Chasing "utterflys"

We've enjoyed some off & on sunshine the last few weeks and Abby's new backyard friend is this cute little white butterfly that floats in and out of our yard. Of course I couldn't get him in the shot, but here she is chasng him. She can't or doesn't put the "b" in butterfly, so she calls them "utterflys". Oh the cuteness of being innocent and 2!

Ahhh....napping

If only we all napped in a comfy swing.....mid-day nonetheless!! She had a rough day battling some constipation, so this was a much needed break (for both of us!!).

ABC's....Abby-style

Abby LOVES to sing....in fact Mike and I laugh at the funny times & places she chooses to do it. Most times at home, but other times in public randomly! Her favorite tunes are "ABCs", "Twinkle Little Star", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Old MacDonald". So far ABCs are the only one I've caught on tape.

Princesses Dancing

One of Abby's favorite things to do lately is pretend play with her princesses. So she puts them together two at a time and pretends they are dancing. She also sings her own made-up (mostly gibberish) song along with it because of course they need music to dance to!

Its close to "that time"!

Well, we are definitely getting closer to some serious potty training. I'm not at all eager to tackle this challenge, but its one of those "have to do it sometime" learning experiences, so I figure the sooner the better. I plan to do it full force after our travels in April, in the hopes that she is done by end of summer or sooner. We shall see how it goes. She has all of the "devices" and has tried a few times, with no result. We are at the point now that she tells us EVERY time she does #2.....so I'm hoping she is uncomfortable in it! And we read a "potty" book each nap & bedtime, so I hope it will all click in a month or so!
I just have to grin and bear it (and clean up the aftermath of wet floors and more laundry).

Right now she thinks the big deal is holding the toilet paper!!! I love her so much I just giggled the other day when she asked to sit on the potty, then was screaming from the potty asking for "mommy paper". I just obliged and gave her some!

"Mommy, Ducks!!"

Abby was so funny last night. I was in the kitchen making dinner and she ran in from the playroom repeating what I thought was "mommy dog mommy dog", which I thought meant for me to find her toy dog that is not more than 3 inches long. Well after pulling on me I finally followed her to the window and realized she was saying "mommy duck"! Ahhhhhh there were ducks in our front yard and she noticed them all on her own! So observant these days. So Mike took her out on the front porch to observe! Too cute. She loves pointing things out.

Maddy & Daddy's Nose

Getting pinchy! She has a tight grasp these days, and got daddy's nose.

Moments just hanging around the house

Miss Sleepy Head! Luckily she is pretty good and transplant sleeping from my arms to a soft place!

And then there's poor Roxy. She finally starts feeling better (after her run-in with some back issues) and Abby goes and decorates her with a purse! Nothing new in this house....the dog is just another child/playmate!! Luckily she is very submissive with Abby.

BIG SIS & LIL SIS!!

I finally found some cute matching "sister" shirts. Abby's is a PJ set, but she wore the shirt all day today anyways! Too cute! And I even managed to get them both looking at me in a photo! Amazing!!

I love how Abby is pointing to the words! This was her first night wearing her new special pj's!

Maddy Girl

Sleeping on daddy......and on our bed!

Bath Time

Abby's 1st real bath post-surgery! She had fun bathing behind the shower curtain for the first time. She is a shower-aholic though these days. She begs each morning to shower either with me or alone. If it didn't waste so much water I'd let her do it more often.

Lots of giggles & laughs these days!

Cute video of Maddy

Carpooling Fun

For playgroup today we went up to Newport News to see the Virginia Living Museum (very cute) And my girlfriend Jen and her kids (Abby & PJ) carpooled with us in our car.

So it was a full car load and a lot of fun. The little ones shared the stroller at the museum.

Maddy's first bites!

At Maddy's 4 month check-up last week her doctor said she was ready to start cereal and fruits/veggies at anytime. So....we gave it a go!

At first it was a "yucky face", but on day 3 she gobbled it ALL down!

AND even better, she had her best nights sleep last night after a full belly (crossing my fingers tonight is a repeat since she ate even more). She slept 10 hours straight from 7pm-5am, then after nursing she slept 3 more hours!

Trying out her new high chair for size.
FIRST BITE!

Mom...what are you putting in my mouth???!! (add the gag sound!!)

