Wyoming

This past summer, Bailey and I had the opportunity to visit my family for almost a month. We spent most of the time in Wyoming, and about a week in Utah. One of the main reasons for the get-together was to welcome home my brother Greg from his tour in Iraq. It was the first time in a while that all of us siblings could be together. It was tons of fun!! I have way too many pictures from my time there, so these are just some of the best along with a few highlights from the trip.

Although traveling by myself with Bailey for the first time was extremely stressful for me, the trip was well worth it. It was Bailey's first time being around so many new people! She got to meet and hang out with her cousins, aunts, uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas. She really enjoyed this and everyone was so great with her.

Her cousin Abby was like a big sister to her and so helpful. Bailey would light up and smile when she came to play with her!

My Mom's house is where Bailey first experienced the Jumperoo! She fell in love with it and would jump forever back and forth like a boxer in that thing. We had to get one of our own for her when we got home. As you can see here, she jumped herself to sleep! (And no, I didn't really leave her in there that long...)

My sisters, Mom, and niece Abby, had fun trying on the dress-up clothes we grew up playing with. Surprisingly, they actually fit us now! These were all beautiful outfits that once belonged to my Grandma Wardle. Thanks Grandma!

Bailey had fun hanging out with Nonna. (And I was excited to get to go shopping with no baby a few times :)). Thanks for everything Mom! We really had fun at your house.

Oh, and here are some of my mom's crazy karate moves-watch out!! (told you they would show up on the blog he he)

So the big day finally arrived and we were pretty excited. The feeling of seeing Greg's plane land and having all the volunteers holding flags along the flight line was awe-inspiring and very reverent. Makes you so proud of the men and women in uniform who sacrifice to serve our country.

I don't think any of us were as excited as Greg!

Bailey had her first encounter with Crush the snake. Abby was pretty brave too!

One afternoon we went for a hike/walk to our favorite wilderness area, Vedauwoo! The windblown rocks are gorgeous.

This is my sister who is responsible for all the gorgeous pictures of Bailey (above)!

Oh Yeah...

...and beware of the Prairie Man!

Way Behind...AGAIN!

So I'm way behind with my blogging obviously, but until I can catch up with it all, here are some pics and a brief update!

I can't believe Bailey will be 9 months old next week. She is growing up too fast! Just this past week she started both crawling AND pulling herself up on everything. She has accumulated several bumps and bruises on her head to show for it. Keeping me on my toes for sure!

Check out her two front teeth!

And ya gotta love that hair!

We can't go anywhere without someone commenting on her awesome hair. Most people think it's static or that she just got out of the bath. I do spike it up with my fingers when it's drying but it will stay like that for days on its own. It fits her personality just right! Bailey has some spunk! She is full of life and eager to discover everything. She loves being around different people and usually has a smile for everyone. She is a very happy kid until it is time for a nap or bed (a struggle...). She loves to jump and be on her feet. She is a pretty silly girl I think! Lately, whenever she sees the cats, a dog, or little kids or babies, she squeals/screeches at them at the top of her lungs. It's a happy scream and quite funny. (Although my cats don't think so). She's a momma's girl these days but of course I'm with her 24/7. She misses her daddy (and he misses us terribly!) and we look forward to him coming home "permanently" in March. Although I have a lot more empathy for single moms now and don't know how they do it all the time (sometimes you just need a break!!) but I sure do love hanging out with my Bug!