Lily- 2 Years Old

The other day I was finally able to do a "photo shoot" to get some 2 year pictures of Lily. And let me tell you- it was work- photographing a toddler is not for the faint of heart (especially one who gets her picture taken all the time and prefers to look away from the camera whenever it's out)! I did get some shots I really like (and when I finally install Photoshop onto my computer this summer and learn how to use it I'm going to make these even better- you just wait and see)! In the meantime, I thought I would share a little summary of my beautiful two year old daughter.

Lily-2 Years Old:

• She is the sweetest little girl, passionate, and full of energy
• Her smile and big, blue eyes charm everyone we meet
• My strawberry blonde beauty wakes up every morning and from every nap with hair sticking up in every direction
• She can't get enough of being thrown in the air or swinging in the air (from an actual swing or by her daddy)
• She loves taking care of her animals and dolls- it's one of her favorite things to do. She likes to pretend to take them to the grocery store- to get cookies
• She likes to carry a purse with her- and can be entertained for good periods of time just taking the same things in and out of her purse
• She loves playing kitchen and serving meals
• She also loves to help me bake- and often ends up eating much of what we are making still in its dough form- of which she declares, "Tastes good."
• She gives the best squeezes in the world
• At two she is daytime potty trained and sleeping in a "big bed"- my big girl!
• She is still, however, totally obsessed with her pacifiers (nuks)
• She loves the Imagination Movers show
• Her language has just exploded the last couple of months- saying many short sentences
• Her favorite things to say lately include:
• "I do it"- she's become very independent, wanting to do everything herself
• "I pick one"- she likes to be able to choose herself- from snacks to books
• "I scared of ice cream truck"- don't know why but lately the ice cream truck (and many other things) scare her
• "I don't like it" or "I like it"- she's always letting us know
• She is totally in love with water of all sorts- the shower, sprinkler, pool, hose, watering can- even so much that she asks to do the dishes!
• She loves meat and pasta. Her favorite vegetable is cucumbers and her favorite fruit is blueberries. And for some reason she has a special fondness for pink starburst.
• She loves to walk our dog, march, pick flowers, and gather rocks and sticks

And that's our little two year old Lily

Smile for the Camera?

I did a little photo shoot with Lily today (more pictures to come)- and this is the face I get when I ask her to smile for the camera (everytime)! This has been her "smile" face for a few months now (and no, I didn't just catch her blinking- she closes her eyes when she "smiles)!

A Whirl Of Activity!

This picture I took today seems to capture the feel of our days- a whirl of activity with my little fairy princess

Almost 2 Years Ago...

As we prepare to leave for Colorado in less than 2 weeks (yikes) I was looking back on the photos that I took the last time we were there (I didn't find many, probably because

we were sleep deprived new parents). But I did find these pictures taken just after we got back from that trip to Colorado and since I didn't have a blog then I thought I would share now. Her expressions in these two pictures are just cracking me up! Where did the two years go?!

Our Little Tree Hugger

Okay, maybe she's not a tree hugger in the true sense, but our little Lily loves being outside! Lately her favorite things to do include hiking, going for walks around the block (she really likes walking the dog), swinging, and ANYTHING that involves water (sprinklers, watering plants, dumping buckets of water in her sand box, etc...). It doesn't matter how cold it is outisde or how cold she is- this little girl would play in the water until she's blue (she absolutly gets this from her father)! This warm afternoon I caught her climbing the tree in our front yard (okay, Joe put her in the tree and was standing right next to her the whole time)- but I'm sure it won't be long before she's climbing trees on her own!

Baby Jeremiah

Last week I took some pictures for my friend Melissa. At 6 weeks old baby Jeremiah is the youngest of 5 and he really is a sweet little baby. Although I made a little mistake on my camera setting (which means the pictures aren't quite as crisp as they could have been)- it was great practice for me (for photography in general and for taking pictures of our little one in the future)! Thanks Melissa for sharing Jeremiah with me!

Canoe Trip

Lily spent most of the time doing this: dragging her hands in the water- she just loved it!

She also wanted to try to paddle!
And below we tried to get a picture of her and I, but as you can see here she really just wanted to get past the dog and back to her own little seat- oh well- at least there is some proof that I was actually on this trip!:)

These aren't the best shots as I didn't dare bring my new camera in a canoe with a toddler and a dog (these are with my old camera)- but they are still fun so I thought I would share!
Last Saturday we spent a beautiful Maine morning canoeing on a local pond. The weather was beautiful, Lily loved it, and there was not a single other person on the water! Last summer we attempted to take Lily in the canoe once and it was awful- she just cried the entire time. But now things seem to be working in our favor- she's a year older, she finally has a life jacket that fits and doesn't ride up half way around her face, and Joe got her her own little canoe seat that she loves! I'm already looking forward to more canoe trips!