Hospital Food

The girls and I often ride up to the hospital in the evening to have dinner with Matt. Most of the time, I bring food. Sometimes, we just buy it there in the cafeteria. Annie thinks it is great fun to visit Daddy at work. In fact, I think she thinks a hospital is just a really fun place to run around, yell to hear your voice echo and eat. Hopefully, she thinks that for a long, long time.

We went up there tonight, and we attempted to give Kate some more cereal. I thought maybe being in a cafeteria would inspire her. Apparently not. The kid hates food--hospital or otherwise.

Although, as you can see, Annie thoroughly enjoyed her Einstein Bros. peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Just How I Like 'Em

Clean, Pajama-ed, and Ready for Bed

As Told By Annie...

This smiling little face peeked at me around the corner in the kitchen during what was supposed to be naptime. If you'll notice, she is wearing the plastic underpants the city of Ann Arbor requires of toddlers at its public pools. I asked her why she was wearing them about the same time I realized I forgot to put a Pull-Up on her for her nap.
Here is her story:
"I go pee-pee in the Elmo underpants. I go on the floor. It a big mess. I put them in the basket. I get new big girl underpants!"
The last sentence was delivered with much glee and a fist pump for good measure. She was so proud that she changed herself and even properly disposed of the wet drawers.

I couldn't even be mad. I was too busy laughing.

New House!

I love Blogger and it's Auto Save feature. I tried to post this yesterday, but our computer froze. Here it is today!


I know, I'm a bad blogger. But we have had a very crazy few weeks. We closed on our house 11 days early. It was the most stressful, insane day ever, but I did it. Yes, I did it--all by myself. Matt had to work, so he had to sign a power of attorney, and I signed all the papers twice. (Sadly, right now he doesn't have that many assets or I could have had more fun with the power of attorney.) Then we moved in--all by ourselves again. We had some help lined up, but medical residencies swooped in and messed it all up. We were hard pressed to find people at the last second, but it all got into the house and after a few days I could feel my legs again. And, thank God, my mom was here to help us and watch the girls during the move.
So now here we are.The girls are loving the new house. Their bedrooms came out really cute. Annie loves her new big girl room with all her books and toys. She's done well in the bed so far, although she is getting up earlier. Kate is just Kate. She seems happy enough about the move. She does like the new carpet, that we can tell :)
And I love the new carpet now, too. Especially because I found a Dyson Absolute Animal vacuum on clearance at Meijer. I am in vacuum heaven.
As for the house, our grass hasn't been put in yet because of the weather, but we're told any day now. Also, don't mind out open garage of junk. Matt and I were very tired by the end and just started sticking stuff in the garage to sort through later. I'm sure our new neighbors think we're very classy.

The girls were so well behaved throughout the whole few days of painting, packing, moving, unpacking, etc. Here they are the night my mom, Matt and I painted the kitchen. :)

Annie in her new, big girl room. She is obsessed with those boots and will not take them off.

Hanging out in Kate's room.

Pictures

The girls went for Kate's six-month pictures today. We're always on a slippery slope when it comes to the girls' behavior and pictures. I had thoroughly bribed Annie (she wanted a princess dress), so I knew she was good. However, Kate decided to wake up and scream for awhile at 4:00 a.m., so I wasn't sure how she would do. I was pleasantly surprised. She did great, and the pictures came out pretty cute.

That first one is funny because we have the same picture of Annie at six months, and Annie is so much chubbier! Kate is bigger in general than Annie was, but I guess she's more stretched out. I would rearrange the pictures, but I'm on my mom's computer and can't figure out how. :)

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Annie singing the abbreviated version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Notice how she is standing on her stool and how she bows at the end. She just hates attention.

Going to the chapel

My oldest friend Katie got married this weekend. I feel I cannot leave this event off the blog. She was a beautiful bride, and I was honored to be a bridesmaid. It was a great day.
My precious daughters didn't make too much noise during mass, and the priest mentioned Kate's crying near the end as a "sign." He didn't say "warning," so I'm going to continue to think he meant it as a good thing.
Congratulations Katie and Jim!

Baby Adam

Annie and Kate welcomed another cousin into the world this month! Adam Matthew Ralls was born May 5, officially ending the Ralls baby boom of 2009. (As far as I know...unless there are any announcements lurking out there...)
Baby Adam's birth came at a perfect time for us as we were already headed into Cleveland for a visit. So, we descended upon Ed and Laura to meet our newest little baby. Adam seemed unfazed by all the commotion, which bodes well for his future with our family. He was adorable and sweet.
I wasn't even sure if Annie saw him during the visit because she did not acknowledge him at all; she just played crazily with Mallory. However, she's been talking about him all the time. Apparently, she wants to give him all Kate's toys. She keeps talking about how everything is "for baby Adam." So I guess she really is excited to have another cousin! And we are too! Welcome to the world little Adam!

Six Months Old

Kate is six months old today! I remember at the height of her colic thinking to myself, "I just wish she was six months old. Things will be so much easier when she's six months old." While I am a little sad I felt like that during her infancy, things are so much easier. She is a completely different baby these days. She's still a little high maintenance, but I know plenty of girls like that. :)
At six months, Kate can roll and scootch. She can sit on her own for periods of time. She is very grabby. Much to Annie's dismay, she is now interested in Annie's toys and what Annie is doing with them. She also loves to pull hair. Kate loves to be swaddled (still, I know. Matt and I are addicted with her). She is excessively drooly. No teeth have popped through yet, but I'm hoping any day now. Drool doesn't really go with all her cute outfits. And today, Kate experienced the joy of a real playground swing for the first time. She was laughing like crazy. I didn't take any pictures of that, but here are a few recent shots of her.

She never did take to a pacifier, but she loves to suck on her own tongue.

She love to play in jumpers. This one is at my parent's house, and we have one that we borrowed from her Aunt Carol that she loves at our house.

She loves to yell.

Kate and her BFF Lucy. We visited the Puchmeyers last weekend, where Callista and I continued to force photography upon our children. Annie and Bella got us back by refusing to go to bed. Kate and Lucy were perfect angels. We got these photos (ignore the identical horrified looks on their faces), and they went right to bed.

Couple of pics from the past few weeks that Kerri left out.

A sad day in a mans life when he realizes his
wifes arms are bigger than his...

She gets a bath 5 times a week, and this doesn't get old.

She's just like her mother.