Here we go....

And so this new phase begins.... or almost begins!!

The big event

So, as her one year approached, it was time to take Shannon for her big event... yes, I had her ears pierced. Now, after careful research I have concluded this: As a mom, you do what was done to you (99% accurate). If your ears were pierced as a baby, you have your girls done as a baby... if you had to wait til 13, then you make yours wait.

My ears were pierced long before I remember, thus I wanted to pierce Allie's and Shannons right away. Kyle wanted a compromise, and me being the good person said I would wait til approx 1 year. And that is what we did.

Shannon was not a huge fan of the girl marking on her, but really, after all was said and done she was only mad for a minute. Now she has cute little balls on her little pixie lobes (why do I have babies with such small ear lobes??).

We took some photos before we headed to the mall...


and here are the after shots.. :)



Such a cutie. :)

The girls

Here are a couple new videos of the girls. Allie is getting another lesson on Ace, the Arabian. And in the other one, Shannon is showing off her moving skills.

Shannon is 11 months

It is hard for us to believe Shannon is 11 months. Where has the year gone?

At this point, she is weighing in at a bit over 20 lbs, we think. She is a fast moving crawler, who is days away from walking, really. She is so funny. This past month she has learned to clap (seems late, but hey) and is always chasing after Allie.


She can stand for ever it seems, and has even taken a step here and there.

She loves to drive her car around, pushing from behind!!

And a couple weeks ago I found her doing this... uh oh.. time for the baby gate. She loves to climb the stairs!! But I dont much love this new hobby of hers, so I use the baby gate to prevent falls!!

All in all, she is doing really well. Still holding her own with only two teeth, but can eat most anything (as evidenced by the cheeks and rolls). She says mostly only three words clearly : Mama, dada and allie. Though I think doggy is not far behind. We love you Shannon!

Gardening!!!

So, our garden has done super well this year. It is getting ridiculous how big the corn, zuchs, tomatoes and cuc plants are getting.




Soon it will be time to harvest the corn and tomatoes. We have been enjoying the snap peas, cucumbers, zuchs and summer squash for a while. We also planted another set of radishes, spinach and carrots. Our bell peppers are doing quite well too, other than our red peppers are not turning red. We are wondering if the seedling was mismarked.

Sure is rainy!

It finally rained here, after a lot of sunshine this summer. Allie was so excited that she insisted Daddy take her on a walk with her umbrella and bug rain shoes. The whole walk she kept saying "sure is rainy today". She was so funny.

Hiking Silver Falls

Yesterday we spent the day at Silver Falls, hiking with Kyle's folks. We love to go hiking at Silver Falls and it had been about a year since we were there last. We did a five mile loop, checking out many falls along the way and watching Allie in amazement at the water. We were able to get up close to Double Falls, so she could feel the mist from the water. She loved it. She even managed to walk most of the way, then use daddyh's shoulders for quick breaks. I was really impressed she could keep up for that long with those little legs. Shannon enjoyed the ride on mom's back, though I know as soon as she is walking (which wont be long), she wont like riding the whole way!
Allie has her own camelpack so she can carry her own water. she loves it and looks so darn cute.


a girl and her grandmadaddy. too cute.

What are my girls doing??

So, this week they have been more than entertaining. After realizing it was quiet, we found Shannon playing Backgammon.

Then, later on, we found Allie "fixin'" our door while Shannon watched with fascination. You know, hammering is dangerous business when wearing heals.. so good thing she has on the safety goggles.



I love my girls.