The Hungry Caterpillar

A few weeks ago, Linkan crawled up in the chair with Palmer and started reading her a book. I was lucky enough to take a video of it before she realized what I was doing. :) As soon as Linkan knows that I'm taking a picture or video of her, she stops everything and says, "I see it, I see it!" Hands down, this is one of Linkan's all-time favorite books. :)  If you know it well, then listen closely.  I was impressed by how well she did "re-telling" the story.

2 Months Old

My sweet baby turned 2 months old today. I really don't know where the time has gone. It is true that the older you get, the faster time flies. She is holding up her head on her own, sleeping wonderfully at night, sleeping most of the day but has some longer periods of awake time in the morning and evening. She lost all her hair on the top of her head but it quickly started growing back. Palmer started smiling and coo'ing at 6 weeks. She smiles the most for her mama, of course! Linkan loves Palmer and shows no signs of jealously. She refers to her as "My Palmy". Even though we feel like we are "starting all over" in the baby arena, she is pure joy to our family. Already, we can't imagine our lives before her.

This is Linkan's "monka" that her Grandma Postlethwait made for her this summer. It's adorable!! Litnkan didn't mind sharing with her sister.


Here are the out-takes. You can tell that she is starting to chunk up! ;)

Bubble Monsters!!

11 Years

11 years ago, we said "I do" in a hot church in Emporia, Kansas. If you were there, I guarantee that the only thing you remember is how hot it was in that church! We started out, living in a 500 sq. ft. apartment, making a combined income of less than 25,000 a year. We didn't have much but it sure didn't seem to matter to us. Now we have two babies and over a decade of amazing life experiences together.

I wouldn't necessarily encourage anyone to get married as young as we did...but it worked for us. We put the future of our marriage and trust in God from the beginning...and as we grew up (I had barely turned 20 when we got married!), we grew up together...instead of apart. We have had many challenging moments over the last 11 years...and we continue to have them...but no love has ever been lost. We're in this thing for the long haul, baby. Ben continues to chase after my heart and I continue to adore and look up to him even more-so than when we first fell in love. I tell him that he's "my favorite" all the time. He is still my favorite person in the whole wide world. Love you, my sweet. Happy Anniversary!

My sweet baby Linkan

Ornery...








"Cheese!"


This was my grandmother's rocking chair as a little girl. :)
















In my daughter's eyes...


And last, but not least...

July Belly Pictures

The tattoo on my belly is a mendhi (or henna) design. When we were back in Denver, moving out of our house, I visited Amy Swagman. She spent two hours painting (free hand) the beautiful design on my belly. I loved the design and I really enjoyed talking to Amy. She is a doll and her daughters are adorable. Sadly, the tattoo faded over time and went away but it was fun while it lasted! Here are some pictures of me at 9 months pregnant when my lovely was still in my belly. :)

July Family Pictures

In July, the lovely Chelsea Donoho took some pictures of us in Lawrence. We had a great time and she took some really beautiful pictures (you can find her on facebook if you want to book her - she's incredibly talented and super sweet). There are over a thousand pictures but I've narrowed them down and I'm going to break my favorites into a couple different posts. This post consists of my favorites of the family pictures.