46 weeks - 49 weeks, including 11 months Christmas and New Years.... goodness gracious

sitting and chewing on a lemon, no biggy ;)

Grandpa Butch and Grandma Jill sent me a new Dora cup! Hooray!!!!

Do you all see this sly smirk?!? :) She gives this to me ALL day long :) :) :)

Look at this sweet face. It's like she knows it is her FIRST Christmas morning!

playing on the bed with Mama while we wait for Juni to wake

Juni was really sleeping in. Mama may or may not have gone in to cuddle her and wake her up! (There's a first time for everything!)

Merry Christmas with Papa too!!

Sissy play time on the bunk beds!

SO excited about her roller skates!!

Her new singing dolly!

sticking her tongue out like her stuffie toy

The last couple of Christmases, on Christmas evening, we go to "Christmas Tree Lane," a street in Alameda known for going over the top with their Christmas decorations. This is Juni at the house with the "snow" (bubble) machine!

and Genevieve snuggled in

Genevieve with all of her new lovie toys! Her (first) new baby from Mama and Papa, her singing Dolly from Aunt Clancy, Uncle Stu, Connor, and Ellie, AND her handmade special bunny from Grandma Susie! She's ready for bed! Whenever she finds her baby she stops and gives her a hug. She even was doing some pretend play and giving her baby some of Juicy's toys while talking with her. When she wakes up in the morning she gets excited to find her and hugs her tight again. Juni didn't show much interest in baby dolls until she was 2, so, as with everything, it is fun to see how they are different girls!

Juni loved (envied!!) Genevieve's singing dolly so badly that we used her Target giftcard to pick her out the other hair color! She was beside herself. She wanted the same exact one, but I told her if she wanted a singing dolly, she had to pick the other one, and now she loves that hers is different. They are sisters and play together often, and she loves to make them sing at the same time. Once she found out they sang the exact same song in the exact same voice, she was very happy!

Juni and her new pearl from Aunt Lisa!

Happy New Year's Eve!!!

There's Genevieve's smile!

And then Juni's (no, we can't get them all at the same time! :>)

sister love!

pretend midnight, bubbly juice, cheers! (NY ball drop)

real midnight ball drop! Happy New Year!!

Juni putting her baby to sleep :) *heart melts*

Juni in her light pink soft sweater I got her for Christmas in honor of Grandma. Then, 10 minutes later when we left for Costco she stepped in TWO huge piles of dog poop (one with each foot) immediately before climbing into my car, over the arm rest, onto her car seat, and then sat down into clumps of it! Then, as she sat down, saw it, and said, "What is that?!?! This is DISGUSTING!!" I'd never even heard her say that word before so I stopped and looked right away, as did Zach. UGH!!! Shoes, pants, carseat, car... YUCK! 35 minutes later we actually got on our way to Costco, in Papa's car, and left the other carseat outside to breathe. :)

This day Juni tried nicely for an hour and twenty minutes to take a nap. Something must have been running through her mind, because the minute she came out to sit next to me, she fell asleep on the couch. Ha! She is slowly outgrowing her naps, but still NEEDS them 99% of the time. If she doesn't look tired I am ok with her skipping it, but this day she looked exhausted and I knew she needed to rest, but after trying for SO long, I just gave up, and figured we would have a rough night. Apparently she just wanted to cuddle Mama :)

These are the nail wraps I sell now, for those of you who don't know what they are :) They have kid size ones that I put on Juni!

And these are the ones I have on my nails right now!

Juni wanted to wear her crown all around (this is actually yesterday). She caught her shadow at the farmer's market and was so excited she could see the crown in her shadow!

sister love, tired version hahaha

Genevieve's very FIRST Christmas present! A peek-a-boo toy from Grandma Candy and Grandpa Billy! (46 weeks!)

For quite a few weeks, Genevieve had stranger danger when Zach would be wearing a hat. She's come around to recognize her Papa regardless of the had he's wearing! This day she felt very special getting to put on her Papa's hat.

Playing with Mama's old school dollhouse!

She's learned to drink out of a straw like a champ!

Christmas Eve we opened our gifts from each other. We've always talked honestly with Juni about Santa, so opening our stockings on Christmas Eve wasn't a big deal.

Genevieve getting some new banana biscuit snacks in her stocking!

...and her new foxy cup!

Juni got an owl cup to match

Papa's gift from the girls! He was so happy! When Zach brings Genevieve to Jamba Juice for me to nurse her, he and Juni often went down to this seasonal calendar/game shop to play. He would drool over this game, so he was so excited to have it for himself!

 

Genevieve's first traditional snowglobe! A baby and a mama that spin inside. She was in awe :)

Mama's Le Creuset baking dishes that were my gift from Juni and Genevieve because Papa knew how jealous I was of the one I bought for Grandma Susie! A big one from Juni and a smaller one from Genevieve!

Another first Christmas must have! Juni got her giant flat giraffe and still think that is part of why she loves giraffes so much now. We couldn't find any giant stuffed animal for Genevieve that we loved (and was also affordable!) until right before Christmas we found this perfect lamb for her at TJ Maxx for $25! Hooray! And she loves it! She climbs and loves on her often!

Christmas Eve bedtime in their new jammies! So cute!

Sister Love!

Playing with Genevieve's new stacking toys from Grandma Candy and Grandpa Billy! They both love how topsy turvy they are!

