Can't get away with anything...

Last night we went to Maggie's favorite restaurant for dinner, Big Red Volcano (it's actually Big Red Keno, but don't try telling her that).   While we were waiting for our food Maggie said to Arnie, "Daddy, are we going to play with those fun cards."  Last week Arnie and Maggie went there alone, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to let a 2 year old play pickle cards??  Maggie never forgets anything, so I'm pretty sure she'll be reminding Arnie of those pickle cards every time we go there forever.  When Maggie's around there are no secrets :)

Grace is staying awake more and more.  Today she played on the floor for awhile and spent lots of time with her eyes wide open just looking around.  She's getting really good at holding her head up and when she's on her tummy she can turn her head from side to side and hold it up for awhile.  She's starting to figure out how to smile on purpose, she especially likes smiling at her sister.  It's almost like you can watch her grow and change right before your eyes.

It was finally nice out today.  We have the windows open and are enjoying some fresh air....it's about time!  I can't wait to get some flowers in the pots and start to enjoy the yard a little more.  Maggie is outgrowing her winter clothes, we either need it to warm up so she can start wearing spring/summer clothes or we're going to have to go buy some bigger pants. 

4 weeks already & Gertrude has returned...

Gracie Tate is 4 weeks old today...I can't believe it.  They've been a busy 4 weeks but the time has still flown by.  She's still a great baby, most nights she only gets up once, she's very calm and easy to please during the day...as long as you keep her belly full and her diaper changed she's very agreeable. I hope she stays that way.

There are still so many pictures I would like to take of her, and I'm quickly running out of time.  Hopefully we'll get a little more time in the studio in the next couple of days, and Saturday morning when daddy is home to help I'm hoping to get a few more shots of the 2 girls together....we'll see how that goes.

This morning I took a short break from maternity leave to shoot a set of 6 weeks old twins, they were the first babies, besides my own, that I've had in my beautiful new studio.  They gave me a run for my money, I was definitely sweating by the time I finished with them (they definitely reminded me why I usually like the babies younger).  My plan was/is to stay on "maternity leave" and home with the girls for most of the summer, but I may take an occasional "work day" between now and then.  It was fun to get back at it, and boy/girl twins are a rare opportunity...so I just couldn't pass it up.  Maggie was at school and Gracie slept quietly in the corner for the whole 3 hour session.

Yesterday Gracie and I did a little work of our own....

When Maggie was a baby and she would get really crabby we called her Gertrude...the last couple of days Gertrude seems to be making lots of appearances.  Say a little prayer for Miss Maggie, she's been a real pill the last couple of days.  I think it's a combination of new baby sister and sheer exhaustion.  She's very emotional and much more argumentative then her usual sweet little self...maybe it's Arnie and I that need the prayers....Hopefully during this afternoons nap Gertrude decides to go back where she came from and return Maggie. 

"MMMMMOOOOOOMMMMMMM"

This morning Maggie and Grace were laying on our bed watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, while I made Maggie's breakfast.  Then I heard Maggie scream, "MOM", so I went running....before I left the room the first time we had the "don't touch your sisters head, don't cover her up with a blanket, remember she's fragile" discussion....but when I hear the scream I was a little worried.  When I got to our room, Maggie quickly handed me the above diaper, told me "Gracie just peed, no poop" and that she needed the wipes and a new diaper.  Grace was laying there, happy as could be, naked from the waist down, her pj's unsnapped and out of the way.  I quickly put on a new diaper (remember she was laying on my bed, and on my side too). 

Gracie usually hates having her diaper changed and her clothes taken on and off, I said something to Maggie about how Grace was happy.  Maggie said, "When I unsnapped her clothes, she was REALLY mad."  Grace was probably just happy because it was over!  Poor Gracie!

Maggie was very proud of herself for taking care of baby sister and I was proud of her for getting the diaper folded up and the velcro on so it wasn't making a mess all over. We had a little talk about how next time she should wait until someone could help her change Grace and how we always want to be sure to have a clean diaper close before we take the dirty one off....

Easter, Omaha and tons of pictures...

He has risen, he has risen indeed!  Happy Easter.  

I have more then ever to celebrate this Easter season. We had a wonderful weekend of family, fellowship, celebration and FOOD.  The girls and I went to Omaha on Friday evening (Arnie spent Friday and Saturday playing in an Alumni basketball tournament in Norfolk), Saturday we played, ran a few errands and Maggie and Grandma did lots of baking for Sunday. 

Sunday we all got up and went to church and then spent the day playing and EATING! 

Sunday while we were having brunch, Maggie asked my mom for some milk (when Grandpa gets her milk, he ALWAYS adds chocolate), when mom brought Maggie her glass of regular milk, Maggie said, "Grandma, I don't respect regular milk, I respect chocolate milk."  I'm sure she meant expect, but either way we laughed all day about it!

