The Living Desert

The Living Desert (or Living "Dessert" as Brian calls it) is part zoo, part botanical garden, part historical museum located only 30 minutes from my parents. The highlights of our visit there were feeding the giraffe, which each kid (except Ellie) got to do and petting/brushing the stinky goats.











Here we are enjoying our lunch...thankfully, we picked the "coolest" day to go to "The Desert"...it was in the 80's. :O)

Fun in the sun

We were absolutely spoiled out in California this year. Every day we woke up to beautiful blue skies and the temp rising to over 90 degrees. I guess I'll start at the beginning of our trip w/ a few highlights and fun moments.

Hannah and Ellie did really well on the flight out to Palm Springs. Hannah thought it was a real treat watching Cinderella with Taylor on the plane. Taylor is obviously a little more into the movie than Hannah. :O)



As we were landing in PS, Hannah exclaimed, "We're in Palm Trees!" It was too cute not to chuckle a little and kindly correct her. She later changed our destination to, "Palm Strings" which was equally as cute. By the end of the 2 weeks, she had it down...Palm Springs, California!

The kids could not get enough of the pool. They probably would have been in it from sun up til' sun down if we would have let them. We would have had to bribe them to get out, except for the fact that they were always working up an appetite, so they would take a "snack, lunch, snack" break throughout the day. Ellie enjoyed the water a few times, but really loved watching her sister and cousins.









The time change was a bit of a challenge when we arrived, but we knew what to expect...the kids were all asleep by 6pm (pacific) the first night and up by 5 the next morning (yikes!). That too got better each day. They were always exhausted by the end of the day, but we were able to keep them up until 8 and they learned to sleep in until 7 or so.

Ellie napping at my Mom and Dad's


Hannah just couldn't stay awake...she fell asleep after swimming one afternoon.


Okay, that's all for now...I'll add more pictures soon.

California Dreamin'

We're home!!! After 2 fabulous weeks in CA, it was time to come home. We weren't thrilled to come back to cold temperatures, but it does feel nice to be in our house again and sleep in our own beds. Even Hannah exclaimed last night, "Doesn't it feel great to be home?" :o)

I'll post more pictures when I can and tell a few stories, but for now, here's a beauty of the girls.

6 months old!

We cannot believe that it has been 6 months since Ellie was born!! Time goes by so quickly (when you have a newborn that's usually a good thing). She is bringing so much joy to us. She's laughing, talking ("Ba, ba, ba, ba, wa, wa, wa"), rolling, and eating like a champ. Seriously, about a week ago, it was like a light turned on and she figured out how to move the baby food to the back of her mouth and swallow. Ever since, she has shown that she REALLY loves food! ;o)

Here are her current stats:
Height - 26 3/4 inches
Weight - 16 pounds 3.2 ounces

She's growing beautifully and we are so thankful! (for two healthy girls)

6 month old beauty!



She loves to bounce and sway in her jumper!



This is Hannah pretending to be 6 months old!



Ahhh, to be 3 again! :o)



Brian took this Sunday afternoon. It was snowing like crazy and I looked outside and saw that we had some visitors! Poor things! They didn't stick around too long...By the way, we had a thunderstorm last night! So bizarre...you have to love weather in the Midwest. (p.s. California here we come!!! :o)

Winter continues...

Brian and Hannah enjoying the snow in our backyard on Saturday (due to 40 degree weather yesterday and today, it's almost gone!)



Sledding buddies!



Prunes anyone? Yummy...



Can we say flexible??? Wow!



Yummy toes!

Michigan

We spent last weekend and most of this week in Michigan visiting my family and friends (Brian returned to IL Sunday night for work). We had a great time, as usual and kept very busy.

It was great to see Grandma Smith/Great-Grandma Smith feeling so well and in great spirits. She's definitely glad that she is in her new home (in an independent living facility) so that she doesn't have to "sweep the snow off the steps." (picture a 93 year old sweeping snow!! She did it last year!) She loves the social time, espeically the noon meal that all of the residents share together.

My parents were able to reconnect with Ellie and see how much she's grown and changed over the past month and a half. Unfortunately she is teething and was a little fussy at times...of course she still showed plenty of smiles and they loved it!

She did it again!!

It only took her another week to do it again, but she did! Ellie rolled over again today and again and again... Hannah and I went crazy with excitement for Ellie's new trick...I guess she thought we were nuts, b/c she just laid there and stared us with those big blue eyes!

Yumm-O

Ellie's new favorite treat!





