And She's Off!

So 4 1/2 month old Claire started out with her head where that toy is on the blanket and her feet back towards the fireplace when I set her down and ended up under the coffee table a few minutes later. It's amazing what a kid can do in the amount of time it takes you to unload the dishwasher!

Melanie never did this backing up stuff, so this should be interesting!
She was a bit fussy once she realized what she had done, but then Melanie gave her the duck rattle and she was quite content under there. What a thoughtful sister she has :)
Let the mobility adventures begin!

The First Swim of the Summer

We took the girls to my parents' house last week for their first swim of the summer. The water was only 74, so it was a bit cool for an evening swim, but we gave it a whirl anyway. Melanie was not interested, but Claire did just fine on her first time in the pool. I'm sure by the end of the summer Melanie will be hard to keep away from the pool, but for now she wants nothing to do with it, which seems a bit odd considering how much she loves baths. Huh. A fickle 2-year-old. Who woulda thunk?

Claire lounging in the raft I got for Melanie
It's a bit big for her, but it'll be just right next summer :)

Kick! Kick! Kick!
(a bath time favorite as well!)

This is pretty fun!

Heading inside with Grandma to get dried off and a fresh diaper

Melanie really enjoyed watching Claire in the pool...

... but wanted nothing to do with getting in herself!

Real tears even!
Oh the injustice of it all!
And here's proof that she does in fact really like the water.
She loves laying down in the tub like this and talking to hear the way the water distorts the sounds. Oh, and blowing bubbles is a favorite too. When I taught swim lessons you wouldn't believe how challenging it was to get the kiddos to put their mouths in the water, but she just does it on her own. Crazy kid!
We tried swimming again a couple days ago and I brought a few of her bath toys to entice her towards the pool, but she would only play with them by the side of the pool with her feet firmly planted on the cement, but at least she was by the pool. (Dumping water on those of us in the pool, I might add!) Baby steps. We'll get there :)

Teething Much?

They grow up so fast! Claire is already showing some of the signs of teething - ack! She's my little baby! I don't think I'm ready to part with her toothless grin just yet! I know it will likely be a couple more months (Melanie's 1st tooth showed up right at 6 months) but even just seeing the signs of their impending arrival makes me realize how quickly my little Claire is growing up!

Notice how completely soaked with slobber my onesie is?

Mmmmm... fingers!

And toes!

I'll chew on anything, even my own lips!

Once I discovered Melanie was doing this I only allowed it to go on long enough for me to get a picture (or two, or three, or ten!). Nothing like sending mixed messages, huh? ;)

We Are SO Cool!

For our anniversary we went out to dinner and then went to see "Up" in 3-D, so naturally we had to get a picture of us looking spiffy in our high-fashion eyewear.

Are we cool or what?!?

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life.
I am truly blessed that God chose us for each other.
I love you and I hope I get to show you my love
in a new way each day for the rest of our lives.

A New Top for Melanie

Instead of cleaning like a good mommy and wife I took my first spin at "re-purposing" some fabric today (using fabric from my stash qualifies as cleaning, right? It does make the pile smaller after all...).

I had bought a pillowcase off of eBay last year with the intent of making Melanie a pillowcase dress. Since she's so tiny I had to re-size the pillowcase by taking the sides in as well as cropping it quite a bit, so it's not a true pillowcase dress/top, just made from some material that formerly was a pillowcase! And I still have enough material left over to make another top or a skirt as well as add a ruffle to the bottom of this one if I want :) And no Michelle, I would not have her wear the matching top and skirt at the same time so as to avoid your scathing criticism and teasing, thankyouverymuch! :P

Here are some pictures of Melanie and her new top.

Please ignore the weeds in my front flower bed. I know they're there. We are peacefully coexisting at the moment, although I'm sure that won't last much longer.

This is probably the picture that best represents the shirt itself, the rest were just too cute not to post!
She had just jumped off the step, thus the odd pose

Bye!

Cheese!
(Mmmmm... cheese!)

Telling us to "Shhh!" because Claire was asleep.

Oh, and I have a new found respect for those photographers that take pictures of kids for clothing ads. I realize this would be easier if she wasn't at home with all her play things around to distract her, but still! It takes quite a bit of effort to get a descent shot of a kid to show off the outfit they're wearing!

Grandpa's Birthday

My Grandpa Greenlee turned 78 this last Sunday, so the family got together at my parents house for dinner to celebrate. Just a simple evening of food and family - what could be better?
Here are a few pictures of the evening.

Melanie and the Birthday Boy hanging out on the front porch, checking out the duck in the garden.

The duck sitting on her 10 eggs
Melanie's new favorite thing at my parents' house.
She dumped a watering can full of water on it a couple days before this, so I'm pretty sure the feeling is not mutual.

Grandma Greenlee and Claire getting some bonding time.

Now what exactly am I supposed to do with this?

Ohh... I know now!

I love this picture!
An attempt to get a picture of the girls with their great-grandparents.
We'll have to try again another time.

The cake I made for Grandpa's birthday
You can get the recipe here
The frosting isn't stiff enough for decorating as the recipe is written, so I thickened it up by adding more cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Let me just say, wow! It was delicious!
I added chocolate covered strawberries and spread the extra melted chocolate on top of the cake to form a "shell" on top just to try something different, and it was very tasty if I do say so myself!