A-Tisket, A-Tasket

Addy and Ree in a basket!

Since the girls are only taking 2 naps a day now, I was having a harder time prepping dinner with the girls awake. I tried making and eating dinner after the girls went to bed, but an 8:30ish dinner time is not ideal for us. So, James came up with a solution for the girls to be well-entertained in the kitchen while I cook... and they love it!

and so do I.

This idea all started with a box.... what was known at our house as "Ree in a box".

When Kristen was first learning to sit up, she was a bit wobbly and would fall over, bonk her head and start crying alligator tears. One night while James was working, Kristen was fussy from falling over a few times and I thought Kristen needs something to protect her on all sides. So I cleared out the toy box, put her in it with a few toys... and it was perfect!

But Adelyn decided she wanted to get in too. So I cleared out another box, put her in it with a few toys...


...and they love it!
Even now, almost a month after first putting Ree in a box, we will still put them in their box to play for fun. and in the evenings if they are fussy, it's amazing how they will stop as soon as we put them in the box. We even took the boxes and toys to our Lifegroup's potluck dinner recently at a friend's house so that they could play (sitting on the floor by us) and we could eat!

Happy Fall!

Kristen & Adelyn

Kristen

Adelyn

We took Kristen and Adelyn to our friends' house who were hosting their annual Fall pumpkin carving party. In all fun, we took the girls as....

The girls also visited their grandparents and a few close friends dressed as Thing 1 and Thng 2.

What surprised everyone was how the girls did not pull on their wigs. well...they pulled on each other's wig, but not their own.

Sissy, you have blue feathers on your head!

I ordered the Thing 1 and Thing 2 onesies online. and the wigs... it's a blue boa hot glued to a beanie hat. so simple, right?!(all credit due to the brilliant moms who posted their how-to online via Google search)

7 months with Kristen & Adelyn

All About Kristen:

• She is sitting up on her own! She was a little wobbly at first and would sometimes tip over, bonk her head and cry alligator tears. but now she is sitting without any help. I'm so proud of her!
• Kristen is now eating all kinds of fruits and vegetables: squash, sweet potatoes, green peas, green beans, apples, pears and peaches! Her favorite beginner foods are green peas and pears...she loves the pears! She will stick her tongue out while she eats or she will grab the spoon and try to feed herself. so she still gets food all over her mouth, face, bib. everywhere!
• She is getting her 2nd tooth! Her 2 bottom teeth are sharp! She has made a few teeth indentions when chewing on my hand.
  
  
  

All About Adelyn:

• She loves to sit up! She is sitting up all on her own and prefers it to laying on her back...
• ...but when she is laying on her back, she rolls around everywhere! She rolls off the pallet, all around the living room and even rolls into a different room. (she's done that before! I watched her the entire time in amazement, asking where are you going?!)
• Adelyn started to pull her knees up under her in the crawl stance. She is so cute as she rocks back and forth. She can tell by Mommy's squeals of delight that she is doing something good -- and it puts a big grin on her face. :)
• She is budding her 1st tooth... AND her 2nd tooth! both at the same time. (ouchy!) She has been chewing on everything!
• Adelyn is now eating all kinds of fruits and vegetables: squash, sweet potatoes, green peas, green beans, apples, pears and peaches! Her favorite beginner foods are...everything! She LOVES eating from a spoon!
  
  
  
  
  
  

Kristen & Adelyn ready to eat lunch. yum!

Homecoming Parade

Kristen and Adelyn watched their first Baylor Homecoming parade this morning! We dressed them in their cute Baylor onesies (from Uncle Robert) and braved the crowds and the rain. We joined friends on campus to watch the decorated floats, BIG inflatables, the Homecoming court, excited students and cheering fans. We had a great time! There was so much for the girls to take in. and we can't wait for next year when the girls will be able to enjoy it even more.

The Baylor Bears are 5-2, close to getting a spot in a Bowl Game. So let's go Baylor!

Love. and its Languages.

Lately, verses in the Bible about LOVE have been on my mind. As I hold Kristen and Adelyn, one verse that I memorized as a young child keeps coming back to memory. "We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4.19) I want Kristen and Adelyn to know what love is. Initially, they have no understanding of what it is. but they will learn what love is from Mommy and Daddy. (wow. humbling!) I want to show them love by giving them hugs and kisses, serving them, being patient and kind, playing with them, telling them "I love you". and one day, from the small ways that I show them love now, I pray that Kristen and Adelyn would comprehend the endless, greater love that God has for them.

