N.C., Florida and a milestone

Long time no update! Been busy. We drove down to North Carolina to visit Eric's cousin Michael and his family, Chris, Audrey and David, down in Winston-Salem. We all had a great time playing with the kids and the girls got to try a bunch of new foods -- including shrimp gumbo. Evie got her first split lip when she toppled over and smacked into an armchair, but she weathered it well. Here she is fast asleep a few minutes after she did it...



Lily had a GREAT time in the playroom, and here she is living it up there... (those are audrey's legs behind her!)



After N.C. we trekked down to Florida to visit my parents in Fort Myers. The girls had a good time with their grandparents. They got to play with bubbles (in Evie's case, EAT them in this picture...)



They also went to the beach...



And Evie wasn't keen on the wet sand on her knees when she crawled off the towel! She has a sort of "ugh" look on her face!!!



And for some fun the girls each tried on Grandma's old wig that she doesn't use anymore. At least I don't THINK she does...



They also got to visit our old favorite restaurant, which we won't be going back to since it has changed owners and is no longer worth the money or the hassle of going there. So here we are for the last time at Wahoo Willies on Fort Myers Beach.



When we get the pictures, we'll have to put them up, but the girls also went to visit their great-grandmother, my Aunt Kathy and Aunt Eileen, cousins Lauren and Shannon; visited the Calusa Nature Center again; and went to visit Mildred and Dolly again.

The MILESTONE I mentioned. BOTH girls can now take about 6 steps on their own! Lily went from NOTHING to doing that tonight! What a birthday present, huh? I turned 26 yesterday, so that is a great present for me!

Until next time, enjoy the pictures!!!!

"Kitten"

Long time since I have REALLY updated, so here's a cute thing for you.

Many who own cats have probably found them with a bird or mouse dangling from their mouths, calmly waiting to be let into the house (*ya-right, not happening) or prancing around with their catch.

Well, meet OUR new kitten -- as she was dubbed by Eric:

Evie has taken to carrying things around in her mouth. Just like a kitten would do! So far I've found the two pictures, a little bird she carries around by the tail feathers, stuffed babydolls, stuffed butterflies, teething toys, anything she has the jaw power to carry. It's rather cute actually.

BUT on the flip-side. I have removed all kinds of paper, plastic, bits of STUFF I can't identify from its resting place in the roof of her mouth. Yup, the other day she was EATING andI got to the fifth spoon full and noticed something peeking out her mouth. YEH, she was storing it up thereto chew after her meal or something.

Thank goodness Lily doesn't have a chew/dangle-things-from-mouth fetish too or I'd be totally grey by now.

So Lily doesn't feel left out, here is a Lily-bad-hair-day photo (she was REALLY grumpy and just woke up):

Birthday attendees

To those who came to the girls' birthday party, or who send cards, we are SOOOOO behind with the thank yous I wanted to let you all know they HAVE been printed, and we are going to send them out as soon as we can! It took longer than anticipated since I made them from scratch instead of buying a Pooh design. We're sorry they are taking so long...but they ARE coming.

In baby news, the girls are 22 and 23.5 pounds as of their appointment June 13. Lily is still out in front weight-wise. She is also an inch longer at 30 inches. Both girls are doing well in speech and physical therapy. Not much else new to relate. They aren't walking yet, though both can stand by themselves. Evie does it more and for longer periods of time. Still no words, but more babbling each day.

For your enjoyment

Just wanted to share a few pictures of the girls. I finally found the camera cord buried under a pile of clean laundry that hadn't been touched in ... a while. Seems to happen a lot in this house. It's all over, but at least it's clean!

First up is a cute picture of the girls playing in a laundry basket. (Fitting isn't it, there are clean clothes laying on my table, but an empty laundry basket ... well not when the girls are in it, but still.)

Next we have Evie, appearing to be a bit shy. She ISN'T shy in any way, shape or form, but she looks a little bit like she is in this picture. Either that or she is being coy. I'd love to know what is on her mind. And the picture after that is one of Lily, smiling broadly as usual. I swear I love Lily's smile SOOOOOO much. She is so EASY to get a good smile out of for a picture.

