Matching

Grandma Sue sent the girls these cute matching dresses.



Reese was trying to be helpful and get Maleah to smile....forgetting that she too needed to look and smile! :)



Once I got a good look from Reese Maleah was done smiling!



Then Reese was done with taking pictures in the dresses....guess Maleah was too.



But they saved their best looks for last!

My favorite day of the week...

Is Wednesday! Well with our current schedule that is. Reese and I head out first thing in the morning to do a "mommy" workout at the track. Daddy stays home with Maleah. We running sprints and Reese cheers "Go Go Mommy! You can do it!" Then we do sit ups, push ups, and lungs and Reese does them with us and cheers for us too.

After track Grammie and Gramps take Reese to story and craft time at the library. Then they take her out to lunch. This means I go home, while Maleah naps and have some "mommy" time.

Reese comes home super excited and we play a little, feed Maleah her lunch then it is naps for both girls and more free time for me!

Can you see why I LOVE Wednesdays! So thankful for my hubby and parents and now sister too who make this great day for us!

Sweet baby girl

Enjoying seeing Maleah's sweet personality come out more and more...



She is working on moving...mostly rolling to move....she can get her arms up, but not her tummy for crawling...



And she is dropping that third nap. So we try to keep her up about two hours between each nap so that the gap from her last nap and bed time is not too long. That means Reese often starts her afternoon nap before Maleah. Here she is watching her sister sleep.... exciting stuff! :)

Rolling...

Reese has recently discovered how much fun it is to roll down the hill in our back yard.



She kinda just throws herself down the hill...



It was a lot of fun, until we discovered 8 bug bites at bath time...she will be taking a break from rolling for now. :)

Never would have thought of it...

I just saw this as kinda an eye sore, meant to have that rose bush climb it. But a friend said "Have you ever thought of putting a white sheet over it for outdoor movies?" Brilliant! I love having smart friends! Now to plan a summer/fall movie night...

Organizing doll clothes

Reese is finally able to dress her dolls. Hurray! This means that the basket of doll clothes was getting dumped out everyday and spread all over the living room. Who can blame her, she was just looking for the clothes she wanted for her doll.

Got this organizer for one dollar at a yard sale and now it is our doll clothes organizer. Works pretty well!



Can you see that we really need some more toys in our house? Poor kids have nothing to play with....maybe that is why they play with boxes. ;)



By the way, my friend from high school writes this great organizing blog. You should check it out, she has some good ideas!

Cleaning skills passed along

Daddy is already teaching Maleah how to vacuum and sharing his love of cleaning. He is using his Dyson that he got for Christmas...it is awesome! Does really well getting all that pet hair.



Looks like she is excited to give it a try! :)

To the beach...

Loving the creative play from Reese lately. Here the couch is the car and she is driving her baby to the beach for the day. Sounds like a nice day to me!

Gonna give it a try...

Found a double jogger on CL and had some help cleaning it up.....



Actually heard that you could take the fabric off...so I unscrewed it all and washed it in the washer. It was a lot of work! So glad Matt worked hard to put it all back together!



And now we are ready to run. We went on a family run last week and the girls did really well. Reese kept asking if we could run longer... (When we loose a few pounds maybe!) while at the same time asking if we were heading home yet! And now she asks when we can go on a family run again. So glad she enjoys it. Oh and Maleah sits peacefully sucking on her wuba nub. Such a good baby.

A good reminder....

Came across this picture of Reese and Matt today....



Reese is 8 months old here and they are moving her car seat straps up to fit her. Well Maleah has almost out grown that outfit that Reese is wearing! Thinking I should be changing the car seat straps again now... :)

Waking up happy!

Seriously so wonderful to have Maleah wake up happy from her nap! And she usually does! One of the best parts of my day for sure!



Side note: About a month ago Maleah was trying to figure out how to roll back and forth, but she could not quite get that arm above her head. Well, she came up with a new way...she just rolls right over that shoulder!



Anyone else have a kid that rolls like this? She sure has flexible shoulder joints!

Daddy and his girls

We had a fun Sunday of celebrating Matt.

"King" Daddy wearing the tie Reese made him at Sunday school, being their silly selves.



Maleah wearing her feelings:




Another good day loving his girls!

Box

Spent the afternoon clean and organzing the garage (again) and was about to recycle this box....when I was stopped by a 3.5 year old....don't throw that away!! Why not, it is taking up room in our garage.

Well because....



It is actually a magic school bus! (Not sure if Maleah wants to join her or thinks she is a silly big sister.)

Happy Father's Day!

Can you believe it is your fourth Father's Day already? (Or fifth if you count being pregnant and you should count that one with the way I "handle" being pregnant!)

First Father's Day....I was so very impressed with your ability and willingness to entertain a baby! You and Reese bonded so well so early on and even though that baby phase was not your favorite, you made sure your first baby felt totally loved!



