Where's Waldo

Looking through my pictures, I found this one.

Family Portrait

Grandma and Grandpa's pond

There aren't any ducks at this pond, but there's lots of fish to see.

Tank is the only Koi in my parents pond.

He is the biggest and named appropriately. Can you see him?

Elmo's ducks

The girls saw Elmo for the first time and they LOVE him!

Especially in this video below:

Yo Gabba Gabba Bath Time

The girls got a really fun toy in the mail:

Thank you Uncle Jack for sending the really fun Yo Yo Gabba bath toys.

The girls absolutely love them!!

A word!

Did you hear it?

Our Little Acrobat

Emma has become a little acrobat, especially when we are changing her diaper. This particular diaper change was super messy and she insisted on being on her stomach. Derek was super stealth and didn't get poo on anything!

I love the little smirk she is shooting me. She's going to be trouble!

Piano Man Dad

Derek and I have been staying with my sister while she gets settled in her new home. One night Derek was watching the girls when Auntie got home from work. As she got out of the car, she heard loud music but wasn't sure where it was coming from. She walked up to the front door and realized it was coming from inside, the music grew louder. As she opened the front door, she realized that she walked into a Billy Joel concert. Billy was right in the middle of passionately belting out "Piano Man" at the top of his lungs with is arms and legs moving in every direction. She stood frozen in the doorway as Billy turned to her, arms still in the air, and said "Umm... this is the only thing that will get them to stop crying."

I think he is trying out for American Idol next season :)

Hanging with Dad's

We celebrated Father's Day at my parents house with a nice lunch. It was a great and relaxing afternoon hanging out with two awesome dad's. I hope everyone had a good father's day!

Daddy loving his girls.

Grandpa loving his girls too :)

Dear Derek,

This time last year we were both scared about becoming parents, scared about the responsibility of taking care of two babies and scared of the unknown. And now look at us, we have two almost 11 month old girls, and you are the most amazing father. I love to watch you play with Amelia and Emma after work or right before bed. You get down on the floor with them and always get them to crack a smile. I love watching you read to them. You know all their favorites and are always mastering your voices for each character. I love watching how confident you've become in your role as a father. You are willing to change the stinky diapers, are willing to make a fool of yourself to get a smile or a giggle, you know how to calm a cranky girl and a cranky mom and always have the magic touch of getting a sleepy baby fighting to stay awake to fall asleep in 5 minutes. I love watching them light up when you walk in the room. You are funny, smart, and very protective of your family. You are so supportive of me and love us all unconditional. All traits I can only hope that get passed onto our girls. I am so thankful to have you, and even more thankful that the girls have you. We all love you so much.

Thank you to everyone who have been so supportive to Derek and I as parents. We couldn't do it without you.

Happy Father's Day My Love,
Wife

Happy Daddy's Day!

Before and Now - Car Seats

In their car seats 6/7/2011

In their car seats 11/20/2010

In their car seats 9/12/2010

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things!

With things changing constantly, I wanted to record a few of their favorites.

(in no particular order)

1) Pears

2) The words Boo, Burp and Stop

3) Minnie's tail

4) Clean diapers

5) Elly

6) Paci's

7) Pictures of people you know

8) Empty bottles

9) Paper and magazines

10) The dogs

11) Remotes

12) Scarfs

13) Mirror

14) Soccer ball

15) Dad's concerts (more on this to follow!)

16) Grandpas and Aunties wrist watches

Amelia, you especially love:

1) Star puffs

2) Clapping

3) Broccoli's tags

Emma, you especially love:

1) Camera strap

2) Mommy's purse

3) Aunties wallet and blackberry

Happy Charlotte!

Catchin' some rays...

Catchin' some rays...

Catchin' Charlottes tail.

Book Sale

Last weekend we went to a book sale at the library. It was so awesome that we went Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And we have plans to go again next year. Friday night was a preview of the books, Saturday we purchased a few favorites and Sunday we purchased a huge bag and were able to fill it for $6. We got a lot of great books for not only the girls but for the whole family!

"I don't know how we are going to do it Elly...,"

"how are we going to read all of these books?"

One of our favorite finds was this original "Amelia Bedelia" book. Not only does it feature Amelia Bedelia, it also has Miss. Emma in it too!!!

Amelia enjoying her new book.

Amelia enjoying her new book.

Dear Amelia and Emma,

Dear Amelia and Emma,

You are 10 months old and I can't believe how far you have come this last month. You love to explore, make us laugh and love to be the center of attention. You amaze everyone around you with all the new things you learn as each day passes. You girls teach your Dad and I new things everyday. How to be creative in figuring out what you want. How to keep to a schedule. How to change a diaper on a baby that can roll over. How to play make believe again. And how to be strong for you both when we want to break down and cry. Being a parent is a really hard job, but we wouldn't trade it for the world.

