1.30.11: Foiled

(left to right: stella, daphne, fiona)

Today was rainy and Brant is out of town. Needless to say, I was desperate to find some form of entertainment for the girls. I read in one of my toddler art books that foil can be fascinating to little ones. Well, to my little ones.....not so much. Total craft time today: 5 minutes.

1.24.11: Whoa, there's my belly

(left to right: fiona, daphne and stella)

The girls discovered today that these pajamas enable them to find their bellies while fully dressed. Upon this discovery, they just couldn't resist showing their bellies to daddy and giggling.

1.23.11: Sleepy dog

Matt arrived for a weekend visit and the boys sure packed in the activities. Within five minutes of arrival in our home, brant and matt were taking the girls to the zoo. The girls came home exhausted but very excited about all the animals they saw.


Yes, girls....matt also has a dog on his phone (or at least he did after figuring out this is what they expected from him and his phone). Thankfully matt's dog is very tired and has to go to sleep (in matt's pocket) quite often. Very creative matt!


daphne conquering her new climbing apparatus


fiona discovering that matt will separate her cupcake top from bottom over and over again...he has admirable patience

1.16.11: Winter?

(left to right: fiona, daphne, debbie, stella)

On Debbie's final day in town, the girls wore their new short-sleeved dresses that I got for them during black friday shopping in 2009. I am still in disbelief that it is mid-January and we are wearing these dresses without tights or sweaters...although apparently Stella needed her slippers.

1.14.11: Yummmmm cupcakes

The girls had a wonderful time playing with Debbie while she was here for an extended weekend visit. Daphne/white, Stella/purple and Fiona/blue learned how to pretend play with their food and cups. Debbie even taught them how to pretend eat with play utensils....if only they would catch on that quickly when real food was involved.

After our morning nap, we adventured to the neighborhood park. We dominated the swings (as usual) and upon removal from the swings, Fiona got so upset that we needed to head home. It was a beautiful day and I know the girls really enjoyed walking like big kids all the way to/from the park.


Thanks(?) to Melissa, the girls (especially Daphne) think that all phones have pictures of dogs on them. Upon Debbie realizing this is what they wanted to see on her phone, she promptly found a dog website and entertained the girls for at least ten minutes. Now I just have to convince them that dogs don't live on my phone. Oops, I already showed them pictures of Lexi...

1.13.11: Play what?

(left to right: fiona, daphne and stella)

Today we played with play-doh for the first time. I think the look on Stella's face says it all. No one was quite sure what to do with the play-doh despite my countless creative efforts. We ended up abandoning the play-doh and went back to coloring with crayons, a favorite in our house.

1.11.11: Nineteen months old

Today the girls (fiona/pink, daphne/blue, stella/brown) are officially closer to two than one...that is a very hard thought to process. This month we went on our first major road trip which went amazingly well. The girls continue to pick up new words everyday and love to play with all of their new toys from santa. I'm saving some of the toys for those longer rainy days and planning to phase them in gradually. Books are still the preferred source of entertainment. They love getting read to and pointing at the different pictures. They have learned most of the animal noises, the ones I know at least (what sound does a zebra make anyway?) We have finally begun eating with a spoon. It is still a very messy process, so we have only done self feeding of oatmeal thus far. We continue to get out of the house at least a couple days a week (even though our preschool is on winter break). The girls are happy as ever and continue to surprise us with their understanding and motor skills.

1.4.11: Destruction

I thought it would be entertaining to capture a 'before' and 'after' picture of our living room (especially now that we have a new bookshelf and kitchen from christmas).


While playing the girls managed to take all the books off the shelves, pull out all the drawers in the kitchen, and spread out all their toys nicely throughout the living room. Oh yeah, and it all took only ten minutes!


(fiona/pink, stella/brown, daphne/blue)

12.29.10: Great Great

(left to right: daphne, stella, brant, fiona)

Somehow Brant got all three girls onto his lap by himself and kept them entertained by reading a book. Since I wasn't needed, it seemed like the perfect photo-op. Notice that Daphne is wearing her new tutu that Auntie Kelly made her for Christmas.


(back: rob, kelly, brant, fiona, grandy, kelly boy)
(front: daphne, dolores, vince, stella, kari)

Today the girls met their Great Great Uncle Vince and Great Great Aunt Dolores. The whole family was able to have brunch at Grandy's house. I think it was ~7 years ago (at our wedding) that I last saw them, way too long.


(left to right: stella, fiona, and daphne)

The girls escaped to Grandy's bathroom and REALLY wanted a bath...they always want a bath. They were patiently waiting (even long enough to capture a picture) hoping we would give them a bath. Later that night, we did - phew!

12.27.10: Where is the campfire?

(left to right: stella, fiona, daphne)

The girls really enjoyed their new camping chairs in Grandy's living room. Doesn't it seem like something is missing in this picture. Oh yes, the campfire. We are way too young to be trusted to sit on our own near a fire. For now, we will just pretend there is a fire in Grandy's living room. Maybe next time we will try the real fire pit - but no promises.

12.26.10: Arizona reunion

(left to right: dan/peter, nicole/daphne, kari/fiona, brant/stella)

Just hours after Nicole and Peter joined Dan at their new home in Tucson, they bravely embarked on a road trip of their own to visit us at Grandy's house. We had a wonderful day with them that went by way too fast. The last time we saw Peter was when he was the girls' age. He is so smart and communicative - it is very encouraging. Who knew years ago when we left Chicago that we would all be reuniting in Arizona?

12.25.10: Fish and bubbles

(left to right: grandy, stella, daphne, kelly boy, fiona and brant)

Although the girls are not a big fan of getting near santa, they learned how to say 'ho, ho, ho' whenever they saw a picture of santa. Thanks to all the decorations at Grandy's house they had plenty of opportunity to practice. The morning began with some more presents from santa, family and friends and ended up with a trip to the zoo/aquarium. This was their first time to an aquarium and the girls really enjoyed all the fish and bubbles - two of our favorite words these days.

12.24.10: Coloring and swings...

what more can three girls want for christmas eve? The girls received their first coloring books, but oddly preferred to color on the blank pages. Way to refuse boundaries on your creativity girls! (left to right: grandy, stella, fiona, daphne)


After some coloring, a good nap, and some present opening we headed for a nearby park to enjoy the swings and sunshine.


(left to right: stella, grandy and fiona)


(brant and daphne - who is enjoying my sunglasses)

12.22.10: Road trip

Today was our first official road trip. Having no idea what to expect or how many stops we'd have to make, we were very pleasantly surprised. The girls did great! We began our six hour drive to Grandy's house just before the morning nap. We drove four straight hours, stopped for lunch, and then continued on another 2 hours. I think I was more antsy than the girls. We arrived happy and full of energy at Grandy's house in the early afternoon. Dare we be so lucky for a wonderful drive home too? Only time will tell. We were just thankful there was no screaming. In fact, I think they were quieter for the drive than they are most nights.