Work Out

There is so much for me to blog about: my BABY turning 3 tomorrow (today, actually!), the fact that Bella is officially done with preschool (next stop, Kindergarten...tears!), and I still need to post our Disney pictures...but here's something kind of funny...
I came home from running tonight to find both girls huffing and puffing...why?
Because they were doing Daddy's P90X ab workout with him, of course.
P90X is a workout program Brian is doing which basically means that he works out all of the time and refuses to eat any of the carbs that I so love.
And speaking of that, it's back to marathon baking night (for all of Lucy's birthday festivities) for me! Brian, you are going to eat some of this birthday cake!

Clean and Happy

Last night the girls played so well together in the bath (thank you Happy Meal swimming barbies). They made up all kinds of stories about those barbies.
So here they are, clean and happy...I love that combination!

Easter

Easter Sunday was a busy day for us, but completely worth it. The girls got to see both sets of grandparents, one great-grandparent, all of their aunts and uncles and all of their (first) cousins. I'll post those pictures in the next post.

This hardly ever happens, but we were ready for church early enough for me to get pictures BEFORE we left. There may or may not have been some Easter candy bribes going on to get them to smile though. A couple of these are from after lunch too...we were looking for a good spot for pictures. I loved the black door (above)...the girls thought the big blown up (and blown over by the wind) Easter bunny was a better idea, but it didn't make the cut!


Daddy must have been doing something really funny during this one!
I think it's so sweet that Lucy is looking to see how Bella is posing so she can do the same...I catch her doing that quite a bit!
When I ask them to put their arms around each other, they really take it seriously! It's more of a tight squeeze!

Seasons Change

On Friday, we pretended it was spring one day early. That was easy, because it was such a beautiful day!
Then, on Saturday, the true first day of spring, it was snowing and freezing cold outside. So, we decided to ignore that, and the girls wore their swimsuits around (inside only, of course) all day. They even had a picnic lunch under the shield of an umbrella. Why not?

Silly girl!

This is what happened last weekend when I told Bella to smile for me. She was cracking herself up...and me too!

Disney!

The girls got what will likely be their biggest ever Valentine's Day gift...a trip to Disney (coming in April)!
Here are their questions about the trip:
1) Can Tinkerbell really fly? (Ummm, I don't know, we'll have to see?)
2) Are they going to meet the REAL princesses? (Yes! I guess they are about as real as they get, right?)
3) And this was more of a statement from Lucy rather than a question...
"I don't want Mickey Mouse to talk!" (Apparently, that spooks her out. So if Mickey does talk, we'll just have to ask him not too; but would he kindly stand by for a (silent) picture?)
In fact, they did a little Disney victory dance once it sunk in! Really though, I don't think they have any idea what it will be like. And actually, neither do we. I haven't been in over 20 years, and Brian has never been (we'll take all of the tips anyone would like to send our way!).
Now the challenge is waiting until April. When we got to church the day we told them, we got ready to get out of the car and she asked "Are THIS Disney World?"
That's another Lucyism...she starts every question with "ARE" whether it applies or not.
Both girls are asking WHEN daily (if not hourly). I can't wait to see their face once we get there!

Christmas 2009

(what? it's almost March? oops!)
Christmas Eve was a little bit different around here due to all of the snow. I really missed our normal traditions, but we still managed to gather some unique and fun memories!

Bella's choir got to sing in front of the church for the first time. I'm so glad we got to do that just before the snow started getting bad! Choir robes instantly turn children into little angels, don't they?
We came home, and realized we didn't have much in the way of dinner. We hadn't planned on eating at home, and about all we had was some frozen ground beef. Brian came up with the idea to cook out hamburgers in the snow! The girls watched him for a while...
But they couldn't just watch for long...they played, still in their church dresses (+ coats and boots, at least)...why not, right?

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...
side note: Bella always has to accessorize her hair before bedtime. She comes up with some interesting combinations.
Santa visited...
...and made a couple of little girls very happy (but especially this one, who was VERY specific about wanting an American Girl doll!).
Opening those crazy Zhu Zhu hamsters. For some reason, the hamsters say "moo," so Lucy calls them "moosters."

We braved the snow (well, Brian did, I'm not ever brave about snow), and drove to Momo and Papa's house. Bella was so happy to receive another one of her must-haves...a ballerina jewelry box.

Grandma B was there too!
We had a wonderful lunch, and then, with all of the dessert choices in the world (cookies, pies, candies), the girls requested popsicles. Popsicles and Momo and Papa's house just go together, apparently. Never mind that there were much better options, and that it was freezing outside.
After a rest a home, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner. The gift opening took place at lightening speed, so I missed getting pictures. Bella and Lucy got a guitar and keyboard and putting on shows all of the time now.
All of the cousins...
Finally, we had our postponed Christmas Eve celebration with Brian's extended family a couple of days late. Lucy and cousin Jadyn were so cute playing with all of the boy toys in Jake's room.
One more picture of all the pretty (immediate) girl cousins...