Some Pics

Lissie wants to be a big girl and use the sink just like her sister Abby! She was so proud of herself!!!

Daddy and his girls saying goodnight to Lissie.

We're off on vacation to visit my new nephew Porter. I'll update when we get back. Ta-ta for now:)

Its Official...

My baby is no longer a baby. She's a little 1 year old!!! Lissie had her first birthday party yesterday afternoon. It was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed celebrating Lissie's big day.

Here is the cake. This was the second attempt and even it didn't turn out the way it was planned. The original concept was a pretty pink and white creation which quickly changed when I accidentally made yellow frosting instead of pink! A lot of time was spent on the trampoline. Aunt Cindy and the boys loved it!!!
Here is Lissie opening one of her many presents. She was spoiled rotten:)
After about the third package, she got the hang of ripping the paper.
Here she is with the gift Abby gave her....Her very own dolly.

Tradition requires a wrapping paper war at the end of opening presents. Sam and Joey against the rest of us!

Mommy and the birthday girl getting ready for cake. (Note all of the open wine bottle in the background)

Lissie liked the sprinkles most of all. She daintily picked them off one by one.
Eventually she did get into the cake part.
Fully enjoying the experience now:)
An after-cake bath was essential, so was a different shirt for Mommy. At least she's still small enough to fit in the sink.

What a cutie all clean and wrapped up.

After the cake and bath, we were treated to one heck of a thunderstorm including hail and even an tornado spotting. We all stood in the garage hoping to get a good look at the tornado. It was quite a sight.

A shot of the hail and rain hitting the trampoline. Its only fitting that we had interesting weather for Lissie's first birthday since we had a near blizzard for Abby's first.

All in all it was a wonderful day. I am both happy and sad that my baby is growing up so quickly. She has a ton of words and picks up new ones daily. She isn't walking yet but is taking lots of independent steps. She is an amazing climber and loves to tackle new challenges. Her favorite game is trying to keep up with her big sister. She is also very good at pushing Abby's buttons. The future is going to be very interesting and highly amusing. We are so blessed to have this little sweetheart in our lives. Love you Lissie!!!

Can you believe...?

Can you believe that my littlest baby will be one in less than a week?!?! She is growing up way too fast. She already has at least 10 words and even some phrases and is already climbing the stairs and onto furniture. It floors me how quickly she is growing. Pretty soon she'll be as big as Abby!

Starbucks!

Nothing like a little Starbucks hot chocolate to warm up a cold and rainy morning! The girls and I met Gigi and Mike for coffee the other morning and Abby was thrilled to have her very own "coffee."

Abby and her kid's hot chocolate. She drank it like a "big girl."

All drinks must be raised in a toast for Abby. She loves to "cheers."

Lissie didn't get to have hot chocolate but she did polish off almost a whole slice of pumpkin loaf!

Estes Park

On Wednesday, we went up to Estes Park for the day. Mom and Dad had been there the previous weekend and gave us their pass to Rocky Mountain Natl. Park so we thought it would be a nice little getaway.

Finally an updated family picture.

I couldn't decide which one I liked best so here's another one.

My little cowgirl!

Could she be any prettier?!

Even without hair, Lissie is just gorgeous! (I'm not biased or anything)

Too beautiful.

Here are some of the animals we saw. This is an elk and if you look closely, you'll see a second set of horns just behind the tree.

Here are some mountain goats we saw along the side of the road. It was a great trip until the ride home. Both girls were sick of being in the car and I'm pretty sure Lissie was hungry and tired. They alternately screamed and cried almost the whole 2 hour drive home.

Back to the Zoo!!!

On Monday the girls and I went to the zoo with all of the women in my Bible study and their children. There were 8 adults and a whopping 14 children! I know what you're thinking......pure chaos, why would anyone do this to themselves? I have to admit, I was very apprehensive about how this would work out but I was pleasantly surprised. The kids all had a blast and they were highly entertained by one another. It was also wonderful to have so many moms around to provide all of the various necessities like gold fish crackers! It really was fun.

My beautiful girl!

I think this is the first time I've evern been able to get a picture of the three of us on the train.

Yes, all of the people in this picture belong to our group. We were quite a sight walking around the zoo with our double strollers and diaper bags!

Here are a few of the kids that we were able photograph together. This was after lunch which turned into quite the lunch swap. "I have string cheese, I'll trade you for a pudding cup?"

Overall the event was very pleasant and both the girls and I slept very well at nap time. Thank you ladies for a great day!

Zoo Baby!!!

The other day we were fortunate enough to join Gigi, Sam and Joey at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. What a wonderful zoo. There were so many different close-up animal experiences for us all to enjoy. Here is Abby and her Daddy feeding a giraffe. This zoo has one of the largest herds of giraffes that are always hungry and ready to be fed. It was so cool. I got to scratch one behind his ears!

Here is Lissie enjoying her cousins hat in the shade. She also got to pet the giraffe but Mommy was holding her and the camera so no pictures....next time.
Of course, Abby had to ride the carousel. It was one of the fastest we've ever been on. I could barely hold on.
Abby's first PONY ride!!!!!!!!!!! She was such a pro. She got on with ease and even kept leaning over her saddle to pet Sunny on the neck. I couldn't have been prouder of her first experience. Lets sign her up for show jumping!

Here are all of the kiddos relaxing on a little chair in the kiddie playground. They also got to play with roosters and pet bunnies.

Daddy and Lissie enjoying some cuddle time. Aren't they cute?

Here is Abby feeding a budgie in the Budgie Buddy area. It was so cool to have the birds land on the stick so that we could get up close and personal.

Lissie also got up close and personal. So much so that she got bitten by her budgie. She wasn't at all phased by it though and proceeded to try and touch all of the others that came to see us.

It really was a fantastic time at the zoo and such a unique zoo. We ran out of time and didn't get to see the whole thing but rest assured, we will be back.

Bathing Beauties!

Cute Things About Abby

Since this blog is also meant to help me remember various things about my little girls I thought I would jot down a few of my favorite Abbyisms.

Yesterday on the way to the pool, I put on some chapstick. Abby immediately asked me if she could put on some "lips" as well. I handed her the tube and she used it and handed it back. Then she told me how much she likes make-up! I just love that she's at an age now where I can trust her with things like that. Lissie would eat the whole tube and then choke on the cap.

Another very cute Abbyism is how she asks you to read to her. She'll grab a book, open it up and then tell you to "talk about it!"

She's also very observant. If Mike uses a cup one day and then I use the same cup the following day she will reprimand me for using Daddy's cup.

We are smack dab in the middle of potty training (oh joy). Every time Abby goes #2 she has a routine. She uses mommy's potty and then I have to "sit at the door and have a picnic (any time we sit on the floor its a picnic)" while she does her business. When she's finished she says "now I get a coke from Sonic." I've trained her well:)

And finally, when we went to the grocery store the other day we got free cookies. Abby ate most of hers but when she saw that Lissie didn't have anymore, she broke off very tiny bites of her cookie for her little sister! I LOVE it when they are sweet to each other.

How Do You Tell Me You Love Me.......?

Flowers and a Route 44 Diet Coke, EZ ice. Thanks Mom and Dad!