Dancing

My Dancing Girls

Taylor Reading Huggle Buggle Bear

Growing So Fast

At this age the girls change so quickly! They are wearing Dora and princess pull ups and working on potty training. They ask me if they can go to the potty quite a bit - especially Taylor. I think she is mostly excited about the fact the she gets to dump her little potty tray into the big potty and flush the toliet.

Naps are almost non-existant but they still have to stay in their rooms for about two hours. I will turn on the monitor and see the girls doing front flips out of their beds (onto pillows on the floor). Sometimes we will go to get them up from nap and every piece of folded clothes from both dressers will be in a huge pile on the floor. At night they girls will try to put off going to bed. They tell us to "Cubit" them which means to cover them up and then they say "other side" which means we have to turn the blanket over. Then they need hugs and kisses and want juice. Neale and I are pretty good about not giving in to multiple requests. We give hugs and kisses cover them up and then turn the blanket over once and then that is it. This morning when I woke up I heard Kaylie singing her little heart out on the monitor. I think it was a song she made up. They love to sing "You Are My Sunshine", "ABC's", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Happy Birthday", etc. Last night when the girls went to bed they were singing a duet of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm".

The girls still prefer reading over anything else. Grandma Fran and Grandpa Dale just visited and brought some new books which the girls love. The girls will read the books to me and they have heard them so many times that they have the words memorized. Yesterday Kaylie was reading me a book of colors. She did exactly what I normally do. She would say " What color is this Mommy?" and I would answer her. She sould say " Good girl, Mommy." and turn the page to ask me about the next one. Fran bought them an ABC book and taught Kaylie several letters. She would say "K" is for Kaylie, "T" is for Taylor, "M" is for Mommy, etc. Then she would ask Kaylie where the letters were and Kaylie got them all correct. She has about 10 of the letters memorized.

The things they say are funny. Taylor told me ," Kaylie is a crybaby." If you ask them who is their best friend Taylor will say, "Kaylie is my best friend." and Kaylie will say, " Taylor is my best friend." Then they argue over it. Sometimes they tell me that they are going to work. I will ask them what they do at work and they will say "I take pictures of babies". And my favorite - when I go to work and come home I will say "I missed you!" And Kaylie will say " I missed you too, Mama!" or " I luge (love) you too!" Taylor just plants a big wet kiss on my lips!

Happy Father's Day!

This is me in a Christmas stocking meeting my dad! I was adopted and my Aunt Jannie picked me up in Nebraska and flew me to Greenville SC to meet my amazing parents and brother, Jeff.
My Daddy and Mom


Me with my brother, Jeff

In looking for some old photos of my Dad I found this one of me on my Big Wheel when I was little. Since my girls love their Big Wheels I thought I would share.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers!

I am so blessed to have an amazing daddy! He is one of the smartest, kindest, most sincere, genuine, and most successful people I know. He is full of knowledge and I can go to him with anything and he will have an answer. When I was little and he would get mad at me he never really raised his voice but he would give me a look and I knew what that meant. He has always taken an interest in my life and he has been a huge influence on me. When I was little he built me a huge playhouse by hand, used to drive me around on the tractor, rake piles of leaves for me to jump in, built me snowmen (or by the looks of the photos they were snowwomen), helped try to teach me piano, played basketball with me, tried to teach me math (and he was so smart it would drive me crazy because he would go into these lengthy explanations and I just wanted the way to get the quick answer), and sat through my dance recitals. When I was in my pre-teenage years he would drive my friends and myself around in the car and dance to whatever was on the radio. It embarassed me to death but my friends thought it was hilarious. When I began my career in photography he picked it up too. We took trips to Colorado and Hawaii and bored my mom by planning the stops around where we could get the best photos. I definitely got my work ethic and drive to want to be successful by watching him. He is also amazing with Kaylie and Taylor. They call him "AhhhDaa" which means Granddad. I am so proud to have him as my father!

I Love My Girls!

Ready for our 1st day in our new class






Playing in the pool

No fear...flying down the driveway

"Sissy push me"

Come On Sissy

Today the girls started a new class at daycare. I think they adjusted pretty well. They are growing up too fast! I tried to prepare them by telling them about the new class ahead of time which I think helped. The girls are full of conversation these days. When I am working and I call home to talk to Neale all I hear in the background is screaming " HI MOMMY! HI MOMMY!". When I get home Kaylie runs to the door as fast as she can screaming "MOMMY!" and jumps on me and gives me lots of hugs and kisses. I tell her I missed her and she will say " I missed you too Mommy. I love you." AWWW!!! Taylor does it sometimes too but Kaylie is especially a mama's girl. The moments like that make the meltdowns more bearable. What do you do when two 2 year olds decide to throw down on the floor and scream at the top of their lungs in Walmart when every person in Walmart is staring at you? Just getting back to the car is a major ordeal. Luckily this behavior is rare but "Oh My Goodness" (as Taylor would say) when it does! Honestly the girls are well behaved but when they are sick or tired you best stay at home.

The girls have been sick but are starting to feel better. They went to the doctor and Kaylie weighed 24 lbs 12 oz. and Taylor weighed 25.5 lbs. Taylor thinks she is a gymnast. When she is supposed to be napping she jumps on the bed and dives and rolls head first off the bed. And of course...Kaylie follows in her footsteps. Sunday we went to the beach and Kaylie and I were out in the ocean for a long time. I couldn't get Taylor to go out with me. Kaylie didn't want to go back in. It is a good thing we did go in though because about 5 minutes after we went in everyone was called out of the water for a shark and a stingray that were right in front of us in knee deep water. I saw them both and then we decided it was time to go back home.

The girls can hold actual conversations now. They will tell me they want to sing songs and tell me which ones. They tell me what they do and don't want to eat and what they want to do each day. I love being able to understand everything they say but it also makes me realize my little girls are growing up so fast. They are still the sweetest and most loving girls. I am so blessed.