Welcome 2010

Wow it has been awhile. We learned rather quickly that we are no match for two girls. Our lives have been turned upside down and yet we somehow manage to survive to see another day. In the last couple of months we have been overtaken by a busy 1 year old and a sassy, strong willed 3 year old. Oh, the challenges of life, but we are loving every minute of it. Here are a couple of images of Lu Lu and ZB.

Latest Happenin's

Happy girls caught on film. I can't believe we actually got our girls to hold still and catch them smiling. Do you know how rare that is? Extremely rare. I just had to share this great picture of them together. They are getting way too big.

The first part of May we had my brother and his family in town. One of the days they were here we all went down to the Dinosaur Museum. ZB loves dinosaurs and was so excited to tell us the names of many of the ones she saw. It was a great day with the cousins.

LP showing off her bottom two teeth. She is just getting her top two side teeth this week. What happened to getting the front two teeth? Hopefully they will come soon.

Our first attempt at feeding LP was of course messy and hilarious. She had more fun playing with the spoon than eating any of the rice cereal.

ZB is quite the artist. She loves to paint and was happy to do it outside where she could be as messy as she wanted.

LP still has the crazy hair. We attempt to keep it down but it somehow always manages to stick up in the back. Notice the cheeks also keep getting bigger? It is impossible to keep from kissing them all day long.

Arizona Trip

We took a road trip to Arizona with my sister's family and had a great time. The girls did amazing in the car, especially on the way home considering they had horrible colds. We had to take may breaks and keep the movies going for ZB. LP surprised us by doing so well but we give most of the credit to her big sister for helping her stay entertained during fussy moments. Here are a few photos of the trip.
This is one of the stops on the way down. We took a long break and fed the babies while the kids checked out the Glen Canyon Dam.




ZB'a partner in crime. These two have a love hate relationship. Mostly love but there are times when they really battle like siblings. I know we will be in big trouble as they get older. They love to be princesses and act out their favorite scenes from one of the barbie or princess movies. They are also all about drama.


We had much warmer weather there and got to spend a couple days at the pool.


Gotta love the double wide stroller. This has been my all time favorite purchase. It was great to have on the trip and we use it so much at home when heading to the playground or park.



Lucky for ZB she has her dad wrapped around her finger. He gave in and rode the carousel I think 3 times.




LP playing on the bed and laughing at her dad. Chris and ZB can always seem to get her to giggle.






The girls all dressed up on Sunday. Yes we even went to church on vacation. It is amazing what kids will do to you.

Cutie Girls

I know, I know it has been awhile since we have posted anything so here are a few photos of our cutie pie girls.

Here is LP at 3 months old. Isn't she sweet? ZB had also get in on the action of course and wanted to play being the model. We had a fun day of doing photos of the girls. It is fabulous having a great photographer in the family. Hopefully Chris will do it again soon.

ZBisms

Here are a few conversations with ZB we thought were pretty cute that we don't want to forget. You can tell we talk about emotions and feelings alot and she is all GIRL!

If ZB ever get's in trouble she often says to us.
ZB-"Are you happy or sad?" and "Grumpy or Excited?" and "Frustrated or Angry?" Then she makes the faces of all the emotions.
Mom or Dad -Laughing and saying "happy" (usually)
How could we not be with such a cutie pie?

During the day if something goes wrong:
Mom-“ZB what’s wrong?”
ZB-“I am just a little sad right now”
Mom-“How come you are sad?”
ZB-“Cause I couldn’t get my princess dress on.”
Mom-“Okay well if I help you will that help you feel better?”
ZB-“Well I just needed to be sad for a little bit.”
Mom-“Okay well lets try to be happy now.”
ZB-“Well I just need to cry a little bit more.”

After finally getting into the car to leave Grandmas house:
ZB- “Dad you just need to be a little more impatient with me.”
Dad-“who told you that?”
ZB- “President Monson”

Driving by the park:
ZB-“OH NO! Look the water is all frozen. What will the ducks do?”
Dad- “They will just go ice skating”
ZB- “Ya they will just put on their slippies, that’s a good idea.”

At the counter for Lunch:
ZB-“So mom what is the plan for today?”
Mom-“Well first we need to finish your lunch and then you get to take a nap”
ZB-“Well I have a good idea mom…. We can eat our lunch and watch a show, then we can play playdoh, then we can build a city with our blocks, then we can go outside for a little while….(this went on and on with ideas and finally ended with) and I don’t need to take a nap mom and should that be the plan?”

Some of 2009's latest little moments...

Thank goodness for DADDY!
When evening time comes I think all of us girls at home are thinking thank goodness for Daddy when he walks through the door. Why is it by the time it comes to fix dinner, the girls for some reason have no coping skills. ZB usually is sad for some reason or another that I can’t do something with her or for her while I am holding a screaming baby.

ZB’s new thing to say when she is sad is maybe Daddy can come home and help me feel better. She often talks to him on the phone in the morning and throughout the day. I am so grateful for a husband that will come home to a house of sad girls and stressed out wife and immediately jump in to help out and cheer us all up. Chris continues to do anything to make life better for all of us. Whether it’s getting up and making bottles through the night, changing disgusting diapers (his least favorite), or just saying to me go take a break I have it covered. I could go on and on but I won’t embarrass him too much. We couldn’t survive at our house without him!

Lately ZB's favorite thing to do at night with her Dad is make cookies. She loves to help mix all the ingredients and of course likes to eat them almost as much as us. I think chocolate is an excellent coping mechanism although maybe not so great for the waste line.

ZB is still loving being the big sister. She tries so hard to be a good sister and take care of her "baby sissy" We do have to remind her to not actually lay on top of her when she hugs her and that she doesn't need to remain within a 1/2 inch of her face when talking to her. It has been nice to have her help run and put the binkie in LP's mouth over and over again too. Sometimes she tells us that LP is okay and doesn't need her binkie. Hmm think she is done helping at that point.

Another new thing ZB is getting more of is the ATTITUDE. Anytime she wants to do something herself, ZB now holds up her hand and says no you can’t, just I am doing it. (We think she must have picked this up somehow from her Auntie Kathy in Atlanta.)

Our little princess is starting to have happy smiling talking moments. THANK GOODNESS! We wondered if they would ever come and they did. It seems like she is finally figuring things out more and so are we. 5 formulas later and medicine for reflux has helped so much. We didn't realize how easy ZB was as a baby until LP came along. Have you ever heard of the Happiest Baby on the Block? Well our friends let us borrow it and they talk about 5 things to help calm babies. Well at our house we are well versed in all 5 and use them all.

Over the past 7 weeks we've pretty much been open to any ideas and thoughts of how to help LP cope. She definitely has colic but she now is starting to have nice moments along with the insane ones. This is her laying on my lap tonight. She likes to lay on our legs after she eats so she is still mostly upright and talk to us. It is very sweet. Notice the cubby cheeks. Gotta love formula.

Ernie

So ZB has a new nickname for her little sissy. Yup it's Ernie. We don't know how she came up with this or how she even knew who Ernie was but I guess the hair really made her think of him. ZB hasn't seen sesame street for probably over a year and so the only thing we can think of is maybe he is in a story book of hers. One day my parents asked her what she called her little sister and she said "Ernie." Wow, we all busted up laughing. She hadn't ever told us that and she never really calls her that at home, but often if someone asks her what she calls her baby sister, this is what she tells them. Let's just hope the hair eventually calms down and the nickname doesn't stick.