A Walk In The Park

We had nice weather here in Sacramento this weekend, so it was a perfect time for a walk in the park. Here are all the kiddos, from youngest to oldest. Will first, sporting his new 'Lil Pirate ball cap. It's funny how one simple change in attire can make him look SO much older!

Next is Amanda who enjoyed posing for a few shots.

And, last, but certainly not least, is Natalie who we had to chase down for a picture....but she finally stood still for about 3 seconds to get the last shot below.

An Explosion

There has been an explosion at our house recently -- a language explosion, that is. Natalie and Amanda have had a large vocabulary for awhile, but at about 23 months they went from speaking in one-word statements to full-on sentences. And some of those sentences make us chuckle. Here are just a few:

• Natalie and Amanda's school is great at teaching good manners. While we try to emphasize "please" and "thank you" in our house, they are just more consistent about doing so at school. A good thing, of course. And Natalie and Amanda have both picked up on this. One of Natalie's favorite food is yogurt -- which she calls "oohh-gurt." So, we often hear "More oohh-gurt please" from her. But my favorite of the new manner-isms is Amanda's use of "thank you" and "welcome," which goes something like this. "Amanda, would you like more waffle?" Amanda: "More waffle, please." After giving her more waffle, her response: "thank you welcome" all rolled into one quick phrase.

• They recently have begun to appreciate good humor and will say, "That's funny, daddy" or "That's funny Na-nee." (Na-nee is what they both call each other. Originally short for "Natalie," I believe, but somehow Natalie decided it should be Amanda's "nickname," as well. So, they are both Na-nee to each other......)

• At nap time and bed time, now they tell us, "Bye bye mommy; bye bye daddy."

• Natalie loves soup and will often request it. After having oatmeal for breakfast once, she now requests "breakfast soup." I guess if it comes in a bowl, in her mind it must be soup!

• They have played "peek-a-boo" since they were little, but it's been revisited recently. We think maybe this is something they have been doing at school. Although it used to be "peek-a-boo," now they call it "peek-y-boo." Natalie will put her hands up to her eyes and walk around that way, all the while saying "peek-y-boo," "peek-y-boo." And, not to miss the action, Amanda will join her, but instead of putting her hands over her eyes, she puts them over her mouth and walks around saying "peek-y-boo mommy," "peek-y-boo" daddy." It looks a little bit like this:

Fun With Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa were here for a visit last weekend. The kids kept Grandma and Grandpa very busy, as you can see from the photos below, and mom and dad were happy to have four extra hands around the house!

Five Months Old

Will is now 5 months old and he is cuter than ever. He is now quite adept at rolling onto his stomach and insists on sleeping that way, despite what all of the doctors say! He's not as good at rolling from his tummy onto his back but he's getting there, which will be a relief to mom and dad who sometimes have to get up in the middle of the night to help him out with that. He is also grabbing everything in sight now and, of course, everything goes straight into his mouth. As before, he absolutely adores his sisters and he watches their every move. He laughs when they laugh and he loves it when they give him hugs and kisses. Here are some recent pictures of our cutie.

Happy Birthday, Natalie and Amanda!!

Natalie and Amanda turned 2 on January 3rd. They had a fun day at home opening some presents and eating some yummy cupcakes. Amanda loved the cupcakes and decided to have a bite of all of them! Here she is getting ready to blow out the candles.



Natalie was a bit wary of the flaming candles in the cupcake, but once daddy helped blow them out she was feeling much better....

The girls love opening presents now, Natalie in particular. Here she is, very excited as she unwrapped a new play kitchen.

And here are both girls playing in that kitchen. They love it!

While the celebration was mellow on their actual birthday, the girls had a little party at ArtBeast with a few friends this past weekend. They all decorated crowns, ate some cupcakes and got down and dirty with some cool artwork.

Will had fun at their party too, taking it all in as usual.

It doesn't get better than that! Happy Birthday, girls! We've started the two's off right!

A Wee Reader

Will loves this book he received for Christmas, as you can see! Thanks Auntie Shelly and Uncle Mike!

Four and One-Half Months

That is how long it took to get all 3 kids to cooperate for a decent photo. Whew! We think they are a pretty cute bunch!!