Monday, March 31, 2008

Why my photos are blurry

Well, I tried (yet again) to get some cute pics of the girls. I had willing model helpers when Nana and Papa stopped by for a quick lunchtime visit Saturday.

Me: "Smile!" Oh good, maybe this will be my lucky day...or maybe not...

Me: "Smile! No, Evelyn, honey, look at Mama...Evelyn??"

Me: "Now everyone hold still and smile! No, quit wiggling! Oh well..."


I guess the images in my mind are best--they were having a good time!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Kicked Out!

All I wanted were a few pictures of Evelyn, a few pictures of Lydia, and few of them together. We went to our "friendly" neighborhood photography studio. I should have known it wouldn't work--Lydia's been in a mood all week it seems. The photographer started with Evelyn, snapping pictures. She did great: smiling, cooing, laughing. Everything was going smoothly until he asked Lydia to sit next to Evelyn. Her response? "No WAY!!" "No way" has been Lydia's response to just about everything this last week. Everything I ask of her has been met with a "no way" lately. This was no different, except evidently Lydia decided she wasn't going to cooperate at all. I asked her to sit with Evelyn, "NO WAY!!!" So, the photographer and I decided to continue with Evelyn and he asked me to move her to a chair. For whatever reason, this set Lydia off--she wanted Evelyn to stay where she was. Then the trouble really began. Lydia's face contorted into that face parents dread: the pre-tantrum pout, followed by the dreaded lip quivers, and finally on to the full toddler screaming, crying meltdown. Nothing would suit and no way would she stop and have her picture made. At this point, the harried photographer asked us to leave...well, I guess it was more like he recommended that we leave, but still...we were kicked out!
Tune in next week to see if I have better luck at my quest for the professional portrait, or will I just have to settle for my own somewhat blurry snapshots....

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Happy First Birthday Evelyn!!


I can hardly believe that my sweet baby girl is now one! This year just flew by. Poor Evelyn came into our lives during a time of turmoil. My father had been critically ill in the hospital for the six months prior to her birth and died almost three months to the day after Evelyn's birth. At the same time, as my grandmother's (Evelyn and Lydia's "GG") guardian, I had to move her into an assisted living facility. Despite all of this upheaval and shuffling about, Evelyn handled it all beautifully with her sweet disposition and grace. Her warm snuggles and infectious giggles meant so much to me through it all.

The last year was a tough transition for Lydia, too. She has learned so much from having a baby sister. The first few months were a little rough (it's hard losing the center spotlight) but Lydia is really starting to look out for "Baby-Sisterr" these days. Anytime Evelyn's about to get into trouble, Lydia is one step ahead of me to get her out of it. And Lydia is learning how to share her toys with her increasingly mobile--and into everything--sis. Now that things have calmed down, we three girls (Mommy, Lydia, and Evelyn) have so much fun.
We had our girly fun celebrating Evelyn's birthday by getting new shoes for Evelyn. Lydia brought me pair after pair of shoes for Evelyn to try on (OK, most were boy shoes and way too big, but she tried!) We got some very cute "classics" seen in the pics below.


To celebrate, we had two birthday parties. One with Mommy's side of the family (where cousins Liam--14--and Anna--1, too--celebrated their March birthdays with Evelyn.) And one with Daddy's side of the family.

Happy Birthday Evelyn!!!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Almost One!

I can hardly believe that Evelyn will be one soon. Where has the time gone?!? I am having so much fun getting to know Evelyn as her personality emerges and develops. I am constantly surprised at how different (although occaisionally similar) she is from Lydia. Here are some recent pics of my two girls.



Friday, March 07, 2008

The Puddle Jumper

Ever have one of those days... The kind of day where you spend your morning doing your income taxes and chasing your 11-month-old around while your two-year-old is at nursery school? The kind of day where it's been raining--a lot--and puddles have formed? And when you go to pick up your older child from nursery school she insists on jumping and splashing in every single puddle while you and the younger child are getting wet from the rain but the older child is completely oblivious, gleefully enjoying her wet, muddy romp in the rain puddles!?!?!?! Yes, that is the kind of morning I've had today.

No amount of talking to or cajoling would get Lydia out of the puddles. When I finally grabbed her hand and attempted to pull her along, she protested by sitting in the middle of the muddiest puddle and screaming at the top of her lungs. Finally, I had to scoop her up out of the puddle kicking and screaming--keep in mind that I still am holding poor little Evelyn who's getting soaked in the other arm. To add insult to injury, when I looked up, I saw an entire row of teachers looking out the windows at the spectacle we were creating--laughing their heads off at us. You gotta just love two-year-olds!

Friday, January 25, 2008

My Favorite Things

My girls always keep me smiling...
Lately, Evelyn's been refusing baby-food of any sort (she wants to be just like her big sister and feed herself) and has developed a love for meat. Yes, meat--last night she chowed down on mashed potatoes and meat loaf, tonight she scarfed down my mock beef stroganof! She also loves sliced ham, bologna, and sliced turkey. Her other favorite is pasta with any kind of sauce--although sometimes she just licks all of the sauce off of the pasta and spits it out. I put Evelyn in her highchair and before I even get her tray attached she's reaching for and pulling food off the tray and shoving it in her mouth as fast as she can. It's nice having someone appreciate my cooking!
Lydia, a confirmed fruit lover, has been keeping me smiling lately with her chatter. Lately, she's been VERY into "ten-eyes" which is her name for hide and seek. If I'm not available to play ten-eyes, she hides a favorite toy, walks away, counts to ten, and then looks for it using the same sing-song, pretend-I-can't-find-her tone of voice that I use (e.g. Is Lydia here? No...hmmm...is Lydia behind here? no....hmmm...where could Lydia be??) There's nothing like a rousing good game of ten-eye! She's also been very into "let's pretend." Her favorites are dogs, cows, cats, and frogs...every now and then she likes to pretend to be a dinosaur.
Here are a few recent pics of my girls in motion!

Snuggling with Granny


All braided up!


On the go!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Happy New Year!!

Whew! What a year 2007 was! Below are our last pics of 2007--we had a great Christmas season--and now we're looking forward to a nice, calm 2008!
Christmas Eve anticipation



Christmas morning mayhem...



A Christmas visit with G.G. (Great Grandma)

A Christmas visit with Nana and Papa





All worn out...

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Merry Christmas!!!

Sometimes my girls make me just laugh and laugh...
join me with this bit of holiday cheer from my girls!


click the "play" triangle above

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

She laughs...

I love having such an easy audience. Evelyn (Lydia, too) laughs at every thing I do. In this film, I'm making faces at her--and she is laughing like I am the funniest thing in the world. I guess I am the funniest thing in her world--how cool is that?!? : )

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Loads of New Pics

The eye's have it...


Lydia, the Cowgirl


Having fun at Lydia's Playhouse (cousins Griffin and Anna visit)

Bathtime mayhem (with cousins Griffin and Anna)