August

 Ellie fell asleep playing

Abby (4.5 yrs) and Ellie (7.5 months)

Jeff on his 34th birthday, opening presents

Singing happy birthday to Jeff

Abby with a mask she decorated

Melissa & the girls

August, wow...  Only a month to go before Abby starts her 2nd year of preschool.  She is also starting a gymnastics class in a few weeks.  We are looking forward to fall & the cooler weather.  It has been 100+ degrees here for way too long. 

A confession:  Lately I have been feeling really guilty, and here is why-- I never sent thank you notes for last year's Christmas presents or for any gifts we got when Ellie was born, or for Abby's birthday.  I did send thank you notes after the baby shower in November, but once Ellie was born I did not keep up with it.  I think I may have sent a few and then promptly lost track of who I sent them to and who I didn't.   This has been really bugging me for months now so I wanted to let everyone know we really did appreciate the presents, and I am sorry for my lapse in manners! 

Colorado camping trip

We just got back from a family camping vacation in Colorado!  This was Abby's 3rd trip to Colorado and Ellie's first.  Here are some photos:

Photos by a 4 year old

We recently gave Abby my old camera.  She just LOVES taking pictures.  I wanted to share some pictures she has taken:

Ellie is 6 months old today!

 6 months have gone by so fast!  Ellie is sitting unsupported now, if we put her in sitting position.  She stays that way for 5 or so minutes before she falls over.  :)

She had her 6 month check up today, with shots.  She only cried for a few seconds until I picked her up.  Here is her growth chart, for anyone who finds it interesting (click table for full version):

It is NOT almost July... what!?

  

I can not believe it is almost July!  I think I said the same thing when it was almost June.  Man, spring just flew by and it looks like summer will too. 

Ellie will be 6 months old on Monday 6/28!  She rolls both ways now, and seems to be close to sitting unsupported.  She will sit for 30 seconds or so then topples over.  :)  No teeth yet but she is drooling a lot and chewing on anything she can get into her mouth, including her own toes.  She is not as much of a fan of sleeping at this point as Abby was at almost 6 months old.  Guess we lucked out with her, she slept through the night off & on starting at 8 weeks old.  Lately Ellie has been getting up every 3 hours at night.  Last night she skipped the midnight feeding though, hooray for that!  She still got up at 3am and then up for the day at 5:45am...why, baby, why?!  ;)

Abby has been enjoying the summer, she especially likes to get out and play on her new playset and in the kiddie pool.  She is still a little hesitant in Nanny & Papa's big pool.  She went to Vacation Bible School with Gavin recently & is really looking forward to preschool again in the fall...I think she misses it right now & gets bored easily.

^ A picture of the new playset

 

^ Ellie's first time swinging...she loved it!

 

 ^ Abby enjoyed pushing Ellie in the swing

    

^ Ellie's first time in the kiddie pool...not a big fan at first.  She liked it a few days later though and was splashing with cousin Maggie in it.  :)

 

^ Abby getting ready to swim

^ Ellie Belly

Almost June...already!?!

Look how big Ellie is getting!  Seems like she is going to be as big as Abby soon.  Ha!  Ellie will be 5 months old on 5/28.

I can't believe it is almost June already.  Abby finished up her first year of preschool, and her first dance class.  :)  She will start preschool again in the fall, this time 3 mornings a week.  I might put her in a dance class again too, she LOVED it!  In the mean time I am trying to think of some fun summer activities for her. 

Dancing is HIGH-larious

Abby was dancing to Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again".  Ellie thought it was GREAT!  She was laughing and squealing.  You know, we were pretty worried about having a 4 year age gap between the kids.  We tried for a 2 year gap, but that just did not happen.  Really though the 4 year gap is working out just fine.  They still enjoy each other's company.  :)

Pictures from my birthday.  One of me with Abigail & my nephew Gavin, and one of me getting ready to have cake.

Yay, it's May!

Elizabeth and Abigail both had appointments today.  Ellie had her 4 month check up.  She is 13lbs even (31st %), 24.25 in. long (46th %), and her head is 41.5 cm (70th%).  Abby had her 4 year check up, and she is as petite as ever!  30.2 lbs (4th %) and 38.5 inches tall (15th %).  Both girls did great during their exams.  This is a huge step for Abby...she used to scream hysterically at every doctor's appointment.

Ellie has started rolling over front to back-- not quite rolling back to front yet.  She gets almost there but then gets stuck on an arm.  :)  No teeth yet, but Abby did not get her first tooth until 11 months old.  Ellie is not quite sleeping through the night yet but she does pretty good.  She usually goes to bed around 8pm, and gets up for a feeding anywhere from 1am-5am.  Then she usually goes back to sleep until 7am.

Here are some recent photos of the girls and family.  The one with us all in "fancy" hats is from our Kentucky Derby party.   The last picture I thought was cute because Abby was outside with Jeff, shovel in hand, ready to help.  She is really a huge help around the house and with Ellie.  She is very enthusiastic about it too, she loves to help!  :)

Ellie at 15 weeks old

Just a few photos to share of Elizabeth at 15 weeks old.  Such a cutie!  :)

April pictures

Here are some photos from Easter:

 

Ellie is 3.5 months old!  She has started grabbing and playing with toys.  Loves to chew on her hands and make goober bubbles.  :)  She started sleeping through the night, 8-10 hours some nights, but then this week she decided NAH, nighttime is party time.  Ha!  I think it might be a growth spurt.

Abigail is taking a dance class, and she loves it!  It is a pretty cute class to watch.  The age range is 4-6. Abby is the smallest in the class.  Here are a few pics: