her first white dress.

last sunday, july 14th, london was blessed at church. [to learn more about baby blessings, click HERE :)]

the blessing was preformed by charlie and it was a beautiful, short and simple blessing. i loved every word of it. 

london's dress is the same dress i wore when i was blessed as a baby. it is also the same dress my mother wore when she was baptized in the lutheran church as a baby as well. london's great-great-grandma hand crocheted it over 50 years ago, and the satin lining underneath was from london's great-grandma's wedding dress. 

my roxygirl.

when i was a little girl i begged and cried for a puppy. i longed for a little dog to run around with me. but, my dad was adamant that we didn't have one. i just couldn't understand why?! [it's hard to explain how much of a huge responsibility and how much money a dog costs to a 7 year old.] i even went to the extreme and had a "brilliant" idea that i brought up to my mom...
"MOM! i have an idea! since you and i both want a dog, how about we get a second house that we live in just so we can have a dog? dad, janelle and clay and live in this one, still." haha oh little samantha. you're too funny. it made perfect sense in my 8 year old brain.

one day an old friend of my mom brought over two puppies she found abandoned in a park. one was fluffy and curly, the other had a white stripe down her chest and curly ears.
i fell in love with the second one.
i couldn't stop thinking about her.
i wanted her to be my puppy.
i cried and cried and cried until my dad broke down and said "fine. get the damn dog!"
my mom said "don't worry, samantha, this puppy and dad will end up being best friends, too." [which couldn't be more true.]

the next day when we were going to pick her up my dad said, "how about we name her penny?" obviously, over the night the thought of having a dog in the house wasn't too annoying to him anymore.

we didn't end up naming her penny. instead, we named her Roxy.
my roxygirl. rockycola, ra-co-co, rocco.

when she was home with us for the first time, i fully understood that it was my responsibility to make sure she didn't go potty in the house.
i watched her like a HAWK. didn't take my eyes off of her. by the end of the day i was exhausted and in tears. but, there were no accidents in the house! haha.

a few days after that, i took her for a little walk down the street in front of our house. after our walk, i sat down with her on the curb, and a girl on her bike came and complemented my cute puppy. i took my eyes off of roxy for one second to thank the girl and then she sped off. during these few seconds, roxy swallowed something and began to choke. tears filled my eyes and i ran inside for my mom to save her. i was terrified that my puppy was going to choke to death all because of me! luckily, my mom was able to get out whatever she swallowed and she was just fine. whew!

roxy was with me as i finished elementary school, went into the awkward years of middle school, my fun years of high school & when she was with me when i became a woman and got married. and the last time she saw me, i was pregnant with my first baby. she taught me responsibility, patience, love and happiness.

there's SO many more memories i could write down, but right now it's too hard to think of those times. my heart breaks that i couldn't be down in california as she took her last breath. i wish i could have been there to hold her and tell her how much i love her and that it's okay for her to let go.
she will always have a special place in my heart & i'll always remember my first dog.

i love you Roxygirl. i hope you're having a blast running like wild up in heaven.
xoxo

Roxy

May 29, 1998 - July 20, 2013

just a couple of things!

there's a few more things i want to write about our little london girl at age 2 months before we forget, since this is our online journal and everything. :)

-she likes to look at herself in the mirror and smile when i say "who's that cute baby?"

-i had to put away some of her premie size clothing and a couple of newborn size, too. i just about cried. the only thing that makes me feel better is knowing that she still can't fit into some of her other newborn clothing. haha it makes me feel like i still have a tiny newborn. :)

-one of her favorite things to do is go outside and look at the trees. i love watching her discover new things.

-she discovered wrangler the other day and couldn't stop staring at him haha

-ahh, she also discovered the tv a week or so ago. uh ohhhh.

-she enjoys kissing mama and daddy with a nice, gummy and wide open kiss. mmm our favorite! :)

-her favorite binkies are Nuk's. only when falling asleep, though.

-she constantly gets ooo'd and awww'd over in public. people still think and ask if she's a two week old just based on her size haha obviously they aren't looking at her when she's cooing, smiling or holding her head up. that would be some talented 2 week old! people are silly.

