl from the moment she was brought home from the hospital. If she was fussy, a short trip outside would calm her down. Now that we live on the beach, she thinks that every trip outside means we are going there. Outside to check the mail, "beach". Trip to the store, "beach". Going to pick up brother from the bus stop, "beach". She doesn't like being told no and this has made it extremely hard to get her strapped into the carseat!

I love seeing the look of joy on her face as soon as we start walking toward her beach.

She also loves searching for hermit crabs and is both fascinated and horrified by them! She picked one up today and dropped it as soon as she saw the little legs poking out. The expression on her face was priceless! Too bad I didn't capture it.

I love this picture of my sweet baby girl. It just reminds me of how innocence is so fleeting. It reminds me of that verse in the song "I Hope you Dance" by LeeAnn Womack. "I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean".

Crabby

Today,

How do I loathe thee, let me count the ways

1. I had to get up at 5:30 am. This wouldn't be too bad, had I not stayed awake until around 1:30.

2. Guess what? I ran out of coffee. Yep, that's right, and there is no just running to the store where we live now. Nope, we have to strategically plan our logistics around here.

3. Did I mention that Rich is in Hawaii for a week? As crabby as he can make me, I am even more crabbier when he is away from me. Plus he gets to be in Hawaii.

4. Today was laundry day, and we still don't have a washing machine at our new place. Remind me again, why we left ours in the States? Laundromats make me grumpy. Laundromats and tantrum-throwing toddlers that want to run around and mess with everyone else's clothes make me insane.

5. I am especially homesick today.

I promise I will be over this tomorrow, but today I just want to embrace my inner crabbiness.

Happy Monday!

Testing my virtues

Dear Lord,

Thank you, once again, for teaching me about patience. I know, I really have to work on it. I think you will be happy to know that I kept my cool today in the midst of an all out toddler melt-down. It was raining, and I really had some place to be, and although that monster angel of mine wanted to go to the beach instead of her car seat, therefore commencing to throw herself down into a water puddle while at the same time kicking and screaming, I did not lose my cool. Did I mention it was raining? Even though I wanted to cry and throw myself down into the nearest puddle myself, I did not. Instead, I took a deep breath, strapped my reluctant toddler into her car seat, and grabbed my camera. I'm learning, I really am.

Signed,

Your humble child (aka Work in Progress)

p.s. Sorry for the run-on sentence.

Too Busy...

Lately, I have been too busy.

Too busy getting settled into a new place.

Too busy starting something that I kept putting off.

Too busy to go to the doctor.

Too busy to always really listen.

Certainly too busy to blog.

Must.slow.down.

Must.smell.the.roses

Starting tomorrow.

i heart faces- week 2

It's a new year and time for me to challenge myself with more i heart faces weekly challenges! They are celebrating their first year anniversary over at i heart faces and have lots of cool stuff going on! This weeks challenge is Best Face. So, here's the picture I am entering. Head on over to i heart faces and check out all the great faces!

Here's a pic of my little biker babe!

There is not a motorcycle my girl does not love! She has the attitude to go along with the bike too and this picture captures it perfectly! I love this picture and I adore the crumbs that are around her mouth here.

Tough bikers eat cookies too, you know!

Hello from Japan

Hello there blogworld! I have missed you so!

Hope that this New Year is looking bright for you.

Boy, do I have some stories for you!

I have everything from traveling half-way around the world with a 16 month old monster to driving on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of the car.

It has already been a little adventure and I am sure there is much more to come!

Until then, I will leave you with a little peek of our new backyard.

Yep, this really is right in our backyard!

I am a blessed girl, that's for sure!

Sayonara for now!

I heart faces- week 43- weekly challenge.

This weeks challenge at i heart faces is Balloons!

I knew that I would not have a problem finding a picture for this challenge.

My girl has not met a balloon that she doesn't love.

I always have to distract her in the grocery store to keep her from seeing the balloons.

Her dad, on the other hand, caves in to her balloon fascination.

He will give me a break and take her to the store with him.

They always come back with a ridiculously expensive balloon.

I mean these crazy mylar balloons are around $10, seriously!

She so has him wrapped around her little finger.

I am the mean mommy that distracts her so she doesn't see them!

You gotta have your balances folks!

Check out all of the great balloon photos at i heart faces!

Grace...

“Grace was in all her steps, Heav'n in her Eye, In every gesture dignity and love”

John Milton

Grace is one of the traits that we hoped our little girl would have.

Maybe this is why we gave her this for her middle name.

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago and I think that it personifies grace.

It is not too often that Amelia will be still enough for me to take a picture like this.

We were outside and an airplane flew by, which just fascinates her.

In that tiny moment, I was fortunate enough to snap this image and I am so happy that I captured it.

This is currently my favorite picture.

I hope that she never loses her grace.

Life with the Lairds is having a great giveaway! Check it out!

The Guitar Man

Meet the guitar man.

A.K.A. Rich (the hubby)

He loves his guitar almost as much as he loves his family.

He really doesn't get to spend as much time with it as he would like.

The Guitar Man thinks that I hate to hear him play.

I don't.

It's just the times that he chooses to play it that I don't like.

Like when we are getting ready to go somewhere and I ask him to help me get the babies stuff together. Somehow, getting the babies stuff together turns into dragging out the guitar for a quick 5 minute music session!

I really do like to hear him play.

I love it when he makes up songs for Amelia.

She climbs up in his lap and "helps" him.

He sings and plays, she plays and dances.

It melts my heart.

As much as I love him to play.

She is his # 1 fan!

I hope that never changes!

i heart faces- week 42- weekly challenge.

This weeks theme over at i heart faces is Halloween Dress-up. I don't have a picture of anyone in a costume, but I do have a picture of Amelia in some Mardi Gras beads. This will have to do.

Amelia was 7 months old here and her brother and I were bored. I am not even sure why her brother wasn't at school that day, can't remember. At that age she would sit relatively still and let us do what we pleased! Boy are those days over with!

Check out all the dress-up fun at i heart faces!