10 minutes at the park

We took the kids to the park last weekend. Our visit lasted 10 minutes. We underestimated the frigid temperatures. The kids were SO mad when we loaded them back into the car after such a short time...but Mommy & Daddy are big wimps about cold weather. I still got a few cute pictures...

I love this...

We had a deal!

Mommy: "Zachary, will you sing some songs for me?"
Zachary: "Can I watch me?"
Mommy: "If I let you watch yourself, will you sing songs?"
Zachary: "YES!"



...I should have known better, right?

Allie's Teeth

This is so cute. She is still missing one of her front teeth. I love her little smile!!

No clever title

(...Seriously, I could not think of what to title this post.)
Anyway, I took these bath-time pictures this week. The first one shows you how much Zachary & Allie look alike. Specifically their head shape & the profile of the forehead-eyes-nose-mouth-chin. We knew they would look similar when we saw their 20-week in-the-womb ultrasound profile pictures.

These are just pretty pictures of Allie.
Her sweet fair skin -

Intrigued by the bubbles -

Things to do during hibernation, Part 4

As the weather continues to be awful, our eternal hibernation is beginning to make me crazy. But, the kids still amaze me with their creativity. This was a fun activity for a whole afternoon. I'm not sure what to call it - "Clothes-basket Relays?"

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

We love you!

Baby Dedication

We participated in our church's version of a baby baptism last Sunday. It was a blessed event. Allie was able to wear a dress that my grandmother (Allie's great-grandma) wore for her baby baptism. It is so pretty & special, and I was so happy that she still fit in it!

Allie & her great-Grammy Claire:

And of course, Zachary had a little fun up on the stage...since he could see all of his grandparents on the second row!

Allie's 1st birthday party

We celebrated Allie's first birthday this past weekend. All of Allie's grandparents, including her great-grandma Claire, were here to enjoy the great day!
Mimi made Allie a pretty party dress:

So pretty!

Mommy made a fun birthday "cake" out of cupcakes:

...ladybugs & bumble bees atop little white daisies.

Zachary became the official candle-blower:

Allie liked the cake, after some convincing...

And the joint effort of the weekend was to get Allie walking on her own:

She is very close!

The kids with all of their grandparents:

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Allie!!!

Today is Allie's first birthday. What a special day it was 1 year ago! Great memories.

Valentine Cards

Zachary had a Valentine's exchange at school. He did a great job making his own cards. It was really cute. He especially enjoyed making one for a little girl named Ellie. Apparently this is his special little friend. He kept saying, "I need to put another sticker on Ellie's..."

Track Time

Saturday, we headed out to a nearby high school track. It was a fun afternoon. This picture makes me laugh. I was holding the camera up, hoping to get all our faces! (Please don't ask me about Todd's "Lyle Lovett" hair...)

Of course, I wanted Allie to take a few of her first steps on a track...special thoughts for Mommy!!

I love this:

Notice Allie's finger IN Todd's ear? So funny.

We gave Zachary the camera to take some of his own pictures. Later, looking through the photos on the camera, there were probably 14 pictures of this:

Things to do during hibernation, Part 3

Exercise videos. Why did I not think of this sooner? I recently started doing some work-out videos since it has been way too cold to run outside (I'm a huge wimp when it comes to cold weather). Zachary's already-extremely-high energy level has grown exponentially, so this was a PERFECT indoor activity for him. He totally got into it. So funny. I was laughing a lot while he did the exercises.

...And Todd, always the good sport, joined in. Notice Zachary's good form? He followed the video almost exactly. So funny!

Food Revolution

Allie went from being "Little Miss Particular" to "Miss Piggy." She LOVES big girl food! She will eat almost anything...and is following in Zachary's "Big Eater" footsteps. This has been a wonderful change!!
Here are some of her favorites:
Lasagna, enchiladas, egg salad, chili, spaghetti, tacos, beans & rice, any casserole, any pasta, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, bananas, apples, peaches, pears, zucchini, carrots, green beans, corn...

She is SO darn cute. I just can't get enough...

Random Stuff

Found.
Hidden in Allie's mouth (yes, in their entirety). The following items had to be pried out of her mouth during the past week. I never had to do this with Zachary.

Hey mom...

Zachary's decided he's grown. Now he just goes through the fridge and finds things to eat whenever he wants. I found this "eaten?" apple on the counter yesterday. He also informed me that now he wants "big" apples instead of apple slices. I told him that his request was noted.

Cutie Little Ones

We had a few minutes before church on Sunday to take some pictures. So cute!!