December 10, 2011

I am so blessed to get to be with these two girls all day.  They are getting more fun each day!  I love how their little personalities are starting to develop. 

Payton is full of smiles and funny faces.  She is such a character!!

McKinley is so curious these days.  She wants to see and touch everything she can.  I love to watch her as she discovers new things.

I have noticed that every time I try to take pictures of the girls together someone is always grabbing sisters nose or bow.  I then have to console the baby that was scratched or put a bow back on, then comes the challenge of getting both girls to look at the camera.  It now takes twice as long to get a decent picture.

Eventually, with persistence, I can get a good picture of both girls!!

December 9, 2011

 While the girls were having their morning nap I heard one of the girls moving around and talking.  I went in and saw McKinley climbing on her bumpers and eating the ribbons.  She looked at me an laughed!  She is such a funny girl!  I guess it is time to take the bumpers out of her crib.   

 I love putting the girls in fun Christmas outfits each day.  Some of the outfits were worn by their cousin last Christmas which is fun to look back and remember when she was this little.

Sometimes when I am talking or singing to the girls they look at me like, "wow, what are you saying? You are crazy!".  Matt and I are always doing whatever it takes to get them happy even if we look like fools!!  The looks they give us are just too funny! 

December 8, 2011

 8 Months Old

Payton

Eats pureed fruit in the morning and pureed vegetable at night.  Has a 6 ounce bottle at 12:00, 4:00, and 8:00. 

Wears 6 month clothes and size 2 diaper.

Payton has really been practicing her crawling. She sometimes gets frustrated when McKinley crawls past her, Payton will sit and cry in frustration!

Payton has one tooth!  

When she is ready to go to sleep she will lay down and close her eyes.

 

Her personality is showing more and more, she is content and laid back.  She is more serious when strangers are around but when she warms up she has the biggest smile.  She will crinkle her nose and snort!

Payton hates peas and green beans but will eat anything else.

She still loves to be rocked and cuddle.

Payton, you are working so hard at crawling and we are so proud of you.  Your big smile and crinkled little nose always makes us smile.  I am so thankful that I get to spend everyday with you!  We love you sweet girl!

McKinley

Eats pureed fruit in the morning and pureed vegetable at night.  Has a 6 ounce bottle at 12:00, 4:00, and 8:00. 

Wears 6 month clothes and size 2 diaper.

McKinley has gotten very good and crawling.  She can get when she wants to go pretty quick.

She is constantly exploring out house and discovering new things.  It is so fun to see her find new things, and of course, they always go in her mouth first!

McKinley has 3 teeth now and she did great when they were coming in.

When we are sitting on the floor McKinley will crawl in our lap.  If Matt is laying on the floor she will crawl on top of him!

She has started to babble, DaDa and we are working on MaMa!

McKinley loves to crawl in the bouncy seat to play with the buckle.  Her cousin also loves to play with buckles!!

McKinley, we love to watch you crawl and discover new things.  I am amazed that you are learning new things so quickly.  I am so thankful that I get to spend everyday with you!  We love you sweet baby!

This past month the girls have really started to get good at crawling.  

They both have shown more interest in their paci and will pick one up to put in their mouth, especially Payton.

Since they are now crawling everywhere, I have started putting them in their highchairs to play while I cook dinner.  They love it and will look at each other and smile.

This past month the girls had their first colds and were up several times at night.  They are now off of their good sleeping schedules and we are desperately trying to get them to sleep through the night in their own bed again.

The girls favorite song is The Wheels on the Bus.  They will get very still and quiet when we sing it!

We had our first babysitter, outside of family, and it went very well for both the girls and me.

We are now able to put the girls in their bouncy seats to feed themselves their bottles.  This has really come in handy for me during the day!

The girls have started to reach up to us to be picked up, we absolutely love seeing those tiny hands reach up to us!

The girls favorite foods this month were squash, carrots, peas (McKinley), apples, and bananas. 

This month the girls got to try their cupcakes and they loved them!!!

December 7, 2011

 Our Christmas decorations are finally up and the spirit of Christmas is present at our home.  We love this time of year and the time that we get to spend with family and friends celebrating Jesus' birth. 

 The girls have noticed the Christmas decorations and are very intrigued by them.  They especially love the Christmas tree.  I tried to put the ornaments a little higher on the tree this year so they would be out of the girls reach but I have had to move a few already!!  I didn't put up all my decorations this year since I have 4 little hands that are very interested in knick knacks these days.

Sweet Payton following her sister to the Christmas tree!  One leads and the other follows!

