a year in pictures...

Oh my goodness gracious me. The title of the post really does say it all...I would like to state for the record that my lack of posting in no way reflects how much I value all the little stories and changes I witness daily. I somehow got really, really off track. An extended visit home last August...then some months of excuses I can't really generate...then this pregnancy! I say lets blame it on the baby...poor little guy is going to have to get used to being a source of friction sooner than later.

So without further ado...

August 2008: Here is a shot of Rhea and Evelyn hanging out at Packards. Josie rented a perfect little cabin on the water and we enjoyed some of our best memories of that summer all together. This has further cemented my resolve/fantasy of someday owning property on a lake, or river, or even a creek. Rhea was in heaven and so was I...


September 2008: Here is Rhea and Annie at another favorite swimming destination China Camp! As you can see in this picture Rhea and Annie are very good friends..and their love for each other has only grown over the past year. I feel so lucky to have been able to watch this friendship grow from the early stages of excited drooling and squealing, to parallel play, to this new world of make believe, stories and mutual admiration.


October 2008: Of course a picture of Lemos's farm is a must for any October shot! Here is Rhea giving all the love she can to a baby goat. She still loves animals so very much.


November 2008: Well...I feel I have to post this one...Thanksgiving Day our girl took a tumble of epic proportions. I still can hear the sound of her lip hitting the coffee table in my head and I honestly thought we were headed to the emergency room instead of sitting down for dinner. An executive decision was made which may have left a permanent scar on her lip but most likely did not leave a permanent scar on her psyche which I do believe Novocaine, needles and thread could likely have caused.


But for a little comic relief I will also add a picture of the sleeping beauties coming back from a long hard day of Christmas tree hunting!


December 2008: Okay...it is next to impossible to pick just one picture for the month of December as it is just chock full of fun and festivities! I will try and restrain myself a bit..

December 3rd: Rhea's 2nd birthday...oh what a day. So much fun, mayhem, and burnt sugar cupcakes to boot! Unfortunately Rhea deleted ALL the pictures off of our camera (she is some kind of whiz when it comes to instant interference with all things mechanical). The process of trying to retrieve them derailed our spontaneous picture taking for quite awhile. Another excuse I will use in my lack of blog entries...


I love that she is looking so shell shocked from all the festivities...Birthdays are kind of intense if you really think about it.

And then Santa came....bringing an amazing new play kitchen!


Christmas morning and stockings with John, Hai Nhu and Evelyn...


And then we were off to New England for Christmas in the snow with Grammy and Grampy and all our East Coast family.


January 2009: Unfortunately our Camera situation (and the hope that we would recover those lost pictures) made January extremely light on pictures. But we do have a sweet one of Grammy, Rhea and Henry!


Feburary 2009: Another meager month in the picture department...but here is a picture of Rhea on Valentines day in her sweet little sweater....a birthday present from Joe, Heidi and Baby Zak.


March 2009: Rhea dressed as a fairy for Ruby's 6th birthday party...what a fun day that was!


April 2009: Here are the girls opening their Easter tea sets from Grammy....Rhea LOVED that tea set..unfortunately we have had mass casualties on the tea set front. Least we have the picture to remind us of all the fun while it lasted!


May 2009: Another China Camp shot...you can tell Josie and Jimmy were here because her hair is so nicely braided. I was looking for a good shot of the three of them but alas they were all a bit too blurry...but I love how self sufficient she is these days...just sitting and playing with her sand toys.


Drum roll please....JUNE 2009! See...it is like I was never gone...a full years worth of images and now we are all caught up! Just in time for me to have a baby....and get all behind again. But on a positive note here we have Alex and Rhea romping in the water!


At the risk of having to eat my words...I would like to take this moment to proclaim that I am going to do my best to keep up on this blog. At least for the next couple of months before our little boy comes. Wish me luck.....