The Gatherer

This is one of Amelia's collection bags, what could possibly be in there?!

Well, lets just take a look.....

The flower, an Olivia book, an unopened package of LED lights, 2 Ziploc bags - one of them containing a blush brush, an empty roll of film box, a cloth to clean glasses, a random CD - Mannheim Steamrollers - I think, an empty CD case, and a manual for Daddy's razor.  What a collection!



Play Set

Now that I am staying at home and Isabelle is quite young - we decided to invest in a play set for the girls - particularly Amelia.  She loves to be outside and we want to encourage that interest, while staying close to home for Isabelle.  Papa agreed to help Daddy tear down and set up a used play set.  It turned out to be a lot more work than expected, but it looks great and Amelia loves it!

Papa reading to Amelia.  We all agreed that we would not loose Papa this day!

The first drop off of the play set.  Nana and Amelia are inspecting the pieces - speculating how it would look in the end.

Nana and Amelia

Amelia felt like such a big girl on these chairs, but we had some close calls on too much weight on the back, so Nana is sitting behind Amelia so she doesn't fall over.

So excited to be outside and for her play set

Aunt Amber getting sun - she is quite comfortable....as well as Isabelle!

The re-building process begins

"How did this go together again?"

Amelia was very excited and Aunt Amber helped her climb.  Indie also enjoyed all of the activity outside

Nana, Papa and Isabelle

Aunt Amber playing with play-doh and Amelia

Amelia, Nana, and Isabelle

The tower is set up!

Aunt Amber pitching in some help

Amelia will walk/stand this way often - with her hands behind her back.  I'm not sure where she picked it up from.

Amelia chillin' and eating a snack.

Nana and Isabelle.  It was a such a beautiful day out.

The play set is finished!

Amelia was THRILLED!!!  She wanted to swing and swing and swing.  And boy was she mad when she had to get off.

I love how Amelia is looking at her Papa in this picture

Aunt Amber and Isabelle

Everyone admiring the work Daddy and Papa did

Partner swinging!

Nana is getting in on pushing the swing action.  As you can see on Amelia's face - she is still enjoying it!

Daddy pushing Amelia in the swing

Mommy swinging with Amelia.

During this weekend, Amelia did not want to go down the slide....she would climb up in the tower and then climb the stairs back down.  We didn't want to pressure her to go down the slide and figured she would go down when she was ready.  Well, last night she was ready and went down the slide all by herself!

Thank you so much Papa for your hard work on setting up the play set.  We couldn't have done it without you!  It was also great to see Nana and Aunt Amber!  Thank you also for all your help with the girls and food preparation!

New Activity - Sidewalk Chalk!

One of Amelia's Easter gifts was sidewalk chalk, so a couple of weeks ago - we gave it a try for the first time.  She loved it and now asks to do it often.  As you can see she is quite a mess, but eh - gotta live a little!  Mommy got involved drawing pictures and Amelia so far does a lot of tally marks, but she will be drawing pictures better than mommy soon enough!

I have to say I was quite impressed....I asked her to bring me a couple specific colored chalks (blue, red, yellow and green) and she could!

S & R

My poor husband, he didn't realize when I had Isabelle I was also joining a crew.   A crew that would interrupt his sleep in addition to any cries Isabelle may create.   A crew I should only be a temporary member of, but it seems my membership is going a little long.  Isabelle is 7.5 weeks old and I have to admit I am still part of the Search and Rescue crew.   What is the search and rescue crew you may ask?  Well, Patrick could definitely tell you but instead I will.  The S&R crew is where - in the middle of the night - I wake Patrick up by shoving him aside, digging underneath him, and going through the covers in attempt to search for and rescue Isabelle from a variety of searchable situations.  Yes, the child who is sleeping comfortably 10 feet away completely out of any danger.  Do I realize this amidst my dreams, oh no, not until my poor husband wakes me from my dream asking....What are you doing?  and what do I reply.....Looking for Isabelle.....Kathy, she is right over there........Oh no, not again, sorry.   (Rollover and go back to sleep).    The sad part is, the past week or so my crew membership has been quite active.  Hopefully they will kick me out soon and Patrick can sleep in peace!

Entertainment Value

So I am behind in the blog.....I have lots of pictures to post and stories to tell, yet it seems my time is limited and devoted mainly to the 2 mini vinnies!  So when I finally do post pictures, they may be a little old. But here are a couple Amelia stories that have given us laughs over the last couple weeks.

Exhibit 1:

Amelia continues to be obsessed with babies....she has now mastered: 

the fake baby cry (needs to be real people!)

the sway

the shush

the patting of the back

the bounce

and

the combination of all of them (very impressive!)

...such lucky babies!

Exhibit 2:

Amelia takes at least one baby to bed each night.  One of them happens to laugh, cry, and some other noise when you push on her belly.  Whenever, that particular baby is in bed we often hear the following: 

Baby -  "Waaaaah"

Amelia - "Shhh, Shhh"

Baby - Laugh

Exhibit 3:

Recently I bought Amelia some additional summer jammies, one of them is purple polka dot lightweight footie pj's.  One morning I was making breakfast for the two of us, Amelia had already climbed up into her seat.  Breakfast was almost ready, so I went to put the tray on Amelia's booster seat and found her only in a diaper with the footie pj's behind her like a shadow, buckled in and ready to eat.

Exhibit 4:

Amelia is very entertaining at night via the video monitor; however, this particular night - we found her once again in her diaper....footie pj's discarded like yesterday news...jumping and laughing.

Exhibit 5:

Last night we had a dance party....Amelia loves to dance, but she has mastered a new move.....swinging those hips back and forth!  Though jumping is still her favorite.

Here is a picture I took today of our little entertainer today!

Isabelle

Here are some pictures and expressions from Isabelle!

 Isabelle it truly a smiley little baby - even when its not gas.  As soon as you start talking to her, she moves and kicks and gives great big smiles.

Isabelle loves the swing and if she is ever upset, its one place I can put her and almost always it calms her down.

Safly's Visit!

A couple weekends ago, Melanie, Mark, Paige and Alaina came to meet Isabelle!  Paige and Alaina did so good with her and loved her immediately!  Amelia had so much fun playing with her cousins.  She would just watch them and try to be like them.

Paige holding Isabelle for the first time.  When they were getting ready to leave, Paige asked Mel if Isabelle could come too!

Alaina holding Isabelle for the first time.  Alaina loved to give Isabelle kisses on the head, it was so sweet.

Paige doing her reading for school and Amelia is helping.

Mark and Mel were so helpful this weekend with holding Isabelle and making meals.  It was a rainy weekend, so I don't think we even left the house!  The weekend was quite refreshing for us and we really enjoyed their company.

Mel, Isabelle, Patrick and Alaina

Alaina, Mel, Isabelle and Mommy

 Paige and Amelia playing on the iPad.

Mel, Isabelle, Amelia, and Mark.

Amelia was able to go home with Paige and Alaina for the week!  She had so much fun - thank you again Mel (and fam :) for giving Amelia the opportunity to spend time with you and also give me a chance to spend time with Isabelle.   We had so much fun spending time with your family and its great to see our girls starting to make lasting friendships!