Cute or Dumb?

I bought Kate this adorable bow the other day. I think it looks so cute on her. I also find it highly entertaining.

Matt said it is the dumbest thing I've done since we've been married (the bow, not the baby). I maintain that 1. the bow is cute, and 2. I've done things way more stupid.

What do you think?

Progress

Our house actually is starting to look like a house!

Definitely Sisters

This picture is so, so funny to me. The identical looks of annoyance on their faces are perfect.

A normal one from the same sitting.

Our Little Mimic

If you ever want all your flaws and bad habits laid out before you every day, go hang out with a toddler. :) Annie has become quite a little mimic. She does new things all the time, and when I ask myself "Where did she learn that?" the answer is usually me. Or Matt.

Some things are very cute. In the bath the other night, she filled up her little plastic mug and told me she was drinking her coffee, like Mommy. She carries purses around the house, and pats Kate and says "It's OK, Kate" when the baby cries. She's also started this fun, post-cereal ritual, which she definitely learned from her dad.


However, not all her little tricks are so cute. Matt was yelling "I learned it from watching you!" --a la the early 90s drug commercials. Luckily, Annie hasn't learned any of those types of habits from us, but she has picked up a few things I wish she hadn't. Sometimes, when she's not feeling particularly patient and Kate starts crying, she points at her and says "No crying Kate!" (I do not point or yell at my baby, but I've definitely told her "No more crying.") Anne has also started yelling "MOVE SYDNEY!" and pushing the dog when Sydney doesn't do what she wants. She's actually rather mean to her. While I definitely did not want to admit it, she learned it from watching me. I guess Charles Barkley was right....

Boys!

This past weekend, we had an influx of boys to our house. Much to Matt's delight, the girls were overrun by Matt's friends, as well as Annie and Kate's little buddies. Chris, Kevin and Robert came Friday night. With the aid of a new babysitter (YAY!), we were all able to go out in downtown Ann Arbor. On Saturday, our friends Melissa and Jordan braved the snowy weather and bad roads to visit with their little boys. Even though Annie couldn't get the two of them straight and kept yelling "Casey!!" at Brady, they had fun running around. And, of course, it was time to introduce Kate to her future boyfriend, Casey. :)

The cute baby couple

The girls were not into the picture, but it's still a good one.
Chris, Kevin and Rob each had their own approach to the girls. Chris, who has a niece and nephew, was the most experienced and was quite good at holding and playing. Kevin decided logic was the best approach, and told Kate to please be quiet because we were "eating a meal of food." That was marginally successful. And Robert arguably had the smartest approach. "Babies like shapes" was his motto. He gave Annie his iPhone and let her play with it. She loved it.

Pacified

Much to our frustration, Kate won't take a pacifier (I've tried every brand on the market). So, this is the one and only time that a paci helped her fall asleeep. It was a great day. And the picture is cute. :)

Snuggie!

When I went to pick Sydney up from Matt's parents house the other day (thanks again for keeping her!), I was met with a fabulous surprise. My father-in-law gave me just about the greatest gift ever --my very own SNUGGIE!! It's royal blue, very warm and allows me to do so many tasks that I could just never accomplish under your standard blanket. Now, I can blog and still stay toasty warm.

Matt was so jealous of my Snuggie when I returned to Michigan and is attempting to steal it. We had some fun with the Snuggie the first night back:

First, Matt did some easy channel surfing

I was able to enjoy some delicious ice cream despite the frigid temperatures because I had my Snuggie to keep me warm.

Then, Matt did his impression of a Jedi...or a priest...or Shaquille O'Neal because he looks 8 feet tall in this picture

If anyone out there is thinking, "Wow. These two are so lame for this entire post." Don't worry, Matt and I already know. We are easily amused these days. Intern year really beats you down and makes even the stupidest of things quite an event :) And, anyway, you're probably just really jealous of our Snuggie.

"Warm" Weather Fun

A few days ago, we had a heat wave here in Ann Arbor. The temperature reached a balmy 41 degress, so we all headed outside to get some much needed fresh air. The girls and I played outside during the day, and then we took a family walk in the evening. It was so nice to be outside!

