Life can't get any better...

Two sisters snuggling on a pink couch with milk, snack, and Dora on the tv... They are happy, and I'm holding back my pregnant self from crying. These two are so different, not only in looks but in personality, but they just love playing together these days. Carolyn loves to play baby doll while Lilly cooks for her and her babies in the kitchen. So cute!! We will see how the sharing of new toys goes for Carolyn's birthday and Christmas...hopefully the harmony can continue!

Pajama Day!

It's officially the holidays at Lillys school and today is Pajama Day! Of course she is very excited to wear her "princess pjs" with the sparkle skirt...when did pjs get so fashionable??

The Steeler Elves are out!

And they are up to no good! Let the holidays begin!!

Picture Day at School!

Lilly had her first official picture day and she was very excited to pick out her outfit...one of her sister's dresses :). Luckily with some leggings the short length wasn't too noticeable and since she's such a skinny minnie the waist wasn't a problem either...so our 3.5 year old got her sister's 24 month dress on and happily went to school smiling for pictures. Now we will see what that picture looks like in a few weeks :) !

First Round of Sauce!

Officially cold and ready for some sauce and yummy meatballs! Since my two little chefs don't believe in getting an extra hour of sleep for daylight savings, we started this sauce at 630 am...now that's authentic Grandma sauce!

Disney and Steelers Time of the Year

Yet again, more reasons that Fall is the best time of year... costumes, pumpkin carving and football!  And to throw in something extra, we took the girls to Disney on Ice, and man did they LOVE it.  You can tell by the picture that Justin was also really into the ice skating :)  They dressed up as Minnie and Daisey, ala Auntie Al, and luckily the timing is perfect to also be their Halloween costumes :)  Trick or Treat is tonight, so we'll see if the front on these pretty costumes is covered in chocolate and sticky sugar... I'm betting it will be!

 

It's Fall!!!!

It's the best time of the year... well in my opinion.  I'm sure Christmas takes the cake for the girls :)  But Fall is such fun full of events, such as homecoming and pumpkin patching!  We took the girls to UC Homecoming Parade, which was a bit hit with Lilly, not so much with Carolyn.  Maybe next year she'll be more impressed.  Lilly's favorite part was the cheerleaders and floats.  Then later that weekend was the pumpkin patch with the Shafer Family.  The girls LOVED it and were a bit hard to keep up with as they explored all around.  Needless to say there aren't any cute pictures of them together looking at a camera, but plenty of fun random shots.  You'll notice that Lilly preferred squash to pumpkin (I have NO idea where this facination came from) and Carolyn was being a ham in the little houses they had.  The girls can't wait for next year when Madelyn can join in the crazy running around!... Oh wait... and Baby Shafer number 3 will take Madelyn's place as the baby.  Oh my!

Look who's coming in April

Baby Number Three! Will this one be a red head? Hey, at this point, who knows! We are just hoping for a happy, healthy baby to join two sweet older sisters:). Everything seems fine so far, except Momma is pretty sick of the nausea stage and ready to move onto the happier second trimester!

Relaxing on cold rainy days

Nothing like getting a morning of Blues Clues while laying on Elmo, surrounded by your favorite little people toys...but I wish we could get some clear days to enjoy the cooler weather because its been so rainy the parks are all wet....and there's no hope in getting Lilly out on a wet and muddy playground! Carolyn does enjoy a good splash in a mud puddle from time to time though:)

Cleaning Carebear

While Lilly is off at school, Carolyn is being a little helper...now I think she's actually adding more fingerprints than subtracting with her cleaning, but she has good intentions. As for Lilly, she is LOVING school. She mostly enjoys the play dough, but she also seems to really like her teacher and their cute little classroom. She also is a big fan of daddy taking her to school, because doughnuts are involved... There are like three doughnut choices on the way to school from our house!

Who's first day is it?

Though it looks like Carolyn is most excited, we are on our way to Lillys first day...wish us luck!

Meet the teacher night!

No pictures from this yet, but tonight was meet the teacher for Lilly's school. So weird to think our little lady is going to start next week!! We have been talking about it slot, and all of a sudden she went from being excited to not wanting to go:(. I'm sure it will be a phase, but as of now, I'm little nervous how the first couple of days will go. Luckily her teacher seems awesome and her classroom just has ten kids so it won't be too crazy all at once. Best of all they have more than enough books, art supplies, toys, computers, and snack ( Lilly's favorite pastime) than shell ever get bored of. I'll share pictures next week!

Already engineering...

Doesn't every good engineer start with legos? I think this will be a big item on the Christmas list this year!...I can't believe I'm already thinking about the holidays!!

Wedding Weekend!

Whats the best part of a wedding... playing with rose petals after!  A wonderful end to a wonderful weekend of wedding events!  Once the official pics come out, I will post.  But for now, enjoy the laughs on the video!