And I want to share these two because in both pictures the girls are STANDING BY THEMSELVES. Even though Lily's hand is offcamera in her picture, it's only because I couldn't back up quickly and she tries to lean forward to reach me again almost everytime. I just know it is only a matter of months before they are walking, then running, then probably hands-first diving off the couches or something...

All right, that's all for now folks. I have a bunch of cleaning to do, and it is downpouring outside so we MIGHT lose power as our lights ALWAYS flicker like mad in the rain. Heck, they sometimes do that when it ISN'T raining here.

First Birthday party!

First is a little photo story of our birthday party yesterday. (Our actual birthday is Wednesday...) There aren't many pictures of gift opening and whatnot because it was a CRAZY mess of kids handing me presents and trying to stop Lily and Eve from eating the paper strewn about. We also didnt' get too many people pictures. Or many pictures in general! But here is a little bit of their special day! When I have more time (working tonight) I'll try to write more about it.



And next is a video of our cake-eating antics!

So close!

The party is right around the corner! We have about 25 people who are definitely coming, so that is a decent size party for our house! To those who can't come, we'll have to find a time to get-together with you all! Anyone who hasn't RSVPd, or e-mailed, please try to so I have a final count and know how many burgers and hot dogs to have!!!

We have those, and people are bringing macaroni salad, potato salad, swedish meatballs, spinach dip, cookies/desserts and some people are bringing chips and other sides. We are providing the dogs and burgers, the cake, sodas, water and juices for the kids. We have pretty much everything but have to call tomorrow and order a cake. I wanted a more definite count first, but ah well! I stink at planning parties! We have just plain pink plates, because I can't afford to do the Pooh party settings. But I am going to do my darndest to get a Pooh cake! The girls love Pooh!!! We are praying for good weather otherwise it will be a PACKED house and that might not be so pleasant. Since it's at 2 p.m. I'm hoping the girls will not need to nap for most of the time. They usually nap at 12:30 til about 2 and then again at like 4:30 to 5 p.m. We are going to dress them alike this time around, but probably not as they get older and want to be different (if it comes to that, we aren't going to fight them!!!)

We had a little party with my parents and brother and with my brother's friend Kelly. The girls got a Pooh cake that my mother made and Evie was happy to grab a fistfull and pull it off the cake. Lily was dainty and fingered it like I did as a baby. Then I gave her a cut piece just her size and she smooshed it as she intently studied it. Even took a bite! They enjoyed their gifts from that. My brother bought them pink Yankees jerseys and shorts, which we so CUTE. He also bought them a shopping cart play "yard" that goes in their seat and a cup that you can rinse their hair with easier. The girls will get another season out of the jerseys, they are almost like dresses on them now!!! Check it out!

You can kind of see the Yankees wording. But of course it makes Lily look like a SUMO wrestler...she doesn't normally look that chubbo!!!

And so she isn't left out, here is Evie in her Jersey staring at some DVD she filtched from the shelf...

About the party...

To all who are interested in attending the girls' first birthday party -- the time is confirmed at 2 p.m. and the invites are on their way. It is 2 p.m. May 17 here at our house. We would LOOOOVVVEEE as many of you to come as possible, especially those of you who haven't had a chance to meet the girls. Please drop me an e-mail at kat2032@verizon.net or gimme a call at 518-672-4903 if you want to RSVP. (Get a headstart on the invitations, which give you the phone number at any rate!)

If anyone who IS coming wants to bring something to eat, let me know that too because the more the merrier. I'm not a great cook so it works out well this way. Macaroni and potato salads, swedish meatballs, desserts are all definites. But if you have a hankering to cook, tell me!

Hoping to have a crowd and soooooooooo sorry about the late notice. Been a bit busy and I JUST finished designing and printing the invitations. If you DON'T get one, I might have the wrong address for you, but you're invited!

Here is what the invite looks like: