Will Loves Sable

Happy Weekend Everyone!

I captured this video this morning as Will was saying "Good Morning!" to Sable. The light is a little dim, but you if you look closely, you can see the dark shadow of our very black dog. At one point, Will climbs on top of Sable to give her a big hug...Sable is such a good dog with the kids!

Many Apples

The girls have an amazing vocabulary now and sometimes shock us with the sophistication of the things they say. Yesterday, for example, Amanda suddenly developed an affinity for the term "otherwise" and used it correctly in several sentences ("I need to sit at the table and eat my cookie because otherwise I might drop it on the floor."). They also crack us up when they spew what might be considered to be adult phrases, like "Oh my goodness" upon the occurrence of something surprising or accidental. Amanda, in particular, has also started the "why" questions. She does not give up after hearing just a few answers to her inquiries and has definitely stumped us a few times as we try to articulate "why" something might be the way it is.

One of our other favorite things right now about their vocabulary right now though is their mispronunciation of some words. Some of it is so darned cute that we do not go out of our way to correct it.

This week, for example, daddy had to travel to Minneapolis. While he goes there often, and we talk about him flying on an airplane we have never talked about his destination before. But when I told them where he was going and asked them if they could say it, they immediately called it "Manyapples," which we have now dubbed it in our house because it sounds like such a good name!

Other examples of their pronunciations that get a chuckle are:

Yogurt = Oh-gurt (We wrote about that one before, but it is one that persists). It's something about they "yo" sound as the tv show "Yo Gabba Gabba" is also "Oh Gabba Gabba" in our house.

Bicycle = Bikercycle

Helicopter = Hoppycoppy

Yellow = Yeyow

Pop tart = Popert

Very = Berry, Berry, Berry

Popsicle = Pop-a-sicle

In the "awww" category, Amanda missed school this week for a few days as everyone in our household has been hit with a summer cold and Amanda had a little fever as a result. On the way home from the first day of school, Natalie asked me about Amanda. I asked her "Did you miss her today?" Natalie, in response, whispers "yes." I then asked her, "Do you wish she had been there?" Again, whispering, Natalie said "yes." Finally, I asked "Is she your friend?" And Natalie said "Yes." And when we got home from school, the nanny advised that Amanda asked where Natalie was all day long. While they are often quite competitive with one another and they are both amazingly strong willed, they also very much enjoy the built-in companionship that comes from having a twin sister.

Here they are having fun together at the park.

And at home enjoying some cookies.

Dear Will,

Today you are one year old. Although we have watched you grow from a fragile little infant into a strong and feisty toddler, it is still hard to believe that one year has already passed.


You are the baby that was not supposed to be -- a miracle! Although having you join our household has made it even more chaotic than it already was, it has also filled our house with so much more love, laughter and energy.

You have a happy twinkle in your eye nearly all the time and you have an amazing amount of a determination for such a little guy. We have enjoyed your first year so much and we eagerly await all that is to come next.

Thank you, Will, for fighting so hard to come into this world. You have warmed our hearts and brought a smile to our lips every single day.

We love you!

Mom, Dad, Natalie and Amanda

A Little Fun at Funderland

Recently, it has been difficult to coordinate a weekend family outing considering Natalie's, Amanda's and Will's nap schedule. Last weekend we thought we would take a family trip to Funderland (A toddler's amusement park) near our home. However, Will was taking a much needed Nap, so Dad was able to spend some quality time with the girls as Mom stayed back home with Will (and our 4th baby...Sable). Here are some wonderful photos of our trip!

Natalie and Amanda were so excited to ride the Choo-Choo Train around the park perimeter. It was so amusing to see them wave at all their fans as we made the trip!


Below, the girls had the train all to themselves on their second ride as everyone else in the park ate lunch.

The Girls were also excited to ride the Merry-Go-Round, however, we had to compromise and sit down to ride the Swan because only Amanda wanted to ride a pony. (Dad only has so many hands...3 if you count a chin.)

As most experienced parents can attest to, it is so exciting to see your own children go through the stages of development. Here, the girls explore their imagination and pretend to ride "Thomas the Train!" Allllllll......Ahh.Board!

Keep watching for more photos!

And When We Got Home From Vacation....

....this was in our backyard. Amen! I have been wanting this for SO long. Having this play structure in our own yard allows us to just open the back doors and let the kids go burn off some energy at home. It has worked like a charm so far! The kids all love to climb the rock wall, slide and swing. This will probably be the best purchase of the year!

The girls are not quite tall enough to get on the swings themselves. But that has not stopped them from swinging like this.

And, yes, the girls ARE wearing pajamas in these last 2 pictures. Who needs to get dressed to go outside to the backyard to play??? LOVE it!

On Vacation!

We have been missing in action as a result of being on vacation in South Carolina. We had a great time visiting with all of daddy's family. The girls had a fabulous time getting to know their cousins, aunts and uncles and grandma a little better and they had a blast swimming, sliding and boating. Will had an unfortunate bout of illness while we were there but once that passed he had a good time too.

The girls were very excited to ride on the big airplane.

And although there were tiny naps on the plane,

they were not nearly long enough. But everyone was so excited about our big adventure that they were all mostly good.

I think the girls enjoyed their pool time the most. The pool had a "beach entry," meaning that it was a gradual slope into deeper water, which allows even the youngest child to be able to enjoy the water. There were also two water slides and the girls bravely tried the smaller of the two a few times.

Here is Will getting his feet wet.

The little "swimmers."

Dad and Will at the pool.

The pool also had toddler-sized Adirondack chairs, which the kids loved. Here is Natalie flashing a big smile.

Amanda doing the same.

And my hands down FAVORITE photo from the trip of all 3 children looking at the camera AND smiling! It doesn't happen very often!!

The girls also had a blast on the boat. Will was not as big of a fan as he did not like the wind blowing on his face and he hated his life jacket. He acted like he was in a straight jacket every time he was in it, as you can see below!

Here is a shot of the girls with cousin Lizzy and dad after they (dad and Lizzy) had been water skiing.

Lizzy skiing.


Dad skiing.

Dad and Natalie on the boat.

Lizzy and Amanda.

Aunt Ann, Uncle Sheldon, Aunt Melody, Carson, Meaghan and the girls.

There was a fabulous playground, as well, and so we spent several hours sliding down every slide, swinging and taking a little nature walk.

There was also a lot of quality family time. Here is the whole gang!

Grandma and all the grand kids.

The kids enjoyed spending time with Grandma.

There was a lot of fun cousin time. One evening, they decided to style each other's hair in a hair-do assembly line. In order: Carson, Lizzy, Amanda, Meaghan and Natalie. Only Sheldon is missing from this shot....I guess he didn't want his hair styled!

The girls enjoyed their girls time with Lizzy and Meaghan.

Finally, there was lots of yummy food! Daddy was nice enough to have a birthday while we were there so we had the most delicious red velvet birthday cake that was so big we all got to gorge ourselves on it two nights in a row. It was gone so fast I didn't get a picture! There was yummy barbeque and the girls always love a good popsicle (or a pop-a-sicle according to Natalie and Amanda)!

As you can see, a great time was had by all. When it was time to go though, Will said, "just pack me up, mama, and put me in the suitcase. I'm ready to go home!"