The Shoe Obsession Continues....

Hannah and Griff are still obsessed with shoes...anyone's shoes. They walk around all day in whoseever shoes they can get on their feet. I bought myself a pair of rain boots the other day, and immediately Hannah brought them out the mud room, handed them to me, and demanded I put them on her feet. The look is a bit silly! Often times they only wear one shoe, which would, I think, make it even harder to walk, but they seem to do fine. I did break down and buy them their own crocs over the weekend, since they love Abby's so much. Now, if only we could get some nice weather so we could wear them! Enjoy the pictures.

Random Pictures

Yesterday's sunrise over the lake

Do you like my shoes? They're Daddy's.

This is the smile I give Mom when she asks me to smile. I'm so sick of that camera in my face all the time....
Take my picture, too!!
Our bathing beauty, right after bath
Mom put me in a pretty purple outfit, but then I found Abby's skirt and wanted to wear it over my outfit. I let mom know I wanted to wear it by screaming and crying....if you look closely, you can still see tears on my face...

Feeding Griff a carrot at lunch

I asked them to give each other a kiss, and this is what I got...air kisses

More Bath Fun....Kinda

I got some pictures of the kids in the bath together. They love to take a bath in our tub, and H&G stomp around the bathroom in excitement as I'm filling up the tub and getting everything ready. Hannah has the funniest little squeal when she's really excited, and it cracks me up to see her running around the bathroom, naked of course, squealing because she's excited to take a bath! Unfortunately, this bath was cut very short because Miss Hannah decided it would be fun to go to the bathroom in the tub. So they had 10 minutes of playtime in the tub before I had to get everyone out ASAP. Abby told me later it was disgusting. :-) It will be interesting to see if Abby wants to take a bath with them again tonight, or if the pooping incident has curbed her enthusiasm for bathing with H&G!

We also spent most of the afternoon outside yesterday. We FINALLY had some nice weather. We were actually out there with no coats. You would have thought it was the first time H&G had been outside the way they were running around like little animals - I guess it kinda was a first for them. I have no idea how I'm going to control them when we are out in the summer - one runs one way, the other the other way, and they think the street is their private running track. As I've said before, they don't particularly listen to me very well, so reviewing the "rules" before we go outside isn't working so well right now. I didn't have the camera, so no pics, but promise to remember it next time we venture out.

We also met the new neighbors who moved in down the street. They have three little girls, 3, 5 & 7 and all of them love princesses. I told the mom she found the right neighborhood. We certainly are not short on estrogin in this neighborhood!

Enjoy the pictures.

The last two nights, Abby has wanted to take her bath with Hannah and Griff. It's fine with me, easier & faster to wash all three at once. Hannah seems to like having Abby in the tub with her, or maybe she just likes playing with her Barbies, I dunno. Mike got to us with the camera just a tad too late....I had already gotten H&G out of the tub and into jammies. Next time I'll get a pic with all three kids splashing together.

Mike also had snack time with H&G today - apples on the floor. Can you see the skull and cross-bones t-shirt Griff has on? Daddy brought him that home from Vegas :-)

Abby and I went shopping for Easter outfits today at the mall....yep, just the two of us. We had a great time, and she picked out a dress for herself. She then decided that Hannah should have a matching one. She wasn't much interested in picking out Griff's outfit - she prefers sticking to pink and purple!

A Friend's Birthday Party

Abby went to her friend Ella's birthday party today. It was a princess party (image that...a princess party for a four year old!), and everyone was asked to come dressed as a princess. Abby was all over THAT! And, if that wasn't enough, Snow White herself was going to be there, too. (coincidentally, the same woman who came dressed as Strawberry Shortcake for Abby's last birthday party.......I don't think Abby made the connection). Anyway, she had a ball. Ella's parents took lots of pictures, so hopefully they will send some and I can post them so you all can see them. I did get a picture of Abby all dressed and ready to go.

Hannah and Griff's favorite past-time of late is to throw their dinner food EVERYWHERE, and to take huge gulps of milk and then either spit it out at each other, or blow "razzberries" so that the milk goes everywhere. We are trying desparately to break them of this new found habit. Below are pictures of them covered in milk. The pictures don't actually show you just how sopping wet they get. Aren't they a scream? :-) They are also OBESSESSED with Abby's shoes. The favorites are her crocs and her rain boots. They seek them out ever day and wear them around the house, tripping as they go. There have been many fights over who is going to wear which pair and for how long.

Enjoy the pictures.

Sorry, forgot to flip this one......

Play-Doh

An afternoon of fun with Play-Doh. Griffin tried to eat it once, and it must have tasted so gross he didn't try it again. Abby LOVES Play-Doh still; Hannah & Griff weren't really sure what to do with it. That's all for now......enjoy the pictures.

The Monkeys....and Am I Royalty?

It's been awhile since my last update. Still spending lots of time indoors, due to the chilly weather. At least we are getting more day light - it's not getting dark until 6pm or so, which is a nice change from when it was dark at 4pm around Christmas time.

Hannah and Griff are doing well. I told Mike I don't remember Abby EVER acting like they do. They throw their food, they hit each other, grab each other's toys, scream about everything, are into every possible cabinet and drawer.... It's very loud in our house, all the time. I remember Abby being much more verbal at this point - we were able to communicate with each other much easier than I can with H&G. They aren't stringing words together yet, so sometimes it's hard to figure out what they want, and I know they get frustrated trying to get their points across. Neither one of them listens to me very well, and they seem to get great joy at running away from me when I ask them to do something. It's clear they understand me, as there have been occasions when they actually do do as I ask, but those times are few and far between. I'm starting to see just how easy a baby and toddler Abby was (and continues to be) - perhaps because there was only one of her. Whatever the reason, she was definitely easier than the monsters....I mean monkeys :-)

Abby is doing great. She is thoroughly enjoying swim class. I'm so proud of how well she is doing...she tries so hard. Kelly, her teacher, will ask her to try something new, and Abby will nod her head and say to her, "let's do it". Abby will tell me later that she was scared, but she pushed herself to do it anyway. She is swimming underwater now, and can hold her breath for 25 "quick" seconds. She also backfloats unbelievably well. She does it all on her own for about 20 seconds. She is also liking gymnastics more now. She has a new coach this session, and I think she likes her a bit better. I was going to pull her after this session ended, but she is telling me she wants to continue. We'll have to see.....I have her signed up for soccer starting in April (her friend Ella from school is doing it with her), and she is starting a theater class in a few weeks, too, so I don't know if I want her to do gymnastics on top of that and school.

We were watching a special on tv tonight about the Royal Family. Abby was completely into it -- marveling at the castle, princesses, the Queen, the "fanciness" of it all. Then, after about five minutes of silence, she says to me, "mama, am I royalty in our family?" Mike and I looked at each other, smiled, and told her yes.

That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures :-)

Some fun (and love!) on the teeter totter

Ok, I don't usually let them have their paci's outside their cribs....and this one isn't even Griff's - he stole it from Hannah's bedroom floor. But he looked so comical wearing one of my winter hats, that I had to get a picture.