Visiting Grandma

On Saturday we visited Joe's mom and visited around Auburn.  It was the first time we saw the very sick trees on Toomer's Corner.  We got lots of pics and pray that they can be saved.  They have them roped off and you can't throw toilet paper in the trees while they monitor them:

 

 

Get well soon!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Grandmama also gave them Easter baskets!!!  Thanks Grandma!!!

18 Months Old!

Abigail is 18 Months Old Today!!!!

 

Abigail is talking a lot now.  It's so fun to watch her communicate.  Her favorite word lately is shaking her finger and saying "no no" in the sweetest voice EVER!  She is walking really well now and LOVES to make a mess : )  She has one of her big molars that have come in and 3 others that are poking thru.  Her favorite "dink" is milk and she really wants to eat like the big people . . . she wants me to give her whole sandwiches or bananas, etc so she can bite them herself but ends up cramming so much in her mouth that we have to help her clear it all out.    She has also discovered the trash can so I have to watch her like a hawk in the kitchen.  She has thrown some toys away that we had to dig out and clean.  The other morning she was trying to throw the dish towel away.  She stood there with the trash can open and saying "no no" while she was doing it.  So she knew it was wrong and was doing it anyway . . . uh oh!  She also loves to lay her head on our shoulder and put her arms down beside her.  Sweetest feeling in the world.  She still sucks her thumb but mainly does it when she is tired.  She puts her right thumb in her mouth and puts her other hand in a small fist next to her thumb.  I need to get a picture of it one day to remember that sweet look.  She gives big belly laughs when you kiss her neck or tickle her.  We love you sweet Abigail!

Decorating and Sunshine

Last week we had gorgeous weather so we spent a lot of time outside.  We took the girls to the park last Wednesday:

 

 

We also got ready for the Easter egg hunt at church.  Emily had so much fun putting candy in the eggs.  It's nice to give her these little projects to do.  

 

My parents and brother came for a visit this weekend.  Robert helped me hang all our pictures because I'm too chicken to hang anything on the walls.  I don't know where to start or how best to put them together . . . so Robert was a big help:

While we were getting the frames together Emily got a hold of my camera and took lots of pictures.  Here were some of her good shots.  I thought she did pretty good:

Then the kids across the street came over and they had fun playing outside so Robert could focus on how to hang the pics.  I bought them some water guns and of course Abigail had to be right there with them:

 

 Job well done!

We had a fun weekend:

While my parents were here I took advantage of their SUV to get a sand box and pool for the back yard.  The second they pulled out of the driveway guess what we had to do for the rest of the day : )  It was warm enough on an April afternoon to even play in the pool!

 The water was too cold for Abigail but she had fun walking around and playing in her water bucket:

When we went inside to get ready for dinner I felt like I had been at the beach . . . we all smelled like suntan lotion and were covered in sand : )

Overcoming Fear

Today was a gorgeous day so we met our friends at the park for lunch and play.  This park has a smaller kids section and an older kids section.  Emily has always been too scared to do any of the things in the big kids section and usually gets stuck and I have to go get her down.  But today she braved it all!  She climbed the climbing wall with no help:

She walked across the walkway.  The first few times she went really slow . . . but after walking across it several times she started running across like it was no big deal.  This is a big accomplishment for her!  She is scared of heights and has never gone across any of these walkways without getting stuck and having me climb up there to get her:

 

And she want down the "twirly slide" that she has been too scared to try:

So proud!!!  Don't know what was different about today but it was a very good day for Emily.  She has REALLY been struggling the last few months with whining and crying about EVERYTHING . . . I've really struggled keeping my cool with her too . . . but today was a good day people . . . so I want to remember it : )

 

A rare moment of all 4 girls in the same place at the same time:

 

After playing on the playground the girls had fun running around the grassy area:

 

Abigail enjoyed sitting in the grass and even ate some dirt : )

 Here is a video of Emily climbing the rock wall.  Go Emily!!!!

Helping Dad

This weekend we took it easy hanging out as a family.  On Saturday we finished using some coupons we had at a local restaurant and then bought some wood to close up the sand box in our back yard.  The neighbor's cat has enjoyed using the open sand box as his kitty litter box . . . so we hopefully put an end to that:

 

Abigail gave moral support while she kept saying "sli . . .sli . . . sli" for me to take her down the slide 100 times"  At least I'm getting a good upper body workout helping her with this:

 Now we just need to buy a sand box we can keep closed : )

The girls have also enjoyed playing with the computers that Emily has.  I'm glad Emily has two because Abigail insists on playing as well:

 Here are some shirts I embroidered for the girls this week:

 

Abigail loved the turtle shirt and kept pointing to it and saying "tu-tle":

 

And in VERY BIG girl news, Emily has stopped wearing a Pull Up at night to sleep and has stayed dry for several days now!!!!  She has been dry for a couple of weeks and we've worked on going straight to the bathroom when she wakes up in the morning.  So because the Pull Up supply was getting low I decided to take the plunge and have her try sleeping without one . . . she has done great!!!!

Festival

Yesterday our church had a festival to raise money for the preschool.  It was a Dr. Seuss theme and the girls had a great time:

 

 

 

Abigail's favorite part was the balloons so she walked around holding these all afternoon:

 

 

 

Emily got her hair done and her face painted:

 

 

She also got to eat cotton candy for the first time:

 

 

 This baby stayed happy until we took her balloon away to get in the car!!!!