Spring Happenings

With high temperatures ranging from 40 to 80, it is definitely spring here in Tennessee. We have all been battling some tough allergies as the warming temperatures beckon us outside. Olivia and I have both had sinus and ear infections but are on the other side of some sleepless nights, thanks to a couple rounds of antibiotics. As we spend more time outside, Charlie, you have rekindled your love of watering plants, flowers, rocks, ants, and herself. We plan on putting in a small garden in the coming weeks and I know you girls will enjoy the watering and eating our vegetables. Olivia, you have many cute spring outfits, but you require baby leggings to keep your knees from getting skinned up while crawling around outside. You like to pick my flowers and ride in the Cozy Coupe. You're both getting so big so fast!

Going for a morning drive.

Getting really good at eating solids...when you're not tossing them on the floor.

You girls are hilarious in the Jeep.

Sweet moment of you two playing in PJs and tutus.

Can't wait to see what else the warm spring and summer months bring!

Easter 2012

What an Easter weekend we had!! We were honored that Charlotte was asked to be in a friend's wedding as their flower girl this weekend. You were excited about the dress and shoes for weeks before hand. You tried them on countless times, talked about being a flower girl, and even thanked Jesus for RaeAnne's wedding and for flower girls in your prayers.

You were ALL about getting a little makeup with the bridesmaids.

You sat so still while RaeAnne curled your hair.

You were over the top at the rehearsal and dinner.

Beautiful flower girl!

The kids in the wedding with RaeAnne and Tom.

You headed straight for the fountain after pictures were over, took off your shoes, and splashed your feet!

Feels sooo good!

Just before the wedding. Dancing (then swinging) with your daddy.

We had a great time and you girls did awesome!

Who can wear a pretty dress without twirling?

We got home on Sunday and got you girls down for naps while daddy and I got unpacked. When you woke up, the Easter bunny had dropped off baskets and left a few eggs in the front yard. We did our own little Easter celebration before heading to a big get together with our small group from church. The Underwoods hosted us at their beautiful home. We had an AWESOME time hunting eggs, hanging out, and sharing food. Great weekend with you girls and our friends!

Checking out the Easter baskets. Livi woke up just after and enjoyed hers too.

Lil girl sitting in the sunshine watching big sister hunt eggs.

You had a hard time thinking to look up to find them. We had to help you a little.

Bliss....marshmallow stuffed eggs. You found all 10 eggs and ate all 10 marshmallows right away!

The kids of our small group.

Checking out the goodies inside the eggs.

Such a blessed family.

Olivia Developments

Olivia's just over 9 months now and doing more every day! We have been working on your baby sign language. I have been impressed with how quickly you have picked up "more" and are inconsistently using "all done", "water", and "eat". You are a fierce and intense little person and the sign language is definitely helping your frustration level since you are not able to speak words yet.

I am loving seeing you focus in on a task that you find interesting. Usually, you take all the magnets off the refrigerator and feel accomplished. Now, you're trying to figure out how to put them back on! You worked at this one for a long time...putting it up the wrong way, it falling off, and trying again and again. You finally mastered it and I caught it on camera.

Talented Girls

I am so blessed to be able stay at home with you girls every day. Your daddy works very hard and without complaint. He is so thankful that I am teaching and loving you two all day long. What's nice, is that he recognizes the difficulty of my "job" and thanks me often. I'm not sure what I would do if I missed your developing personalities and talents during the day. Here are some of your recent tricks:

Olivia plays peek-a-boo very well and thinks it's quite funny.

Charlotte is practicing her jump rope skills with daddy. A life vest adds to the difficulty. We wondered if she picked this practice up at our gym, where we sometimes wear weighted vests.

You girls love the musical instruments. Charlotte is now trying her hand at singing while playing.

Gma and Papa Visit

Boy have we enjoyed having Gma and Papa in for the weekend. The last time they had seen you girls was Christmas and they just couldn't stand it any longer. They came up Thursday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. We are so thankful we live close enough (7 hours) for them to drive up and see us!

With the warm weather, comes my little hose monster.

Daddy and Papa worked on my flower bed for me! Beautiful day!

Olivia's getting really good at standing up on everything!

What would yard work be without a wheel barrel ride?

The garden fairy came and decorated our front porch for spring.

Olivia's classic sleepy sign: middle fingers in mouth and snuggling burp cloth. Gma said daddy did this too!

Chasing a kids fishing lure as I reeled it in. Apparently great fun!

Moving and Music

Those are the current favorites right now...moving and music! Olivia suddenly has this crawling thing down pat and is chasing and following everything.

You girls are also loving anything musical. Charlotte has figured out that drums, horns, and pianos are all instruments. All you're missing is a guitar and you'd have everything you need for a band.

Caught you doing this...

You made it work!

Focusing now

Both of you drumming away!

Charlotte found a funnel in the kitchen drawer and came out doing this and I was able to catch it with the phone...

You two are so fun together!!

Valentine Fun

I remembered Valentine's Day is this week and figured I would use a little creativity and fun to help Charlotte make valentines for her preschool classmates. We have lots of crayons around and this is what we did!

Charlotte really liked peeling the crayons.

Chop them up! Charlotte put the chopped ones in the bowl.

Fill the mold with crayon pieces.

Put them in the oven at 230* for about 20 minutes.

Let them cool and harden.

While waiting, glue the valentine pieces together.

Pop out the new crayons. Such pretty colors and patterns!

Some personalization on the back.

Beautiful, useful homemade Valentines!

Girl, we had so much fun making these! I had the idea but worried that you wouldn't be able to be very involved but you jumped right in! You found ways to help me at each step of the process. You thought they were so pretty and named people in your class that you would give them to. It is so much fun being your mom!