Summer Photos

Camping?

These two girls were very chatty but quietly busy.

When we checked on them, we found them stacking a bunch of toys on the sofa.

Why?

Oh, they were going "pretend camping".

And, from the person who had to put everything back...

they got a ton of stuff on that sofa!

Very impressive teamwork girls and

a very interesting view of what camping is :)

Happy to be Home

These girls are tired but so happy to be home.

It's going to take all week to get back to normal.

Matching

These girls love to match.

Yes, I have bought some well plenty of matching outfits because why not?

But, lately, Lil and Em request to wear the same exact thing.

I get a lot of comments about it too. Like...

"Awww, they're matching. They're so cute, you should take a picture."

"Awww, you dress them alike! That's great that they let you do that."

"Awww, look at them, how pretty. And, so pretty in their dresses."

That is followed by questions about them dressing alike and why??

1. First, I think it's adorable and am glad they like to dress alike. Pretty soon they will be fighting over clothes and how they don't want to be dressed alike. So I'll take it now.

2. When we go to busy places I really like it because we only have to remember ONE outfit.

3. They LOVE it. They actually discuss it. If one of them doesn't feel like wearing a dress then the other will take change just so they can match.

Love you my pretty matching girls.

Naptime

Since, the respiratory sickness stuff hit our house this is what naptime has looked like. I needed a nap when I was sick and this is how they allowed me to take one. To take a nap with me in our bed.

Yep, these girls are loving one another more than I thought possible.

Sisters

The girls have been playing so nicely together and

have really become best friends.

They do everything together and sometimes just being in the same room is good too.

Here they were playing Barbies and doll house and when it got pretty quiet we looked and this is what we saw; Emma coloring and Lily reading :)

It Was Time

To give her a "Big Girl" Bed!

We have been going through a "phase" with Emma.

We all very well know that there are phases, that eventually end, with kids.

Good and Bad.

Although, I'm not sure we realize it's a phase when it's good but we certainly notice it and claim "phase" when it's not so good. So here we are calling this thing Emma is going through a "phase".

Emma could be having dreams, getting scared of the dark or feeling a bit closed in by the crib. All are very rational explanations and warrant the "MAMA or MOM" screams at 2am.

We started leaving her door open a bit and she has felt better seeing "Mama's Door", we have rocked her back to sleep when she wakes up and we have also pulled her in bed with us. Both have their pros and cons, but I do have to admit I pull her into bed more often than not especially between the hours of midnight and 5am.

When Emma started whining and saying "No Emma bed, Mama's bed" when we were still brushing teeth, we became a bit more aware of the situation. She really didn't want to sleep in her bed and told us over and over again. So...

We, without much thought, switched her crib into a toddler bed.

With Lily, we planned things out. We overthought things. We thought of ALL the possible "domino effects" and then chose what we thought could avoid it all. Then we realized, not everything is as monumental as we make them out to be. And, this was one of them and we are really glad that we switched her. She has been very happy, willing to go to bed (most nights) and has been a very big girl.

BUT.....

 

it happened.

It took our Sweet Emma five whole days to figure it out.

She can get up!

On night five, shortly after bedtime she started crying for me and I didn't go in. Figured she would get the last bit of energy out and go to sleep. But, as Mike and were in the den and heard her cry get closer and closer we realized she had gotten out of her bed and then her little head poked around the corner. HA.

Lily NEVER did this.

That same night at 330am, I woke up from Emma crying and a little bit after realized she was standing outside our door in the hall. When I called her name, I heard "Yeah, Mom?!?" Like I was asking her to do something! She ended up sleeping with us that night but every other night has been in her big girl bed.

And, a sweet Lily story.

Lily was so very excited for Emma. While Emma was trying to choose the blanket she wanted to sleep with the very first night Lily ran to her room. She went to get the quilt I made her so that Emma could use it until I make one for Emma. She said, "Emma, you can use my blanket. I don't need it for awhile so you can use it until Mommy makes one for you." Guess I know my next thing I have to do this summer! Love you Sweet Lily.

Quiet House

There are some mornings that I jump into the shower a bit late due to us enjoying our morning and me giving in to the sweet requests to cuddle. This was one of those mornings and since the storytime at B&N didn't begin til 1030, we were just fine.

I had a great shower. Usually it's quick and I get many visits to make sure I'm ok. But, today I didn't get any peeks around the curtain and I certianly did not hear any bickering over toys.

It was a VERY quiet house.

Then I got nervous. Quiet never means anything good is happening, right?

Well, it was very good.

The girls have become really interested in coloring, drawing and just playing by themselves. The three of us can sit and color together for up to an hour at a time. It's great. And, this morning, that's what they were doing. Lily was telling Emma what color crayon to get and showing her where to color in her notebook.

They were adorable and sweet and very content without me.

