Long Time No Blog

Hey friends and family! We're still around...just haven't been snapping too many pictures lately or taking time to record our daily events, largely because there's not been much excitement in that department over the last few weeks. Like many of you, we've been having lots of wet, cold weather, without the added interest of ice like you Austinites! So we've been staying in, taking it easy, mostly. Thankfully the sun's come out the last few days, so maybe we will venture out and have more activities on the horizon soon.

We did go out for a few shopping stops last Friday, and as we tromped across the department store with me carrying LL and a large bag, with AG tagging along, I prodded AG to keep up. She said, "My feet are just not really running very much right now." She's gotten to be such a clear communicator, and it's always fun to hear her take on things. She likes to sing songs she makes up, often to the tune of "Holy Holy Holy," and lately she "reads" stories to her dolls that rhyme and have a definite metered rhythm, though they are kind of like word salad! She's very fond of "treats" (mostly cookies) and asks for one after most meals. Several times lately I've answered her by saying, "We only have those sometimes," or "We'll have one later" to which she immediately asks, "Is it sometimes/later?" She also loves to "write letters" which she folds, puts in envelopes, and seals with stickers. We have quite a stack of outgoing mail at this point!

LL is also doing well and keeping us on our toes. I've been wondering why, over the last month, the floor seems to constantly look like a tornado came through, despite my efforts to keep it from looking that way. It finally hit me that it's because we have a little toddler tornado on our hands. She is into everything and we finally (thanks to Trey's clear thinking) took measures to keep her out of the kitchen cabinets which she loved to raid constantly.

And finally, some more exciting news: We are thankful to be expecting a third baby on our about Aug. 28! We'll be at 10 weeks tomorrow, and all seems to be going well. We'll post updates as we have them and appreciate everyone's prayers and encouragement!

Some New Shots...

AG gets comfy watching her favorite purple dinosaur...
LL helps her Daddy rake and bag the last (we hope) of the leaves...
Our perky princess!
AG now loves to brush our hair...but LL is a moving target!
Suppertime!

All is well here, thankfully. The girls have been having fun playing together and enjoying their neat new toys and books. LL loves to bring books to her Daddy for him to read to her. She is adding more words to her vocabulary daily..."bunny" is one of the newest, but the one we hear the most (other than Mommy and Daddy!) is "Ellie," her best stuffed friend. She cracks us up during meals by snapping food off the spoons we offer her with such speed and gusto that I can only compare it to the video footage I've seen of big fish jumping up out of the water to grab some bait! We are having lots of fun with them these days.

The Adventures of AG

We just got back today from another trip to visit our family, and AG got to do lots of fun things. Above, she made brownies with her Nana. Yum!
Here she is with her Gran on Saturday night during our post-Christmas Christmas celebration with Gran's family.
A rare photo of all four of us! This was taken before we went to church with Nana, Grandpa, and Uncle Matthew.
Getting artsy at Gran and PopPop's house on New Year's Eve...
and being supremely silly in the turban Gran put on her after her bath. She was absolutely giddy...she could not stop giggling and checking herself out in the mirror!

We hope you all have had a great first day of '07 and that many more happy days will follow!

A Very Merry Christmas

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!

We enjoyed time with family last weekend and will be making another trip this weekend to see more. The girls love all the attention, of course, and have had lots of fun with their grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. We hope you all are well and will have a very happy New Year! We look forward to seeing you in 2007!

Visions of (our) Sugar Plums...

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...

Is it really December?

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...."

Today LL and I played outside while AG napped, and it was just plain warm! Not that I'm complaining... I'm a wimp when it comes to cold weather ,so 70s the week before Christmas is just fine with me. LL loves being outside, so it seems to agree with her, too. Today instead of the acorns, she was most interested in the leaves (which are taking over our yard, despite Trey's valiant efforts to keep up with them!) and the blue ball, which has recently inspired new verbage! She's busy adding words... lately she's said "boo" (book), "Nigh Nigh" before she goes to bed, and tonight she perfectly pronounced "Dadeee!" and "Momeee!", almost in the same breath (no favoritism here!) So, rather than chattering teeth, this December finds us with a pair of chattering sweeties.

Whatever your weather, we wish for you a wonderful Christmas!

Where the Wild Things Are

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?"

Yes, as you can see, we made another trip to the zoo last weekend! This time we had special guests...Gran and PopPop, who came to town to visit and babysit while Trey and I went to his company Christmas party later that night (no, the post title is not meant as a reference to the party!). As usual, we loved seeing the white tiger, elephants, and other beautiful and interesting creatures, but this time we saw the elephant "show" for the first time. We had no idea those guys (actually girls, I think) could do such cool tricks!

Brownbonnets?

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

Notice any similarities? As I watched LL with the acorns, I was reminded of this day with AG over a year and a half ago. We couldn't get her to take her eyes off the flowers for anything! Of dozens of bluebonnet pictures, there may be one where she's not completely focused on the bright blooms. Understandable, right? They are beautiful, and this spring I am sure they'll be yet another thing to miss about Texas. (Unless, of course, we can time a trip back to visit just right!) LL seems to find the millions of acorns in our backyard equally interesting, however, which is kind of cute but also dangerous, since she still loves to put everything in her mouth and these little treasures are perfectly chokable! So we keep a close eye on her while she keeps a close eye on them. Gran showed AG how their little caps fit on like hats, so instead of sweet baby pictures in the midst of a field of bluebonnets, with LL we'll have them in a yard of brownbonnets.

Breakfast with Santa

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!

A World of Wonder

AG is our little chatterbox...constantly asking questions, giving directions and explaining things as only a two-and-a-half year old can. She loves to be silly and joke around, but then there are the times when she unintentionally cracks us up with her pearls of toddler reasoning. Not to knock it...anyone who's been around a child this age can attest to how clever they are...and occasionally their little minds put things together in a way that is so sensible and yet so unexpected and well, just plain precious. Like Friday night, we'd told AG she could watch "Rudolph" before she went to bed, so all through dinner she kept asking, "Is Rudolphin on yet?" And Sunday morning, as I was getting dressed for church, she rubbed her hand on my panty-hosed foot and asked, "Are these your water hose?" I am both amused and amazed by her ideas...seems like just yesterday she started talking... and we can't wait to hear what she comes out with next!

'Tis the Season...

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!

Very Special Guests

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!
(above: LL chills with Aunt Nanoo and a book, below: all smiles after lunch with Mimi, PawPaw, and Aunt Ramona).

Friday Night Lights

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.

A Few Views

Spice Girls
Black Bean Beard
Out for Jess's Birthday Dinner

One Year and One Month

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.

We hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving. And we wish a happy birthday (today!) to PopPop!

Sweet Sisters

Now that LL is 13 months, she is a much more engaging playmate for AG. They had fun this week playing together in this pink tent. LL loved to explore new ways to get in and out of the tent: the door, crawling under the sides...but by far her favorite was diving headfirst through the window. However, most times she does this she gets stuck and ends up hanging on the "windowsill" by her waist and then needs some help to make a full exit. Of course AG finds all of this very funny, and it is so sweet to see them enjoying playing together and hear them laughing with one another. Another sweet activity we saw them initiate this week was walking side by side, hand in hand! LL can take AG's hand and pull up, then walk beside her (at least as long as AG will go at LL's speed!). This thrilled AG...and us!

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!

Pretty Pink Princess+Pumpkin Pants

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!).