Mommy's Bookworms

I was cooking dinner the other night while George and Clara were playing downstairs.  They were playing really well together and then it got very quiet.  Usually not a good sign, but when I walked into the dining room, I found this...

Mommy's Little Bookworms :)

Meet Elyse!

Our first beautiful niece was born on June 29, 2011.  Elyse Alexandra weighed in at 6 pounds 1 ounce and measured 19 inches long.  We are so thrilled for Christina and Sayed!  We are also thrilled to be called Aunt and Uncle and for George and Clara to have a cousin.  We adore this tiny little girl!  We can't wait to watch her grow and see a fun friendship form between the cousins.  Our family is growing!

Meeting Uncle John

Meeting Aunt Meghan

Sweet Elyse 12 hours old

Elyse 2 1/2 weeks old

20 Months!

George and Clara are 20 months old.  We are four months away from two years and I am now wishing for time to stop for a little while.  When they were tiny, there were so many days that I wished away waiting for them to hit that next milestone.  Now I adore the toddler stage, tantrums and all.  They are incredibly fun to be around.  I can only imagine it gets better as they are able to communicate more, but right now I want these two monkeys to just freeze in time so I can soak it all in before they get an inch bigger.  My little loves....

John and I counted their words the other day and we think they both use about 20 words functionally at home.  They have said more words but don't use them consistently.  As soon as one masters a word, the other one picks it up quickly.  Monkey see monkey do!  In public, George is practically mute.  I guess he is either not confident about it or has that shy gene his Dad had as a kid.  Clara will say a few words around others but doesn't seem too confident either.  Now George is starting to connect pictures in books to real life.  The other night as I was taking George out of the car after having dinner with Grammy and Pop-pop (this is what we call Grandpa Quinn now), he pointed to the sky and said, "Moon!"  It was awesome.  George likes to sing too.  From Old McDonald, he has E-I-E-I-OOOO down.  He also "sings" along with music on the radio.  Clara is still our little dancer, busting a move any chance she gets.  I love glancing back in the rear view mirror to see her bopping along to the radio on car rides. George seems to be grasping the concept of counting.  He doesn't say the numbers correctly yet, but will make noises with you while you count for him.  Such a smarty pants!  George is more of a chatterbox then Clara which is a surprise to Daddy and I.

George and Clara are both very interested in the potty these days.  I knew potty training was right around the corner but I am so not prepared for it!  The both can say "peepee" and "poopoo."  They let me know when they want their diapers changed and sometimes even go into the bathroom saying, "peepee."  They are giving me all the signs that I should get started so I suppose I should buy the potty seats.  Oh Lordy!  Another thing to tackle!

One of my least favorite things this month is the climbing!  They climb up on everything now.  I used to be able to turn my back on them for a minute and not worry.  Now I am petrified that they are going to climb up on something and fall off.  I have to remember this too will pass!  One of my favorite moments this month was when I asked George if he had a stinky diaper.  Clara walked over to George pulled out the back of his shorts, looked in his diaper, looked up at me, and said no.  Just like Mommy would do!  Silly girl!

Pretty Pink Toes

I gave Clara her first "pedicure" the other day.  Not perfect because she was a little wiggly.  Nevertheless, she loves her pretty pink toes. 

Fourth of July Fun!

We had an amazing Fourth of July celebration this year.  It started off with the Fourth of July parade with Daddy and Grammy Quinn.  The twins loved all the action.  They sat for almost two hours and watched everything go by.  A fun way to start the day!

Headed to the parade

Let's get this party started!

Happy Fourth of July!

Here we go!

We loved the classic cars!

Grammy Quinn!

Dad what's coming next?!?

Sweet Clarabear.

After nap, all the grandparents came over for swimming and dinner.  We enjoyed our burgers, hot dogs, and of course our Fourth of July cupcakes.  We let the twins stay up for an hour past their bedtime so they could watch their first fireworks show.  It was on TV since the drought here is so bad they didn't even sell fireworks.  The twins loved it!  They couldn't turn away.  

Watching with Daddy

Watching with Grandma H

 

 Wow!!!

It was a wonderful day spent with our family.  Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July celebration with theirs.

Fourth of July Family Tradition Continues

Since I was a little girl, my family made cupcakes for our Fourth of July celebration.  My brother and I were always so excited to make the cupcakes our own patriotic creations.  Armed with lots of frosting, sprinkles, and candies, we put so much effort into making them beautiful.  Now that I have kids, I am so happy to continue this tradition with them.  We attempted cupcake making last year.  You can find that blog post here.  This year was totally different.  George and Clara are almost 20 months old and never cease to amaze me at what they can do.  They actually helped us make the cupcakes this year.  Yesterday morning before we were even dressed for the day we got started.  We heard lots of whoas and wows while we mixed everything together for our brownie cupcakes.  Once baked, we gave them each a cupcake, spreadable cheese knife, and a spoonful of frosting.  After just a little demonstration, they dug right in.  They loved frosting the cupcakes and then squeezing red and blue decorations on top.  While they devoured those two cupcakes, John and I decorated the rest for our family celebration.  They really enjoyed this activity and it has encouraged me to use them as little helpers more often when I cook.  We are looking forward to sharing our cupcake creations this afternoon poolside!  Happy Fourth everyone!

Stir it up Georgie!

Good helping Clarabear! Is that brownie mix on your cheeks?!?

Frosting my cupcake.

Decorating my cupcake.

Adding a few patriotic touches!

Rules are made for breaking...yummy cupcake at 10:30 in the morning.

Yummy!

Mommy hard at work :)

Daddy cupcake decorating.

Our completed cupcakes!

Daddy's rendition of Uncle Sam was the best!