Ups and Downs...

This week has definitely been one of ups and downs. On Monday, my grandma (my dad's mom) passed away. She was 85 years old and had been in poor health for quite a while, but it is still never easy. Fortunately she got to meet both our kids. She actually had a special fondness for Mia and talked about her all the time. We obviously went back home this week for the wake, funeral, etc. It was so very sad.

On a happier note, Drake is walking around! He started on Monday. I turned around while I was eating lunch, and he was walking around the kitchen by himself with a big grin on his face. :) We are so excited he can finally do it on his own. If we are close by, he still would rather hold on to us, but he is doing a great job. It's amazing how far he's come in the short week he's been walking. Already he can stand up on his own without hanging on to anything (the wall, couch, etc.). He can also bend down, pick something up, and stand up again without falling over. It is the cutest thing. Here is a short little video from earlier this week of my little bobblehead...

A little update...

Not too much new is happening around here! Thought I would post a few new pics of the kids. They sure are keeping me busy! Although Drake is taking steps on his own, he still wants to hold onto our hands the majority of the time. This mama sure will be happy when he's walking on his own all the time! He's at such a fun age, though. When you start singing Patty Cake, he starts clapping and bouncing up and down. Any time you say 'Hi' or 'Bye,' he starts waving. My mom had them at Target the other day, and she said he was waving to all the strangers. :) She said she noticed all these people waving at them and finally realized it was because Drake was waving to them. And yesterday, I walked into his room after his nap, and he was standing in the corner of his crib, jumping up and down on his mattress like it was a trampoline. It sure made Mia and I laugh.

Mia is supposed to start preschool in September. She is still on the waiting list, but when I called last week, she is the first one on the list. So we are hopeful that she gets in - I think she is definitely ready for the interaction. Here's to hoping!

So I know I have been MIA again on this blog, but I have been pretty busy setting up everything for my new photography endeavor. Mostly I have been working on my photography blog, where I will post sneak peeks from client sessions, specials I may run, and any other photography info. You can take a peek at my photography blog here: www.angelavaughters.com/blog. I did my first maternity session this past Thursday and will be posting some sneak peeks from that session there in the next week or so - so check back! :)


Anyways, thanks again for checking on us! On to some pics!

Drake in the bounce house at our neighbor's birthday party...

Mia all serious about shooting the silly string


I know she's thinking, "Oh, no. How are we going to clean up this mess?"


Brock's dad had this wagon sent as an early birthday gift to Drake so we could use it the rest of the summer. The kids love it!

Drake's true enthusiasm for his new wagon!

Drake's Taking Steps!

Yay! Yesterday he took about 5 steps on his own, and today he took another couple. He wants to walk so badly, hopefully it won't be long - and hopefully he will stop whining about not being able to walk anywhere by himself!

He turns ten, yes TEN, months old tomorrow. Does time fly, or what?! On one hand it feels like he should still be an infant, but on the other it feels like he has been here forever. I'm sure all you mommies and daddies know what I mean. Anyways, we'll keep you posted on the little man's progress... :)

Pictures

I finally got a chance to upload more photos. The kids are doing great besides another cold they both have. Drake has decided that crawling is not an acceptable mode of transportation anymore - all he wants to do is walk while holding onto our fingers. He cries like he smashed his toe or something if we set him down to crawl. The faces he makes are hilarious, like 'how dare you set me down?!' Mia went through this stage, too, and I remember feeling like I couldn't wait until she walked on her own! I now feel the same way about Drake. :)

Mia has been quite the little mom to him lately. She keeps an eye on him at all times and makes sure he's not getting into anything he's not supposed to. She will hold onto his little hands and arms so he can walk around. It's so funny watching the two of them. We only let her walk around on the carpet with him for obvious reasons. :) Yesterday I was walking with him, and she came up with a kleenex. She says, "Hold on, sweetie. I gotta wipe your nose." She proceeds to do so and walks away like it is her job to keep Drake in check. So funny!

Drake discovered the stairs and can now crawl up them completely on his own. Mia never really messed with the stairs when she was a baby, so I don't have any gates or anything to keep him off them. But he surely thinks the stairs are the best thing in the world right now. When he gets it in his mind that he's going to conquer them, nothing can divert him. Today he was already up about 4 of them when I ran over to pull him down. He started laughing hysterically like it was a little game and crawled even faster. I'm not sure what we're going to do about that yet!

