1.10.12

Immediately following this picture

she was sopping wet

Fee Fi Fo Fun

the Cuties' favorite museum in Atlanta is by far 

the Children's Museum

We typically go every Monday

they do not allow school groups or field trips that day

and, if you get there right when it opens,

you're basically the first and only people in attendance

for at least 20-minutes

that means we get to be the ones to mess everything up first

(which i feel very badly about & initially try to chase after the girls 

attempting to put everything back in their proper places 

but then i realize its a futile effort once even one more family arrives)

J and I thought long and hard about getting the girls

a train table for Christmas. They love this play area!

*in the end, we got them a great dollhouse--

something the children's museum does not have

another fan/fam favorite is the moon dough

I could play with this myself the entire time

Cutie Cakes decided she wanted to be an antagonist

and smashed/stole/destroyed Cutie Face's "cupcakes"

three times in a row.

resulting in a lovely time-out...

in the middle of the children's museum

awesome

nothing a "sorry mommy. sorry cutie face" couldn't fix

or a well-timed snack break for that matter!

all in all, a good diversion from the house

filled with lots of lessons on how to behave & interact in public!

the bonus is,

you're surrounded by families/moms/kids that completely understand 

the situation you are currently in 

since they are more than likely in the same place as us!

1.9.12

15 days* after her first

"official"

smile,

i looked over at her

and saw her smiling at this lion toy

and finally

remembered to grab

my camera to capture it

(and i seriously have about 30 pics to choose from now)

*she smiled at us on Christmas Day which is the only reason why i know how long she has been smiling

1.8.12

i really feel like

this is how i must look

when Cutie Pie is laying on my chest

do i have the same exhausted and slightly listless look

on my face that Cutie Face has on hers?

(don't worry--Cutie Face was just waking up from a 2.5-hour nap

--most definitely not sleep deprived!)

GymborCutie

Today was

definitely

a lazy Sunday

afternoon

complete with rain

and football

(all of daddy's teams won..and the whole house could breathe)

in between games,

we built an obstacle course for the cuties

they got into it

complete with a wall, slide, tunnel, and house 

to crawl over, up, down, through, and into 

we challenged them to see if they could go through it faster

Cutie Face challenged herself to see if she could do it backwards

she definitely also challenged herself

to see how high she could jump

again and again

don't worry, we stressed that this kind of activity

ONLY

happens when Mom and Dad sanction it

thankfully, the Cuties

wore themselves out pretty quickly

and made little cuddle islands out of the obstacle course

all in all,

a very well-spent afternoon!

1.7.12

today

we went

museum hopping

Cutie Face had a blast

playing with the puppets

at the Center of Puppetry Arts

check out her priceless facial expression for proof!

(you might need to click on the picture to make it big enough to see)

this is how we roll

should you happen down

to our neck of the woods

you might be greeted by this sight on the sidewalk:

the girls LOVE

their new jogging stroller

in fact, i have received three requests this week from both girls

they want to go runnin'

once this sweet pea gets better head control

(or i actually remember to bring her head positioner--oops!)

we'll be unstoppable 

(at least when we go down hills)

because that's just how we roll

1.6.12

knock knock

whooo's there

Cutie Pie!

on a roll

today

i had the extreme privilege

of teaching my girls

how to roll down a hill

much laughter and giggles ensued

Cutie Cakes was primarily busy

trying to figure out what was inside acorns

under the leaves

and below the tree

(which made for extremely dirty fingernails)

While Cutie Face was constantly

performing

and showing me her new skills

of strength and balance

they both also enjoyed challenging each other

on who could be

the fastest

down an ancient (my era?)

metal slide

(old school slides are where it's at)

Cutie Pie...well, she's cute

Unlike the majority of the days

where she is awake for hours and hours on end

today she actually slept

(hallelujah!)

she did, however, get in some

bonding time

with the Cutie Family's favorite first friend

the Baby Einstein Octopus

he can't always be entertaining though...

1.5.12

vestis virum reddit

(the clothes [might] make the man)

but the tutu makes the baby

at least it does when she's not smiling

but watch out!

when she smiles, that's killer!

Giggling with GiGi

Following a great week with Grammy in Florida

my girls were blessed to be with their GiGi

Gigi met Cutie Pie

we realized how much Cutie Face looks like me, 

how much i look like my dad, 

and how much my dad looks like GiGi 

(ie, how much Cutie Face and GiGi look alike!)

Cutie Cakes loved hugging on her GiGi

(maybe she's thanking her for her infamously indispensable blankie)

and i don't think GiGi minded the hugs 

at a spry 82

GiGi played and played with the girls

needless to say, giggles abounded

they LOVED it!

sweet

sweeter

sweetest

We love you GiGi!

1.4.12

Princesses can most definitely

play with cars 

while simultaneously playing dress-up!

1.3.12 {picture a cute}

What a great afternoon we had

visiting our GiGi!

(...more to come in a real, non-picture post...)

1.2.12 {picture a cutie}

Well here we are, at the end of our 12-day vacation, the first as a family of five. What a fantastic time in Florida we had--playing with cousins, visiting with extended family, enjoying God's fabulous creation (hello beach!), and soaking up time together.

now we are blessedly loaded down with Christmas gifts and crammed full of sweet almost-sleeping children. I can hear cutie face, once the only and now the biggest sister, softly complaining about goIng to sleep. If it was still just her in the car, I'd crawl in the back and tell her stories, sing her a song, and do prayers until she fell asleep. My heart hurts for her a bit because neither of us have known those times of such undivided and individualized attention in nearly two years. And how sometimes I wish we could go back to those times so she knows how much she is loved and valued--more than just being the excellent role model for her sisters and the incredible helper for me, her mom.

But then I know how rich her life (& mine!) is because of her siblings--the love expounded, the lessons learned, the forever-bonds formed. How amazing to think that our God can give us, his children, individual attention and a plan just for us but then plop us in the middle of our Christian family to learn the same lessons and experience the same love.

I anticipated just attempting to see if a picture could upload from my iPhone to snapfiah to blogger while we drove home. I wanted to keep the daily picture streak alive! Sorry so long winded!

1.1.12 {Picture a Cutie}

Maybe if she took more than one bath a week she'd actually enjoy it. 

Maybe if I took more than one picture a day, 

I wouldn't have to embarrass her with this photo. 

Maybe it's not good to start a new year on "maybes"

*Trying my hand at Picture a Year again...this time, Cutie Face style. Maybe only having one blog to update won't be so intimidating?