golden sun and muddy toes

this past sunday was chock full of the good things in life, and i was happily left thankful by the end of it. thankful for marrying into a big family, with so many aunts, uncles, and cousins that love our girl. thankful for sunshine, and that first taste of spring that leaves you wishing desperately for more. thankful for muddy kids, and glasses of wine in the afternoon. yup, last sunday was a keeper for sure!

now if only every day could be a sunday...

biker baby shower

a couple weekends ago evan and i threw together a little baby shower/hang out day for our best buds, adam and steph. they have 2 somewhat more traditional baby showers coming up, so we just wanted to give them a day to kick back at the ol' motorcycle clubhouse, and spend some time with friends. and as anyone with a new baby can tell you, kicking back with friends is a luxury sometimes not found. 

so here's an over share of pictures from the day, because the contrast of hairy bikers and baby goods is something i can't resist!

we love these two crazy kids, and can not wait to see them in their new rolls as mama & papa!

8/52

"a portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013."

penny: this past week has been the week of impromptu bath parties for you. we both have a bit of a cold, and with the weather being so chilly we have to get creative with ways to pass our afternoons. luckily you're down for a bath any time of day, and this gives you a good solid hour of pure joy when you're feeling kinda crumby.

first snow...

all last week my trusty weather app was saying there was a good chance of snow all day saturday. saturday morning came, no snow. lunch time saturday came, no snow. somewhere around 3pm saturday i started cursing said trusty weather app for getting my hopes up, and then 4pm rolled around.

we were driving home from running a bunch of errands, and as we were just a minute away from our house, the sky down the road looked noticeably grey and cloudy. we decided to drive past our normal turn to see what the devil was going on. it was the long awaited snow, and boy did it ever not disappoint! we decided to head on home, and by the time we got to our driveway it was a full on snow storm. we quickly bundled penn up and took her out to see her first snow...

^^she didn't think the snowballs thrown at her were nearly as hilarious as i did^^ 

i think she would have stayed outside until her fingers fell off, but seeing as we're southerners without proper snow attire, our little frolic outside lasted about 5 minutes. i'm pretty sure it was one of the most glorious 5 minutes of her 13 months so far. 

daredevil...

i can remember back to shortly after penny was born, when evan would take this tiny sweet little baby and hold her up above his head (which is apparently a very 'daddy' thing to do), and i would just stand underneath holding my breath and nearly dying inside. fast forward a good number of months later, and here we are with penny being tossed into the air by her papa, and it doesn't even give me a single palpitation! seeing the giggles that only her daddy can bring on is enough to get me over my fear of injuries real quick. she's already a thrill seeker, that penny. i hope she never stops loving to fly!

7/52

"a portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013."

penny: the other day at the park you watched a little boy run all over, go up the steps, and then go down the slide all by himself. you were enamored! when i asked his mama how old he was, she said 18 months. just over 4 months older then you! it quickly made me realize just how much you're going to grow and change in the next few months. i'll be sure to not take for granted these days of holding your hand as you walk, helping you up steps, and going down the slide with you. they may not be here for much longer... 

park days

 sometimes even when it's a little too chilly and muddy to be doing so, you just have to get out of the house and go to the park. the other day i think both of our sanities depended on it!

inspiration share...

have you guys seen the super amazing "you are my wild" project yet? i'm so in love with every photo posted so far, and i just had to share a few of my favorites with you. incidentally, all the folks doing this project just so happen to be all my favorite instagrammers too, so you can keep up with their daily amazingness if the once a week posting just isn't enough for ya!

they make me want to pic up my camera and keep on shooting, shooting, shooting! thanks for the inspiration guys!