Morning (and the heatwave!) has broken

Ahhh....the cool, sweet smell of fresh, broken air. It has been so horridly humid here, that the couch feels wet when you sit on it. But last night, something shifted, and this morning it is glorious.

There have been lots of shifts in the girls, too. Growing, growing and growing.
Frances STILL isn't walking. She can, but she won't. Ruby is so very very THREE, it's amazing that she is alive after the end of each day. We've been going to the pool and beach a lot. And I am still trying to figure out the flow of life with two kids.

They are firecrackers, my girls. I love them endlessly, and often, I want to leave them in a cart at Target and just walk away. Such is parenting two smallies.

A First Birthday!

The baby who was born in a car now turns ONE!
She is SUCH a delight, full of fun and joy....
And, she totally "got" the fun and excitement of a birthday!












The baby who was born in a car now turns ONE!
She is SUCH a delight, full of fun and joy....

frances loves the bath

turning 3 and 2 new teeth

ruby is now THREE! april 17 was a day filled with fun; lunch and a cupcake with mom and dad (no frances!), and a little play time with her neighbor friends and a blue house cake, made by the proud mama. (i love making the birthday cakes). she is getting sassy, and is also a genius (mommy, those trees are smaller because they are far away). she potty trained herself about 2 months ago, and has been dry ever since. no more diapers for ruby!

frances is grabbing our fingers all the time, forcing us to walk with her. yes, forcing. she is a willful little tiger, just like her big sis. she has two new teeth coming in up top, and is happily grinding them against her bottom teeth. she is FINALLY eating real food, giving me a little break from all that nursing. she just started scooting, like ruby did, TODAY! we apparently don't breed children who crawl. she's so very very happy to be getting around.

all is well, now that spring has finally arrived, along with the white throated sparrows and the ruby crowned kinglets (ruby's namesake bird)

in the throes of winter

here we are, mid-january and in a good old cold snap.
illness has run rampant in our house this winter. frances is involved with her second ear infection, ruby has had several mild colds, and i have had an ear infection, the flu and the vomit virus. amazingly, willie has stayed pretty healthy through all this.

whew.

everyone is relatively healthy for the moment.

the days are very cold and very sunny. quite beautiful. we have built the Shanty of Misfit Toys again this year. ruby is very excited about it. shantyofmisfittoys.blogspot.com/ and artshantyprojects.org

things the girls are doing:
ruby is asserting her fierce independence. she is working really hard on using the potty and even slept last night without a diaper! dry all night! her language skills are phenomenal.

frances is sitting up all alone now, playing with ruby in a way i did not expect at this young tender age of 7 months. she is tasting table food, but doesn't seem very interested and still not taking a bottle.

First Family Vacation to Florida

well, we're back. we've been home from florida for about a week, and came home to some glorious fall weather! it was very hot and humid in florida, but with the pool, ocean and the nice airconditioned beach house, we loved it.

ruby floated around the pool, lay in the waves of the ocean, picked up dead jelly fish and built many sand castles.


frances just hung out. (what else is a 3 1/2 month girl to do?!) we tried bringing her to the beach and putting her in a little tent, but it was too hot, windy and sandy. she did, however, like flying in the sky with the seagulls!

another great thing about where we stayed....a donut shop right across the street. ruby had her first donut with sprinkles, and the toothless frances watched in wonder.

yesterday and state fair pics

yesterday, my sister kelly came over with wyatt and gabriella. what fun we had! wyatt and ruby played very well together, and sat at the little kid table and had burritos for lunch. frances and gabriella stared at each other a little, and then cried.

here are some state fair pictures, and my favorite, ruby and her "mustache and beard"! she is so awesome.