Random Pictures

No rhyme or reason - Just pictures that I've acquired in the last few month that I like. :)


Finger Painting:





Gardening:



Movie Stars:



Heading To Gram Dorrie's Birthday Dinner:



At The Fair:




And here's blast from the past... (well, last summer):

Taylor In The Playhouse:




Leah On Her Horse:

Rendezvous

Still unpacking from the weekend, so this will be a short post - but pictures from Rendezvous are posted.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=dhctz4p.3ukwqgxp&x=0&y=ah5s2m&localeid=en_US

I think its safe to say that the girls had a good time. :)

Princesses & Ponies

I guess I knew it would happen eventually, but you always think you have more time, you know?

The girls have started playing dress up. And (thank you Grandma) they own crowns and feather boas. *chuckle* :)











*sigh* (Ok, ok, all of you who know me well can stop laughing any time now.) LOL

Then again, this is how they usually dress up:
Either Daddy or Grandpa's sneakers & hat. (In Taylor's case, always on backwards.)

Now this, they probably get from me. LOL






Since I haven't had a chance to post in a while, I'll be adding a post with a bunch of pictures to catch you all up soon (that's where the ponies part will come in).

Taylor's First Hair Cut

On May 29th, at approximately 6pm, Taylor had her first haircut.

Considering she was pretty much bald on her first birthday, Miss Taylor has come a long way, follicly speaking. But her bangs were a tad long and barrettes just were not high on her list of must-wear accessories. :) It was time for a trim.

She and I headed out to visit Crystal, the stylist that's been doing my hair since my wedding, at Studio 1. We pulled up, parked and walked in, Taylor holding my hand. As soon as we walked in, it was like she'd been there 100 times before. Taylor handed me her coat, climbed up on the seat in the waiting area and looked out the great big window at all the cars & passers-by (the shop is on Water St. so its a pretty active location). Crystal said she'd be right with us... Taylor nodded sagely and hopped off the chair to go get a magazine and brought it back for me to read to her.

When Crystal called us over she walked up, said hi, and settled into the raised seat in the stylists chair. She was literally a perfect angel. Sitting still when needed, very polite... she was even teasing Crystal a little... which Crystal got quite a kick out of.

At the end of her cut, she jumped into Crystals arms, said thank you and smiled. She even ran back to give Crystal her tip - I thought Crystal was going to melt.

Yup.... she's a pretty special little lady. (I almost said 'girl', but the way she carried herself, she was a lady through and through.)

I love you Taylor Jade.


Of course, you can't have a great 'first haircut story' without pictures (thanks Mom... I wouldn't have even taken the camera if you hadn't mentioned it, and I would have regretted it - even though I didn't think I would then). :)


Before - A bit shaggy. :)














During - She had a ball with Crystal - At one point (between pictures 2 & 3) Crystal said "Oh Taylor, don't be sad!" Taylor, who never even flinched an eyebrow said "I not," and then thru all the hair you saw a little bit of dimple. Crystal got quite a chuckle out of our very serious little girl.




















After - In the first picture she was looking into the mirrors behind us, in the second... I think she approves of her new look. :)

2 Year Stats

Tonight was the 24 month check-up for the girls. This was by far the best well-visit we've had since the girls' have been aware of their surroundings. They were very cooperative, Taylor even giggled when Dr. P. was listening to her heart and there were no tears! (Of course not having to get 3-4 shots each probably helped their mood immensely.) :)

Yup - I liked this check-up much better the last few.

And now, what you're probably all waiting for - 24 Month Stats: *insert trumpet fanfare here*

Taylor Jade
Height - 35"
Weight - 28lbs

Leah Justine
Height - 34"
Weight - 27lbs

Dr. P. is very happy with both their physical and cognitive developments and says that all is well, which we were very glad to hear.

