my, how she's GrOwN!

ok, so here is Matilda in numerous photo shoots throughout the month of July (her second month of life!). You see, since it has taken me FOREVER to post all the pictures from Utah, we now are making up for lost time. So, even though I, as her mother, feel like each of these shoots should be their own post (because of the cute-ness factor), I will buckle down and post them all together for one POWerFuL-RoUnD-hOuSe-KiCk to your face and heart.
team, enjoy the goodness.

playin' around. discovering her tongue.

yaaawn. "it's tough work being so darling."

"yeah, i'm workin' it."

"tip your hat! the camera LoVes me."

"how 'bout this pose for glam?"

"daAAaad, quit messing with my hair. are you finished yet??"
p.s. aren't you all so impressed that aaron takes part in these shoots? yeah, talk about involved father!
do we suspect a future Pagaent father?? hA! not likely.

"i have a question... are we done yet?"

that's my little firecracker! LoVe this smile! One of the first REAL ones we caught.

Sick family picture on the 4th. All three of us were sick with a cold. This was taken at the end of the day just for "recording" sake. Our day was spent indoors sneezing, blowing noses (or sucking noses, in Matilda's case), and watching movies. Please don't take special notice of my lacking make-up and sportin' the scrounge look. I swear, at one point in the day I was ready. Oh well. In that shot above, Tillie is looking toward her bright future. Go America.

a little blurry, but I think she still looks so sweet with her sad sick eyes.
And, yes, I tried to make a firecracker bow... it was a little crazy and pieces kept flopping in her eyes.
Darn, still trying to harness that skill.
(oh, and yes, since i live in Texas now, I can use "rodeo/farm talk"
like "harness" in my everyday jargon. yee haw for that.)

Aaron thought it would be "rad" to create the Super Baby look.
I think I was supposed to crop him out of the shot, though. Sorry.
(but secretly not sorry, i think it looks funny).

And, take notice to Aaron's lack of facial hair.
He decided to take his Independence (yes, good pun) to a new level and shave his face without telling me. He does this all the time, walks out of the bathroom after being in there for a while, and comes out with a whole new look.
I am totally great with him making his "grooming" decisions, but I need a little warning.
It takes me a few days to recognize him after the transformation. But, in our many years together, I've noticed a trend, he shaves his head or face right after a big test. I think it is his way to decompress.
And, now, thinking back, he took his Boards exam the day before... so I should have anticipated the change!
Well, that's that. He looks great no matter what he does. And, I have to say, once our Mom's found out about it, they were cheering! I think we heard them all the way from Alpine. :) Now, back to the little cutie.

In the car on our way to a San Antonio Mission's Baseball game. She was SO happy in the car.
Too bad she doesn't like to prove that when I have the camera out.

It was GrEat weather for the baseball game. Here is one of their mascots.
Erin and I weren't sure if the other mascot was a green pepper, a green chili, an amphibian of sorts, or just a pickle.
Too bad I don't have a picture so you can help us decide.

We went to the game with Jake, Erin and little Luke Smith. It was pretty cool. We paid for the "grassy berm" section (whatever that means?) but saw empty seats in the Air-force section. Since Jake is almost full-blown Air-force, we thought "why not?" (Okay, really that much thought didn't go into it. They were open and instead of hoofin' it to the other side of the field, we sat down here!)


the big reason we went was for the FiReWoRks! We were sad that we didn't get to do them on the 4th, so here we are, making up for it! And, man, it was a GREAT show! We were all worried that after the game the 3 they shot up with the final hit was it... but, thankfully they had a big show with LOTS of great ones! Good work, Team Baseball People!


End of the night. Fireworks over, I'm super happy (and apparently sweaty for that matter)
and the headband has come off of Miss Tillie.
Wow. Nice shot. Oh, well. We were there and had fun. Thanks, Smith family!

looking confused in yellow.

she was whispering, "is it time for me to smile yet?"

ok, I am in love with this dress. we took MANY photos with it on. It matches her eyes PeRfeCtly.
love love love it. And, pretty dainty that she is crossing her legs on her own!?
I've already taught her the proper way to wear a dress. Man, I'm a good mom, right?

i'm such a sucker for her!

She wanted to make sure I recorded her doing her "Stayin' Alive" routine.
Remember, she may be little, but she still knows how to get her groove on.

and here she transitioned into the infamous "Sprinkler" move. wow. Go Tillie Go!

Too bad my fingers are in this one! (and they look a little sausage-like too. sick.)
---regardless, i am in LooooOVE with this picture. You can bet it will be framed.

***A special shout out to all the generous people in our life that provided this darling girl with such darling threads to wear. We are in love with all these outfits you've given us!! You know who you are, and we are SoOooOo grateful for your kindness!!!

So, there you have it. A few photo shoots of her second month of life. Pretty rad. Oh, and for "record's sake", she weighed in at 11 pounds and measured 22.5" inches. Apparently she is in the 50-75th percentile which means pretty "normal"--- but we all know that she is much more wonderful than "NoRmAL" right? Right. Glad we all agree.

Oh, and let's talk about her sleep schedule. This is a fun thing to report. We put her down to sleep around 10-10:30ish at night, and then don't hear from her until about 7:00 a.m. (just as the Today Show is starting. Matilda is in love with Matt Lauer and the gang). So, I feed her while we watch the morning's headlines and then I wrap her up and lay her back down and she drifts off to sleep on her own! Then she wakes up around 11:00ish. Now, if that isn't AmAzIng, then I don't know what is!?

Luckily, I, myself, have great sleeping talents and apparently it was passed down to her! Of all my skills that she inherited, this is a great one, don't you agree? Now, I know, many people say that their babies were great sleepers at one point and then totally switched gears (like when they started to get teeth)---so I am just BASKING in the goodness each day! Trying my hardest not to take it for granted. But, let's give THREE CHEERS to the Wonder Child.
Way to be, Tillie!! Hip, Hip HoORaY!