Growing up

For whatever reason, I have been pretty sentimental this week about the idea of the girls growing up. As much as I know we have so many exciting things ahead of us as they get older and older, I'm a little sad/nostalgic that my babies are indeed becoming less and less of babies every day.

I almost got a little teary in the pool a few days ago playing with Anna. We were playing a flipping game with the pool noodle where I would kind of stabilize her first, and then she would do a flip over the noodle. Everytime I got her stabilized, she would say, "Ok mommy...whenever you're ready, let go!" I just wanted to shout "I'm not ready to let go! I'm not ready!!" :-)

She also got me a little weepy last night when I was putting her to bed. Right before she went to sleep, she leaned her head over against mine and said, "Mommy, did you know that even when I'm all the way grown up, I'll still be your baby?" Oh, the tugs on my heartstrings!!

These are the days...

While the days that I'm at home alone with both girls (weekdays when Anna doesn't go to school) are definitely challenging and exhausting, they are also the days that I treasure the most. It is so fun to see them interact with each other, and for me to learn--together with them--how to be a "mother of two". Now that Kate's newborn fussiness is going away (woo-hoo!), I'm getting more confident and a bit more adventurous with the types of activities we can do together. Yesterday included our first swim with both girls and only one adult, the girls' first bath together, and our first birthday party for them both to go to with only me. All activities were a success (hey, no one drowned...that's success, right?), and we had a great time!

Enjoying some cake and ice cream with my little ladybugs at Caroline's birthday party. Happy Birthday Caroline!

One fish, two fish

Anna and Kate have had so much fun in the pool together this summer. Anna has become our little waterbug and is in the pool almost daily. Kate's trips into the water are a little less frequent just because of the outrageous Houston heat this summer, but she's absolutely loved it every time that she's in it. And, Anna just loves the days that we "swim as a family".

This is a long overdue picture from earlier in the summer of Anna first learning to swim. She has come so far this summer...from being nervous about even putting her face in the water, to swimming the entire length of the pool basically by herself (with a "chaperone"...mostly for moral support). She jumps and dives in by herself, does somersaults in the pool, get diving rings/sticks off the bottom of the pool, and swims in the deep end all by herself. She really has turned into our little fish this summer!

Finn + Anna

Oh did these two cousins have a blast together last weekend--they just absolutely loved each other! You would never know that they live hundreds of miles apart and have only been together four times in their lives...it took only minutes after Finn's arrival before they had reconnected and were the best of friends.

They loved to snuggle up at night with Auntie Lees and read a few good books (or the comics!).

They also insisted on baths together every night. I think we would have been game to let them skip their baths at least some nights since they were "on vacation" and were spending all day in the pool anyway, but they were insistent so we obliged. They would discuss together what color their bath should be, and make a plan the previous night for the next night's bath. Hilarious.

Auntie Lees also had some cute pics and stories at:

http://www.baggermania.com/archives/2009/08/finn_loves_anna.html

http://www.baggermania.com/archives/2009/08/houston_2009.html

Staycation

We had a wonderful time this weekend when Clint's family came in town to visit! With the age of our little ones we don't really plan to take a "real" family vacation this summer, but instead are enjoying a few "staycations" with family visits. Lounging around at home by the pool with cousins...these really are the best vacations anyway...

We were also able to celebrate Finn's birthday while they were here. We can't believe he's about to be four...it seems like just yesterday that Finn and Anna just crawling over each other during their first Christmas together. Amazing how much they're growing up...

Anna enjoyed some serious Nana time this weekend...she was so sad to see everyone go this morning! Here they are swimming at the neighborhood pool...

It seems most of the shots this weekend were "action shots"...my apologies for the photographic quality (or lack thereof!). Where was Photographer Uncle Shawn when we need him? (Note: we missed MUCH more than his photography skills! Uncle Shawn had to stay home and work, and we missed him terribly, but will definitely plan to see him on our next family gathering...). Here are Cormac (in the newly-coined "Pope-mobile"), Finn, Lisa, and Nana, cooling off from this crazy Texas heat in the pool...

The threes...

Anna is so excited these days to inform people that both she and her sister are "three". While based on their converging weights alone, it might be believable that they're the same age, Anna is quick to clarify that she is in fact 3 YEARS old, while Kate is only three months old. But, still quite cute to see how excited she is to have "three" in common with her little sister.

(I decided not to tell her that she has approximately 2.5 hours of this commonality left...never again will they be the "same number" old! Weird that this makes me a little sad?)

Tu-tu cute

Tuesday was Anna's last day of ballet for this summer session. Of course, her next session starts in just a few weeks, but we still thought the successful completion of this first round of dance was cause for celebration! She had a wonderful first dance experience with her teacher, Ms. Lisa. Thank you for introducing our little sunshine to tap and ballet!

So, there's a story behind this tutu'ed seal...before Kate was born, Anna and I went to Build-a-Bear and she made a stuffed seal. Well, since then, we discovered that Build-a-Bear actually has "baby" seals as well. Too exciting. Anna has been wanting this baby seal since for about the last three months (ever since she discovered it). I'm a big proponent of not just giving the girls random toys at their request all throughout the year (to try to help them appreciate gifts and holidays), so I have told her to put it on her wishlist. She of course complied, but has mentioned a few times "You know, Mommy Seal really misses her baby seal. I hope Santa brings baby seal to his Mommy!" Seriously? She thinks she can make statements like that and I'm going to make her wait til Christmas for this seal? Uh, no. So, I wanted to find an occasion to give it to her. What's better than the last day of ballet? Baby seal needed to match the theme of the occasion, though, so I made him a little tu-tu to wear.

Needless to say, Anna was over the moon about her gift! Mommy and baby reunited! All is right with the world.

She was a little perplexed by the tutu at first (was the really the real baby seal underneath all that pink tulle?), but once she realized that the tutu was simply an "accessory" to her prized seal, she was anxious to show her new friend some of her ballet moves.

Happy (belated) birthday, Owen!

Happy Birthday Owen! (Sorry this posting is a day late!) We all had a blast at Owen's birthday party at the Little Gym this past Saturday. Anna of course wanted to spend a lot of the time walking on the balance beam (her favorite!), and had a great time playing with all of her friends...

An attempt at a family photo...getting all 4 of us to look at the camera at the same time? Not possible.

Anna walking like a monkey with her good friend, Elena.

The little girls weren't quite as into the balance beams and bouncing mats...maybe next year? But, they were little troopers and just hung out while their siblings partied it up...

Monday already?

We all agree that the weekend went by too fast!!

But part of the reason for that, at least for Miss Kate, is....she slept through it! Well, not the whole weekend per se, but slept through the night all weekend! That's right...while Kate has probably gotten a bit of a bad rap for not being a great sleeper (or, at least not a great napper), she has thrilled us the last FOUR nights by sleeping through the night! And, this girl doesn't do anything halfway...by "sleeping through the night", we're talking 12 - 13 hours at a time! No arguments with that here...

Too cool

How hip is this chick?

Friday was "Sunglasses Day" at Anna's school, and needless to say she was pretty excited about the event...