I had to laugh though - he always asks "What is *insert name here* doing now?" In this case, "What can Leah do now, can she say 2 or 3 words together?" Um, sure Dr. P ... its getting her to stop after the 30th word or so that's the trick. LOL

And when he found out Taylor is counting to 12 (well, actually 13, but I misspoke at the appointment) he was very happy, and suprised. Said he thought we might have a future mathematician on our hands. (Which would be good - that way she can help explain it to me one day... math has never been my strong point.) *grin*

Birthday Fun

Pictures from the girls' party on Sunday are now up on the Kodak Gallery. Take a peek. :)

The girls' got a teeter-totter for their birthday... well, technically its a "Chair-A-Go-Round"... a teeter-totter that also spins - here take a look:


The girls seem to get a kick out of it, and I'm sure as they grow they'll appreciate the spinning option a whole lot more than I'll probably like, but I couldn't resist when I saw it. It reminded me of one that my friend Kyle had when we were kids. (Who says you can't relive your youth?) *chuckle*

Two Years & Counting

Two Years Old.

Two years of growing.

Two years of changing.

Two years of learning,
of testing,
experiencing
& tasting.

Two years of two little lives evolving before our eyes.

Seeing double has taken on a whole new meaning since May 4th, 2006.

Imagination

Yesterday I walked in the door after work and was greeted by a heartfelt “Mommy!” from Taylor. She ran over to me, gave me a hug and promptly asked for my employee badge. (It's one of those credit card-sized electronic badges that hangs from a lanyard around your neck and works as an accessory with absolutely nothing in my wardrobe.)

“My Turn?” she asked. So I took off my badge and put it around her neck. She looked down, picked up the badge hollered “Super Bunny” and ran out of the kitchen giggling.

In the blink of a toddler’s eye my work badge became a cape and she became a super hero.

I love this age.

My New Favorite Pictures

I was downloading some pictures the other day and now have new favorite photos of the girls.
This was taken the last weekend of January:


And this was taken this past weekend:

The 'Big' Hill

Yesterday afternoon we headed outside to play with the girls. The sun was shining and the air wasn’t as bitterly cold as it has been.

Leah had a ball just running through the few inches of snow that we have (its got that crust on it, so it crunches when you walk on it). She thought that was cool.

Taylor was looking for something a little more exciting. So I got out the snow tube. (Technically, it’s a “Thunder Tube”… and for those of you reading this that played at my house as kids – Yes, it’s the same yellow Thunder Tube that we took sledding down Tank Hill and off that cool hill on Route 39 - before they had the nerve to build a house at the bottom of it.)

She got so excited when she saw it. She’s our little thrill seeker so I decided I’d push her down the ‘big hill’ – not the one that comes down from the barn door, the one that drops off the back yard too the brush line (see picture below).

She settled in to the seat, grabbed on to the handles and I gave her a running push. She giggled. I let go. She giggled. The tube took off down the hill. (Remember that crust I mentioned earlier? Not only does it make a crunchy sound when you walk on it, but it also allows Thunder Tubes with a small child on it to go very fast.) Then she really giggled! By the time I caught up at the almost bottom of the hill she was giggling and asking for more – So up the hill we went. (And by “we” I mean Taylor on the tube with me pushing her up the hill.)

Only to turn around and do it again… at which point she flew past the bottom of the hill and down in to the flat portion of the back yard. (See diagram below.)

It was a much looooooonger trip to the top up the hill this time, at which point I came to 2 realizations:

1) I am old.

2) I am squishy.

But I made my daughter laugh, so I think I’ll survive. (And, if we keep this up, although I won’t be getting any younger, perhaps I’ll end up a little less squishy before summer comes and I really need to run up and down that hill.)

-ps-

My quads weren’t terribly pleased with me upon getting out of bed this morning, but they seem to have gotten over it.

Things that go 'Crunch' in the night

A bump in the night

The creak of a door

The squeak of a floor board…

all normal sounds in the middle of the night (well, at least if you live an old farm house like ours).

Except that in our house last night the only sound was rather subdued “crunch crunch crunch”.

