Mish Mash

I guess blog posts from now on aren't really going to have a subject...it will mostly just be a mish mash of pics and videos of what's going on lately.  Um...isn't that what I've been doing the past year anyway?! 

The rocking chair for Sydney's nursery finally came in last week, and I love it!  

It's comfy and cute (charcoal grey with cream piping); apparently, Millie has designated it her reading chair.

The nursery is pretty much completed.  I have one thing I'm waiting on to hang on the wall by the door, so I'll post that when it comes in...then it will be officially done.  I really love it!  There isn't a theme...just bright and cheery.

Hi Syd.

we've almost taught her to wink ;)

Video: Millie can do a somersault!  you really only need to watch the first 20 seconds of this video...she gets lazy after the first few successes
Video: Millie loves Sanders the horse

Sergeant Millie is all about telling us what to do these days.  Whenever she swings, she wants you to swing to.  She doesn't understand that it leaves no one to push her though...sigh...toddler logic is hard to deal with sometimes.

Break out the sprinkler, it's in the 90's this week!

Grey and Tracey came over for some water play this past weekend.

We are lucky to have friends that don't mind always coming to our house...I'm spoiled.

Momma and Sydney

Daddy and Millie (note: Millie finally allowed us to move her from bottles to sippy cups at milk time!  Meh...only 11 months late)

Millie can now climb up on our bed by herself (our bed is really tall).  Changing Sydney's diapers and clothes can get interesting with Millie trying to "help".

happy as long as she's outside

this one likes to be bundled up

Sydney doing the phone pose at 3 weeks

Millie doing the phone pose circa 7 weeks

Amanda is on summer break, so we've been able to hang with her and Cayden more.  These crazy kids crack us up...& completely exhaust us by getting into everything ;)

I know it's early, but I swear Syd has smiled at me a couple of times in the past week :)

tapping her toesies at Little Gym this morning; she looks so old to me in this pic...long limbs

Big day for us: I took both kiddos to Little Gym and then we went to the grocery store...first errand outing without JKK!  It was fine, but logistically, things get a little hairy at times...like which kid do I put in the car first?  Or where do I put my groceries when the basket is completely full of a car seat?! ;)

Guess who's ready for her kitty cat themed 2nd birthday party??

Can't leave Syddles out.  Meow.

23 Months Old & 3 Weeks Old

Yesterday was a double birthday for the girls; Millie is now 23 months old and Sydney is 3 weeks old.  Shazam.  Oh, how we love these two...

Sydney finally feels like she's putting on some (much needed) chub

Syd looks a little scared that the millamonster is going to attack :)

Millie keeps asking to get in bed with Sydney...I have no doubt that I'll find her in bed with Syd long before I'm comfortable with that situation.

Millie fills out the chair nicely these days ;)

such a lady

Mills just can't let things be...

...and Sydney isn't having it.

clearly they are both bored with this photo shoot

sisters <3

Millie likes:  playing outside, going on walks, snacks, juice boxes, playing with her baby dolls, pretending to change her dolls' diapers, giving Syd kisses and knucks, singing...she's really been into singing lately (itsy bitsy spider, row row row your boat, you are my sunshine, baby beluga, barney & gabba songs), cookies, goldfish, playground time, swinging from things, playing chase, playing with daddy, feeding the ducks (but not the geese!), tummy time with Sydney, throwing away trash, watching Barney, coloring, stickers

Millie dislikes:  currently, this list is too long to write out...but i can probably sum it up by saying that she doesn't like to do whatever we ask her to do.

Sydney likes:  being outside in the heat, going for walks in the stroller, sitting in the vibrating infant chair, being held, milk time, being swaddled up tight, being held on her side where she can curl around your arm like a little monkey

Sydney dislikes:  being cold, being hungry
(after you write the word "being" so many times, it starts to look weird...)

