a new home!

So much has gone on since we last posted.  We are settled into our new house.  I think the girls did it faster than anyone.  The week after we moved Dave went back to get mail from the old house and Samantha said "this is not our home anymore".  Yep.  They're good.

Samantha has been amazing everyone with her verbal skills and making us so nervous with her motor skills.  She gets so excited she just does whatever she wants to at whatever speed she can and then looks so upset and confused when she falls and gets hurt.  Mostly it is because she spins and makes herself dizzy and then tries to run.  She doesn't like the room too dark when they sleep and doesn't like when the baby monitor camera moves.  I tell her if she's quiet it won't move and sometimes that works.

Catherine has been busy learning the names of the birds that come to the bird feeder and thinks the squirrels are 'so cute!'.  Both of them love playing outside and we are especially amazed at how far Catherine can hit the ball of the tee.  She just swings lefty while holding the bat as a righty, so maybe tennis is in her future.  

This is Dave's favorite new toy, and Samantha loves to help him use it.  Catherine, however, was afraid and it was too loud, but she still got on it and eventually took her hands down from her ears to wave at me.

We went to visit a friend's farm and the girls favorite part is not the sheep or adorable baby lambs (definitely my favorite) but the ATV ride to see the bull and go through the water.

A lamb born just a few hours before we got there!

This is little orphan Andy, who gets bottle fed so we can touch him.  

The girls have been very interested in their brother.  They've helped in his room, wash his clothes, and are always talking about how big he is getting, while at the same time acknowledging that he is little.  They give him goodnight kisses and hugs.  I wonder how they'll react once he is finally here, but I know that they will love him and help me as best as they can.

So we've been spending our days walking in the woods, going to the park, playing in the yard, working as a team to pump up the flat balls, and finally getting batteries in the bubble machine.  I'm so proud of them being able to play together, share, and occupy themselves.  I know that it isn't perfect, and everything will change very soon, but we are in such an amazingly perfect new home for our children to grow and explore and love as a family.

3 years old!

Can you believe it!?  They are 3 years old!!  We had so much fun going to Duke Gardens on a beautiful day and then to visit a friend's horses.  The girls actually got to hold their reins and sit on them!  They had a blast.  

CATHERINE LOUISE

Oh!  I just can't get enough of that little face!  She is me in so many ways that it is frightening and frustrating and endearing all at the same time.  How do you yell at a child who does something that you know is completely within your own personality and you did to your own parents at the same age?  She doesn't hold back.  She will find where that line is and step over it just a little while looking you straight in the face.  She is blunt and honest and 'forthright' as a professor once called me.

The train set is her absolute favorite toy now!

Yep, we have hip boots around here.  Though usually we need them for Sam.  It sounds like this: "Sam, what are you doing?"  Sam: "Nothing!"  Yeah right.

Birthday crown!

She was so scared of the horses after one of them sneezed.  It took us a while for her to go back to them and pet them, but eventually she got up on Candy and even waved!

Such a gorgeous spirit!

SAMANTHA JEAN

She has my eyes, and my big feet, and not much else, and if I could steal that beautiful hair I would, but she makes us smile with her creativity every day.

Samantha is sometimes such the opposite personality from Catherine.  She pushes over the line, but she does it while smiling at you and playing the sweet southern girl while plotting inside her head how to do or get what she wants.  She loves to sing and we are amazed at the number of songs she knows and how quickly she picks them up.  She wasn't afraid of the horses at all, went right up to them and couldn't wait to get on.  Not quite as coordinated as Catherine, as evidenced by the bruises she constantly bears between ankles and knees, she's still fearless and we love her for it.  My favorite thing about Samantha is the phrases she picks up and how she uses them with just the right intonation and timing. 

Love that pose!  Where's the magazine photographer when you need one?

Happy Birthday Catherine and Samantha!  May you have many, many more full of health, smiles, and love.

family visits and more snow!

Before you check out the snow images I wanted to catch you up on Sam's latest sleeping escapades.  This time she took off her pants, put on panties (but put 2 legs through 1 leg hole so they were around her waist) then put her pants back on.  Backwards.  Another time she put on another pull-up inside out on top of her pants.  Sigh.  Can't wait for that video camera.

Sliding down the street with Daddy!

Here's our crazy shrimp and her chocolate milk mustache.  She refuses to drink regular milk unless it is warm and in a bottle.  That is no longer acceptable to us, so chocolate silk it is (do NOT call it 'milk'!).  Part of her motivation to drink is so she can be done and look at her pirate mustache in the mirror.  Recently she's also been singing a lot, and has told me that "Sweet Caroline" is "her song" and not Samantha's song.  Yes, she's barely 3 and she has a theme song. 

Doing the twist with Nana and Grandpa to the Beatles.  They are dancing fools!

Catherine with her Godmother, who also happens to be the daughter of my Godmother.  Here's to Aunt Robin and Cousin Christine.  So glad we got together!

Uncle Bobby, Aunt Heather, and cousins Hannah, Samuel, and Amos came to visit and we showed them our new park by the new house.  We also managed to take a family picture with everyone sitting still, I think it is our best attempt yet.

Catherine is flying just like Daddy!

All the girls, including Heidi, attacking Uncle Bobby.

Not a bad bunch, though there's a heck of a lot of blonde hair in there!

Then, Uncle Mike and Aunt Alyssa came on an adventure to visit with cousin Lily, who is only 2 1/2 months old.  They were troopers, squishing into the back of the car to go to the park and birthday shopping.  We were so happy to have them here!

Lily's first time on a swing.

Nana and all her granddaughters.  Next post: turning 3 and a new house, we can't wait!!!!

extremes in weather

The last two weeks have been kind of crazy.  We were at my mom's and it was warm enough to play outside in a tent that we found looking for something else.  Isn't Nana silly?!

Catherine also helped Grandpa fix the sink.  I think my dad was having some serious deja vous.

Then, whatever nasty sickness I had the girls got.  Catherine wasn't that bad, just really tired, but Samantha got it bad with a fever, my poor little thing.  Her nose ran for over a week.

But they got in some good snuggling time with their Daddy.

So pitiful!

And then it snowed!!!  We had snow suits that were just the right size of the girls from Shalana's twins so we stayed nice and warm.  Also, these mittens from my aunt matched the ones Dave and I had gotten when we went to the Olympics in 2010 (can't believe that was 4 years ago!).  They were huge but they are fleece-lined and kept our hands nice and toasty.

We didn't even have to explain to them how to make a snow angel.  Samantha was not a fan of lying down in the snow but Catherine did a great job.



Sledding was Sam's thing, and taking off her mittens to feel the snow.  She didn't mind walking on the deck where the snow made crunching noises, but Catherine absolutely refused.

Catherine's favorite part was throwing snow balls, especially at Daddy.

Got him!

(Insert maniacal laugh here! )

The problem of having a huge car, but with the baby coming I'm glad we did this rather than a 'normal' car.

As close as we got to sledding.  Hope everyone else has as much fun on their snow day!