Roxy's thinking...."hmmm.....another kid who eats!! YES!!!! Soon it will all be MINE!!!"

Awwww.....just cute with a messy face

And asleep!

Daddy & Maddy

Waking Daddy up! And holding his finger tight.

Survived the Hospital

Well, we survived ear tube surgery #2! We are all just glad it is behind us now and we can move on with our spring & summer activities!!

Here are some photos from the pre-op room while we waited for the doctor to arrive!

Abby's doing great! And woke up this morning 100%, just a little cranky through the day, but still not that abnormal from just being 2!! Hard to distinguish the difference at times.

What a look!

Abby is always up in Maddy's face! She seems to think the only way Maddy will hear her and see her is if she's LOUD and UP-CLOSE!!! I try to convince her otherwise, but it goes in one ear and out the other....like most things I say these days....oh the 2's!!! Nonetheless, Maddy is always entertained!

Daddy's back!

SO CUTE!

Out to dinner (with a mouth full of bread)

"CHEESE" Sharing a hotdog at Costco

Magnet Girl

So Abby has enjoyed learning how magnets work in the last few months, and the other day she decided Maddy might like some magnets too! So as I cooked dinner and had Maddy in the kitchen with me, Abby adorned her seat with 10+ magnets saying "here you go Maddy"!!

LOOK Who's 4 months old....ALREADY??!!!??

Our little snuggle bug is 4 months old now! And getting cuter and more alert each day!

She went to the doctor today for her checkup and got 2 shots!

Here are her stats: 15 lbs 2oz, 25.5" long! 80th percentile for both!

Her favorite toy right now is her fist, and she is working very hard to try to suck her thumb, even though we hope she doesn't figure it out (she still loves her pacifiers!!). She LOVES her big sister, and loves going for long walks in our new stroller! Seems to be where she sleeps the best!

4 MONTH Photo Shoot by Mommy

Together again.....tomorrow!

Well Mike finally returns tomorrow morning from his 8 week hiatus for work and we pick him up at 9am......COUNTING DOWN THE HOURS!!!!

I am so excited for him to see the girls of course and vice versa, but just for us to feel normal again and have him walk in the door each night after work...oh the little things.

Thank you to my visitors over these last trying 8 weeks while Mike was away training for work. The girls and I really appreciated the distraction, the help, and the company!

On top of our already busy weekly schedule of preschool, library storytime, and Navy playgroup, we managed to fit in a visit from my college roommate with her kids from DC, a weekend visit from Grandma Donna, and a weeks visit with the Reiss Great Grandparents!
And if that doesn't seem like enough to squeeze into 8 weeks, we topped it off with 5 trips to the doctor for Abby's ear infections (which is still ongoing.....arrrgggg) and scheduled ear/adenoid surgery for next Friday March 12th with the ENT!! Much anticipated just to get ahead of this ear trouble once and for all (for this year at least....fingers crossed it lasts longer than last time!!!) and hopefully enjoy the spring & summer to come!

Oh yeah.....and it snowed 5 times!!!! The snow was my least favorite visitor and is certainly not invited next time!!

Happy weekend......I know ours will be great!!! I think I will take a nap at some point to decompress (close enough to a vacation these days!!!!!)

Yes, it happened AGAIN!!! YUCK!

Did I mention I am officially NOT a fan of living in snow.....and its March!

I need some sunshine, even if the temperature only tops 55 or 60, that would be a relief!

This morning I woke up to WAY more snow than anticipated. Around 3am there was some slush on the cars, but no snow accumulation. Just shows the difference 4 hours can make to my surprise. Its supposed to stop by noon. But this is our 5th snowfall in 8 weeks!

A sucker for cute shots!

The fun & interaction of having two adorable girls never seems to end!

Abby sharing her dolls.....3 of them! Maddy was a bit overloaded.

All propped up to watch tv with big sissy!

Look, I can sit in my jumperoo!! But my hand is still my favorite toy!

So much fun.....Abby loves it too....maybe more at this point. She screeched when she woke up from her nap and saw this new contraption assembled in the living room-- I had to beg her not to play with until Maddy was up to avoid more noise!

Maddy ADORES Abby and lights up when she sees her....proof in the above photo

Sisterly love

Abby's probably saying her new phrase "hi, I abby"