Currently

This week JKK started back to work full-time (sad) and I started walking in the mornings again.  It takes me awhile to get everyone fed and loaded up in the stroller; thankfully the weather hasn't been too hot though so it hasn't mattered that I've been unable to get out of the house before 9am.  Hopefully I'll get into a better routine before the summer heat hits and I can be out of the house around 7:30ish.  It has felt soooo great to be active again!  Not surprisingly, I'm sore from just walking...it's going to be quite the journey getting back into shape.  I'm planning to sign up for some 5Ks and fun runs with my hubby and superstar runner of a sister-in-law.  There...I said it...it's officially in writing, so someone hold me accountable. ;)

this hill about kills me

At the end of the walks, I stop at the playground for awhile to let Millie burn off some energy

Oh, Syddles.  Still such a good girl, however, I've felt so sorry for her the past few days with her tummy issues.  She's so gassy and her tummy gets really upset after she eats.  We've started her on probiotics and I'm continuing to severely limit my dairy, but sometimes these two things can take a couple of weeks to see a difference.  I'm really hoping I see some improvement in the next week because I hate to see her in pain.  She does seem to really love the vibrating infant chair...and being outside in the warm air.

Jeez Louise...learning to use utensils can get extremely messy.

Syd has seemed so much more alert this week and her eyes have been so much more open.

This is how tummy time goes every day: Sydney is super frustrated with being on her belly and Millie is practically smothering her with kisses.

And this is how she looks 95% of the day.  Perfection.

It was so nice having JKK home with all of us for so long...ugh, back to reality.

Little Gym Show Week

Today was the last day of the semester for Little Gym, which is called "show week".  Parents and grandparents are invited to come and watch what the kiddos learned these past 9 months at the gym.  Theoretically, this is a great idea.  In practice, it is sort of a nightmare.  Kids this age know immediately that something is different (balloons are everywhere, chairs set up in the gym, people are everywhere), which guarantees that they won't act like themselves.  There was a whole bunch of shyness going on and not a ton of showing off.  But it's fun to go and participate, even if Millie wasn't cooperating at all.  There was a professional photographer (not expecting those pics to be great) and each kid got a medal.  JKK came to help with Mills and I was there to watch and take pics with Sydney strapped to my chest in the carrier.  My pics turned out awful, but whatever...this day has officially been documented.  ;)

Mills violates Cayden's space on a regular basis

 Mills stole this medal from Cayden

 See...ripped it right out of his hands

Sadly, this was Miss Lyssa's last class at The Little Gym.  She has been Millie's teacher since her very first class back in January 2012.  Millie is hoping they replace her with a girl teacher and not the scary boy teacher who has substituted in her class before. ;)

The group pic was absolute chaos.  I'm pretty sure Millie wasn't actually in the professional photographer's photo; she just wasn't into sitting still for any pics today.  Actually, I'm a little peeved at her for this because I resorted to bringing out my mega-bribe and told her if she sat still she could have a juice box when we got home.  She did not sit still or let her picture be taken, but she did remember my promise when we got home.

Amanda will be giving birth any day to baby boy Beckham...yay!!  So glad we are having our babies together again.  We couldn't have planned this better if we had tried!

 Sydney loved being stuffed down in the carrier...she slept the whole time

sah-wheeeeee

Since there is no MDO this Summer, we signed Millie up for the flexpass at the Little Gym.  Starting next week, we can take her to as many classes as we want for the entire summer semester.  It even includes a Saturday class that JKK can take her to.  I was hoping this would give us a chance to get out of the house several times a week and some place cool to play indoors.  I hope she appreciates it because based on this morning's flurry of activity, getting the three of us out the door in time for class was quite a challenge. ;)

Quick Papa Visit

My dad, aka Papa, rode his motorcycle over for a quick visit this morning.  I'm thankful he lives close enough to come see us on a whim; hopefully, he & Tricia will stop by for a few lunch dates this summer when they are out riding. ;)

Millie enjoyed showing off her ducks

 Syd enjoyed the sunshine

Bye Bye, Papa.  Millie has been scared of motorcycles lately because they are so loud...maybe this introduction will help her see there is nothing to be scared of.  Wait...what are we doing?!  Shouldn't we be teaching her to never get on the back of guys' motorcycles??  Be afraid, Millie...be very afraid.