Gracie seemed to enjoy her first Easter, she slept through most of it, but I could tell she was loving it :)

Gracie & Hannah relaxing.

Sisters

All ready for church.



Those blue eyes get me every time.



Hello, little miss Diva!

Crabby Bunny!!!

Slightly less crabby bunny!



hop, hop, hop...

  

Ready for the Easter egg hunt, she's gotta show
all those boys how to do it with style.

 



Mommy look, Daddy's all pinked up!!

"Ellie, you might be bigger then me, but I'll catch up soon!"

We attempted a cousin picture, it would have been
asking WAY too much for them all to look the same direction.


We made it back to Norfolk today. This might be a record, but I think we'll be here until next Monday or Tuesday...it's been a long time since we've spent a whole week at home and probably longer since we've spent a weekend at home.  We have lots of projects to fill our time.  Maggie keeps reminding me that the "ice ball storm" put a hole in her slide, so this weekend I think that will be on the top of the list. I hope it stops raining and warms up a bit, so we aren't stuck in the house!
 

a few more arizona pictures...

We had a great trip to Arizona!  The weather was beautiful and other then one screaming car ride, Grace did great and, as usual, Maggie was a good girl and very entertaining.  Maggie had tons of fun playing with Aunt Amy and Uncle Evan and was sad to see them go.  Aunt Amy was a good sport, she got "picked" to make lots of trips to the potty, skip around the house, play a zillion games, and be a jungle gym.  Maggie loved playing with Lucy and all of her friends at the dog park, swimming and riding a tricycle around the patio. 

Sunday night we went to the Clubhouse for dinner, when I told Maggie where we were going, she said "Are mickey and minnie going to be there?"  Maybe we need to stop watching so much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...she was disappointed to hear it wasn't that clubhouse but quickly got over it when she remembered they have ice cream :)

Sotry time with Grandma...someone is getting a little sleepy!

I think Maggie would eat every meal outside, no matter the weather,
if we would let her.  She LOVES it.

relaxing with daddy!

How tall is Maggie...39.5" according to Pop's measurements.

Always a fashion icon :) the crocs really make the outfit...
remind me to hide those!

we got to the dress shop and see Grandma's pretty dress
for Uncle Evan and Aunt Amy's wedding...I asked Maggie
to smile, and this is what I got.

Playing "shoot guns" with daddy.

Helping Pop's fix a light, I think she taught him how to use
a screwdriver.

More chores...

"Arfur" was reading Maggie a book.

Daddy and Gracie on the flight home.

Both girls (and me too) have been pretty tired today, Maggie went to school but has been asleep since she got home and Gracie has spent most of the day with her eyes closed too.  I need to get us unpacked and cleaned up and then it will be time to repack for Easter weekend in Omaha.  I wish the weather would warm up a little and the sun would come out. 

The Easter Bunny and Elijah...

We made it home from Arizona, the girls were as good on the way home as they were on the way out...and our flight wasn't delayed (actually it landed 30 min. early) and there was no serious pooping incident, so actually we might have made it home in better shape then we made it there.  It was nice to have an extra set of hands, since Arnie was with us this leg of the trip. 

One of the biggest reasons I decided to pack the girls up and make the trip, was because Monday night was the first night of Passover...and I really like passover.  There are alot of holidays and observances that we and/or our respective families celebrate that really outline the difference between Arnie's Jewish upbringing and my Christian faith...but passover isn't one of them and I truly appreciate that as a family, Arnie, Maggie and I can all observe and share in the passover Seder (the meal/telling of the passover story) and truly be moved by it's meaning.  We often feel like we're charting some of our own waters, when we make decisions about how to teach our kids about faith, tradition, God, Jesus and how they all come together in our family life.  We decide long before we were married that our kids would be raised in my church with a strong understand for and appreciation of their Jewish heritage....that's alot easier said then done...BUT passover is one of the days that it truly all comes together.

Someday I'm going to host a Seder for my christian family, there is so much biblical history and symbolism in the story.  When Jesus sat down with his disciples at the last supper, they were observing a passover Seder.  The washing of the disciples hands and feet, and the breaking of the bread and blessing of the wine, that we now refer to as communion, is all derived directly from the passover Seder. 

At Dick & Betti's we did a very kid friendly, less formal Seder this year then in past years.  I was so impressed by Maggie's ability to understand the basic story we were telling her and she asked lots of great questions.  Before the Seder starts a wine glass is placed in the center of table and filled symbolically for Elijah (Jewish people believe the Elijah is a prophet that will return before the Messiah, Christians believe the Elijah came in the form of John the Baptist)...during the Seder the leader (in our case Dick) knocks on the table and someone goes and opens the door to allow Elijah to join the passover observance.  Well, this part of the story was very confusing for Maggie, about a hundred times since then she's asked us why that "fake guy" knocked on the door.....hmmmmmm, she's wise beyond her years, and I don't have an answer that seems to satisfy her question. 