Let me backtrack. Leah has been up for at least 2 hours in the middle of the night for last few nights (last night it was more like 3 hours). Apparently she's been hungry but wasn't actually realizing it. Around 4:30am, as a last ditch effort to fall asleep at some point before the alarm went off this morning, I brought up a ziploc of Cheerios (approx. 6 handfuls worth - which, considering my man-hands is a pretty good amount of little "o" shaped oat cereal).

She ate about 5 handfuls worth, drank a few sips from my bottle of water and (after protesting for about 5 minutes) went to sleep until after I left for work around 7:30am.

Snow Day

The girls finally got to play in the snow over the weekend.
(I think its safe to say they enjoyed themselves.) *grin*

In the beginning you can just hear Taylor talking to Daddy. I think is something along the lines of:
"Whoa!"
*giggle*
"I got it!"
(She liked walking along with David being an independent 'big girl'.)

The audio for the 3rd clip goes something like this:
"Leah stuck."
"I stuck."
"Daddy can fix it?"
"Daddy can fix it?"
David asking her how it happened, and in typical Leah fashion she replies
"Hmmmmmmm"

And in the last clip you can hear Taylor helping me finish the ever popular "Ready... Set...Go"
(Is her giggle totally infectious or what?)

Bucket Heads

Our girls love wearing hats.
Baseball hats. Stocking Hats. Their Dad's hats. Grandpa's Hats. Bucket Hats.

And, they also like wearing buckets as hats.
Yup. That's not a typo. Leah especially spent most of this past weekend wearing an orange bucket on her head.

Life with toddlers can be strange.



Sorry about the red eye. For some reason my Kodak software refused to fix it.

Little Pink Marshmallows

The girls finally got to wear their winter gear outside a couple of weeks ago... It'd been a very odd winter to that point. There had been very little snow & what we had gotten always seemed to melt within 24 hours of it falling

In mid-January we'd had a couple of days (and nights) of nasty winds - nasty as in 50-60 mph gusts that literally rocked our house nasty. Needless to say (but I'm going to say it anyway) we had a very large yard covered with sticks the size of small trees.

So, it was cold, but very dry (everything had been blow-dried for 2 days after all) so the girls got to head outside to play while David & I tried to clean up the lawn.

Don't let Leah's look fool you, she was very happy to be outside... she just wasn't thrilled that she was still in the wagon and not running around the yard yet.

Either that or she took offense to my well-meaning "you guys look like little pink marshmallows" comment. The jury's still out on that one. :)


Taylor had no problem hamming it up for the camera, when she wasn't busy helping us pick up all the sticks that is. We were flabbergasted by the size of the limbs this little bit was dragging to the trailer. By herself. Refusing (rather adamantly I might add) all assistance from us.





Leah, on the other hand, was apparently still holding a grudge about the wagon. LOL

Quick Run Down

Just a few of the things the girls have been up to since my last post:

• Running
• Drawing
  
• Spinning in circles
• Dancing
• Singing
• Zipping (They spent a good week a little before Christmas zipping and unzipping their PJs)
  
• Climbing
• Putting puzzles together.
• Building towers. (Mostly Taylor)
  
• Knocking down towers. (Mostly Leah.)
  
• Riding/rocking on their unicorns. (I'll see if I can find a picture and post later.)
  
• No fear of going up or down the stairs. (Together, alone, during the day, in the dark, with and without us anywhere near them) Did I mention the girls REALLY like heading upstairs when their parents have no plans to be on the upper level? *chuckle*
  
• Talking in sentences.
• Problem solving. (Which occasionally serves to create problems for Mom & Dad - but is impressive and entertaining nonetheless).
• Asserting our independence & steadfastly sticking to our opinions on everything from which shirt to wear to which fruit we'd like to eat at lunch. (Don't know where that comes from, I think I'll blame their Dad.) LOL
  
• Reciting favorite books & rhymes.
• Picture reading.
• Hearing and comprehending waaaaaaaaay more than I'd like them too sometimes. LOL

I know I'm forgetting stuff, but at least this is a start. :)

18 Month Stats & Elfish Humor

The Stats
Went to the Dr. the Saturday after Thanksgiving for the girls' 18 month well-visit. Here's the stats:

Taylor: 33" Tall; 24 lbs. 4 oz.
Leah: 33.5" Tall; 22 lbs. 6 oz.

