These are the days of our lives...

It seems like the Lord knows that after a bad day, we MUST have a good day in return for all the stress and mishaps from the day before. We had a great day yesterday. I loved spending time with my little angels. We got to meet Mary Ellen, Rachel and Paul for pizza last night at Larry's Pizza- it was great! Kind of like a Stevie B's, but they have lots more variety and a little better quality. A great place for the kids to be noisy and play. I think Caroline and Mary Ellen were a little small for the game room, but they sure did enjoy all the yummy pizza and dessert we continued give them. Their clothes and faces were COVERED by the time we left, but that is a sign of a good time!

Tonight when we said our blessing before we ate Caroline and Mary Ellen held hands! It was precious. CGH kept trying to hold her hand through out the rest of the meal, but I think her hands were so nasty ME decided to decline. :)

So...this is a little unique, but it's becoming a routine at our house. When Emily wakes up from her nap and Caroline is awake we both go in to play. Caroline loves to lay in the crib and be as close as she can to Em for a little while. Then when I take Emily out to nurse, Caroline stays in the crib and plays...instead of wallering all over us in the rocker or running around pulling everything out of drawers/closets. Emily's crib is FULL of toys, books- anything to entertain CGH while she has to stay in there. She even took her snack with her yesterday. It's fun to watch.

We got out sidewalk chalk for the first time yesterday and decorated daddy's parking spot. Caroline mimicked me while I was drawing but I am not sure she realized what we were doing. She is getting there though. She liked the feel of the chalk. Thankfully Brad made it home before it rained and got to see our message.

Caroline was sporting her Polo shirt that Aunt Nik gave her. She looked precious and she LOVED seeing the little horse on the front. She and Nik played over and over with one of the horses on Niki's shirt last time they were here and Caroline remembered. You can see her in the next picture checking out the horse. Thanks Aunt Nik for our cool clothes!!

Video #1- Caroline has mastered the art of drinking from a big girl cup!!! Crazy how this happened. She started wanting to eat cereal in the mornings when she saw me eating some. So she has had a tiny little bowl and cereal with a tiny bit of milk in it for the past few days. Well she was eating the cereal first, and then would automatically pick the bowl up and drink the milk out of it. I do not do this...she has not seen me do this, she just did it! So after a few days of watching her skip the cereal and go straight for the milk I thought I would give her a glass of milk and see how she did. She did so well!! Of course after the drinking she liked to "dip" everything into it, but for the most part she can do it. This video is at lunch time- she is very serious about her food here, but she uses her cup. I'm so proud...but not ready to lose the sippy cups quite yet!

This morning when I checked on Emily I saw that she had wiggled all the way down her sleep positioner, turned sideways and rolled to her belly to sleep...all while being wrapped up like a mummy in her swaddler. Pretty snazzy moves for an 11 week old. So when we were playing this morning she showed us a new trick...with a little assistance, but made us cheer!!

Here is Caroline celebrating her artwork...well, her encouragement during mommy's artwork. She is starting to try and say "I love you" ...it sounds nothing like it, but she's at least trying. Watch her mouth at the very end of the video.

The Sweetest Thing

Toe tickles and red curls...

and a sleepy Sunday morning snuggle...

Mary Ellen turned 2!

Our friend Mary Ellen turned 2 on Saturday and Caroline got to go and enjoy her first birthday party! Rachel did an amazing job creating this beautiful "garden themed" party. They played, ate, opened presents, then crashed after a full day of fun! I can tell that Caroline is already looking forward to her birthday- she enjoyed all the presents, food, and celebrations as if they were for her. I think the Happy Birthday song was her favorite.

A girl after my own heart

Caroline may have you all fooled into thinking she's a bit of a tom boy. Yes, she loves playing rough, digging her fingernails in to the dirt, collecting rocks, and puppy dogs. But on the flip side, everyday is a spa day for Miss Caroline- baths, chocolate facials, water massage...take a peek.

Caroline had me so tickled the other night as she was waiting on her daddy to get home and give her her bath. She was running around in just her diaper and I thought she must be cold...she has a robe, lets put that on. Well, the robe was a bit small- But she looked so cute in it! Calling all her friends to chit chat

"Puh-leez get that camera out of my face mommy!"

Emily just watches...one day she will join in the fun.

"Ahhhh....I love life!"

Just me and my girls

I am so thankful my girls love me for who I am. They don't care that their mommy doesn't always get a shower, have make up on, have nice shaved legs, cook elaborate meals or have an immaculate house. Sometimes I even wear the same thing 2 days in a row. I have been sick the past few days and my sweet girls and I have survived inside just entertaining one another. I am overflowing with love for my little ones...as you can probably tell from all the posts I have put up recently. I want so desperately for our family and friends to be able to share the day to day joys that I get each day. Don't get me wrong...the days are also filled with struggles of MANY kinds, but love seems to cover all of those malfunctions at the end of each day.

I am falling more and more in love with Miss Emily everyday. Brad made the comment the other night that he felt like she was "really part of the family now". She is developing her own little personality and quirks that keep us smiling and laughing. She is simply beautiful...from her long eye lashes to her sweet little pouty lips. Her hair is hilariously gorgeous and often gets bows stuck in it that her sister won't wear. She is so verbal. She loves to coo and talk to us any chance she gets. She loves to lay and look at me and have conversations during her wake time. She seems a lot more verbal that Caroline was at this age. She is so smiley and happy during her "prime time" but then lets you know very quickly when that time is up and she's ready to be swaddled and laid back down. She likes to suck on her fingers and sometimes makes the LOUDEST noises doing it. I can't help but laugh out loud. Emily Anne, you are such a blessing to your family.

One of my greatest blessings in life has been having an older sister. I am SO thankful that I get to see Caroline and Emily enjoy one another as sisters. There is a bond like no other that sisters have- a best friend that you get to have your entire life no matter what. I love taking their pictures now because I know that years and years down the road they will be able to look back at them and know that this is when their friendship began. My sister and I used to always sing (and probably make up dances) to the song "Sisters" from the movie White Christmas. That song seems to be continuously playing in my mind when I see them together. They are blessed and don't even know it yet...but soon they will find out how much JOY they will bring one another.

Big sister at her finest...

Mommy lets me eat pudding all the time...by myself! (Why not? It washes off...and when else will you ever be able to smear chocolate pudding all over with out a single worry?)

I love rolls

I love rolls. I will let you guess which kind...
a)dinner rolls
b) rolls of film
c)baby rolls