Mia has been quoting movie lines lately. She says to me yesterday, "Mommy, I work up in the sky, you work down in the dishes." I was like, what the heck is she talking about? But she kept saying it, so I asked her who says that. "Vidia," she says, "From Tinkerbell." I knew that couldn't obviously be the exact line from the movie, so I asked Brock. He's like, "Oh yeah. It says, 'I work up in the sky, you work down in the ditch.'" I guess Mia's version was more appropriate for me since I do usually work down in the dishes - ha! Anyways, on to some pictures!

At my nephew, Cole's birthday - Mia trying to get everyone to pose

Cousins pushing their push toys

Drake is constantly grabbing, pinching, and biting my face and arms - see?!

This is his preferred method of transportation now, walking while holding whoever's fingers are closest

Mia in her recording studio



Curling her eyelashes

Our friends Eric and Jen came to visit. Isaiah and Mia hit it off. :)

Best friends :)

She loves pretending to feed him, just like he's one of her baby dolls. Drake happily obliges.

Ok, so this won't win me any 'Mother of the Year' awards. But I've always had to bribe Mia with a sucker once a week so she'd sit still while I cut her nails. Drake is terrible about getting his nails cut, too, so I tried the sucker trick with him the other day. I'm not proud of it, but I do have to say it worked and he loved it. :)

Mia sharing her sucker with Drake

Open for business!

Ok, my new website is up! I couldn't be more excited. You can take a peek at http://www.angelavaughters.com/. It's still a work in progress, but I would love some feedback - especially if you see any typos or something is not loading properly. Ha! I've been speed-working on it during the kids' naps and at night when I am already exhausted, so I need all the eyes on it I can get to check for errors. Drop me a comment or send me an email if you have any feedback. Thanks!

The kiddos are doing great. We are all finally coming to the end of a more-than-2-week-long cold. Ugh! Mia got it, then Drake, then me, then Brock. Drake ended up with his first ear infection, which meant amoxicillin, yucky diapers, and diaper rash. Poor little guy. But he's still been pretty smiley despite it all! Mia's been behaving pretty well lately (well, as best as she can, I guess!). I will post some pics next time I get a chance. Thanks for checking on us!! :)

Drake's 9 months photos (and some of Mia!)

Here are Drake's 9 month photos I took this weekend, and there are a few of Mia, too!

Seriously funny...

First off, here is my handsome little dude. I did his 9 months pictures today (he'll be 9 months next Monday). I can't wait to get through the rest of his photos! More pics to come. Here is a sneak peek...

On to the funny story. Since tomorrow is our anniversary (SEVEN years!), Brock took this past Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off work so we could all have a nice long weekend together. On Thursday, we were going to go to the Children's Museum, but it was jam packed so we decided to go to the IMA instead. It was such an awesome day, and the IMA has like 1500 acres of grounds to enjoy. We just let Mia run around as we enjoyed the awesome weather and grounds. So here's the funny part... Near the end, we wanted to take Mia to the bathroom, so Brock went ahead to take her and I followed a bit behind with Drake and the stroller. I decided to stop in the bathroom while I was waiting for Brock and Mia. So I walk into the women's bathroom and see another person with a child in one of the stalls. I thought it was kind of funny because I didn't see too many other people there, especially any with small kids. So I start walking past the stall (mind you, we are in the women's bathroom), and imagine my shock when I realize it is BROCK in there with Mia!!! In the women's bathroom!!! I about died! My first thought was, "Does he always take her in the women's bathroom?" In between hysterics, I was like "What the heck are you doing in here?" He said, "Well, I didn't see anyone else around..." Hello! Not 5 minutes later (thankfully he was already out), a group of women came in. Could you imagine if he was still in there? Oh my gosh, maybe you just had to be there, but it was so dang funny. I couldn't stop laughing about it. Brock in the women's bathroom. Ha! :) Here are a few pics from the IMA...

I can't believe we have been married 7 (seven!) years already! In that time, we have lived in 7 different places, owned 3 homes, and had 2 kids. And we have been together half our lives. Whew! And I love him now more than ever. :)