Not so happy update

Carolyn has contracted the lovely "hand foot and mouth disease" just in time for aunt Jans wedding. Luckily she is feeling better each day and the worst seems to be behind us. Her mouth is almost heeled, but her feet look pretty bad. It doesn't seem to bother her much now that her appetite has returned...and let's all say a little prayer that the house returns to good health...I've watched about 8 hours of blues clues and olivia with Carolyn while she's been sick, and I think I'm about done with those two shows :)

Oh no....

Lilly's new favorite past time is standing over the ac vent and letting it blow her dress...strangely like Marilyn Monroe. She smiles and poses when she does it...yet again giving us a glimpse of her diva days ahead... If it weren't so hot, maybe I would be more concerned, but with like 20 days of ninety degree heat, I can't blame her!

 

So yes, it's been awhile... things have been absolutely nonstop!  All good stuff, just a bit more time intensive than I ever imagined.  We had a big party for Lilly turning 3, a shower and bachlorette party for Aunt Jan, a baby shower for Aimee, and two family vacations!  Plus, the girls are nonstop action now, and seem so old all of a sudden... hopefully you can see that in the video!  Carolyn is talking and Lilly is such a little lady.  We had so much fun on our family vacations... and proved on both that all Lilly and Carolyn care about is some chocolate and they can be happy anywhere...no need for anything besides that at this point!  Maybe next year they'll be more into the pool and activities, but this year they are really just lounge hounds that enjoy to sit pool side rather than expend all that energy splashing around!  It's certainly been a fun summer and it'll soon end with Aunt Jan's wedding and then the start of school for Lilly!!!  I've got a vow to keep you more informed than I have been this summer, so please stay tuned!



Happy Birthday Lilly!

Three years ago, you came in the middle of the night...two years ago you were our little one year old so shy and quiet...one year ago at age two you were starting to say a word or two, but never in front of strangers...and yesterday you became three and are all of a sudden a little lady and diva that runs the show! Just this week we watched you "perform" your favorite songs, singing and dancing all around where ever we go. You never leave the house with out your purse and sunglasses...and typically never without your baby and stroller too. You tell everyone you "love them so much", and "that dress is beautiful". We're not quite sure when all of a sudden you grew, but suddenly you're almost ahead of sizes instead of behind. We know you're smart because you know just what to say to get what you want...already can manipulate your grandparents. You are so special Lilly, we love you sooooooo much!

Shopping with my Diva Daughter

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Cuteness knows no bounds....

Summer has begun!

Swimsuits have been bought, suntan lotion applied and the pool filled with water. What a great Friday--hope yours is happy too! I'll post an update soon with Lilly's dance videos, which will have you smiling if you aren't already.
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First swimsuit of the season

Lilly wanted nothing else more than a pink swimsuit with ruffles....this one is zebra stripped, but has a pink coverup so she picked it in the store.... But already is saying "this one isn't pink mom" so I think it will soon be returned:). I love my little fashionista!

Potty trainning success!

I've been following the "wait for child to potty train themselves" theory...and with a little bribery of Dora books, have succeeded! I'm sure we'll still have an accident or two, but we started last week and today, while I was upstairs getting the girls clothes for the day, I came back down to find Lilly finishing up on the potty. She had stopped playing, went to the potty, pulled her drawers down, climbed up and had a big poo. So our little lady will hate that I shared that with the world one day I'm sure, but for now, thought you all would be very proud of her :)

Coloring eggs!

Yesterday we colored eggs with baby Madelyn, and today Lilly is going for a second round of fun! Happy Easter to all!

One man's garbage...

Lilly hates to get wet or dirty...and Carolyn...well she wants to eat it.
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Reading the morning paper

Lillys current favorite pastime in the morning is to read the ads. She's in the market for a new tricycle, puzzles and bubbles.

Put your toys away...

Lilly and Carolyn have been learning how to clean up....unfortunately they either already know how to hide and take a rest to get out of chores, or they believe they are two toys that go away in a shelf.

Zoo Day!

Pretty flowers are blooming and we just saw a one week old giraffe that weighed 125 pounds and is 6 feet tall! That's one big baby!
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Zoo Day!

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A star is born...

This could be something I regret exposing her to... but she is just so excited...

It's been awhile since a good update... so here it goes!

First off, it looks like my two little girls would like their own baby at home.  They are trying to prove how great big sis's they would be with their friend Gracie in the pic below :)  Too bad mom isn't falling for this act!

 And to prove that Mom isn't thinking about a 3rd anytime soon.... we went to Vegas! 

 You'll never imagine what we saw on St. Patty's day in vegas.... but here's a little idea of the fun.

 And we had some celebrity sightings of course... Here is the next bachlorette, Ashely H, and her date on a date with the camera crew.  Of course, Ashley found a way to talk with her... they both have the same name, so they're practically related :)

And My favorite place... the Chandelier bar!  This is us at 2 in the afternoon on our last day...So many crystals and crazy drinks!  And yes, Justin was on this trip as well... he just didn't really move out of the Sports area and March Maddess games the entire trip!