Sharing the Bebe Pod

Perfect for feeding Baby Sis her oats. . .

. . .and perfect for a comfy seat to take your calls on!

Yummy!

Michelle's been dying to eat regular food fora while now, and she finally got her chance earlier this week. She definitely likes it, but she hasn't quite gotten the process down yet. She doesn't open her mouth very well (if at all), and she doesn't know what to do with her tongue, so most of the food comes back out. When she's on a roll, though, the process is a lot faster :)

Keeping Up

Michelle has been very busy the last few days. She wants to do everything her brother is doing, and that includes moving. After we got home on Sunday night, Michelle started propelling herself forward and made it about five feet before running out of space. Steven wasn't interested in moving until closer to 8-9 months, not 6 months like her. She is definitely going to be moving soon.

She's also very interested in everything that's going on around her and since my parents, sisters, and their dog are staying with us for a few days, she has a lot to watch. Here she is last night hanging out with one of the dogs. We did go intervene at one point when she was getting ready to chew on the dog's tail. Gross, little girl, gross!

Shoes

Steven has developed an obsession with shoes. He talks about shoes constantly. He wants to wear everyone's shoes, and while we were at Grandpa Hal and Nanny's house, he had a huge selection to choose from. You never knew where you'd find your shoes, so it made rushing out of the door quite challenging.

When we got home last night, Steven found Uncle Robert's shoes (Lauren's fiance) and had to try them on. Amazingly enough, he was able to walk into the living room with them on.

Finger Painting

When we were out in Pa., I decided to try finger painting with Steven. I made the mistake of starting with the red finger papint, which is looks just like ketchup. Oops! Fortunately, I was able to keep him from eating it, and as he got more into finger painting, I didn't have to worry about him eating it. I'm sure we're going to be finger painting again soon!

Pictures!

On Friday I took the kids to Penney's to get their pictures taken, and I absolutely love how they turned out. The photographer was amazing and spent over an hour with us. One child was less cooperative than the other, so we ordered more pictures of Baby Sis than of him. It was the first time that we got her pictures taken, so that was part of it as well.

I had an amazing coupon (one that even the photograper couldn't believe!), so it didn't cost nearly as much as it could have. I did have to really limit what I bought, which was incredibly hard, but I got a nice assortment of pictures and made sure that I had enough to go around. I ordered one of the pictures esp. for Auntie E since she loves close ups of their eyes. I'm sure you can guess which one that is :)

P.S. Could God have possibly blessed us with cuter kids?! I seriously don't think so :)

P.P.S. If you're interested in the coupon, let me know, and I'll forward to your e-mail address!

Checking In

Well, it's been almost two weeks, but I am still here :) We drove out to PA almost two weeks ago and spent last week hanging out with Mark's family. Mark and I went up to New York City for a couple days, without the kids. We did just about everything there is to do except Central Park. We saw the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, took a bus tour of Manhattan and Brooklyn as well as both uptown and downtown tours, hung out in Times Square, and even went to Phantom of the Opera. (We bought same day tickets for front row orchestra seats for only $35 each!!)

Mark went home on Sunday, and I've been taking a grad. class for a second master's degree that I started years ago. The class is going well so far, but I haven't had a 7:30 a.m. class for years. I am not a morning person, so it is rather tortuous. It helps that I have five babysitters in the house to help out. Steven is absolutely LOVING his time with Grandpa Hal and Nanny, Uncle Andy, Aunt Beth, and Auntie L.

The kids and I will be here until the 5th, and Mark will be flying out to join us on the 3rd, and then we'll all drive home together. It's hard being away from home for this long, but things are still going well here. I'll try to upload pictures sometime soon. I have some cute ones of Steven blowing bubbles, at Chuck E. Cheese's, and finger painting. Can you tell he's having fun?!

Trying Out the Jumparoo

Michelle LOVES her jumparoo and will spend hours in it. I love it too :)

Pooped Out

This is what happens when you spend a fun-filled day at the zoo with Grandma instead of taking a nap.

Rediscovering the Jumparoo

As soon as I pull up Steven's old baby things, he has to play with them. The jumparoo was no exception. It worked out well, though, because I hadn't gotten the seat in it yet. He enjoyed playing in it, and Mark and I were laughing so hard because he kept trying to lean against it and didn't catch on that it just wasn't working out too well :)