Then the fun started...you were able to start teaching and watch her learn! I love how you are constantly amazed at her learning....and she loves that too!



So wonderful to see you two enjoy doing things together. Some of my best times with my dad were the times I was "helping" him. She sure does love baseball now....and cars! ;)


And now two girls! I love how you help Reese learn to be a kind and caring big sister. I love how you are able to enjoy a baby and a preschooler, loving them in the phase they are at. (I know, it helps that they are sleeping well in this phase!)
I love that you and Maleah get to have a "date" morning on Saturdays and she learns things like how to use a vacuum cleaner...and how to stand and crawl. You do a wonderful job of entertain both girls at the same time!



Thank you for being the loving father that they need. I know they will have a deeper, more complete understanding of God's love because of how you care for them! Happy Father's Day!

Can't quite reach.....

Who me? I am just sitting here playing with this toy you gave me!



And trying to pet/touch that dog.....



But I can't quite reach him! (Smart dog knew just where to sit!)

Visitors

Big sister Jamie and her husband Kyle came by for a quick visit this past week. We all love getting to spend some time with them....Reese gets especially excited! "Mommy Maleah does not know about big sister Jamie yet, so I will tell her..."

Jamie and Kyle came for a quick dinner and then enjoyed Daddy's softball game with us. And the park with Reese:



I love how adoringly Reese is looking at Jamie! Makes my heart happy!



Matt has known Jamie since she with a fifth grader and I have know her since 8th grade....since I have been dating Matt I have known Jamie. We have coached her in track, basketball, and even cross country! It has been such a privilege to watch her grow and mature over the years.



And now she has been married for almost a year! Kyle and Jamie are a perfect fit together! Amazing that now my kids get to enjoy these kids!

Yea Aunt Kami!

My baby sister is graduating from college today! With honors! So very proud of you Kami! She is a talented student. And I think one of the hardest things about being a student is balancing your time, deciding how you are going to put your best effort into each class. Some classes require more time and attention, more reading or outside group projects or labs. But just because one class is more demanding, doesn't mean you can ignore the other ones. You have to organize your time and efforts. Kami has learned to do this very well all throughout her learning career! We love you Aunt Kami! Thank you for sharing your love of learning with us! Can't wait to celebrate with you this summer!

(Maleah, practicing reading during dinner, to make the most of her time too!)

7 months old today!

We are all really enjoying Maleah's age, stage, personality right now. Reese is so often saying "What a cute little baby you are, yes you are!" And Maleah saves her best laughs and smiles for Reese of course. I am pretty sure THIS is what Reese thought having a baby would be like.

Maleah seems to still enjoy all the action around the house and is content to sit and watch her sister, dog, dad and mom run around. She has this new trick of sticking her thumb into her binkie so it doesn't "run away" from her as easily. Smart kid.



Maleah is also content to sit and play with her basket of toys. She is getting better and better at taking the toys out and "playing" with them, moving their parts. Daddy has been working with Maleah to help her learn to crawl, but for now she rolls from side to side to get to where she wants to go. Daddy is also trying to help her learn to walk, since he started walking at 8 months. So far, Maleah is not so interested...thank goodness! :)



Maleah really does seem to be in awe of her big sister and watches all she does. Especially at meal times. Maleah also has been showing that she likes me to make her baby food for her rather than eating the Gerber foods. Funny I was all set to make food for Reese who did not like the changing textures of homemade baby food and with Maleah I thought, why try, but I have done avocado that way and she loves it!



Sleeping is going very well. Maleah takes two 1.5 to 2.5 hour naps each day with her afternoon nap lining up with Reese's nap. She has come a long ways in being able to put herself to sleep and stay asleep. Just this last week she started waking up again at 45 minutes. Seems she is more aware of what is around her and curious too. So she is re-learing to go back to sleep in the middle of a nap.

Maleah is working on dropping her last nap that is usually 30 minutes. This will make it nice for our family this summer, as it will make it so we can go for a walk after dinner, something we love to do.

She is also sleeping 12 hours from time to time! Love this new trend! But it is not fully there yet, she probably does it 3 times a week. Other wise she wakes at 5ish (sometimes 4, other times 6) to nurse.

Maleah is finding her voice and discovering how LOUD she can be. She loves to sing loudly as I blend her food for her. And the louder we are as a family, the louder Maleah gets to join in the fun!

She is such a sweet girl and we are loving watching her personality start to emerge!

Thursday nights

Each Thursday night you will most likely find us dinning here with these two cute girls!

Sprinkler fun!

Ready to head outside! (This kid has seriously long legs right now!)



Enjoying the back spray....



This old dog used to run more...now he enjoys the sunshine nap....



Timing her approach...you gotta get it just right!



Planning the next move...



Racing! She loves to run and loves me to take pictures of her running!




Watching that wonderful spray....



Pretty sure all summer Reese plans on being wet...in her pool, through the sprinkler or at the beach. She sure is our water baby!!