Daddies Girl to the Max

This girl...

Obviously loves this guy...

Grand Canyon 2009!

Who needs canyon views when you can snap photos of these tender moments instead.

VISITORS...VISITORS...VISITORS...

It's been the summer of visitors and we've loved having everyone of them.

Who: The Huffs (minus David)
What: Craig Steele's Highschool Graduation
When: June 11-15

Sarah loves her cousins Logan, Lauren, and Easton. She really had a great time playing with them this visit. They built houses and even built a small one for her, but she prefered to be in the big one with the other kiddos. Logan is really good at entertaining Sarah and she thinks he's great!!! They stayed without us for a few days while we were in San Diego, with us for a few days, and at the Steele's house for the remainder of their visit.


Who: Grandpa Atchley
What: first, short stop on a 3 week driving vacation from one place to another to another
When: July 18-19

Sarah has a blast when Grandpa Atchley visits. It makes me happy that even though he's far, far away in Nashville, she knows who he is and is always excited to see him. We were at our ward pioneer day picnic when Richard picked him up at the airport. Ron was in this ward for many, many, many years and everyone is always glad to see him. When he and Richard arrived at the park, lots of people were excited to see him, but not as excited as Sarah. She kept yelling "Ga-Ga, Ga-Ga" in his direction as he was greeted by others until he finally heard her and came in her direction. Everyday he was here Ga-Ga was the first word out of her mouth in the morning, whereas normally it's banana. Love that! Come again Ron!!!

Who: Cindy & Lara
What: Sunny, summer getaway
When: July 22-26

I must admit that this was one visit I was looking very forward to. I miss Cin immensely and her friend Lara is a hoot. Cindy has never been here in the summertime and whenever she has been here it's always been for a particular reason, never just for a little R & R. This time she got her fill of Santa Monica and I think she'll be back sooner rather than later. If it were up to me she could just stay in our guest room f-o-r-e-v-e-r!! She and Lara rode our beach cruisers to the beach most days, ate glorious food, joined us for a pier concert, and went home very tan.


Who: Grandpa & Grandma Atchley
What: To play with Sarah and Ron had a dental appointment :)
When: August 2-7

This was a great visit as Grandma Liz was able to join Ron for this trip "home". We were glad to have her here and once again, Sarah loved having Grandparents in the house. I even had the opportunity to run a few errands without Sarah and let me tell you, while I love her company, it's sure nice to be able to browse every now and then without her.

Who: Sarah Z & MOH joined us for a couple of the days
What: Missing LA trip I believe
When: August 5-9


I miss these 2 ladies a lot. Sarah is a popular gal and always has many people she likes to visit when she's in town and so it makes me happy she stays with us so I can see her. We went to Mormon night at Dodger Stadium. Sarah and MOH took Sarah Jane to the beach on Friday so Richard and I could both attend a funeral. Friday night I had a girls night out with them and a couple other of the coolest girls around. We went to California Chicken Cafe, to the movie Julie & Julia, and then for coconut flavored Pinkberry. Best night!

BTW--I have not been in photo taking mode lately so I only have photos if our visitors took them.

Fraidy-Cat, She's Not...

P.S.---the elephant noise is for you Cindy. Hope it makes your day!!!!

What Have I (we) Been Up To?!

I'm growing a baby and constantly chasing a bigger one around the house. And boy, am I tired!!!

Actually we've been up to A LOT! I promise to catch up (yikes...i haven't posted since may?!) in the next couple of days but maybe these cute, albeit old pictures, will tide you over until then (Grandma W)...

18 Months

Yesterday Sarah turned 18 months. Here's what she's up to now...

New Words

**mama--she's been saying mama for a while now but just this week has figured out that that's me.

**more

**turtle

**purple

**bubbles

**paper--she goes out with her daddy every morning to retrieve the newspaper from the sidewalk. On their walk this evening she picked up 3. When she knows what her job is, she does it really well. :)

**GaGa--Grandma or Grandpa

**cracker

**church

**Stitch

She repeats a lot of words. Just tonight she was repeating king. When you ask her to point to her body parts she will repeat what you've said. When we count she counts with us. While most these things don't sound exactly like the word we've said, it's cute that she repeats us.

