2 Years and 2 months

Nina is now two years old, and Lyla is two months old. While both are obviously at very different stages in life, they are seeming to adjust better to each other now. Nina is still very active and talkative. She has a pretty vivid imagination, and we're noticing that a lot more now that she is able to vocalize what is on her mind. Just yesterday, we went for a walk outside, and she picked up some small colored rocks and carried them the whole way calling them duckling eggs. When we got home, we made a nest for the duckling eggs, and now the nest is in her room waiting for the eggs to hatch! Even though she has many toddler moments, she has a sweet spirit and is starting to enjoy being a big sister.
Lyla continues to be a great baby. She smiles and baby talks most of the time when she's awake, and, while she has her fussy time in the evening, it really is quite minimal. She sleeps around 11 hours a night, and we really couldn't ask for more. After such a tough time with Nina as a baby, we're very thankful for an easy baby this time around as it has certainly made the transition to two kids a lot easier!

Happy Birthday, Nina!

Nina turned two years old today! It's hard to believe. The time truely has flown since her first birthday, and it was a lot of fun to celebrate with her this year as she really got that having a birthday means a very special day!

She started by opening some presents after she woke up.

She wanted to paint her toenails so badly since I was painting mine. Since it was her birthday, she got to also!
We took her to Chuck E. Cheese this evening for pizza and games/rides.

Then she got to come home, blow out her candles, and...
EAT CAKE!!!!! She gets to celebrate again on Sunday with some friends, so this has been quite the birthday week!

Pre-Birthday Celebration

Ryleigh turned 1 year old yesterday, so we got to celebrate her birthday over the weekend. Since everyone in my family won't be here when we celebrate Nina's birthday this weekend, Nina got to open some presents early. She got an awesome tricycle from Mousey and Poppy.
She got a beautiful princess dress and princess accessories from Auntie Shen, Uncle G, Emme, and Ryleigh.
And, of course, the girls got to eat cake!
It was a great time!

Messy Eater and Lyla's Check-up

This is reason #1 why we don't eat out at restaurants much anymore. Aside from being a very picky eater, Nina can tend to be a bit messy with her food. Normally, this face painting in ketchup isn't allowed, however my attention was distracted while she was eating, hence the attention getting display with ketchup. I hesitated to even get my camera out, as I didn't want her to think I was encouraging this type of eating, however, Mark is gone on a trip, and there is no real way to adequately describe our dinner experience. In this instance, a picture truely is worth a thousand words.Moving on to the more routine...Lyla just got her 2 month check up and is doing great. She is still long and thin, but she is healthy and happy. All reports say that she looks very much like Mark. Her eyes are bluer than Nina's were before her's changed, so she just may keep Mark's same eye color as well.

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day yesterday. Mark and the girls treated me to roses, a gift card to get a massage, and Chanel perfume - all I need to feel quite pampered! My dad and Mark planned a great dinner for my mom and I, and my mom, dad, and Bo came over for the evening to finish off celebrating Mother's Day. It was a great day, and aside from the gifts and special treatment, it's a true gift in itself to have two wonderful girls, and it's a priveledge be able to watch them grow up together.

Here are Nina and I before church.

Relaxing that afternoon with Lyla.
Nina does a great job of getting Lyla to smile.

Nina loved having Mousey, Poppy, and Uncle Bo over that evening.
She even got to try on Poppy's glasses. All in all, it was a great Mother's Day! Thanks, Mark, Nina, and Lyla!

Nice Faces of the Week

This is the face for, "Stop trying to take my picture!" This is the face for, "I've just created a massive present for you in my diaper. It will require an immediate change of outfit and bath as the whole right side of me is now covered in my massive present."
Nina and her friend, Abby, were at the park, and Abby's mom and I were trying to get them to smile for a picture. This is the face I get when you ask her to say "cheese" for the camera. If we want nice pictures, I think we'd better come up with a different prompt to get her to smile. To get the full effect, click on the picture to make it bigger.

8 Weeks Old

Lyla turned 8 weeks old today. She's really been growing and changing a lot. She is often very wide eyed and likes to see what's going on. She is a healthy and fairly easy baby still. She's been sleeping through the night consistently for about two weeks now, and Mark and I know we are very spoiled in that way.

French Fries With Poppy

One of the rituals my dad has developed over the years since having grand daughters is taking the girls to McDonalds for lunch. Nina loves it and thoroughly enjoys her french fries and, now, ice cream cones. Every time I mention we're meeting Poppy, she keeps saying over and over, "french fries Poppy". Needless to say, it's a big treat.
Enjoying her first ice cream cone...

Singing ABCs

Our personal favorite was how enunciated the letter "X" was...watch and see.

DC United Game

Last night, I was at the game with the girls who did OK for the first half, but all things started to unravel the second half. There were some highlights to the game though. Second to her daddy, Nina's favorite DCU human (if that sounds weird, keep reading the post) is Ben Olsen. Ben and his wife, Megan, are expecting their first child, a little girl also, in November, so they were getting a little girl time with Nina and Lyla. So, above all things associated with DC United, Nina's favorite, by far, is the mascot, Talon. Mark asked Talon if he would come up and visit us in our seats during the game, and Talon's visit MADE Nina's night. She can't stop talking about it!
If you didn't get to see the game but want to see some great goals, click on the link below and select Highlights. Don't stop watching early because they saved the best goal for last, and if you like great goals, you'll love the last one by Marcelo Gallardo.
http://dcunited.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080426&content_id=153224&vkey=news_dcu&fext=.jsp&team=t103

Or if you just want to jump straight to Gallardo's goal, go here and scroll down to the video.

www.behindthebadge.com

Fashion Show

Today, Nina and I were part of a fashion show that a friend's marketing company was putting on. Her company was marketing clothing products that companies could purchase and personalize with their logo, event, etc., and dress Nina was wearing and the jacket and shirt I was wearing were part of the product line. While it was a cute experience for Nina, I think I aged about five years in the process of the several hours we were there!

Clean as a Bean (or two)

Mark and I have taken to giving both girls baths at the same time. When Nina was an infant, we always used the baby tub in the sink, but now that we're giving Nina a bath anyway, we just put Lyla in there with her, and it seems fun for both of them. Last night after their bath, they both wanted to lay with their dad on the couch. I know I won't be able to catch this with my camera anytime soon, but Lyla gave the biggest smile this morning (not related to passing gas!). She also has started cooing and making lot lots of cute baby noises at different objects she likes.

So Stylish

We had some friends over for dinner last night, and my friend, Mary, had just come from a baby shower in which she was dressed up for. While she was changing, Nina got her matching shoes and purse and decided to wear them. Even though she picks up worms and kisses fish, there is no doubt in our minds that this little girl also loves to be all girl!

Sharing Attention

There are times when it seems like the battle for attention will never end...

...then there are times when all seems good in the world of sisterhood. How many of you sisters out there can identify? :)

Fun at the Playground

Nina met up at the playground today with her buddy, Casimir. It was such a beautiful day to be outside, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Lyla was there, but she was sleeping in her stroller, so she missed out on most of the fun. We're excited that the beautiful weather is almost here to stay!