Papa LOVES old, classic Coke make without corn syrup and in a glass bottle, so I put some in his stocking. Doesn't he look happy?!

Mama trying to get the timer shot lined up on Christmas day!

About 32 tries later we got this family shot!! Whew! Next time you come to visit us, please be sure to take a family shot! They are quite difficult for us to get ;)

...while Genevieve plays in the dirt!

The Papa and Juni roller skating duo!

So happy to play outside! Whenever we open the door, she crawls as fast as she can to get over to it and escape to the outdoors :)

Juni strumming Genevieve's new woof guitar from Grandma Susie!

Where or where have the months gone?!?! Whew. This one just made me unexpectedly teary.

She often crab walks outside on the rough cement :)

Juni getting ready to water the herbs!

Can't get enough of this sweet girl! She knew I was trying to take pictures so she was posing for me up on the stairs.

Sister time with singing dollies

Look at those happy faces!!! Papa read a more simple version of the rules that he's been successfully playing with Juniper! Yay! Because we all know Mama does NOT love Monopoly! (Poor Papa)

Genevieve's new barn toy! Oh My Gosh! When I recommended this toy I didn't even know how fun it was! When each animal is on the barn floor it sings it's own song. The balls that fall down the silo have grain and corn pieces inside them. A chicken on a hay bale jumps when you make the mouse run by it. SO so fun for interaction and music play! Genevieve's FAVORITE part is the silo and putting the balls in again and again as they fall down to the bottom and pop out the door at the bottom! She will sit and do it again and again. She has a toy chest FULL of baby toys that she pretty much refuses to play with so I'm so thankful that she is enjoying her Christmas gifts!

47 weeks!

sister love

 the silo fun never ends!!

 And this girl's new favorite thing.... CLIMBING! AGH! 278 times I day I am taking her down from dangerious places. I was making dinner on the stove and she climbed up the step stool behind me before I even knew it!

 My little helper squishing out pizza dough with me on New Year's Eve!

 Juni sharing her brand new fancy Frozen cup. Sister Love!

 As Juniper grows we often ask her what she likes to be called, however, she often tells us without us asking :) Occasionally we call her June. The first time I called her June, she said to me, "Mama, when I grow up, I'm going to be a pilot, and then you can call me June." So, we sometimes call her pilot June. :) And, although she has newer favorties, she still holds a special place in her heart for Caillou! When at Kohl's after Christmas these pilot Caillou pajamas were on clearance, so of course we had to get them for Pilot June!!

 11 months!

 bright eyes

 searching for rocks

 still 6 teeth!

 I ordered rainbow carrots in our CSA box. Can you guess who loves the YELLOW ones?!?!

 She has started playing in the play kitchen on her own!

 New outfits on the chair at Jamba Juice!

 Sister Love

 48 weeks!

 Diva pose :)

 Juni and our friend Sherry who she adores. They days I work with Sherry I'm not sure Juni realizes that I am there too :)

 This smile. Sigh.

 Often times when Juni is telling me something very sweet like, "Oh, Mama, it's gonna be ok! I just love you so much!" she gets very close to my face like this. I'm sure I do it to her :) But as I was going through the pictures on the camera and found this, I could just hear her, "Oh, Sweetie, it's ok! I'm right here. I'm right here" She is such a kind little Mama. If you ever get an ouchie, just hope she's near by! :)

 Mama, I'm tired; Are you STILL taking pictures of us?????

 How can I stop?!?

 When my family is THIS cute?!?!

 climbing up on the entertainment stand by the t.v.

 Sister Love (Juni keeping Genevieve safe after more climbing!)

 I scooted over the chair, so she scooted the tray over to climb on it, to get up by the t.v. again. Seriously. She means business.

 What, Mama? I don't see the problem with this?

 After Juni's bath. She had spent an hour in the bath this night. After dumping all her toys in, she took them out and divided them into their categories :)

 Genevieve and Juicy are slowly becoming better friends!

 Sister Love!

49 weeks!

 Yep, I can climb up on Juni's picnic table too! Are you sensing a theme here, folks?!

 Any time I try to do Jamberry work for more than 7 minutes, this is what I see! How can I resist that?!?! :) :) :)

Sister Love!

Whew! So I loaded these photos in about 8 different bunches so they would be in order. My computer restarted on it's own twice. The pics stalled, wouldn't load, said they loaded but didn't. So, in the end, there is no real order. However, after 3 hours, and too many weeks!, you have pictures to look at!! We have been enjoying each other and living life! I hope you can see that in these. Life is good. We are loved. Sigh. So thankful!

As you saw, at 11 months old, Genevieve LOVES to climb, she loves her baby, she loves her barn toy, and she loves her sister. She is just starting to free stand. It feels like more teeth are coming soon, but who knows how soon that will really be. She loves to drink out of a straw and loves to eat all kinds of "real" food. Her favorites are her fig bars, grapes (cut up small, of course) and chicken!

Juni is saying the most thoughtful things and her vocabulary is growing exponentially again. She is asking such appropriate questions; it is so enjoyable! Phrases from lately...

Mama, you made me crack! (up) :)

I can't handle this!

What does caused mean?

I was looking for your keys but I didn't want you to know so I didn't tell you. :)

Can I watch a show just for me? That would be delightful! That means very nice.