Conference Weekend

On this wonderful conference weekend, we have been spending a lot of time indoors. 

Which means two little girls are getting very antsy. 

We were looking for any way to keep them entertained. So this morning, I was taking a few pictures of Hadley (because as the 2nd child she has a much thinner baby album). 

Hadley playing on the floor. 

This is her new favorite position since she can roll over!

Here is the close up.

With Hadley getting all the attention, Allie decided she needed to have her own paparazzi.  So we decided to try a new approach and have princess pictures! Allie got to choose out her very best princess dress, and sit down for a photo shoot.

Here with princess hair (which is just a great way to get Allie to let us fix her hair), but not quite willing to smile.

Change of scenery. Almost captured a real smile this time too.

After a few of her own pictures, Allie wanted Hadley to get some posed shots too. So, out came another blanket and we changed background again.

Hadley willingly provided a BIG smile.

Once again, Allie wanted to get back in the pictures so we tried a few princess poses. 

This time we had group pictures!

Allie thought it was way cool to be sitting with Hadley having mom and dad make silly faces.

Hadley wasn't quite sure this time around.

Eventually we got some good pictures. 

This is what my girls should always look like. 

They look much cuter when they smile!

One of my favorites. BIG smiles for everyone!

Another keeper.

Allie was a good sport and had a great time being a princess for the camera.

After a 15 minute photo shoot the whole family was much happier. 

I guess it only takes a fancy princess dress and a camera to get the wiggles out.

Shaw Family Reunion Recap 2011

At the beginning of August, the whole Shaw clan (minus Tan, Es and Benson who was just born the week before) got together at Bear Lake for lots of cousin fun along with boating, swimming, games after the kids were in bed, catching up on everyone's business, hiking through Minitonka caves (with over 880 stairs & lots of little kids)!  We had so much fun and Allie loved getting to know her cousins.  Thanks Mom and Dad for throwing this shindig!  

 Ben and Allie playing connect 4 the 2 year old way, matching colors!

 Chatting away!

 This was the view of the lake from our cabin, such a beautiful place!

 One of the favorite morning rituals, watching disney cartoons

 A happy Ty eating his Lucky Charms

 I cannot believe this beauty is 8!  She acts so old, I remember being 8!

 Too bad I had the morning sun right behind me and got squinty eyes

 This was Hadley's spot while we were at the beach on the lake.  She seemed quite content just playing in the shade

 Allie loved the beach and riding back and forth on the boat.  Every time we took the boat across the lake  from the marina, she fell asleep to the bouncing boat.

 Garlock beauties

 Jenny and I were twinners, but we figured we liked thousands of miles apart, so a couple of matching days wouldn't hurt!

 We casted handprints in the sand 

 Most people didn't get wet because the water was a bit cold

 S'mores were had by all

 These two enjoyed having their family all around them, reading bedtime stories every night to all.

 Hadley didn't get smores, so she just hung out with Dad.

 We all got shakes for Kevin's birthday, that is a lot of grandkids!

We can't wait for next time!

Hadley-do is 4 Months old!

I cannot believe how fast the last 4 months have gone!  Hadley is getting so big and is such a part of our little family now.  Whenever Allie wakes up (more like when she actually wakes up about 10 min after she gets out of bed), she sees Hadley and yells,  HAAAAAdley!  We went to Hadley's 4 month appointment and she is one big mama!

Hadley Nicole Meldrum

4 Months

16 lbs 90%

26.5 inches over 100%

43 cm head 92%

Fun Facts about Hadley at 4 months

-She has a contagious giggle
-She is ticklish basically everywhere
-Her new position is fingers in the mouth and hand on the foot
-She rolls to her side by picking up her hips, but doesn't get beyond her shoulders yet
-She smiles first for Daddy, but also smiles for Mom and Alllie
-She is getting better at sleeping and slept 10 hours straight the other night
-She likes to be around people and will whine until we come by her and then smile big
-She prefers to stand up on our legs and look around
-Her acid reflux is getting a lot better and I even got to eat spaghetti the other night without too much trouble!
-She now consistently goes to bed around 7:30 so I have my nights again!

My Cousins! (said in an enthusiastic voice)

Our family was able to go out to Utah to visit family this August and we had so much fun!  It was great to break away from this suppressing heat here in Texas (the hottest summer on record).  We have had 29 of 30 days over 100 degrees this August.  Bleh!  

Anyway,  the girls and I headed out a week before our family reunion to play and then Mike joined us at Bear lake.  The girls did awesome on the flight over, due to MANY prayers said on my behalf ensuring that I could take them by myself on the flight.  No one cried the whole flight,  that doesn't even happen at home!  

We had so much fun playing at Grandma's and Grandpa's house, but I didn't take too many pictures of our playing and relaxing there.  Here are a few that I did manage to snap.

 This is Allie being "Tangled" and singing I've got a dream.  She has this song memorized and it starts with "I'm malicious mean and scary" which is too cute coming from a 2 year old.  We were at the mall and they had a kids table with toys at one of the stores with a viking character from Tangled.  She ran up and said, "It's a Malicious Mean and Scary!"

 "What are you doing to me mom?"

 You might think that Hadley has lost her hair, but my view is that her head grew faster than her hair.

 My Girls on my bed I slept in growing up.  Crazy how time flies!

 Allie got her first official hair cut from Aubrey and it looks so much better now in the back.   We just have to keep having the conversation that only Aubrey cuts hair, not Allie!

 Family night up the Canyon!  I knew that I needed to go at least once up the canyon while we were there, so we meet up with Kevin and his family at the park to have some dinner and play around.  Allie LOVED having cousins to play with and they all played so well together!  I don't think there was one fight while we were all together the whole week!

 The Hadster and Grandpa, she loved being held by her grandparents all the time!

 Cute Cousin Jordo posing by the water.  He always had a good smile for me when I took his picture, now if I could have him teach Allie, we would have a lot more pictures!

 Lucky for us, not so lucky for Estee, she went overdue and waited for us to come to Utah to have their baby :).  Baby Benson was 9 lbs 11 oz and has tons of black hair!  I don't know how little Estee could have such a big baby, he looked like he was 2 months old on day 2!  We were glad she waited so we could meet a fresh baby Benson.  

 The cute new family of 3, looking way too good for just going through labor the day before.

After dinner that night, Grandpa brought out the ice cream sandwiches, which all the cousins ate while sitting on their green chairs.  Can I just say how much we loved being outside all the time!  We thoroughly enjoyed the cooler weather and spent a lot of time out in the backyard in the shadow of Mt Timpanogos.

Take me out to the ballgame

Yesterday, Mike took us out to the Astros vs. Brewers game for a bit of family fun!  The game was at 6:00, the field is covered and air conditioned, and tickets were only $8 with kids free, so it sounded like a perfect thing to do on a Saturday night!

 With $8 tickets, this is the view, nice and high!

 Allie brought her Astros cap that almost fit her head (thanks to the big Shaw noggin)

 You've got to love the sparkle flip flops 

We had a lot of fun and Allie even got ice cream in a plastic hat cup WITH sprinkles, very important in her 2 year old mind.  Another favorite was the train that went across the back of the stands when we had a home run, and there were 3 during the 4 innings we were there.