They're both ahead on the milestones the Dr. expects to see at this age, all in all, it was a pretty good visit.

Only 2 ounces away from being, yet again, exactly 2 pounds apart. Although I do question the half inch difference in height - we see them everyday and can't tell which part of Leah is half an inch taller. I think she pointed her toes when the nurse measured her on the exam table. LOL


Elfish Humor
Our friend Mike sent us an email that had David and I cracking up, Leah swaying to the music and Taylor dancing and cheering (literally... Mike, Judy, I swear she clapped for you both at the end.) So, not to be outdone, here's our version:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1247974189

Ok.... realized I started this and never actually posted it (it was written 2 months ago... but its still fun.) :)

Ok, so we missed the ‘once a month’ deadline this time… but it is still only the 1^st week of October so we’re not doing too badly.

The summer weather is still with us (YEA!!!!!!!!!) and the girls are loving it. The jungle gym is definitely a favorite hangout – and why not – swings, sandbox, big yellow slide and that cool deck on the top – I mean really, what’s not to love, right? J

Their coordination is amazing to me sometimes:

Taylor comes down the slide, plants her feet shoulder width apart, stands up and runs back to whichever adult has “lift-child-onto-the-deck-because-their-little-legs-aren’t-long-enough-to-climb-the-ladder-yet” duty. Its nothing that we taught her, but after a couple of initial trips down the slide she apparently felt that landing on her buns was not the way to go and that she needed to find a better solution.

Leah has officially entered the climbing phase of toddlerhood. One afternoon David was sitting on the loveseat with his feet on the ottoman (yes, we do, on rare occasion, get to sit down these days) when he heard “Hi Dad” from behind whatever he was reading. And there, on her knees on the ottoman was Leah, jumping into his lap. (Thank goodness she announced herself first or it may have been a very different scene.) LOL

15 Month Well Visit

The girls went for their 15 month well visit on Saturday (the18th) and things very went well overall.

They’re both staying on their growth curve for height and weight - Taylor is just about into the 50^th percentile for everything and Leah is still hovering in the 10-20^th percentile for weight and 50^th for height.

The doctor was very impressed (surprised even) with their language skills, comprehension and motor skills -they’re charting closer to 2 year old in those areas and for preemie multiples (who generally are expected to be behind) that’s a pretty big deal, so we’re very happy.

A couple of physical things came up, Taylor’s left hip is clicking a little and we have to get some x-rays done to check for hip dysplasia – we’ll keep an eye on it and address whatever needs to be addressed once the testing is completed (fingers crossed and prayers that it’s a ligament issue and not actually dysplasia). Leah’s left foot is turning in but should resolve itself (with some exercises) without a problem.

Here’s their stats:

Taylor
Height: 30.75”
Weight: 22lbs. 12oz.

Leah
Height: 31"
Weight: 20lbs. 12oz.

Summer Fun

Summer is here, and almost gone. Good weather is much too fleeting here in WNY.

The girls have certainly been making the most of the sunny days playing on the porch, digging in their sandbox and SWINGING!

My little adrenaline junkies love to swing. The higher the better in their world. Giggles and squeals bounce playfully around the backyard every time the get near their play set.

As their mom, the sound of their laughing makes me laugh out loud too. As fellow swing enthusiast/adrenaline junkie I find myself looking very forward to the days when we can hit the amusement park rides together.

However, since they're not going to meet the height requirements for the roller coaster just yet, I guess I'll just enjoy the giggles that come with them swinging over our heads (yes, I do mean that literally - I wasn't kidding about the adrenaline junkie part.)