Last year at this time Maggie was obsessed with or maybe I should say terrified of the Easter Bunny (it is kind of a strange concept for small children when you think about it.  At least Santa is a person, but a giant candy delivering bunny??? really???)....she was so afraid of the idea of him coming into our house while we were sleeping, she kept telling Reagan to be sure to chase him away.  We have yet to really mention him this year, we'll see what happens this weekend when we start dying the eggs. 

It's funny that she seems to have a very basic, toddlers understanding of both Passover and Easter, but the 2 things she really gets hung up on are the things that don't really effect the meaning of either holiday.... Maybe kids really do know what it's all about.

Here are a few pictures from our Passover celebration....

Poor Uncle Evan was tasked with trying to take a family picture...

Gracie tried to stay awake...but she just couldn't do it :)

Maggie folowing along, she was a little confused because to her
the book "went the wrong way".

Maggie was a good sport, she tried everything we gave her,
including: horseradish, parsley, and gefilte fish.

During the Seder the leader hides a piece of Matzah, called the Afikoman, then
the kids go look for it... Once they find it they get to sell it back to him. 
I think Maggie might be the highest paid Afikoman finder around!

Passover was once again a wonderful experience and it's really fun to watch Maggie start to appreciate and look forward to participating in all of our different traditions.

I'll add another post shortly of more pictures of our time in Arizona.....

I can do it BY MYSELF!!

Nothing is more frustrating then when we're in a hurry to get out the door (or do anything, for that matter) and Maggie decides that whatever task needs to be complete before we go, is one she is going to do BY HERSELF.  There have been many outings that start with 10 min. of trying to get her coat on, or "tie" her shoes or pack her lunch.  I know it's important to let her do these things and start to be a little more independent but seriously, it can drive me nuts!

I started with that because in the last few days I've realized that there are probably a few people around me, especially my dear husband, who have the same observation of me.  Some of Maggie's independence is just her growing up, but I have to believe maybe a little bit of it is genetic.  I totally understand her feelings of wanting to be able to do something, or everything, for herself.

Early last week I decided that maybe I would try to pack the girls up and take them to Arizona for a few days.  Betti's birthday was Saturday, she was going to be by herself because all the boys were in Las Vegas for Evan's Bachelor Party, and today is Passover.  At first, a few people mentioned that I might be a little crazy to try to travel with both girls alone, but I just wasn't willing to consider that it could be anything but a breeze.  One of my biggest fears about about having a second baby, was that it would slow me down, so this opportunity gave me the chance to prove to myself that I could in fact manage.....AND I was right!  The trip was pretty uneventful.  Both girls were awesome.  Other then the TSA guy being a total pain in the a**, our flight being delayed an hour and a little poop incident as the plane was landing, it went exactly like I pictured.

(I'm posting from Arnie's computer and I can't get these pictures to rotate, so I apologize for all the sideways pictures. I'll try and fix them when I get home.) 

The girls waiting for the flight....

Once we got on the plane... (they were so good, I found myself wishing I had something grown-up to do on my iPad instead of just a bunch of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes and a puzzle game)

Always Mommy's big helper!

I guess it's a good thing I had a couple Mickey's...

Just as the Captain turned on the fasten seat belt sign and said we were landed Grace pooped all over.  I wasn't really sure what to do, so I stripped her naked, wrapped her in a US Air blanket (for the next guys sake, I sure hope they wash those!) and then with a little help from big sister we got her cleaned up, a new diaper and new clothes on and other then the guy across the aisle from us, no one knew anything had happened.

Once we got to Arizona, Grandma met us at the airport. Maggie was so excited to be here and couldn't wait to get back to the house and see LUCY!!  We had a fun girls evening and hopefully we helped Betti enjoy her Birthday.  Then yesterday, Arnie, Evan, Dick and Amy joined us and we had a great day.  Maggie got to go to the dog park with Lucy and then daddy and uncle Evan took her swimming. 


We started the day with a walk... the weather is beautiful!  Did I mention there were 4 inches of snow on the ground in Norfolk Friday!!!!

Then lots of play time...



I think Maggie and Aunt Amy were having a serious discussion
about the duties of a flower girl :)



Just relaxing in the shade!

Pool time!!!

Gracie wasn't thrilled about sticking her toes in.

 I'm really glad we made the trip.  I'm thrilled that we got to spend part of Betti's Birthday with her, that I was able to get here in one piece without losing my mind, that we'll get to spend a couple more days with Uncle Evan, Aunt Amy (Maggie loves playing with them!), Grandma and Pops and that today we'll get to share Passover as a family. 

I'm sure I'll have more pictures and stories to share, but for today I think this is getting a little long....