Happies

- Ryan and I went on a date! It has been about 6 months since our last date.

- We saw Inside Out. Probably my new favorite Pixar film. Going in, I had no idea it would make me so emotional- I should have known, it's a movie about emotions. After the first scene I knew I was in trouble. I cried at the beginning, middle, and end. Pixar, you've done it again.

- Holly and Ruby came to play!

- I've discovered The Fashion Citizen YouTube channel, and it's one of my faves now. Vlogs are strangely enjoyable- it's like hanging out with someone. A little one sided, maybe.

- Ryan's cousin was getting rid of a bunch of stuff and I scored some "new to us" baby toys! I think Gwen has gotten bored of her toys, so I was planning on buying her some more, just to keep her occupied while we're stuck indoors during the unbearable summer days. I'm glad I don't have to, now! The new toys are electronic, so I get to listen to the same phrases and songs on repeat all day, but I don't even mind that much if it keeps Gwen occupied.

- It was cool enough to go on a walk this evening- under 90 degrees! And I was so happy to get out of the house after being such a homebody this weekend.

- We came across a dog wearing shoes on our walk. Too cute!

- Nate Reuss's new album. I've only listened to a few songs so far, but it'll be playing allllll week.

I'm so glad I remembered to post this happy list; it cheered me up. This weekend was not the funnest- Ryan had a three day weekend, but on Thursday night he started to feel sick. So we didn't get to go out to celebrate the 4th. It's alright, because there will always be more holidays to celebrate later. 

Houpt Family Portraits 2015

Here we all are in June of 2015. We've grown by 3 babies since the last time we were all together, putting our number at 21. It has been so fun being a part of this big family for the past 4.5 years. I've gained 4 sisters and 6 brothers, not to mention a second set of excellent parents. It will be exciting to see how big we'll grow in years to come. Here are some of my favorite captured moments from this session.

This may be my all time favorite photo of Ryan and I to date.

All photos by Ashley Rose Hamilton Photography.

Nine Months

Ok, so I'm cheating this month by using some of the family photos that my sister took instead of photos that I should have taken of Gwen. This month has been busy. Gwen babbles up a storm, crawls everywhere and gets into everything, and she's laughing a lot more, which is the best. She laughs a lot when I chase her, or when she's at the top of the stairs behind the baby gate and Ryan or I will crawl up the stairs. She goes nuts. Up until this month, I thought that Gwen's weird behaviorisms were simply just "babyisms." Nope, she's actually just crazy. Gwen eats a lot of different foods, now. I'll be sure to keep track of what she likes and dislikes for the next update. So far, there are few foods that she doesn't like.
I feel like Gwen is starting to understand me when I talk to her... sometimes. Other times I'll be repeating the same thing over and over in a stern voice and it just doesn't register at all. I guess she's still pretty young for that. (?) She also has so many cool facial expressions, now. Check out this gem of a photo, for instance. All these cousins have great expressions.

All photos by Ashley Rose Hamilton Photography 

Kiss the Chef

Hey! Long time no blog. I was at a family reunion in Albuquerque the week before last, and then I was sick all last week and didn't feel like doing ANYTHING. So that was a bummer.

Ryan's sister had a birthday during our reunion and her husband surprised her by taking us all to a cooking class that night. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was much more fun than I imagined it would be. The food we prepared was probably the best New Mexican food I've ever had. Maybe I just feel that way because I was able to appreciate every step of the process. No matter, it was still the best. My favorite thing we made were the chile rellenos. If I could go back in time, I'd eat more than just one.

We learned a few good cooking tips! I'd love to go take another cooking class again one day. 

Happies

Some little things that have made me happy since I last, last blogged-

-When Gwen is tired and does this little falling thing- she crawls a few steps and then collapses, gets up and does the same thing a few more times until I scoop her up.

-When we thought that there was a little crab at the bottom of Ryan's co-worker's pool during our Memorial Day barbecue. We made him go in the pool to see if it was real/dead. (None of us were swimming.) We all circled around the pool to see. It ended up being a little plastic toy.

-Buying cute things for Gwen's room.

-Zumba. You guys. I twerked. Or at least tried to.

-The soundtrack to The Fault in Our Stars.

-Watching The Perks of Being a Wallflower with the commentary on. All the main actors and the author of the book chat it up and it made me love the movie even more. When the author says that he likes the movie adaptation more than his own book, you know it's a good one.

-That one night when Gwen slept for 7 hours straight! I woke up realizing I didn't have to tend to her once that night and thought, "Oh my gosh, is she dead??"

-Working on my talent for the little talent show we're having at the Houpt family reunion. 

8 Months

These photos are a month late! We have moved into a bigger place since I last blogged, and we didn't have wifi for two weeks. And then once we finally got it, I was feeling especially lazy about updating the blog. It was a nice little hiatus. 

Gwen is now 9 months but here she is at 8 months- 

She has sprouted 4 teeth in the span of like, 2 weeks. We have stairs in our new place, so we've been baby-proofing left and right. 

Attempting outfit photos again

I feel like I had to rediscover my sense of style after I had Gwen. There were only so many things that still fit me, postpartum. It's not so fun having nothing to wear that makes you feel confident, when all you want to do is feel confident in yourself as a new mother. When Gwen was a few weeks old, my mother-in-law came to visit. I expressed my (physical and spiritual) need for new clothes, so off to Target we went. That first shopping trip post baby, with the help of Ryan's mom, was just what I needed. I remember feeling rejuvenated with my stack of new clothes, including a nursing friendly dress. There are so many stylistic sacrifices to be made if you choose to breastfeed.
Although I initially revamped my wardrobe, I still wasn't feeling up to recording my outfits like I once had. I honestly kind of forgot about outfit posts and instead obsessed over photo after photo of my cool, new baby. But lately I've missed this aspect of my blog. I remembered how fun it is to get ready, pick a location, take photos with my tripod (or with the help of my husband)- the whole ordeal. As you can see, the location of these photos is not the coolest. I hope to find some neat (hopefully secluded) locations around town to take photos. I realize that once the summer heat hits us I may not want to take as many photos outside, so we'll see how this goes.