French Braids

Natalie actually sit still and let me French braid her hair yesterday afternoon (while she watched Super Why!) We were both really pleased with the results! :) I can't believe how much older she looks though!

9 Months

Well, I was late in taking Miss Mollie's 9 month photo, and now I'm even later in posting it! During the past month, Mollie has started crawling and pulling herself up on things. She LOVES being mobile, especially when it involves chasing Natalie around the house. Natalie's definitely a trooper - getting down on Mollie's level and crawling with her! They are so adorable together!

It's so exciting to watch this point in Mollie's life. She's showing more and more personality, and just gets sweeter each day. She seems to be more attached to me than Daddy's Girl Natalie was, which is kind of neat for me, I won't lie. :) We think she may have started giving some "kisses" over the weekend, but it's not especially consistent. I loooooove it when they start doing that, so I seriously can't wait!

It is totally and completely insane to me that Mollie is only 3 months (well, 2.5 at this point) away from her first birthday! I have been planning her party in my head, but I need to start really getting some ideas. The way time flies, it will be here literally before we know it!

Natalie and Mollie are having more fun together than I could have imagined at this point. They play peek-a-boo in the car, and they play a game that Natalie has entitled "Jumperoos," which is basically a type of peek-a-boo where Natalie puts a blanket over Mollie, then pulls it off and says, "Jump-a-roo, Jump-a-roo, Jump-a-ROO!" to the tune of Mollie's giggles.

Last week, they were crawling around in the kitchen, chasing each other and having fun when Natalie disappeared. I knew she'd gone into her room, and after about two minutes, I called her across the house. She said, "I in my roooooom!" I said, "I know, but what are you doing in there?" She replied, "I waiting fa Mollie. She gonna come chatch me." I looked down at Mollie, chewing on a toy she'd just discovered, blissfully unaware that she was part of a game of Hide & Seek. So I scooped her up, and both of us went to "chatch" Natalie.

Sunday evening was the close of a rough day. No one had been sleeping too well the past few nights, Mollie wasn't napping well, and she just didn't seem to be happy. Brad had been playing with the girls, and I started hearing extremely excited giggles and squeals. Eager to see what all the excitement was about, I went into the living room, and to my surprise, I found Brad sitting on the couch - alone. He said that the girls were chasing each other and having THAT much fun going from room to room, all on their own. I had totally assumed that he was tossing them in the air or inventing some super-fun new Daddy game. YAY for sisters having fun with each other!

And here are a few of Natalie with the pink bear, because isn't only fair that they both have a turn? :) I am definitely not turning her down ANY time she WANTS to look into the camera! :)

I know this looks really odd, but she's belting out one of her famous Disney tunes, and it's just classic Natalie. :)

For the Birds

So tonight, we went to the "big park" in town and walked the 2 mile track with the girls in the double stroller (joovy caboose - love it!). In one area, there is a large pond that kind of trickles out into a stream on one side. I saw these black birds that had bright red shoulders. I thought they were really different, so I was pointing them out to Brad. After a minute, Natalie starts pointing, and saying, "I want one." We have no idea what she's talking about. She says, "I want one a dose. Wight here." She still appears to be pointing out towards . . . the birds. We then realize that she has pushed up the sleeve of the arm she is "pointing" with . . . and also realize that she's not pointing, she's sticking her arm out so the bird can come land on it. I think someone's been to the new Lorakeet adventure at the zoo a few too many times lately. ;) Add that in to a fondness for Cinderella, and voila! Birds totally just come sit on your arm if you want them to. Obviously! Right?

Natalie Love

Just a few photos of Natalie that I took last week that I love. :) If you follow my 365 blog, you've seen all but this first one. If not, here's that blog: http://sarah-365.blogspot.com/ Just a little project I'm doing to improve my photography skills. :)

And a really cool one of Brad & Mollie. :)

Looookie Here!!

A couple days ago, I submitted a little story and photo on a blog that I love - Kelle Hampton's Enjoying the Small Things - as a submission to win a beauuuuutifully cool Mother's necklace. To my thrill and surprise, she posted my entry yesterday on her site! That certainly doesn't mean that I'll win the big prize, but at the risk of sounding like an Oscar nominee, "It's just an honor to be nominated!" Woo hoo! You can click here to see the whole post (she's posted a few submissions for the last few days, the two from this post are not the only ones), but I'll also add it here:

Life happens here in our toddler's bedroom. Love has been literally stroked onto its walls, having been painted no less than three times over two days by a loving daddy, at the urging of an expectant mama, both determined to find the perfect shade of pink for the arrival of our firstborn. Currently it's my favorite place to watch as our two daughters are united and we can just see love and friendship blooming in their hearts . . . in this room sweet and silly books are read and giggled over before naptime and lingered over after naps. It's here that bedtime tales have been shared nearly every night by adoring parents, who are still finding it a little difficult to believe that they could have been this blessed.

EASTER! aka The One Where I Post Possibly More Photos Than Ever Before

We had such a great Easter! It was positively chock-full of people we love, which is my favorite part of any holiday celebration. The day was overflowing with food in pots and bowls and plates (and sometimes on the carpet), babies in bellies and on hips and laps and even learning to crawl on cool linoleum floors, and children running and hunting and singing and gaming and bubble-blowing and hide-and-go-seeking. It was full of chatting, catching up, trading kid stories, baby advice, watching the youngest generation connect with each other, reminiscing, and even discussing some favorite TV shows. It was warm and humid and sticky, but I hope I don't speak for myself when I say that a wonderful time was had by all. :)

There's so much more that could be said, but I think I'll attempt to let the photos speak for themselves.

Oh, with one addition. KIM!!! How did I not get pictures of you and Tommy? I guess you and I just stay behind the scenes and behind our cameras. I just wanted to make sure that you know your presence was certainly FELT and ENJOYED! Muah!

Eggs!

Today we dyed eggs for the first time ever. Natalie did really well with it, and we only had one small catastrophe. Leeeeeet's just say the orange dye didn't last long, and somewhere in our home, there might be an Elmo nightgown, one pair of white socks, and a few dishtowels soaking. Maybe. And that could explain why Natalie is sans-shirt in many photos. But a good time was still had by all. Mollie enjoyed snacking on cheerios while Natalie and I painstakingly (or, ok, maybe not-so-painstakingly) decorated one dozen eggs. We attempted to do a baker's dozen, but I just couldn't fit 13 eggs into the pan.