She's Almost Got It

It doesn't last long, but she's almost got the hang of sitting up. Right now, she still falls over after about two or three seconds of this, but hopefully she'll make it there soon. She is so curious about everything Nina is doing that I think it drives her crazy to be laying down. She wiggles out of her papasan chair now, so there aren't many options left when we aren't holding her.

Nina is, by far, Lyla's favorite subject to watch!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

This afternoon we were all outside just enjoying the nice day. Mark had the hose out while watering the plants, cleaning the driveway, etc., and we let Nina have some fun running through the water and getting chased by the hose.

Lyla took it all in while chewing on her bee!

Makeshift T-Ball

Growing up, Mark was a big baseball player, so he decided to combine two of his favorite sports into teaching Nina t-ball. He cut down one of his old golf clubs and make a notch for the ball to sit on, hammered it into the ground, and then Nina got a chance to play t-ball.

She did a pretty good job!

The Un-Birthday Party

Today was the first un-birthday party of the year. The girls were ready to party, and since no on has a birthday in August, Mousey thought of having an un-birthday party. Before the party started, we got to meet Teagan (the baby Emme is holding) who is Emme and Ryleigh's new cousin...the girls in the family continue to multiply! The party started with all the girls getting a tiara. Even Lyla wore one, and the girls also got balloons and a bag of goodies.

Princess jackets and shirts were also included in the gift bag!!
Lyla watched most of the chaos with delight.
Then dress up time came, and everyone needed an outfit. Nina was a purple princess...
Emme was the butterfly queen...
And Ryleigh was, well, we're not really sure what Ryleigh was.
Then the dancing started,
...followed by lunch and cupcakes. This picture was right after Ryleigh put a handful of cupcake in my mom's hair. My mom was trying to clean up the floor around the table where the girls sat, and Ryleigh gave her a head full of cupcake crumbs and icing!
Then the chasing started (that's Ryleigh under the blanket).The un-birthday was great fun, and many thanks to Mousey for bringing such a fun party to Shenley's house!!!

A New Habit

Lyla is a maniac for cups. I can't drink anything now while I'm holding her without her trying to pull the cup to her mouth. She'll see a cup on the counter and start breathing really fast because she gets so excited for a cup!

A Bit of a Rough Patch

It's been a rough few days as both girls have been sick. Nina came down with a bug on Wednesday, and with as much as we tried to keep her from passing it to her sister, no luck...Lyla followed up by getting sick on Friday. Both girls are starting to feel better now, so that's good news.

On a brighter note, I tried the most tremendous cupcakes on Tuesday night. I was at a baby shower for a friend in DC before the game on Tuesday, and they had Georgetown Cupcakes at the shower. They were amazing! I'm going to have to make a trip there myself just to sample some more of the delicious flavors they have to offer. If you're in the area of M Street, I would definitely recommend dropping in and sampling a few!

Haymarket and Alone Time

When Mark was out of town this past weekend, the girls and I dropped by Haymarket for a couple hours one evening. My mom took these pictures of Nina. She is becoming more adept at driving the Jeep - with high heels on, of course.

She's already perfecting her walk. High heels down a gravel road is no small feat!
Lyla reveled in some alone time this afternoon. Mark was home from work, and Nina was napping, so Lyla had the attention of both parents (without the interference of her sister). She loves attention, and was quite enthralled with some daddy time this afternoon.


My heart belongs to daddy...

Just Thought These Were Cute

Nina was in the front yard yesterday trying to reach the leaves on the tree branches and was having a lot of fun just entertaining herself with that, so I grabbed my camera and got a few pictures.

5 Months Old

Lyla turned five months old yesterday. In a way, it's hard to believe that so much time has passed already. She is such a happy, sweet little baby, and she has just fit into our family with such ease.

She loves watching Nina, loves attention, and is starting to really make her voice heard (literally) when she wants to be part of the fun.

The other little girl in the family also loves attention and being part of the fun, but, thankfully, she's accepted that Lyla and she share the spotlight now. We hope that they'll be great sisters and friends!

So You Think You Can Dance?

I'm not sure about you, but I think Emme and Nina think they can dance pretty well. Shenley and I have my mom to thank for this song the girls are dancing to. It's called the Hampster Dance, and the girls love it. My mom burned them a CD with this song on it, and Ryleigh, Emme, and Nina will gladly challenge anyone out there to a dance off if they dare. My only question is where did Emme learn her moves from...Garland, perhaps?

What Would You do to Kill an Hour?

For us, this morning, it was going on a treasure hunt. After breakfast, Nina wanted to go on a treasure hunt, and since pirates wear hats and boots, this is the outfit she ended up with (who knows why the pink feathered boa came into play). So, with treasure map in hand, and Lyla and I in tow, we looked for treasure.
Her "clues" were fruit snacks that I hid in my pocket and randomly threw on the sidewalk as we were walking. And for those of you thinking, "She let her child eat off the sidewalk?????????", the answer is yes, and if you watch the Food Detectives, you'd know that the sidewalk is cleaner than your kitchen floor!
Our treasure hunt was fun, and it killed off the hour that we had to waste. A little kid's imagination is a pretty cool thing.

Girls in the House

12 to be exact... 6 little ones...
...and 6 big ones.



It's been 10 years since we all graduated from JMU, and even though we're living in four different states, we do our best to get together whenever we can. Yesterday, we got together for the day at our house. While a lot has changed since our days as college girls, a lot has stayed the same, and I'm so thankful for great girlfriends!