Friday, January 26, 2018

18 Months


These cute girls have gotten so fun the past couple of months. They're really growing up fast and we're enjoying them more every day. They may be twins, but they couldn't be more different. Hannah got a pixie cut shortly after these pictures were taken. She has always loved finding pieces of hair or string and running them through her lips...I always thought it was just a strange tactile thing, but since she's discovered she has hair on her head, she has been pulling it out! At first, I believe, just when she was bored. But ever since I've tried to stop her, she does it to spite me. Truly. When I won't give her what she wants, or when she's frustrated with something, she goes straight for her hair. It's so sad. But the pixie is really very cute on her. And despite this little quirk, she gives the best snuggles in the house. She loves to sit on your lap and read. She knows at least a dozen animal sounds. She loves to try on everyone's shoes and thinks she's pretty great when she can put them on herself. She is an EARLY riser-like 5:30 am early. Its terrible. But she wakes up so happy and is often singing the ABCs. We often find her in her crib without any bottoms on-she takes off her pants and her diaper and then wets the bed. We've started duct-taping he diaper on which seems to slow her down a bit.


Hannah got a pixie cut shortly after these pictures were taken. She has always loved finding pieces of hair or string and running them through her lips...I always thought it was just a strange tactile thing, but since she's discovered she has hair on her head, she has been pulling it out! At first, I believe, it was just when she was bored. But ever since I've tried to stop her, she does it to spite me. When I won't give her what she wants, or when she's frustrated with something, she goes straight for her hair. It's so sad. But the pixie is really very cute on her. And despite this little quirk, she gives the best snuggles in the house. She loves to sit on your lap and read. She knows at least a dozen animal sounds. She loves to try on everyone's shoes and thinks she's pretty great when she can put them on herself. She is an EARLY riser-like 5:30 am early. Its terrible. But she wakes up so happy and is often singing the ABCs. We often find her in her crib without any bottoms on-she takes off her pants and her diaper and then wets the bed. We've started duct-taping he diaper on which seems to slow her down a bit. She's discovered that biting really helps her get what she wants. Its been a tough habit to break but we're working on it. She loves the park and is really quite good at climbing the ladders and going down the slides. She loves music and always asks for Zootopia. "Uh uh uh uh uh..." We love Hannah Banana so much. She's a tough little thing, but has the softest little heart.



Heidi girl pretty even-tempered. She doesn't love snuggling, but she is pretty content most of the time. She sleeps like an angel. When we lie her in her bed she usually just says "nigh nigh, bye bye" and we don't hear another peep for the rest of the night. When she wakes in the morning-sometimes a full 2 hours after Hannah, she gives a big "HI!" and grabs everything in her crib to take with her for the day before she'll let you take her out. She often gets frustrated because her little arms aren't big enough to hold all of her treasures. She, too, loves the park and could swing for HOURS. Heidi loves to eat and will eat pretty much anything. She loves singing "Baaaaaaby Beluga"and starts to dance whenever she hears music. She waves goodbye with both hands high above her head. We all love Heidi so much. What a sweet personality she brings to our crazy family of five.

Virginia Beach


What a perfect trip with some fabulous friends. The beach house was perfect, the food was delicious, and I'm sure we're now officially life-long friends with the Field family.


















Thursday, May 11, 2017

Easter

 Holidays seem to be getting better and better around here...
 We struggled a bit with pictures, but with 9 o'clock church, I'd say we nailed it.

 Thanks to Auntie Shannon for their beautiful dresses.




The best part about our Easter experience was sharing "Resurrection Eggs" with McCrae. I had forgotten that we had a set of these special eggs-they tell the story of the events leading up to Jesus's resurrection. I pulled them out before bed Easter Sunday and thought we might read through a scripture or two. McCrae loved it, and we ended up reading every scripture and talked about each item in the egg. McCrae seemed so concerned with the way that Jesus was treated and at one point I asked Conner if we should be sharing all of the details. We both agreed that it was okay-the story couldn't have a happier ending. When we finished, McCrae wanted to start over, and I just wanted to cry-it was such a special, spiritual moment spent with our 3 year-old. We repeated the story with the eggs many times over the following days. What a special story it is, and we know that it is true! The blessings of the Atonement are immeasurable. When I have small moments like I did the night of Easter Sunday, it opens my eyes to the importance of teaching my children the gospel. I need to take advantage of the opportunity more often. It is truly the only thing in our lives that matters-living righteously in this life, so we can return to live with Him and our families in the life hereafter.

Happy Birthday Girlies!

Happiest birthday to the two cutest girls we know. We CANNOT believe that they are a year old. We are so blessed and incredibly fortunate that they are healthy and strong. Our pediatrician called them "robust." What a compliment!

Hannah has become quite the opinionated little girl. She gives the biggest cheesy smiles when she's happy, and yells SO loud when she doesn't get her way. She is skeptical of strangers and has developed a pretty good stink-eye. Hannah loves her Mama and prefers to be held by Mommy over Daddy. She is so close to walking and we're sure she'll have it down in the next couple of weeks. She likes to be outside, puts everything in her mouth (especially any hair she finds on the ground), has become a great eater, and loves to snuggle before bed...and then screams wildly when you place her in the crib. We are so happy she has joined our family, and are so excited to continue to watch her grow and develop.

Heidi is pretty easy-going, always happy and extremely active. She has no desire to walk but gets anywhere she needs go. She loves climbing in, on top of, or through anything she can find. She says "hi" over and over all day long. She, too, is a great eater and always eats her vegetables. She would play outside all day every day if she could. She doesn't mind getting dirty and jumps right in. Heidi is a Daddy's girl. She loves it when Daddy is around and takes to him a bit better than her Mama. She, like her sister, is such a joy to have in our family. Life has changed dramatically with these two, but we wouldn't change it for anything.

The Birthday Party
It was so fun to see Heidi take right to her doll. She gave her a huge hug and then loved practicing popping the binky in and out of her mouth.
The party guests.


When Heidi burned her finger putting out the candle before McCrae could blow it out, she thought this party business was all a mean trick...

 Until she tried the cake!

Hannah sat back for a while and watched, but eventually got the hang of it and dove in face-first! What a happy day it was for all of us to celebrate. The first year of a child's life is really a celebration for the entire family.  How lucky we are to celebrate it twice!

A New Year

We finally got some snow, so we FINALLY put on snow clothes and built a REAL snowman!


Conner had a conference in Salt Lake mid-January so we decided to join him. It was a BIG TRIP for the 5 of us but we did it! It was fun to see Grandma Carol, Grandma Egbert, and Grammy. Grandma Egbert has already called at least 4 times to thank us for coming to visit. I wish we could see them all more often. Unfortunately, McCrae and I came down with a stomach bug for a couple days of the trip. We were SO sick. It was awful. But I still made the shopping trip with Julianne and Marissa. That was all I wanted for Christmas-a day with my sisters. And it was wonderful. Now that we're back in PA, I think we'll stay put for a while...but we were sure glad we had the chance to see our family.