Happy Friday

Alright, here are a few picture updates! One evening as I was frantically trying to throw dinner together while entertaining both girls I had given Abbie this play dough to keep her busy and keep her busy it did! She rolled little "noodles" all over the kitchen floor and then somehow got it stuck like this in her hair...excellent styling gel for sure :-) And yes, that is the clip for my treadmill that she is playing with and you're right, she shouldn't be playing with it - that string is too long! However, it did allow for dinner to be prepared...;-)

Sing-a-long at Pottery Barn Kids. It was a great way to pass the morning! The music was really cute...the Mommies were dancing too :-)

My little helper. I was trying to get ready to take the girls to Abbie's first dental appt. (we found a pediatric dentist who was really good) and Isabel was fussing. I called out to Abbie to bring her a toy...and when I rounded the corner this is what I found! The entire basket of toys had been dumped for Izzie, she was covered in not one but two blankets, Abbie had put a bib on her (which Isabel, to her credit, had ripped right off) and Abbie was reading her stories. Anyhow, Isabel wasn't fussing, so my little helper really is a help!

One evening Abbie decided to teach her doll Baby Sign Language, as she has seen me teaching Isabel...it was pretty clever and she was actually quite a good little teacher...

Happy baby - that look just spells trouble though doesn't it?! Wait til she's mobile (big sigh from Mama!) She's already really good at grabbing things - watch the food on your plate - if Isabel gets too close she's so quick and will grab a handful. She shoved some of Alex's spinach salad into her mouth the other night...ahh...raw spinach. Our baby's first food ;-)

Isabel is getting far more mobile lately - here is a little video of a few weeks ago. She actually screams in frustration when she pushes herself backwards instead of being able to crawl forwards. Well, at least we know she's motivated! She was in for her 6mo. check-up today and she weighs 19lbs 12 oz! (note: This was Abbie's exact weight at 1 year! I love how different they are - although it does make sharing clothes more challenging!)

Here is a video of my personal chef - I really would recommend you all get one of these - the service is excellent!!

Okay, I'm off. I hear my two year old bouncing so hard in her crib that she may just break it. She's been choosing to skip some naps lately- instead entering that overtired/hyperstimulated state that is unique to Abbie (Isabel doesn't seem to do that in the same way) ...sigh...whatever I have done to deserve this, I shall not know. All you parents of kids out there who have ceased napping, I would like to know how you ever get anything done?! ;-) On the positive side...more time in the company of my girls is always nice...;-) Plus, bedtime is earlier so Mama and Daddy gets some time together...which is always nice too :-)

Bloggin' Drought

Ohmygosh. We have a serious case of blogging drought around here! It might have something to do with our recent adventures: Mama locking herself and the girls out of the house and the subsequent adventure of going to get Daddy's keys, Isabel's 6mo. "birthday," Abbie's first trip to the dentist, and we [almost] bought a house!! Yes, we think we kinda sorta bought a house...but now we're doing this negotiation thing...and if that doesn't work out so well, then maybe we didn't buy a house! At any rate, the whole process has been very exciting and we hope we can post pictures of OUR house very soon :-)

Anyhow, look back for pictures soon...

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

(Second blog today, see below for more updates/pictures! Can you tell both girls are napping right now?!)

We were lucky to have a visit from Grandma and Grandpa this past weekend! They braved the wind, ice, sleet, snow, rain and the possibility they wouldn't get much sleep to come visit us! It was great to see them and much fun was had by all...


Abbie and her reading buddy look at her magazine - Abbie insists they lay on the pillows and get all lined up before they settle down to read!

Family picture - yes, Isabel IS somehow sleeping...I think it's actually pretty warm and snuggly in that humongous snowsuit!



Grandpa! Just what are you using the cupholder on Abbie's DOLL stroller for?!!

Two smiley buddies having a great time hanging out

What a life! Do you SEE this?! One grandparent reading her a story, one grandparent spoon-feeding her and a sippy cup of juice to boot...hmm...how can I get in on this?!

"Grandma - this stylish new sweatsuit you brought me is GREAT! I love it..."

Here is a video of Abbie and Grandpa being penguins. I think they make great penguins - don't you?!

Some days at home

Well! It's been an eventful couple of weeks with house-hunting (LOTS of fun and big decisions!), visitors (very fun distractions from our usual routine!), teething (the bottom front two teeth are almost through!), and finalizing the potty training! (all done - except when sleeping cuz she's not supposed to get out of the crib ;-) Not to mention the snow, snow, snow...we've had fun with the wintery weather!

We had a visit from Katie's grandpa, cousin Billy and uncle Bob as they passed through Chicago for a hockey game - here is Isabel's great-grandpa enjoying a snuggle with her :-)



"These belong to ME?!! These are GREAT! Why did I not know about these before? Now...to work extra hard to get them into the mouth...bonus if there's leftover fuzz from my socks..."


Here are 8 out of the 11 babes born in 2007 to the labor and delivery RN's that I work with - Isabel just couldn't stop rolling for a second - she was just loving every minute of her new ability! It was fun to see all the mommies in the same place - it was hard to tell who had more fun - the babies or the mommies!

Fingerpaints! I finally got brave enough and brought them out of the closet...the box claimed they were washable - and know what? They were! After this shot we abandoned the paper and went with the table and our fingers for the chosen "medium" of our budding artist...it was dinnertime before I realized I hadn't gotten to wash the table down yet and it came right off...thank goodness :-) Just in case, I turned the heat up and we painted in our undies.

Oh, here is Isabel watching very intently during the painting session. I have no comment on the observation that it MIGHT be 11:30am and Isabel MIGHT be still wearing her jammies...:-) Aren't they cute though?



Uncle Dan came over for brunch one Sunday morning and Abbie just had to show him the view from her front window...who knows what she's pointing out but she found an intent listener in Uncle Dan! He then proceeded to play dollhouse with his very excited neice...thanks Uncle, bet you don't get to do THAT at the office!