1 John 4.9 - 12: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Aleady I'm discovering the ways that Kristen and Adelyn are showing love. Each person gives and receives love in different ways, or "languages": quality time, physical touch, acts of service, words of encouragement, and gifts.
Kristen LOVES to give wide-open mouth kisses. and it makes my morning when I pick her up out of her crib and get one of her wet, slobbery kisses. Oh I could give her a thousand kisses for every one kiss that she gives me!
Adelyn LOVES physical touch and closeness. While playing on a floor pallet, Adelyn will "chase" or roll over to be close to Kristen. Adelyn reaches for Kristen and loves to hold her hand. and she gives the best hugs to Mommy and Daddy! I could hug and hold her all day!

My Little Pumpkins

It was a *perfect* Fall Saturday morning to visit a pumpkin patch. James and I took the girls to one about 30 minutes from our home -- where they grow pumpkins, have a corn maze, hay rides, inflatable jumpers, and so much more.

"I want this pumpkin, Daddy"



Or maybe Adelyn wants this bigger pumpkin instead...
since she was trying to bite it!

The sun was shining in the girls' faces while we were in the pumpkin patch. and Kristen was getting hot, tired and fussy. We ate our picnic lunch so that we could get out of the sun and take a little break. Then back to the pumpkin patch for one last attempt at pictures of Kristen...

...we tried.

Time to go home.

We picked out two little baby pumpkins (little pumpkins for little girls) and headed home. We hope to be back next year -- they will be the perfect age for enjoying more of the fun activities they have to offer. a new family tradition.

After the girls napped, they ate their first veggie... green peas. Yum.

6 months with Kristen & Adelyn

wow. We have reached a big milestone -- celebrating 6 months with Kristen and Adelyn! It doesn't seem like it should be time for them to eat solid foods, or roll over, or even sit up on their own. These itty bitty 6 lb girls have grown! (with so much personality and character too!) I think Kristen and Adelyn changed the most between their 5th month and 6th month birthday. I'm amazed at how much they learned in these past 30 days -- and I cant even imagine what the next 30 days, or even the next 6 months are going to be like!

All About Kristen:

• She thinks Mommy and Daddy are silly! She laughs at us all the time, especially when we blow on her neck or tummy, or when we play peek-a-boo. I LOVE her little giggles! :)
• She loves to talk! and I love to talk to her.
• She has a greater awareness of Adelyn now. She will watch her, talk to her, and grab her hands or feet.
• She is starting to sit up on her own with little assistance from Mommy. Not much longer till she will be doing it on her own!
• She is budding her first tooth! (and with that, there has been a lot of drool and fuss!)
• Kristen gives the sweetest open mouth kisses -- they are wet and slobbery. but still the sweetest!
• She started eating rice cereal this week. and she gets it all over her mouth, face, bib. everywhere!
• Kristen weighs 15 lbs, 3 oz and 24 1/2 inches long. a perfectly healthy and growing girl!

All About Adelyn:

• Adelyn is starting to sit up on her own with little assistance from Mommy. Not much longer till she will be doing it on her own!
• She is such a Daddy's girl. It's so sweet to see her love on him.
• She has a greater awareness of Kristen now. She will watch her, talk to her, or grab her hair. Adelyn LOVES to pull on Kristen's hair.
• She is chewing on her fingers a lot. Maybe a tooth is coming in soon?
• She started eating rice cereal this week. and she loves it! She gets it all over her mouth, face, bib. everywhere!
• Adelyn weighs 15 lbs, 12 oz and 24 3/4 inches long. a perfectly healthy and growing girl!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

*Thank you Aunt Carolyn for our dresses. We are beautiful girls in our pretty dresses!

Fall Nesting

I LOVE Fall!

It's my most favorite season of the year. why? because I love the warmth that you can create in your home as the temperature outside gets colder. the colors. the leaves. the pumpkins. the scents. heavenly. (and for my husband, it's football.)

Here at my house, Fall starts the day after Labor Day... at least inside it does. Outside, it's still in the 90s!

