Posed Beach Photos

We had Joanna take some photos of the family, dressed in beachy attire, so we could have something to frame. We called several photographers on the Island before our trip, and it was just going to be so expensive because I knew I'd buy a ton of photos. We hadn't (and still haven't) had 2 year photos of the girls though, so these were going to be their 2 year photos. Still after talking with several photographers, I just couldn't justify the price. I figured that we have a pretty nice camera and that we should try to take some nice photos on our own. After all, each one of the photographers I called told me their shoot times because that was the best light and the best colors to wear for beach photos. So, I packed accordingly knowing that I wanted to do this, and I stole their idea for a dusk shoot. Why not? I think several of these turned out...good enough to frame...enjoy!

These first photos are in our resort common areas, then we walked out to the beach.

Man, actually now that I look at them a little more, I don't actually know that I've got a 'frame worthy' photo here. Sniff, sniff. I'll make one of them work. I guess my favorite is the 4 of us standing on the stairs heading out to the beach.

More Hilton Head Photos

Let's Get Started on Hilton Head

OK, so we got there around 3:30, got settled, hit the pool for a bit, came back up, got the girls fed and dressed in PJs and thought we'd hit the beach before bed with the sunsetting. Mike had the bright idea that it would be fine to take them down there in their PJs...he thought they would just "enjoy the sand." I told him he was crazy to think that they'd stay dry as they stared out at the huge ocean! Let's see who was right...first photo please:

Nicole running through the water.

Ah yes, now it's Kaitlyn running through the water.

Eh...what do we have here...why, it's Nicole sitting down in the water with Kaitlyn "still in the water." Anyone thinking that they wore these PJs to bed at this point? :-) Mike smiled and told me that I was right. It was silly to think they wouldn't play in the water. Boy, did they have a good time in the water though.

We even gave up and took shirts off!!!

Day 2: We woke up, rented bikes and rode to Harbor Town. There is a playground there, so we got a few shots of them playing and swinging.

Who knows what we did the rest of the day? We were only at Harbor Town until about lunch time. Then, we headed back to the condo for naps. After that, I'm sure we did the beach and pool again. We did that a lot this year!!! The girls just absolutely loved the water!

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And here begins Day 3. Who took that picture you might wonder? Well, we brought Joanna for part of the trip this week (as you see in the photo with Nicole above). It was nice because Mike and I got to enjoy some time together while they napped each afternoon, and we even got to have a dinner out one night.

And that's all for now. I took over 400 pictures (pretty sure I did that last year too). So, there's definitely more to share in another post.

Let's Finish the Birthday First

OK, so here are some more photos with all the other kids and guests at the party. I don't have a photo of everyone there apparently. It's ok, I don't think anyone reads this blog anyway - ok maybe I have 2-3 readers. :-) Oh well.


As I said before, the bounce house was a great hit!!! Most of the kids were in it at some point or another.


Kaitlyn and PaPa.

Nicole, Joanna, and Blake in the background seeming quite interested in Nemo.

Elizabeth, I think that's the back of Nolan's head, Lucia and Kaitlyn.

Chris, Jaden and Grace playing with the trains. Those aren't Chris' kids though...how nice of him to entertain. And look how well he fits in that tiny chair. It was made for him!!!

Ceylese, Mackenzie and MeMa.

Jeana, Lily and Craig.

Lily and Nolan on the girl's new slide.

2 Year Stats

Nicole:
**Weight: 29 pounds 6 ounces - 80th percent
**Height: 35 3/4 inches - 93rd percent

Kaitlyn:
**Weight: 23 pounds 0 ounces - 8th percent
**Height: 33 inches - 40th percent

So...I was pretty darn close on the difference in weight. Only 1/2 pound off. And Kaitlyn had gone up on her percents, but I really thought she would have broken that 10 percent barrier. Oh well. She did "curve" this time though which was good because she actually dipped last time. They are no longer worried about her weight. She's just going to be small.

The difference in height...wow, almost three inches!!! I didn't expect that. I thought they were a bit closer. And I knew Nicole was tall, but I guess I thought she would be off the chart. Not quite, but she's up there! Goes to show you how broad the range for a two year old must be in height though if nearly three inches difference in my girls is only 40th versus 93rd percent. I guess close to 4-5 inches must be the range of 0 to 100 percent, huh?

No shots, only a foot prick to check iron. And no shots again until they're 5!!! Oh, and we didn't wait nearly as long for a doctor this time. I'm usually making appointments in the afternoon so I can just leave work a bit early and not miss as much, but the entire experience has taken almost 2 hours for past appointments. This time, I went for a morning visit and it definitely paid off. So, all in all, a good appointment.

Next visit....one year away! Amen to that. Sick visits of course, but from here on out we're at one well baby appointment per year. Woo Hoo!

2 Year Old Checkup Today

Any guesses on how far apart, statistically, my girls are? I'm guessing 2 inches in height and 7 pounds in weight. I'm also guessing that Nicole will be off the charts in height. And I think Kaitlyn will have moved up in percentiles for her weight. I think last appointment, she was less than 10th percent. (I'll go back and check my 18 month post later.) But I bet she's increased a bit...still very tiny, but maybe not less than 10th anymore.

Ok, so those are my predictions. Let's see if I'm right.

Oh, and we got back from Hilton Head on Saturday. We had a wonderful time and I have millions of photos, so I'll get those up later.

2nd Birthday Photos - Finding Nemo Party

At this point, I'm mostly just putting the photos out here. I'll come back later with some commentary and with photos of the other guests at the party.

Thanks to everyone who came, and thanks for the wonderful gifts. The girls have already played with several of their new toys. We really enjoyed it and appreciate your company.

The bounce house (thanks for the loan Brad and Ceylese) was a HUGE hit! I think we're going to have to buy one. Despite the temperature, the kids didn't care. We put a fan up next to it though so it was blowing some air in there for them.

Kaitlyn grabbed a finger full of the blue icing and started smearing before I could get her hand wiped off. Nice addition to her brand new dress, huh? (It came out in the wash which I could NOT believe...BLUE icing!!!)

This is a photo from their actual birthday on June 22nd. We all went out to dinner (Fuddruckers...aren't you jealous?). It was perfect though because it wasn't crowded at all, so we just let the girls wander rather than being tied down to their chairs. I think they appreciated that.