TWO months old!

londeloo is two whole months. already!
i love her more and more everyday. which is crazy since every time i see her i feel like my heart will burst. how much love can one heart take?!

we went to the doctor's yesterday for her two month check up and she is growing fabulously! i'm so thankful for her health.

two month stats:
8 lbs. 12 oz.
21.5 inches

that's two pounds and two inches in two months! what a good little grower.
8th percentile in weight & 20th percentile in height. small, long and skinny. with just the perfect amount of "chunk" :)

all about london at two months old:
-still adores her hands & sucks on them all the time. especially when hungry.
-is still such a great nurser. and always on schedule! she started grabbing my shirt while feeding. her tiny little fist holding on for dear life always melts my heart. & i love how she looks at me while nursing. i think it's her way of saying "thank you, mama". :)
-has the cutest new cries and whimpers. and it has an ADORABLE little rasp to it. it kills me. these new cries really make her personality shine through. sometimes it's a little "ehhhh" while looking around. kind of like "ehh i'm bored." so we "stand" her up and she's happy as a clam!
-speaking of "standing", she still loves to do that and she is SO good at it! her head control is fabulous. you can tell she's so proud of herself, too.
-she turned over for the first time last friday! three times in a row! i was the only one to witness it :/ but she did it for daddy on sunday night :)
-still hates her car seat. but, my mom has been visiting (yay!) and we were at babies r us, and we spotted a cute little giraffe that plays 4 different sounds and it attaches to a stroller or car seat and this little gem works GREAT! she now cries only 50% of the time in the car compared to 90% without it. we love this giraffe and named him "raffie". :)
-she smiles like CRAZY! especially when she sees mama :) i love that she's a mommy's girl. and i love being her whole world. but, when daddy is home she is content as can be in his arms. it's only a matter of time until she's a full on daddy's girl so i'm soaking it up :D
-still LOVES LOVES LOOOOVES her baths! always without fail makes her so smiley and happy. one time, after screaming (and i mean screaming) in the car, i plopped her in her bath and she immediately stopped and was smiling away! she cries when we take her out, too. our little water baby.
-such a great sleeper. we give her her baths around 8, then she sleeps after that for about 1.5 hours, then wakes up to eat and play a little then goes back to sleep and i wake her up around 11:30 or 12 to feed then she always sleeps from midnight until 4 or 5, eats, sleeps until 8, eats, sleeps until 9:30, eats then plays for about half an hour then sleeps again until 11. i'm pretty spoiled, hoping she continues to be a great sleeper.
-we put her in her stroller forward facing without her car seat (remember, she hates her seat) and she was in HEAVEN! so much to look at and study. within 10 minutes she was conked out from the excitement :)

sigh...words will never be able to express our love for this little munchkin.
you're our world, london estelle!

xoxoxo

happy fourth!

this year was our fourth year celebrating the 4th of july. it was our very first holiday that we celebrated back when we were only dating a week or two. awww.
just another reason why july 4th is one of my most favorite days of the year!


we started the tradition of a family picture together [even though the first pic we weren't "family" yet.. :)]

first year: dating.

second year: married.

third year: new puppy.

fourth year: baby girl.

this year, charlie had to work the night of july 4th [which meant no fireworks for us. but that's probably better considering london might have gotten scared from the loud booms.] so, we celebrated during the day at bethany's house with a bbq then went to the park to snap some pictures of the cutest little american there is!

[this serious look of hers comes from me. i never realized how much i do this face until after i had her haha she only does it when she's studying something new. taking in the world. :)]

 ^her little bean shaped birth mark. :)

cousin loooove! melt my heart. madelyn just loves london.
i hope these two girls will be great friends growing up! they're only a little less than a year and a half apart and will only be one grade difference in school.

happy birthday, america!
we are so thankful and proud to be americans.

father's day.

this past father's day was charlie's first!
he was only a daddy for less than a month when father's day rolled around, but he already blew me away at what a wonderful father he is to our little one.
london is so unbelievably lucky to have a dad like charlie.
one that will always love her.
one that will always support her.
one that will always believe in her.
one that will always protect her.
one that will always give her his all.
one that will always be proud of her.
every single day of her life.

when charlie and i were dating, one of the reasons i fell for him was because i knew what a great dad he would be to our future children someday. and boy, was i right!

[let me tell ya- getting a tiny handprint on a baseball is hard work! it came out all smudgy, but still adorable. :)]

[our newborn is so talented. writing already. ;)]
[charlie knew exactly what he wanted for his father's day breakfast: french toast with bananas, sausage and fried eggs with high pulp orange juice. ]


charlie, i hope you had the best first father's day ever!
thank you for being london's daddy.