But as I pull out my Hazelnut scented candle and gather the pecans that are falling from the tree in my front yard, I can't help but get settled in for fall and refocus on my family as the busyness of summer ends. It's the warmth of family gathering and the simplicity of life. I love Fall!

Our Month in Pictures

The month of August has been an extremely busy month. James started back to football coaching the end of July, but thankfully most of his meetings and practices were for half a day. So during the first half of August, James and I were trying to spend as much time as a family of 4 as we could... and REST -- because starting August 16th, James has been working non-stop. Early morning practices, after school practices, teaching students, Friday night football games.... long days for him and for me. whew, we're tired!

I didn't get to blog as much as I would have liked this month. The girls are changing... and I didn't want you to miss it!

So here's our August in pictures:

Kristen & Adelyn

Daddy hugging BOTH girls before work

Kristen

Kristen & Adelyn in their ducky jammies

Kristen

Adelyn

Adelyn

Kristen

5 months with Kristen & Adelyn

ALL ABOUT KRISTEN:

• She is rolling over! She plays and sleeps on her tummy.
• Kristen is a great sleeper! She will sleep for almost 12 hours a night! and takes 3 naps during the day. Sometimes when I wake her from her nap (because Adelyn woke up), she has this cute disheveled look -- it's the "I just want to sleep" look.
• She prefers to suck her thumb over her pacifier now. In fact, she would rather chew on/play with her pacifier instead... it's becoming a night-night distraction.
• She has the cutest giggle! She thinks it's so funny when Mommy blows raspberries on her cheeks.
• She loves it when Daddy comes home from work. She gives him big smiles!
• Kristen talks in her sleep.
• She will occasionally raise a leg up in the air and hold it there for a while. She does it when she's awake and asleep.

ALL ABOUT ADELYN:

• She is rolling over! She plays and sleeps on her tummy.
• She is a great sleeper! She will sleep for almost 12 hours a night! and takes 3 naps during the day.
• She prefers to suck her thumb over her pacifier now.
• She LOVES to suck on her toes. preferably her right big toe.... it's her favorite.
• She has discovered her voice lately by making really loud sounds.
• She also makes lots of spit bubbles by making silly sounds with her mouth.
• She constantly kicks with her right leg... it's a little spastic. We notice her moving it all the time now. just the right leg.
• She loves it when Daddy comes home from work. She gives him big smiles!
• She really likes stuffed animals or soft baby dolls. She will love on it and give it kisses... or better said, slobber on it.

Kristen & Adelyn

My Roly Polies

Kristen and Adelyn have turned in to roly polies over the past few days. Kristen first rolled over last Tuesday, and Adelyn did so today! I am so proud of them both as they are growing and learning new things!

I am amazed when I see them rolling over and how high they can lift their head. Tummy time seemed like the constant battle for months! and then one day... ta da! Being on their tummy is all they want to do! I blinked. and now look what they can do.

Rolling over had a few challenges in the beginning for both girls. Kristen or Adelyn would roll over. then realize she's stuck. and cry. so I would roll her back over. It was the same routine over and over and over again. This morning at 5:20, James and I woke up to the sound of a "help me!" cry -- what did we discover? Kristen rolled over, face down and couldn't roll back over. She was a little shaken up, but with some soothing, she went right back to sleep. It happened a second time as well. so I showed her how to turn her head to the side now so that's she's able to more comfortably lie on her tummy. Ever since teaching her to turn her head, she does it every time. She is such a quick learner!
*Since writing this post, I have had to teach Adelyn how to turn her head to the side after she rolls over as well. We had a very similar situation with her a few nights later. She quickly learned too!

Kristen rolls over primarily toward her right side, while Adelyn can roll in either direction. They have learned to play and reach for toys while lying on their tummy. and every night now, they roll over and sleep on their tummy soon after going to bed in their crib. My favorite is when I go in to their room to get them from their nap, and these 2 heads are popped up with eyes watching me as I walk in.

Speaking of... girls are stirring from their nap. Time to go get my roly polies.... :)

Summer Sun & Flowers

Kristen

Adelyn

Countdown to Kickoff!

....28 days, 2 hours, 13 mintues and 42 seconds.

Here at our house, we're getting ready for some football!
(and Uncle Robert is getting ready too!)

Adelyn

Kristen