Dance Party

Yesterday, we picked Ava up and she rode with us to dance class. It was a dance party the whole way there. Hannah said, "Music Mommy!!" and they danced away. After dance class, Ava came over and the dance party continued. The girls were so funny. They definitely had Alice Anne entertained and she was laughing hysterically!!

Oscar Worthy

Definitely should be in the finals for Oscar's Best Dressed!!

Chocolate Cinnamon Twist??

This morning when Hannah was helping me make scrambled eggs, she glanced down and something caught her eye. She gasped and looked at me with excitement and said, "Mommy, that's the biggest cinnamon twist my (I) ever see! And it's chocolate!!! Mommy, lets eat it!!!" (and she died laughing). I looked to see what she was talking about and it was this...

...the scroll on the corner of my kitchen cabinets. Some of the things she says are so funny and amaze me at the same time!!!

A little background...Brett and Hannah always go eat breakfast together on Saturday and Sunday mornings. They stop and get me a cinnamon twist at the donut store on their way home and Hannah loves running in the door and giving it to me. One morning they were out of cinnamon at the donut store, so they got me a chocolate twist. Hannah gave it to me and thought it was hilarious that I got chocolate and not cinnamon. That's how she knows what a "chocolate cinnamon twist is." Pretty funny, though, that she associated this scroll with a twist that you eat :)

Swing Time

Hopefully spring time is almost here! We got the bug today with the beautiful weather!! Alice Anne tried out her swing and loved it!!! Hannah is so excited that Alice Anne can now swing with her.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day, but when you have a fabulous husband and two sweet kiddos, it's kind-of hard not to pour love all over them...on Valentine's Day or any other day.

It's about love...whether it is sisterly love, love for your children or spousal love. We were surrounded with it all on Valentine's Day. We had a family day full of love and we couldn't have had a better day!!

Friday, the girls and I decorated the house for Valentine's Day. Hannah loved it. She also loved helping me set the table and prepare dinner for mine and Brett's "date." On the menu...sea bass over mashed potatoes, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, olive bread, and for dessert...Hannah's special cookie cake!! When Brett got home from work Friday, Hannah said, "Daddy you have date!!!" It was so cute!

Saturday morning, Brett and Hannah went out for their usual breakfast date and then off to the park. When they came home, Hannah was SO excited about the heart balloons and flowers that they had picked up while they were out!!! We spent the rest of the day together...just the 4 of us.

Hope you all had a day full of love!!

Girlie Play

Hannah LOVES having tea parties and quietly reading books. Both of our girls are such sweethearts!!! I don't know what I would ever do with a boy?!?!?! He'd have to learn to love tea parties, dress-up and cooking!!

Valentine Fun

We spent ALL morning making Valentine treats. We started off making Valentine's for Hannah to take to her school party tomorrow. Then we made chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels for her teachers. Then we just made Valentine Princess wands and a Valentine necklace for Hannah. I love it that Hannah loves doing these things...so much fun!!

What We Do When Daddy's Gone

Daddy's gone again, so Alice Anne and Hannah enjoyed bath time together. And Hannah read books to her baby sister afterwards...so sweet!!!

Bye Bye Swaddle, Hello Elmo Potty

If you know me well, you know that I swear by the Swaddle Blanket. I think it is the key to getting babies to sleep well. Both of my babies have been THE BEST SLEEPERS and I give all of the credit to a Very snug swaddling. However, there comes a point when babies need to learn to sleep on their own. Both of my girls have figured that out at 6 months. Yes, I've tried getting rid of it before 6 months but have had no luck...with either girl. Yesterday I decided that it was time that Alice Anne learned to sleep without being swaddled. In a way I was sad because I have swaddled her every single day since the day she was born. It just comes natural to me and it has made her "stay" a baby in my eyes. But she did not fight it yesterday and I was so proud of her. She got a little upset when she rolled over on her stomach and couldn't figure out how to sleep on her stomach,but she figured it out very quickly and slept so well yesterday. My sweet little baby is growing up so fast!!!

Other big news...

Last Thursday night before bed, Hannah looked at Brett and me and said, "Hannah no more diapers anymore." We pushed the potty training a couple of months ago and got a lot of resistance from Hannah, so we decided to let her decide when she was ready. I think she's decided. So, we stayed home ALL day on Friday and let her run around with no clothes on and she told me every single time she needed to go potty. She was very successful using the elmo potty. Saturday, she did the same thing. We went out late Saturday afternoon, so I put a diaper on her. After we'd been out for about an hour, she said, "Hannah needs to go tee tee...not in diaper." So, we quickly looked for a semi-clean place to pull over and we did. We went into the sub shop and put a whole roll of toilet paper on the potty and sat there for at least 10 minutes with no luck. When we left, Hannah said she wanted her elmo potty. I guess I need to get an elmo potty that lives in the back of our car. Is that disgusting??? She did good again yesterday...even wore "big girl panties" to a birthday party and made it through the whole party w/o an accident...until she got home. We're so proud of her!!! She's making progress. However, none of the other kids in her class at school are potty trained yet, so she's not motivated there yet...we'll get there!!!

2 Girls Bring Lots of Smiles

Obviously, our girls make Brett and me smile every single day. But, it's amazing how 2 little girls can bring smiles to people that don't even know them. Yesterday we were at the grocery store and Hannah was so happy and sang songs the entire time we were there. She would interrupt her song only to say "hi" to everyone that we passed. Two elderly people stopped me at different times and commented on how happy she was and how she brought a smile to their day. This afternoon we were at Costco and Hannah was once again singing songs and asking every single person, "what's your name?" Again, a couple of people commented on how she was so cheerful and just made them smile. She has never met a stranger and has such a personality!! People are always commenting on Alice Anne and I think any chubby baby will make anyone smile!! Maybe we need to go to the grocery store more often, simply to brighten people's day.

Today Alice Anne is 6 months old. She is such a happy little baby. We went for her 6-month check-up this morning and she got a good report. She is above the 95th% for height and weight. She weighed in at 19.13 lbs. and is 28" long. She's going to be a tall little thing!! She's doing great. She's working on some teeth, but none yet...

Hannah enjoyed the afternoon in the backyard. She was out there by herself for a little while while I put the groceries away (which is a huge step for us). She would see me through the window and yell, "Hi Mommy!!!" She is still talking up a storm and amazes me everyday with her vocabulary and the complexity of her sentences, demonstrating what she understands. She really is very observant and picks up on EVERYTHING!!!

Fun With Daddy

Brett took the afternoon off yesterday and we had so much fun! Brett and I got to enjoy lunch out with Alice Anne while Hannah was at school. After daddy picked Hannah up from school, they went to the park for a LONG time and Hannah came in the door dying laughing telling me to come look at her!! This is what she thought was so funny...purple hair, purple pom-poms and a "sparkly purple baton!" They had been to the "dress-up store" as she called it. She showed me how daddy taught her to twirl the baton in the air. It was so cute! Later that evening she said, "Bye Bye Mommy and Alice Anne." I asked her where she was going and she said, "airplane to ouston with daddy. I go to work." After that comment, Brett and I decided that we're going to work on getting her on an airplane REAL soon!

And Alice Anne, happy as always, in her new jumperoo. She LOVES it!!!