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Haylee favorite food for now is cantaloupee. She actually eats it through the mesh strainer teether, not like this! I was eating this piece next to her and she lunged over, grabbed it and started gnawing on it. So, I grabbed my camera!  She smells of sweet cantaloupe and I just love it. I watched her very closely so she didn't gnaw off a piece and choke...she just sucked the juice right out of it. Im sure it felt good on her gums too! Sweet baby.

Carlee got a new chaise lounge for her room. It's pink patent leather with white piping. This is her new place to read, watch her movies and play with Luci, her baby. She also likes to sleep on it. I put her down for a nap the other day when I went to go check on her she was passed out on her lounger. She tells me if I want to take her picture, she has to sit on her pink lounger. I was outside taking pics of Carlee playing and she made me bring her lounge out, I had to. I love her devilish grin. What a cutie!

I will pics of our Tahoe trip soon. Ive been so busy, and Im finally done editing them!

She..

She wakes me up in the morning by singing on the toilet.

She will make up a song about anything, including going to time out today after saying a bad word. There is a song for everything.

She wears flip flops everywhere, and calls them her "flippers"

She changes clothes 6 times a day

She tells the cats if they don't stop fighting she will "put them in time out...and she's NOT kidding"!

When she tells me she loves me she says, "Mommy, I love you more than the whole big world".

She is very opinionated and knows what she wants.

If she gets one drop of water on her clothes she strips them off, no matter where she is

Bubbles still fascinate her.

Im gonna get ya!

Haylee is growing so fast! She is now trying to figure out how toy get things that are out of her reach. She is trying to crawl and I had to snap some shots of her trying to learn how to move her body the right way to get where she wants. There is so much determination in her eyes. And pure joy in her laugh when she finally gets the toy she wants after falling on her tummy and rolling to them. She's learning! Im off to baby proof the rest of my house..she's determined to crawl all around this place!

Taking my camera for a walk

Early this morning I took my camera for a walk with Phil, Lori and Nette.  We walked to a church in Soquel as the sun was coming up.  We had the pleasure of using his AMAZING lenses. I especially loved his telephoto lens, which weighed close to what Haylee weighs! I could barely hold the thing still, but I fell in love.

Normally I take pictures of my girls. I rarely take pictures of anything else. I see the beauty in a lot around me, but can't take my eyes off the girls long enough to capture much else.  I look forward to our next outing. Here are two pictures I liked out of the batch I took.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Today we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There was barely anyone there, so we spent hours gazing at the fish, touching starfish and Carlee played in the Splash Zone. We started taking Carlee here when she was 5 months old. We went about once a week. She was in awe of the fish in the enormous tanks. The Aquarium is still one of Carlee's favorite places. 

Daniel and I decided to take Haylee for her first time today. She too was in awe of the fish and otters and jellyfish especially. She kept trying to grab them through the glass. Carlee was educating Haylee on all the sea life. The girls sat next to each other in front of the enormous 50 foot tall tank with hammerhead sharks, tuna, sea turtles, sunfish and many other fish I have no clue what they are! It was so amazing. Haylee was fascinated! Carlee touched stingrays, starfish, abalone, and hermit crabs as well. It was such a great family day. We definitely will be going back soon! Some pictures are a bit fuzzy because I don't use my flash, and in some rooms it was pretty dark. But they are still such great shots!

Roaring Camp

Today we all went to Roaring Camp and walked through the redwoods.  One of our favorite places to walk. Its such a peaceful place and I am always in awe of the enormous redwoods that have been around for centuries. Of course I had to take my camera. The lighting was perfect and it was so green an lush. 

Carlee was enthralled with the moss growing on the trees, rocks and fence.  As well as the huge trees. It was truly beautiful. Haylee kept looking up at the canopy of trees that hung over us, reaching to touch them even thought they were so tall. 

It so nice to have this place to get away from it all. Life has been a bit crazy lately and when we went here, it seemed to center us. We are exactly where we are supposed to be in life and are so open for what's next to come. Instead of resisting it. It's a lot less stressful! 

Anyways, Daniel and I are so thankful that we live in such a beautiful place and are all so close. That we can take our girls (and ourselves) outside and show them all the world has to offer...without money, distractions or stress. To just have time to ourselves and as individuals to just take a breath, run, laugh, and explore.  We all really enjoyed getting away yesterday, and it was only 10 minutes from our home! We are going to do this more often. 

Typical Carlee. This is why I love her!

I actually let Dan have my camera to take a picture of the 3 of us.

Back to our routine

Today Carlee started back at preschool after the holidays. As soon as we got there she said hi to the goats and then proceeded to start an activity. Daniel and I took down the Christmas tree and Haylee played in her new room she shares with Carlee. She really loves it in there!

I can't help but take pictures, of course! I am learning how to use actions on my photos in Photoshop. They are really fun and addicting. I am in awe of Karen Russell (karenrussell.typepad.com/). I would love to shoot like her. I want to save up enough to take a photography class of hers. 

Dan is taking off for his annual snowboarding trip soon, this year to Park City. So, Ill be busy!

The girls are down to bed, and Im going to talk Daniel into letting me take some pictures of him, I don't have any of just him. He's got such amazing eyes, and his adorable butt chin...I can't resist!