This is Hannah at 5 months enjoying the same snack!



We went to eat at the new Texas Roadhouse the other night (always brings back great TU memories!) and they gave Hannah this hat. Of course, Ellie wanted a turn wearing it too!



When Hannah tried it on at the restaurant, I said, "Now you're a cow-girl." She replied, "Now I just need a cow to ride!" :o)

She did it!

Ellie rolled over for the time yesterday!! Exciting times are ahead!

I took these pictures right after she showed us her new move.

Just another day

Ellie is a big girl now eating cereal! Yummy, yummy!



Hannah is so proud of her little sister! (and was jealous that she wasn't in the pictures I was taking of Ellie)



I'm sure you've all heard the phrase, "While the cat is away, the mouse will play." Yep, that's Hannah! I was in the shower and thought H was playing make believe with her little animals in the small amount of water that I put in the sink. Instead, she "washed" them with the hand soap and turned the faucet on to rinse them off! Luckily, I got out just before we had a major overflow! :o) She got a little wet...



After a quick change into a dry shirt, we painted Hannah's nails...one of her favorite activities. Here she is, sitting still (sort of!) to let the paint try. I think those are the longest 3 minutes of her life!



Our growing girl! 5 months old now!!!

Almost there

Last night I took a few shots of Ellie almost rolling over...she's so close! I just know she's going to do it any day now and I can't wait. It's kind of the first sign that she's really growing and that crawling is coming soon too. I know, I know, I shouldn't wish for her to grow up so fast, but I just love to watch all of the fun things babies learn at this age.

I also included a shot of Hannah, Brian and Gabby playing their new favorite game..."Wrestle Elmo." Gabby is obsessed with this Elmo puppet we have, so it has now become her favorite play thing. And, of course Hannah loves to play with her!

I love being Dutch

I just emailed this to a few of you, but I thought I'd post it here too. This just cracks me up b/c it's so true!


YOU MIGHT BE DUTCH IF...

~ You reused plastic margarine containers long before
anyone had heard of the environmental movement.

~ You have a two volume address book, Volume I: A-U &
Volume II: V-Z.

~ You have never skipped church to watch the Super
Bowl.

~ Your range of restaurants is restricted by the
contents of a "Buy one meal, get one free" coupon book
that you purchased to support missionaries in Sierra Leone.

~ Your mother's hairdo is the same at your wedding as
it was at hers.

~ Your closet is divided into work clothes and Sunday
clothes.

~ Your church attendance record is not disrupted by
childbirth.

~ Your Sunday routine resembles: church, coffee, roast
beef, jello salad, snooze, and church.

~ You have a living room but never sit in it.

~ All your cookies taste like almonds.

~ You make the bed in your hotel room.

~ You can sing "eere zij God" even though you can't
speak Dutch.

~ You think that being progressive means discarding
the church hymnbook in favor of Keith Green songs on
the overhead.

~ You are still trying to justify owning a dishwasher.

~ You have attended worship services at a campground
amphitheater.

~ You know what an afghan is.

~ You have lace on your windows but not on your
underwear.

~ Your two permanent Saturday jobs are to wash the car
and make sure you have enough single bills for the
offerings.

~ All of your recipes are adapted to fit a 9 x 13 pan.

~ The usher never needs to ask you where you want to
sit in church.

School Already?

I can't believe that it's already time to think about preschool for Hannah! She already seems grown-up to me, but school!? Yikes! She's is growing too fast. I'm going to an "Preschool Open House" tonight (Brian is out of town tonight) at a nearby library (Batavia) to check out area schools for Hannah. Apparently this is the time to start signing up for the fall. I already have a few schools in mind, but am excited to go and see what is available in the area. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for watching the girls while I go!

Kisses for Ellie


Kisses for Mommy


Peek-a-Boo


Ooooo, I'm cute


A little blurry, but I'm cute too

Pure Joy

The Girls

Happy New Year!! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I guess there really hasn't been too much going on and I haven't been taking too many new pictures since Christmas. I finally downloaded a few new ones that I'll add here.

Here's one cute Hannah story I wanted to share.

Brian was helping her count with her fingers and after 1-2-3-4-5, he said 6 and she looked at her hand and said, "I don't have that many." She seemed a little concerned about it, so we explained that you use your other hand to continue counting. Unfortunately, I don't think she got much comfort out of that. :O)

We hope that the New Year is going well for everyone and that you all stay healthy and happy in 2007. (NO MORE STOMACH FLU!!) ;o)