An Adventurous Morning

It was such a beautiful day here today, so I decided to take the girls out for an adventure morning. It was really for Nina's benefit, but Lyla enjoyed the time outdoors as well. The plan was to fill her bag with all the cool things we found on our adventure walk... Here are some of the things she collected, however the most exciting thing we found all day was...
...a lost dog!! As we were finishing our adventure walk, a little dog came running towards us after just crossing a busy 4-lane road. He seemed friendly enough, so I called him over, and noticed that he had a collar with a tag on it. We waited a bit, but there was no owner in sight following behind him, so I had my cell phone on me and called the number on the tag. We were able to reach the owner who met us at the park to pick up Georgio (the dog). I was kind of excited to see the reunion of Georgio and owner, however, the reunion was less than joyous! Evidentally, Georgio is a bit of an escape artist and this wasn't the first time Georgio's owner had gotten called out to come pick him up. Oh well, at least Georgio is home...for now.

Father's Day

We enjoyed a very nice Father's Day on Sunday. Mark started the day by getting up in the 4:00 hour to meet Mike Clarke for several hours of fishing. They got back around noon, and Megan and I had made a nice brunch for everyone - very delicious. We continued the day later with my family who came over for dinner. Of course, the girls loved playing with each other, and the guys were hooked on the US Open golf tournament.

I thought this picture was cute because it really looks like Lyla and Nina are talking to each other. Lyla is just about done holding herself up!
Nina wanted to wear my flip flops all day, and the bottom of the shoe is what you see in the picture!




Shenley, Garland, and the girls arrived after we took these pictures, but that is when the real fun began. The girls played hard all evening, and when I took this video it was well past their bed time. They were running like this for over 30 min. straight (the reason why little Ryleigh is staggering a bit trying to keep up with the big girls). Who ever said that girls are quiet and calm never visited our house!

Funny Comment

Nina and I were sitting on the couch together, and I had just finished with my shower, blow drying my hair, etc., and she touches my hair and says, "I like your hair, Mommy. It's so brave."

At the Pool

As I stated in the previous post, Nina is really enjoying the pool this summer. Yesterday, we took the girls over. Lyla and I grabbed a spot under an umbrella, and Mark and Nina had some fun in the water.

We're Back!

The camera arrived yesterday after being delayed by weather and train derailment (or so said the tracking info.), so we're back to picture postings now. There has been a lot that I have missed since my camera went for a tumble. Lyla rolled over for the first time, she laughs a lot more than just a single "ha" now, and it's really quite funny. Also, she turned three months old on Sunday of this past weekend.


We gave an attempt at potty training with Nina, but she didn't want to have anything to do with actually doing anything in the potty, so that is on the back burner for now. We've also missed some great opportunities for photos of her at the pool. She has loved going this summer. Unfortunately, Lyla can't wear sunscreen yet, so one of us has to be home to be with Lyla while the other takes Nina to the pool, so we're not there as much as we would like, but she really enjoys it. She is quite the fashionista at the pool. Her bathing suit and hat match, and she wears her pink crocs and her pink sunglasses with her hair in pigtails. It's really quite cute! She's also wanted to resist my taking her picture, so trying to catch her in a photo today was like trying to photograph the elusive clouded leopard!

Camera is on it's way!

Thankfully, we'll be back to blog postings soon. The new camera was ordered today, and hopefully will be arriving soon. We'll be back soon with even more pixels and resolution for your viewing pleasure!

You'll Have to Use Your Imagination...

...but hopefully for not too long. I think my digital camera is broken. Last night, it took a tumble off the counter and landed on the wood floor with the zoom lens out. The lens got jammed, and now the camera won't retract its lens or stay turned on. Hopefully I will get a replacement this weekend, but until then, my picture posts will be suspended for a little bit. It's a shame, because last night I took some great photos of Nina and Lyla together, and today we went to a farm, saw a bunch of animals, and took a very cool wagon ride. I really wish my camera would have been working as there were many photo-worthy moments. I feel kind of lost without my camera, so I'll either get mine fixed or get a new one soon! Check back later...

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.