Our Girls

It is nothing new that our little Kate loves to climb. But seriously. This is getting ridiculous. Today's Events: 1. On the dinning room chairs to the dinning room hutch. 2. On the kitchen chairs to the kitchen table. 3. Up and into the toy box. Then leaning out of the toy box 4. From the (ride on) bus to the top of the toy box to the top of the dresser. 5. Into and out of the bathtub. 6. Onto the footstool and then to the rocking chair. Repeat all these climbs about 20 times each. I'm tired just recapping it all. She is exhausted too. It's 7:02pm and she is down for the night. Hopefully there will be NO climbing out of the bed!

Daddy: Emily, did you take the 3 bites of vegetables that I asked you to? Emily: Yep! Daddy: Ok, you can be excused from the table. Emily: Daddy, look at my nose. Is it growing?

I put Emily down for her regular afternoon nap yesterday and I knew that she wasn't all that tired. I expected a bit of a fight or maybe that I would have to go in to tell her to rest quietly. I didn't hear anything though for 1 1/2 hours so I assumed she went to sleep. I then went in to check on her and found her wide awake... Mommy: Good Afternoon Em! How was your nap? (thinking she had slept at least a little) Emily: (thinking for a moment) PLAYFUL! She then went on to tell me that she discovered that if she played quietly and whispered to her "friends" that I wouldn't know. She said "I can play and you don't get mad that I'm not napping!" When I asked her if she was ready to get up, she replied "not yet, I need to finish my playing up here." I didn't see her downstairs for another 20 minutes! Print Page

Below is a sampling of some of the sights and sounds of the first annual anniversary of Katie's birth. This year's edition : A Lady Bug Ball. Or an Insect Invitational. Or a Beetle Bash. Whichever you'd like to call it the bottom line is this: people, we had ladybugs; we had LOTS of lady bugs. This is a photo of the Katie Bug herself and the architect of the party, the Mama bug (and in the background an Aunt Kathybug). Not to be outdone by his cousins we had a rare appearance of the Paytobug. And of course ... The SisterBug - whom as you can imagine believed that the party was probably for her despite our explanations to the contrary. Can you believe that she decided to color her giant ladybug poster blue? I cannot believe it. I am shocked. Katie took a leisurely lunch during the party. And in honor of Uncle Jeff began practicing her "One Million Dollars" pose. And now for the Main Event ... ladies and gentleman I present, the First Birthday Cake! Katie thought ...

An Unsuspecting Uncle Chris holds Katie, who -on the surface- appears to be jolly, but actually has a more sinister agenda. And when he least expects it.... .... She ATTACKS and tries to grab his eyeball. She can be very tricky. If you want to keep your eyes in place - be vigilant! Print Page

At Grammy's House there was monster game of hop scotch going on . Look at the focus on this hard-core competitor's face. The determination, the grit, the agility. Clearly this is a hopper in his prime. But his rival was equally poised. She constantly wanted to change the rules in her favor - she's wily that way- but she was poised. She hopped. And hopped. And hopped. I am not at liberty to say who took home the gold, but as the author of this post is unbiased I think that age clearly won out over youth and beauty. Print Page

We spent Palm Sunday in the Q-town celebrating an early Easter. As far as the Em and Kate (and the Cousins) were concerned, the Lord decided to be an Early Riser this year. And look, the Easter Bunny came early too. Incidentally, if someone could take the time to explain the origins or overall point of a fictional bunny who hides eggs - please call me. The picture above is Riley looking his Easter-orneriest. It was a Sister search for eggs at this particular moment - either that or this is a picture of Emily about to freak out because Katie was stealing her eggs (that happened once or twice). I'd prefer to think of it as a warm, sisterly moment. Wouldn't you? This is a picture of Katie's south side as she reaches through the chair rungs in order to streeeeeeeeeetch for an egg that was just out of reach. It was hilarious. She reached for that single egg for a good thirty seconds. It's US - looking a little disheveled after church/ brunch/ crowd control/ palm waving /etc....

We were on a break from our computers for a while. I could say that we went Amish or gave up technology for Lent, but the truth is that ... both our computers crashed. Now, thanks to the good folk of the local computer store (and the tireless volunteer hours of a man named Tim), we're baaaaaaaack. Let the blogging Begin!

The family St. Patrick's tradition is to run the 4-mile Kelly's Run in Quincy on the Sunday before St. Pat's. Either the run is the actual tradition or the eating of nachos and drinking of green beer is the tradition - it's a toss up. Emily came along this year (she had green water and a cinnamon roll for those of you speed-dialing child services). However, Em's highlight was the bagpiper. The rest of us thought it was fun for about 30 seconds, but Emily could not get enough. I held her up on my shoulders so she could watch him and then when we bumped into him on the way out we HAD to get a picture. Also, Emily thought that I ran so fast that I probably won, but then was confused when I didn't get a medal: "Maybe next year you'll get a medal daddy." Probably not, but I will go ahead and sign myself up for more green beer. Print Page