December 6, 2011

 A day of firsts! 

 We have not started the girls on regular foods they are still eating pureed food.  But this morning when I was mashing up their banana I put a little sliver on their tray to see what they would do.  McKinley went right for it with both hands.  I think she even got most of it in her mouth!

 Payton just stared at the banana sitting on her tray.  She would not touch it!  She gets that from me, I am told that when I was their age I did not want to be dirty and I would cry if anything got on my hands!  She eventually looked up at me like, "Ok I need you to feed me now!". 

 The girls also had their first snow.  It snowed just enough to cover the ground and I just had to bundle the girls up and get their picture in it.  

McKinley was not sure about it, she kept looking at it and kicking her feet. 

Payton was very happy to be outside!  

The girls had their first babysitter (outside of family) this afternoon.  I am starting to tutor at an after school program Tuesday and Thursday.  I am only gone for a couple hours and I think it will be good for the girls and I to have a little 'me' time!  It was not as hard as I expected to leave them today.  Our babysitter is good friends with my sister and I am good friends with her older sister, so we have known her for awhile.  That helped and I knew that the girls had each other!!  

December 5, 2011

 The entertainment center now belongs to the girls!!  They have discovered how to climb onto the shelf in the entertainment center.  When they first started scooting the first place they went was to the shelf.  It is right at their level and had several very interesting knick knacks!  I quickly removed all of my things and replaced it with their toys.  They were quickly bored with just pulling toys off the shelf, they now have to climb onto the shelf.  There is a cable box that is screwed into the back of the entertainment center that will now have to be taken out!!  

 Payton has the look like she knows that she shouldn't be in the shelf but she is going to climb in anyway! 

 

 Payton has finally cut her first tooth!  All of that hard work and tears have paid off!

 McKinley is very proud of her new trick. 

 When the girls aren't in the entertainment center they are trying to figure out how to pull Berkley's collar off.  They are so intrigued by the jingle of his collar.  They try to pull the tags down so they can put them in their mouth...poor Berk!

Sweet girls hanging out before bed...sweet sleepy faces!! 

December 3, 2011

 This weekend we headed back home to go to a Christmas party.  The girls were very excited to see their family and sweet cousin again.  I had only been a week since we were there so the girls remembered everyone!

 Sweet Payton loves the Johnny Jump Up.  She has figured out how to spin around in it since it is in the door way with part tile and part carpet.  She just spins and squeals, it is so much fun to watch her!

 McKinley started to say DaDa!!  We were so excited that she said her first word, even if it was DaDa!  I am holding out for Payton's first word to be MaMa!

I had to take a picture of the girls all dressed up for their first Christmas party.  We decided to take the girls to the Christmas party for a little bit so that my friends, who don't get to see them very often, could see how much they had grown.  It was a little hectic since it was their dinner/bed time so we called my sister to come get them early!

 Our family before the party.  The girls don't know what is about to happen to them!!

 Sunday before we left the girls had a little cousin/Nana time.  These girls already love each other.  Payton is trying to hug her cousin...or maybe she is trying to eat her head...either one it is still so sweet!!

Nana with her great-grandgirls.  I love that my girls know their great grandmother and, even though they are still little, they love spending time with her.  Nana rocks them and reads to them the best!!

December 1, 2011

These two little girls are teething like crazy!  We have all the signs of teething; we have been drooling, fussy, chewing on everything, and we have seen the beginning of teeth (McKinley has one that has broken the skin).  I feel like they are getting a mouth full of teeth.  Payton has taken teething harder than McKinley.  She has been very fussy.

 

So...this morning I was making the girls applesauce and decided to let the girls chew on a raw apple.  I have read that apples are good teethers, so we tried it out.

 McKinley loved it and since she has part of a tooth already she was able to bite off pieces of the apple.  I had to watch her close because before I knew it she had bit off a chunk of apple!!

 Payton loved the apple, too.  She wasn't able to bite it but she loved chewing and sucking on it. 

They were both very into their apples (especially McKinley!!!).  I think that it helped relieve some of their teething pains and it made them happy, even if it was temporarily.  We will definitely try this again!!

November 30, 2011

The girls had their first bubble bath tonight!  They were not too sure about the bubbles at first but quickly warmed up and began splashing in them. 

 My big girls in their first bubble bath!  We used the bedtime bath wash so I am hoping that it helps the girls sleep, especially with their colds and the long nights we have had lately.

 Sweet, sweet baby faces. 

Matt is always doing something funny to get a laugh or smile out of the girls.  They just crack up at him.