Best Friend Belle

Jasmine has LOVED the dogs from very early on. She'd stare at them before she was mobile - and relishes any attention from them. This has been taken to a whole new level now that she is a bit older and more mobile! I heard hysteric laughing from around the couch and this is what I discovered. Jasmine was grabbing at Belle through the slot in the furniture. Belle (who also LOVES to play) egged Jasmine on by gently nibbling on her fingers.


Addie stopped by to see what she was missing out on and decided her sister has come up with a rather amusing game. By this point, both girls are giggling and poking.


Belle is such a sweet dog - she didn't care what was being poke/prodded as long the girls kept playing with her! Tinsley, on the otherhand, sat across the room looking grumpy! : )


Gosh, my girls are getting big!!! Here they are emptying the contents from my kitchen cabinets. They think they are so clever when they find two things to bang together that make a loud noise. Perhaps they think they are clever because I light up and clap for them any time they do something new. My current favorite is encouraging them to dance - nothing brings a smile to my face more than to watch them hear some music and start shaking their little bodies!

The Battle of the Sippy Cup

Ever since I realized our baby bottles are potentially hazardous I've been working on getting the girls to take a sippy cup. Previous to this, I'd give them one to play with "practice with" but never expected them to drink out of it. Now I want them to DRINK so I can throw away the toxic bottles! Yeah - did I mention they aren't so interested!

What didn't work:

1.) Cold turkey - they didn't drink an ounce until we finally gave up at the end of the day and gave them milk in a bottle (they each then took 20+ ounces)!

2.) Sippy cups with something other than milk at snack time - worked somewhat but apparently anything but milk and water gives the girls diarrhea - YUCK!

3.) Drinking out of the sippy cup myself, exclaiming, "Oh, so yummy...bet you wish you could have some...???" Got lots of laughs, but not much drinking.

What is working:
1.) Now I put milk in the sippy cups, and "accidentally" leave them within reach (on a bench, low table, etc.) but I don't hand them to the girls. They think they are getting away with something by grabbing them off the table. What I'm not so excited about is the dripping of milk everywhere in my house. I tried the, "you will only drink this in your highchair approach" for weeks - and all I got was full sippy cups thrown from high up in revolt! Perhaps once they have given up the bottles for good, I can try the drinking in highchairs only approach.

Note the look on Addie's face in the last picture - she thinks she has been SO SNEAKY for having the sippy cup...especially since she has her sister's cup as well!

Mother's Day Weekend

So here's my little helper in action! She loves handing me the silverware SO MUCH that I find myself feeling guilty if I unload the dishwasher while she's eating or napping and unable to assist!


The girls have just discovered the great outdoors. Since the weather has been much nicer lately (omitting the deluges of rain and occasional tornadoes), we've been spending lots of time outside. We alternate between the front porch and the back deck. The girls now go to the doors and whine to be let outside! And yes, it has happened...a child (Addie) has finally figured out how to escape out the doggie door this morning....darn it!


Here's Super Dad hard at work on Saturday morning! Alex is so amazing about giving me a break whenever he is home - he takes over meals, entertainment, the really nasty diapers, and even lets me sleep in a bit. This past Saturday, I spent the morning with my mom shopping at the farmer's market, flea markets, and having lunch together. Super Dad mowed the lawn while watching the girls and dodging the rain!


Here we all are celebrating Mother's Day together with a BBQ in the evening. It is so nice to have my parents so close by - we love seeing them - and the girls love it too! Although, their reactions to grandma and grandpa are quite different these days. Addison automatically freaks out when someone comes over (she automatically assumes - usually correctly) that we are leaving and this person is her babysitter. Jasmine, on the other hand, pulls out her best tricks and begins showing off. She has figured out that grandpa is all kinds of fun and really enjoys her time with him. We definitely did miss celebrating with the newest mom in our family, my sister-in-law Sarah!

And lastly, my Mother's Day present - a funky chair from a flea market! I LOVE button backed furniture! I know that this chair won't be beloved by all, but I love it. Someday when money flows freely around here, I'll have it recovered and paint the wood either white or gold - but for now I'm just going to replace the foam in the cushion.

Oh, and one last thought - for all of you bloggers out there - if you want a way to make your blog into a book check out www.blurb.com This website provides you with free software that will automatically download all the text and pictures from your blog and even put them into layouts. All you have to do is go through and adjust your layouts to your liking and pay to have it printed. I've nearly finished my 2006-2007 Green Blog Book and it looks like it will be about $30 to have my 100 page book printed! I think I'm going to do this every year instead of a scrapbook - it will be our family's yearbook! The only downside to blurb is the software is a bit slow (at least on my computer) - can feel like the speed of dial up at times!

Mommy's Little Helpers

Here's a shot of one of the girls new favorite activities - raiding the fridge. As soon as I open the door, it is a mad dash by both of them to get to the fridge before I close it! If they are too late, they both sit by the fridge and throw a tantrum. I've discovered that tantrums are better than little hands grabbing whatnot out of the fridge and throwing it on the floor!

Addie was awake first from the afternoon nap (of course!) and caught me in the middle of sweeping. She usually chases the broom around and tries to grab the dog hair out of my dust pile...yuck I know! So, I gave her the mini broom from the dustpan and she had a BALL! It was funny how quickly she started to mimic me - she was sweeping - she was "using" the dustpan - and mostly she wanted to sit in the middle of my pile of dirt and push it around with her broom...maybe not helpful...but at least distracting!

Other things my little helpers can do:

1.) Unfold newly folded laundry
2.) Unravel the toilet paper roll
3.) Remove vent covers and throw them down vent hole
4.) Wash any and all objects in dogs' water bowl
5.) Pick small items (dog hair, leaves, etc.) off of floor and hand them to mom
6.) Empty silverware out of dishwasher (doesn't matter if it is clean or dirty) perhaps that's why they suck on each piece first...in case it is dirty? : )
7.) Pull wipes out of wipes container
8.) Rearrange furniture (usually in an attempt to make steps to climb)
9.) Clean out my purse (usually when I'm not looking!)
10.) Give great big kisses! : )

We Can Feed Ourselves!!!

The girls have become very insistent at feeding themselves and fairly picky about what they'll allow into their mouths full stop! Here's a good visual for those of you who haven't been around little ones eating recently.


Notice Addie's special hairdo - the stiff wings to the side - she uses food goo to achieve this special look!


More than feeding themselves, the girls love to feed the dogs - especially food they don't want. Usually the dogs are sequestered to the outdoors during mealtimes and only welcomed after meals are over for clean-up!