Our funny man

It's hard to believe that Jace is 8 months old. I have heard that 7 and 8 months are the real turning point. That's when babies start crawling and getting their teeth and on and on. But I didn't really know what to expect until this last month. It is so true! I thought it would be so fun to watch our little man really start to move around. And it has been. But we honestly have to be watching him all the time! And I can't help but miss our tiny little baby that we brought home from the hospital that would just fall asleep on my chest. Don't get me wrong though. We are loving every minute of this adventure. Jace always keeps us laughing. I thought I'd post just a few of the funny moments we caught on camera this month. 

Jace loved my Parent's dog Baxter! We're just not sure the feeling was mutual.
And he thinks he is such a big boy now that he can crawl he thinks he can do anything! Ahh!

Eternal Perspective

I have been thinking a lot about my wonderful family lately and I just had to post about it. Ricky's grandma and grandpa Hartley passed away recently. Grandpa Hartley passed away due to cancer in May and grandma Hartley this past week due to poor health and a broken heart. It has been hard on the family but we can all honestly say that we know they will be happier where they are now, and now that they are reunited. I have been thinking so much about how grateful I am to know that we will be able to see them again. They were such wonderful people and such great examples to everyone they knew. I feel so blessed to have been married to my best friend in the San Diego Temple and know that  my family can be together forever. 

It's Gotta Go!

Last year when I graduated from BYU-I I got a new camera to kick start my photography business. Therefore, my old camera has been hanging around. I've tried to sell it on the school bulletin board but haven't really gotten serious about it until now. This time I mean business. It's time this thing found the hands of someone that can put it to better use. It is in great condition and comes with all the equiptment needed to jump start anyone looking to get into photography.

I'm selling my Tamarack camera bag, along with my Nikon D100, a 85mm portrait lens, 2 batteries and charger, extra battery pack, and 2 256mb memory cards for $400.

Another Needs Family Adventure

Ricky and I took a trip to Michigan for a while to see my family. It was a blast! Everyone but Devin was there. Drew and Cami and my Dad's parents were all able to be there for about a week and a half. Michigan isn't a very exciting place, except for the presence of my family (and sometimes that's debatable -- just kidding guys!). So one day we decided to head to Sandusky, OH to Cedar Point. An amusement park well known for it's over the top roller coasters. It was an adventure to say the least!

Check out Jace's new shades!

Grandma and Grandpa even came along for the ride
even though Grandpa wasn't feeling so hot.

Our Big Boy

I'm still in shock that my little man is almost 7 months old! We did his 6 month photoshoot a little late (it was a long time coming because I was a little lazy the last few months) but I had been planning on doing it for ages! I can't believe how much he has changed in just the last month! He is seriously the happiest baby around and loves to eat and play. This is what Jace has been up to lately:

• Eating like a monster! We can't keep up with the kid!
• At Jace's last Dr. appointment he weighed 18lbs and measured 27inches long.
  
• He loves going for walks and being outside in general
• He has been doing a lot of swimming and loves the water!
• Loves his thumb and is a big thumb sucker (don't know how we're going to break that one yet)
• Has the best laugh and will laugh to himself all the time! We can't get enough of it.
• He's working on saying mamma. We're pretty sure that's what he says when he cries but who really knows..
• Learned how to do a few new tricks with his lips and make some new noises.
  
• Rolls everywhere! He'll be crawling any day if he doesn't start walking first. He is one mobile baby.
  
• He has the most smoochable cheeks I have ever beheld! He gets so mad at his daddy for overwhelming him with kisses. I don't know how we got so lucky!
  

Family Photos

As you can tell I spend a lot of time taking pictures of Jace. But we don't get a lot of photos of the three of us. So two weeks ago my fabulous brother Drew and his better half Cami were so kind as to take some family photos for us. Drew has always been pretty handy with the camera and we couldn't have been more pleased with the way these turned out. I have long been debating going to a professional photographer to get some quality shots of our little family because while I feel that it is difficult to justify paying for photos when I am a photographer myself I also dread hassling with my tripod for the few shots that I can get my boys to cooperate for. It is difficult to get myself in photos these days and I don't want to miss out on all the action while Jace is still young. But as I said before I think we managed to come away with just what we wanted this time.

Lake Powell

Ok, so for Memorial Day my family all got together at Lake Powell in AZ. It wasn't easy but we made it happen. It was our last chance to all be together before my brother Devin leaves on his mission to the Philippines next month. The Needs side of my family did this for a family reunion about 10 years ago and it was bomb! So we decided to do it again with my dad's brother Rusty and his family. Sadly the water wasn't very warm yet, but that didn't stop us from having a blast. There was a lot of relaxing, some jet skiing, a little cliff jumping (needless to say I was the first to jump), wake surfing, tubing, BANANAGRAMS, and tons of laughing!

Jace really wasn't asleep the whole time, but he was just right at home on the lake.