This month has brought many firsts. Your first trip to the Cape, which means your first long car trip and your first stay in a hotel. You both traveled really well, and were easy going as usual. We have recently had a stretch of beautiful weather, so your dad and I got a baby pool for your first swim. You both LOVE swimming. We are planning to bring you swimming in the big pool soon. I think you will love it! We also took you on a trip down to the beach and Emma you enjoyed your first Italian ice (sorry Amelia you were asleep... next time you will get to try some!). I think one of the best thing about having both of you is watching you experience firsts of everything, twice.

Amelia Jane,

This month you have grown so fast and have become so many new things. Loving, curious, and my sweet little girl has even become stubborn. You still love to smile and laugh. You are a charmer, you can give a grin that will melt any one's heart. You have been rolling over and lifting your head off the ground. You clap and say something that sounds like "Yay." You are so close to saying Da-da. You learned to (almost) sit on your own, which is a huge step from last month where you didn't show much interest in it at all. You can even pick up star puffs and eat them on your own. When your sister takes things from you, like a toy or your paci, you are learning to take it back. You know what you want and you are willing to fight for it. I wouldn't

want it any other way :)

Emma Jane,

This month I looked at you and I don't see a baby, I see a big girl. You do things that big kids do. You sit up all on your own. You play with toys on your own. Although you don't crawl, you know how to get around. You can spot something you want out of reach, and you will make your way over. You got your first tooth. You can clap. You are learning how to share. You fight your naps, so much that you fall asleep sitting up sometimes. Your opinions are emerging, if I take something away from you - I am the worst mom ever and you let the world know. But you are so adorable when you make your sad face, it's hard to not smile back. This makes me sad that the baby days are ending, but I am so excited to see what the big girl days ahead are

going to be like.

Girls,

The older you get the more quickly time passes. The past month has flown by! You are so busy and definitely keep me on my toes. We spend our days playing, and cuddling and experiencing as many new things as possible. You are still so curious and I can see your little minds soaking everything in. Even though everything is changing much faster than I thought it would, I am loving every minute. Thank you for bringing so much happiness into every minute of my day.

Love, Mom

The Tooth Fairy Strikes Again!

It's hard to make out in a photo, but Amelia got her first tooth Thursday afternoon! It's her bottom front left one. She was gnawing her foot all day Wednesday and then Thursday a pearly white tooth appeared!

Lil DJ

You might remember this post from February (Lil Rock Stars). Here's an updated photo. Amelia and Emma love to play in their DJ booth and spin the ones and twos.

I can't believe how small they were and how big they are getting!

Too much fun!

Memorial Day

My parents invited us over for lunch on Memorial Day. We brought the girls pool over for some more fun.

They love pool time!

1 cup.

2 cups.

Emma is always very curious.

Amelia is still trying to drink the pool water :)

Yum!

We took the girls to one of my favorites as a child (and adult too), Vecchittos Italian Ice. Amelia was asleep for the experience, but Emma seemed to enjoy it.

Rollin' up in their sweet ride.

4 Watermelon please.

Wanna try some?

I think she likes it!

Oooppss!

I guess you shouldn't let a wet baby sit in your lap. *fyi, i asked for permission to post is picture. What a good sport :)

Little fish

Taking their first swim in the baby pool.

Amelia really liked drinking the pool water :)

Emma was a little unsure at first, but it didn't take long for her to have a good time.

Splashing together.

Their favorite was catching the tree helicopters floating in the water.

To Emma, From Amelia

While Emma was at the hospital, Amelia made a beautiful card for her. Good job Amelia, thank you for being sweet to your sister :)

Noggin's

At the girls nine month check up our pediatrician got a little worried about the size of their heads. They have always had large noggin's, but they have always grown at a steady pace. This month it shot up to the 99% which caused some concern. They were both scheduled for an ultrasound to see what was going on in there. We found out that the reason why their heads are on the larger side is because there is extra fluid between their skull and brain that isn't draining properly. There is no pressure on the brain and it should self correct by the time they are two. Everything checked out good for Amelia, but Emma wanted to keep things interesting. The doctors were looking for specific veins that ran from her brain to the skull and they were not visible on her ultrasound so an MRI was scheduled. Last week we went to Yale for her MRI and since it was an hour long procedure she needed to be sedated. She was a drunk and very floppy girl. Derek and I got to go in with her, it was so sad to see our tiny baby girl laying in the machine while they took images of her brain. This was the longest hour of our life.

We are really happy to report that everything in both of our daughters brains are normal, just a little big cause they are super smart :)

Emma was a little sleepy after the MRI.