:)

A Break in the Clouds

The rain today kept the girls inside so when there was a break in the clouds Emma decided it was time to go out. Lily was shocked that I let her go out with her boots on but quickly followed behind. Lily has never shown any interest in going out in the wet weather but now that Sissy likes it, she does too. They had fun splashing in the puddles, cleaning their picnic table and following Maci around to see what she was up to. Thank goodness for rain boots and plenty of old towels to dry them off with.

Grace

Lily loves singing the Blessing she learned from school.

They sing this before they eat their snack.

But, because Lily has been singing it at dinner, Emma sings along now.

Notice, they are now sitting next to one another at the table.

Emma insists on eating next to Mia.

(Yes, Emma can say Lily but still refers to her as Mia?!?)

As you can tell, Lily is tired and silly. She needed a nap. I mostly wanted everyone to hear Emma's sweet Amen at the end...my favorite part :)



A little bit better :)

Fine..Ugh..Sigh..Awww..

They like to eat at the blue table for breakfast. Fine.

They like to choose where they sit. Fine.

Then, they fight and argue because they want the same chair. Ugh.

Then, they cry and whine because one of them sat down and

they lost the chair they wanted. Sigh.

Then it gets quiet. Very quiet after I give them their food.

So, I go check on them.

And, I find them like this.

Squeezing together so that they both can eat on the same side

of the small blue table. Awww...

And, then they know their caught :)

Love these girls.

A Look Back...

What A Difference A Year Makes.

No Words

They were acting crazy like they do sometimes and of course Lily bumped her head and started whining. Not crying but a little whimper. Emma became very, very concerned and this is how they ended up. Lily's head on Emma's lap so that Emma was playing with her hair and rubbing her back to make sure she was ok. This last for a few minutes all the while Emma was saying...

"Aaahhh, Mia...Mia, Aaaahhhh..."

Not having a sister, I am really enjoying watching their relationship and how they interact in every situation. They can have a little spat and then turn around and be completely fine, like it never happened. Mike and I have learned that most of the time we make it worse when we try to help remedy the situation. They usually work it out, maybe a few little slaps or grunts here and there but they do work it out and end most of them with hugs and kisses.

They love each other more than words can say.

The New Game

Books + Cash Register + Bag = Playing Library

Lily and Emma can play library forever and to the point that it's so quiet in the house I have to make sure sometimes that everything is OK. And, most of the time it is due to the fact that they both have cash registers of their own and we have plenty of books for them to check out. We also have been using their Belle tea cart to "return" books to their room after they are done. Nothing like a first job at the library :).

B/W Day

And, yet another fun color day at school.

But, this time Emma requested a skirt like I was going to make Lily and flowers to match of course.

So I had two girls in full black and white today and they couldn't have been any cuter.

Love that they will wear what I make them :) Makes me smile.

Training

Two girls emptying the dishwasher, drying off everything and putting it on the counter for it to be put away.

They get trained early here in the Check House.

Yes, Emma usually puts cups and forks on the floor instead but we are also huge believers of the five second rule, or five minutes...who's counting right?!? ha.

Two Peas

We decided to use some Christmas money to get Emma her very own MobiGo like Lily's. They love them and blow us away on how much they can do on those things.

They have also been into playing baby dolls with their new twin American Girl dolls. :)

Sister Love

They love being each other's best friend.

We love it too.

Ya-Ya

We hear Ya-Ya A LOT now. Ya-Ya is what Emma calls Lily. For a bit we had to tell Lily that she was calling her but now when Lily hears her 'name' she runs to her or yells "What Emma".

She calls Lily for all sorts of things from wanting to play with her, read a book, and especially if we tell Emma to get Lily for some reason like bath or time to brush teeth.

I'm not sure how it's going to be to have two full blown talkers in the house but maybe they'll learn to talk each other's ears off instead of mine :) Can only hope :)

Whatever Works

A couple of weeks ago, these two girls were wearing their tutus (a very normal and almost everyday occurrence) and dancing to Christmas music in the kitchen (also another favorite activity). But, we had to go to Walmart for a few things. So, out they went in tutus, play jewelry everything, and party shoes on. They were happy, had plenty of snacks (also another staple to any shopping trip of any kind) and had many, many admirers throughout the store (even when Emma was touching every green pepper, testing the freshness of the tomatoes.

At one point, I was rearranging the cart while they were enamored by the Dora pictures on the Spaghettios cans. Fine, they weren't screaming or fighting just looking. Until I realized that Emma was turning every single can so that they faced the same way then would take them down and stack them only for a few to fall and roll under the aisle shelves. OK, fine nothing a worker hasn't seen before. But, oh no. These two girls decked out in their party gear layed down on their bellies in the middle of the aisle to try to reach their fallen cans. So, to get them off of the floor I had to get down on all fours to reach a can of food that I would never buy and they would never eat.

Needless to say, we left with one very dented can (Emma insisted on carrying it through the store and dropped it a MILLION times and not once on her feet!) of Dora Spaghettios that were fixed for lunch and NOT eaten.