Annie has spent the winter months working out. She didn't realize how strong she's gotten until she attempted some body work to her Cozy Coupe. The padiddle is next on her to-do list.

Baby Madelyn

The Ralls family has a newest little member! Madelyn Grace Parke was born February 11. The girls and I went to visit her the other night, and we had a great time. Madelyn was as quiet and sweet as could be. She barely fluttered her eyes at me, and then slept peacefully in my arms. Hopefully, she can show Kate how to just hang out :)

I didn't get a pic of either Kate or Annie with Madelyn because Annie was too busy running around with Brady and Ella, and Kate was too busy letting everyone else hold her. But we're so excited to welcome Madelyn to the world!

So What

Annie's new favorite song is Pink's "So What." We watch this little Annie show almost every night. She's donig the blog-rated version of her "nakey dance." And sorry the video is so long, the good stuff is around a minute and half in.

On The Move

Kate has been looking like she wants to roll for awhile now. I was filming her a few weeks ago, hoping to catch the first roll. She was teasing me, though, and never went all the way over. I was telling Matt about it when I put her on her belly in front of him and got this video:

Turns out she was just waiting for her dad to see her roll for the first time!

Happy Valentine's Day

Would This Look Cute on Kate?

Matt wants to get one for Kate.

Matt is obsessed, I mean obsessed, with Maury Povich. For anyone who has tuned into Maury in the past few years, you know he is now exclusively taping "Are you my daddy?" episodes. Every time Matt is home on a week day,he subjects me to hours of these shows. He loves it. He especially excited and happy if the man is NOT the father. It's even better if the mom insists over and over, and if she has named the baby after the man. He also loves to recreate the C-walk dance one non-daddy did in celebration.

Our House!

We are (sort of) officially homewoners! We bought a house last week! Matt made me do all the negotiations and while I handled it fabulously and we got a great deal, I have determined that I am not cut out for high pressure deals and decisions. I felt like I was going to be sick all day. Matt will be handling all future deals. Suprisingly, Matt is handling this all very well. The man who didn't speak for a day when we purchased a washer and dryer (he hated to spend all that money at once) was calm, cool and collected. I had a slight freak out, but I'm better now and we are so excited. We just have to wait until May for the house to be built!

The current state of affairs

This house is around the block from ours, and this is pretty much what ours will look like.

Sit-N-Spin

Matt has been dying to get Annie a Sit-N-Spin. So, I ordered one for her birthday. It arrived a little late, but has been hours of fun just the same. I was pretty impressed that after some quick instruction, Annie was able to spin herself easily. She's been a spinning fool. Pardon her hair, she's going through quite the awkward phase right now.

Hullabaloo

Nope, not the Columbus party every year. This one is for the kiddos. Grandma and Grandpa Ralls bought Annie this game for her birthday, and she loves it. It's helping her learn her shapes and colors. And she can play it by herself! I highly recommend it for anyone out there with a toddler. And, thanks to my boy Chad from Shutterfly, I'm up and running with pictures again:

Pictures (And Our 100th Post!)

I took the girls to get some pictures taken this morning. I was very nervous because last time we went, we left Portrait Innovations with nary a photo. Usually, the problem is there are too many I like and want to buy them all. But back then, Annie was not feeling cooperative at all. So this time, I started the bribing process really early. I'm considering today's effort wildly successful.

Here are the uncropped images because stupid Shutterfly gave my iPhoto some sort of bug and it won't open. (If anyone has any advice on that, please share). So please ignore all the weird, extra space around the girls.

Look at those dimples! I love it!

There are more, but I can't flip the horizontal ones, so this is all you get for now. And Yay for us, this is our 100th blog post :)

Three Months Old

...and so much less crying!! Kate is three months old today. Our pediatrician promised me when I took her to him, when she was a month old and screaming like a banshee all the time, that by Valentine's Day she'd have it all worked out. We're almost there, and her colic has significantly improved. I don't want to say more and jinx it, but she's doing great. She is so super smiley. She'll smile at anyone who'll look at her! She's starting to coo so much more. She'll tell us little stories all the time. She loves her swing, and she absolutely loves Annie. She smiles at her all the time. Kate is also starting to be more interested in Sydney. Figures I'd have two animal lovers on my hands.