A Visit to the Aquarium

While we were in Atlanta for the holidays visiting daddy's family, we also were lucky enough to have a short visit with mommy's Aunt Joyce, cousin Tammy and family. We all went to the Georgia Aquarium, which was great fun.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas in Atlanta with daddy's family. And then we celebrated again when we got home. The girls are now having great fun playing with all of their new toys and they are excited to wear their new outfits! :)

Practice Makes Perfect!

I've been slow on the posting due to technical difficulties, so Christmas pictures will come......In the interim, here are a couple photos of the girls enjoying some of mommy's birthday cake, which gives them some good cake-eating practice for their big day on January 3rd. This was their first cake and they liked it a lot as you can see from their smiling faces!

Random Stuff

The girls love playing on the stairs and have so much fun going up and down and up and down. For the most part, they have now mastered both, but there is an occasional tumble.




Natalie starting making a new smushed-up face about a week or so ago. I've been trying for awhile to capture it. She makes the face when she's happy and sad. This one was a happy one!



Amanda is a little dare devil. Here she is perched up on the stairs and the end table. One of her favorite things to do is throw all of the magazines to the floor so they have since been relocated to a new place (and maybe some time mommy and daddy will have time to read them)!

Here is Amanda after crawling inside a small cabinet in our office, which will soon be the girls' playroom. What was most funny to me about this was that after she got inside, I ran to get the camera and she crawled out after me. After returning to the office, I asked her to get back in and she did so all by herself, then turned around, looked at me, posed for the picture and then promptly proceeded to get out! Too funny!

Here are the girls this morning in some of their new polka dot pajamas. I thought the PJs were going to be way too big because they are size 12 months, but they fit. Honestly, it made me a little sad....our little babies are all grown up!

It's been very cold here lately -- damp and foggy. So the girls' attire has been bolstered by some new hats and mittens. I think it's going to take them awhile to get used to both. Here they are modeling the hats while simultaneously trying to yank them from their heads!

Here is a sassy Amanda shot!

And here she is looking cute back at the stairs and end table again (now sans magazines)....

Natalie does not pose for the camera like Amanda does so I have to work harder to get her shots.

We finally got the Christmas tree up last night. Here is Amanda admiring the tree.....from afar!



Here are some big daddy and Amanda smiles in front of the tree.

And, finally, mommy with Natalie, who's enjoying snacking on her hand.

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Christmas....

We were in a festive mood today while picking out our Christmas tree (hence the hats); now we just need to get it decorated!

11 Months Old!

Natalie and Amanda turned 11 months old today! We can't believe how fast these girls are developing. Amanda's new thing is to say, "wuf...wuf...wuf" when she hears a dog bark during a walk through the neighborhood, or when we ask her, "what does a doggie say?" For Natalie, she is starting to walk by herself behind a training cart that Mommy bought a few days ago. Natalie is also in another growth spurt where the pants she wore last week have now become Capri pants! Life has become a little more chaotic around the Tholstrup home, however, we love every minute of it!

Holiday Photo Outakes

We've been trying for a couple of weeks now to get a *great* photo for our holiday cards. I have to say, it's pretty tough to get two active little girls to sit still AND look at at the camera AND smile AND keep their dresses from riding up! These are NOT the winning candidates....

Giving Thanks

Natalie and Amanda have a lot to be thankful for.

(1) A wonderful grandma.



(2) A terrific grandpa and a fabulous cousin.



(3) Another fabulous cousin.

(4) Grandpa again.

(5) Their first Thanksgiving dinner; yummy!

Daddy and His Girls

Natalie and Amanda are so lucky to have such a great daddy who is so involved in their lives! Here is daddy and both girls hanging out early in the morning.

A cute smile from Natalie:

Natalie playing with Daddy:

A serious pose from Miss Amanda:

Story Time

Books are a big hit with the girls! Here they are enjoying "What Grandmas do Best"! (Actually, we think the book should be more that 20 pages long!) Natalie and Amanda are looking forward the the Holidays, because both Grandmas get to read to each of them.

Shoe Fetish

Natalie and Amanda have a shoe fetish! Here is Natalie admiring her cute shoes....

And here they both are.....

The Weigh In and Weekend Adventures

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday and the girls had their big weigh in. Drum roll......Amanda has nearly caught up to Natalie. Here are the stats: Natalie weighs 17 lbs 2 oz (12th percentile) and is 29" tall (80th percentile....she's a tall, thin girl) and Amanda weighs 17 lbs 1 oz (11th percentile) and is 28.5" tall (65th percentile).

This weekend, we had tons of fun with our very mobile little girls! These next few photos reminded me of the "Whack-A-Mole" game you play at the fair. They were both at the table at the same time looking out the window so I thought I would snap a picture when they were BOTH standing up at the same time. But, as usual, it didn't work out that way! Instead, they took turns popping up and down. First Amanda, then Natalie!

Here they are getting in trouble on the stairs. There have been a few spills already and I'm sure there will be more. It's just 2 stairs but that's a LOT when you're little!

Here's Natalie busy at play:

And Amanda:

This is one of her favorite poses now after she succeeds at standing up -- she's proud of herself and it's very cute!