Stairs!!
AG takes care of her pink baby ("Flower") and Flower's yellow baby...
and LL is starting to take care of babies herself now!
LL takes a look at a book on Christmas Eve at Mimi and PawPaw's house
AG enjoyed the cupcakes made to celebrate Jesus' birthday.
"Night Night!" to PawPaw
AG plays around on Christmas Day
Brothers and Sisters...
Smiling and swinging...
"Baww!"
One in a million....
"Just because I take a water break doesn't mean I have to put the ball down...."
One of our favorites, the white tiger
One of the elephants showing off some neat tricks....
LL having fun on the playground
AG making sure LL doesn't miss the whooping, swinging monkeys..."You see, Lawa?"
LL, earlier this week, fascinated with the acorns in our backyard
AG, on her 1st birthday (4-2-05), fascinated with the bluebonnets in Austin
Last Saturday morning we had a special event: breakfast with Santa at Trey's office! After eating, we stood in line to visit with the guest of honor, and as AG said later , "We waited...and waited...and waited..." There were lots of other kids there, too, but we hung in there and finally made it. This was AG's first close encounter with Santa and she seemed perfectly at ease, although she held onto her cup for a bit of security, I think!
Here's a peek at an especially tender moment shared by AG and LL... what's not easy to see is that AG is pointing out to LL their "Sisters" ornament that has two little girls standing side by side. Both girls love the tree, and AG is quick to bring me the ornaments LL picks off! 
For some reason the basket of Easter eggs that's been around since April has become really interesting again this week! LL likes to carry it now that she can walk well and today she dumped them out beside the Christmas tree...I thought this little Christmas/Easter picture was a sweet reminder of all we have to celebrate!
On Monday we had a great treat...Mimi, PawPaw, Aunt Nanoo (aka Camille), and Great Great Aunt Ramona (Mimi's sister) came to join us for lunch and playtime. AG wasted no time laying down the house rules for everyone (such as "Don't touch the Christmas tree.") We all enjoyed Mimi's chicken salad sandwiches and had some fun dancing to Yankee Doodle, etc. It was a really special time...we are so glad to be "just down the road" from these loved ones!
Tonight we went to a fun pre-holiday event at a local park. We expected the lights to be the main attraction (and they were pretty...though Austin's Trail of Lights is still the best! :), but little did we know there was much more in store. After strolling through and seeing lots of lights, we came to an area where there was a craft fair, climbing wall, moonwalks, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and even pony rides! AG wasn't game for going to visit Santa, but she was ready to saddle up and blaze a new trail (for her anyway...the ponies little circle was well worn already!) riding a pony. What fun! 
About halfway through I realized I should watch my step...these were real ponies, after all.
Can you tell it was cold out there? (Grandparents, don't worry...both girls made it just fine!) It was neat to experience a bit of Christmas tradition in our new hometown.
Where has the time gone? Our baby is growing into a toddler before our eyes! Just this week she has acquired several fun new skills. After weeks of practicing with her push-around truck and holding our hands, LL has taken her first unassisted steps, working from 1-2 up to about 6-7 in her longer stretches. She loves to stand up by herself and last night she ate her supper standing up...I would give her a bite and then anytime she lost her balance and sat down she popped right back up before she'd take another bite! Another meal-related trick is that she can now tell us she wants "more" using the sign. This is a big relief, since her usual way of letting us know she wanted more has been to scream at the top of her lungs! And to top it all off, we're hearing some recognizable words...last Tuesday evening we went over to our neighbors' house and as we were walking back home she waved and said, "Byebye." She also likes to say "beep beep."
The two pictures above were taken yesterday at the BR zoo. She loved the slide! We'd put her at the top and then she'd scoot a little to make herself go down, then laugh as her Daddy caught her at the end.
This picture reminds me of a similar one Nana took of AG in this jacket when she was just a little younger than LL. 
Too busy pulling up, she's figured out how to take her cup along...hands-free! We are thankful for all her developments and excited to see what comes next.
Here's the view I have as we stroll together, at least when the girls are not looking out for the next interesting thing they can spot as we continue to explore our new neighborhood. AG likes to go see the bells at the church nearby, which we hear ringing at 8 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. daily. We have had some cool days this week so the jackets are finally getting some use!
The scariest thing here in our neighborhood on Halloween night was not the costumed spooks running around candy-crazed...it was the swarms of all-too-real mosquitoes giving any little vampires a run for their money! (Welcome to the swamp!) But would we let them stop us from rounding the block to collect candy with our two little sweeties? Oh no! We simply put the "Off" on and hit the streets! AG loved wearing her fairy princess dress, crown, and wand (thanks Nana and Grandpa!) and saying "Tricktortreat" and "Tanktoo" to all the neighbors, and LL was pretty much just along for the moonlight wagon ride in her jack-o-lantern bloomers since we can still pretend like candy doesn't exist with her at this point (although she did enjoy chewing on an unopened bag of M&M's some of the way!).
Last weekend we took our first road trip to MS since we moved closer. That three hour drive was nice! The girls had lots of fun with their grandparents and we got to go to the MSU/Kentucky game and almost saw our Bulldogs win! Above, AG gets an introduction to snapdragons from her Nana (they're not nearly as scary as they sound!).
LL had a special treat to initiate her into the "Bulldog family" on her first trip to MSU...a visit with the real Bully himself! It's hard to say which of them was more (or less:) excited judging from this picture, but she was pretty friendly with him off camera (and he's clearly used to attention from little ones!). Her PopPop was proud to show her off to old friends at the game.
LL got into the action in the stands during the game. It was fun for us to take her to such a special place (where her Mommy met her Daddy and her Gran met her PopPop!)
LL had fun with her Grandpa and Nana, too. She was even more friendly with their cats, Gus and Phoebe, than with Bully! Watch out, kitties... next visit she'll probably be on her feet!
We had an awesome time Saturday morning during our first visit to the BR Zoo! It is really a neat zoo with a wide assortment of animals, exhibits, and fun features for little ones such as a great playscape and petting zoo. However, since their Halloween festivities were going on this weekend, what grabbed AG's attention the most were the tables set up throughout the zoo where sponsors would give the kids candy. Although she wasn't dressed up, we'll count this as her first trick-or-treating experience, because she definitely got the hang of holding out her bag and saying the magic words! And since then she pretty much either is holding or vigilantly monitoring the whereabouts of her treat bag, which she gets to dip into for one piece after luch and another after dinner. I guess the days when we can pretend candy doesn't exist are officially over at our house, but it will still remain a controlled substance! At least she's not carried away with all of it...today she took one bite of a red Laffy Taffy and then decided she'd rather have something else because it was "too yucky". 
Here are some favorite photos taken lately...