Favorites

**peek-a-boo

**ball

**stories, especially Goodnight Gorilla, Snuggle Puppy, Piggies, and the Little People Lift a Flap Books

**kissing--she's an equal opportunity kisser. When she gives a kiss to one of us, she has to kiss the other.

**Holding both of our hands when we are walking somewhere.

**Animal noises/actions. She roars for a lion, barks like a dog, thumps her chest like a gorilla, snaps her teeth like an alligator, twirls like a penguin, squeals like an elephant (is that what an elephant does?), and ah-ah-ah-ah's like a monkey.

**STILL being swaddled at sleepytime.

**Her electric toothbrush her daddy just got her. Until 2 days ago, brushing her teeth was a nightmare and everyone ended up sad. However she has a Cinderella electric toothbrush now and she'll brush more than once a day.

**The park--in particular the slide, where she'll climb up the ladder by herself, turn around, then slide down on her tummy. She's climbed up the slide once. She used to try and try and try and now that she's done it once, she never tries to climb up it anymore.

Miscellaneous--Here are a few more things we don't want to forget...

**she knows her way to Douglas Park

**She reaches out to hold our hand when we get to a corner so we can cross the street

**She's gotten tall. Just this week she's started reaching things from the top of the counter. It seems like it was not long ago she couldn't reach the top of the table.

**Inconsistent eater--her favorite food one day she won't touch the next day. It makes meal preparation tricky. She also doesn't like leftovers. She better get used to them, because I love leftovers.

**Loves to hear herself laugh and does it all the time. (We love to hear it too!!)

SARAH JANE, WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO GLAD YOU ARE PART OF OUR FAMILY. YOU HAVE MADE OUR TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD PRETTY SIMPLE AND VERY ENTERTAINING. YOU'VE ONLY BEEN WITH US FOR 18 MONTHS BUT WE'VE FORGOTTEN WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE BEFORE YOU!! XOXOXOXO mama and dada :)

Tea Time

Saturday was spent with Sarah's girlie friends. Teagan turned one and so a California tea party was held, at the beach of course. Nicole spared no detail--she's an amazing party planner. Remember the cowboy party we attended a couple months back? Same mom! Lucky kiddos.

We rode our bikes to the beach and met the other little ladies there. I'm afraid it's going to be my last bike ride until after Stitch's arrival. Too much pressure in places I don't need pressure right now. :) You don't realize how many muscles you use when riding a bike until those muscles are being stretched and distorted by something taking over your body. I'm sad to put the bike away but know that it's not forever and that's what makes it okay.

The girls

Complete with monogrammed cream cheese and jelly sandwiches.

I love her purple velour sweatsuit. Yippee for June Gloom.

Sarah modeling the gift Teagan received an IOU for. I didn't get it finished until that evening after the party. Remember it's for a 12 month old, so when I make Sarah one it will be a bit bigger. Her behind sticks out of this one. Hopefully Teagan will like it. (or at least her mommy)

At the end of the long day. I think when she looks like a rag-a-muffin at bedtime, I've done my job. It means we played hard and had a terrific day. Here's to more of those!

Latest Creations....

For my friend Taryn's soon to be little girl...

a kimono Top.

A onesie I dyed, cut off, ruffled the bottom and sleeves, and turned into a girlie t-shirt with a ruffle skirt. I made a pattern for the skirt after seeing this style at a store. Taryn, if it doesn't fit right; because truthfully, it might not since I tried to create something myself--you better tell me! I have more fabric and will whip up a skirt I DO have a REAL pattern for. :)

And a darling onesie I dyed pink and stenciled flip flops onto. Cuteness.

And I altered a skirt of mine into a maternity skirt.