Happy Easter!

We had a lot of fun on Easter this year. We went to church and then had family over for Easter dinner later that day. Ralph and "Nana" Clements even hid eggs in our backyard for the big kids to find. The girls' were so sweet in their dresses and LOVED playing with the plastic eggs Easter Bunny brought. Easter Bunny also brought "big girl" toothbrushes for the girls. They've been doing really good with brushing their teeth (sucking the strawberry banana flavored toothpaste off the toothbrush).

Hope you had a wonderful Easter too!

Another Ear Infection...

The girls have been dealing with one ear infection after another lately. This is Gracie's 6th ear infection, so we may be getting tubes. Here are some pictures daddy took on their latest sick day...

Grace & her bean bag chair!

Grandma Schwebach bought the girls' their very own bean bag chair for Valentines Day! Grace LOVES it, as you can see in the pictures above. She sits in the chair almost every morning and waits for daddy to bring her juice and cheerios. Too cute!

Night at the ER...

The girls' have Croup, compliments of day care. Hannah has a tougher time with respiratory illnesses (she had RSV last year). On our way home from day care, she was gagging and having a hard time breathing. At one point I looked back and she looked like she was choking, so I pulled over and had to stick my finger in her throat to clear her airway (lots of mucus). I rushed her to Doctor's Care, since it was after 5, and they took us back right away. They did a Nebulizer treatment and sent us home, but I still felt uneasy. Once we got home, she continued gagging/choking on mucus, so I paged the doctor on call at our pediatrician's office. The nurse told me to take her to the ER. I asked my neighbor and good friend Lisa, who happens to also be a Nurse Practitioner, to go with me in case Hannah got distressed on the way. She came over right away and (around 7 pm) off we went...

8 hours later we returned home. After sitting in the ER for 4 hours, we were finally taken to a room and checked out. We spent another 2 hours in that room and the doctor concluded that Hannah's throat was just really irritated from the drainage and she wasn't swallowing due to the pain. Exhausted from our long evening and night, we get to the van only to realize the battery was dead. Thank goodness my dad/"pa pa" was able to come get the van started and send us on our way. It was a LONG night.

Here are some pictures Brad took of the girls the day after...I was still sleeping...

Happy New Year!

SNOW DAY! We enjoyed our first ice/snow storm of 2008 on January 17th! The girls' enjoyed looking, but did not want to touch the snow/ice. Daddy went into work for the afternoon, but us girls took advantage of the snow day and stayed cozy inside!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Blast from the Past! Hannah & Grace at 2 weeks old

These pictures were taken by Jana Candler and came out awesome! I can't believe how big the girls' have gotten.

Happy 1st Birthday Hannah and Grace!

It's hard to believe that our precious little girls are already 1 year old! We had a birthday party at our house to celebrate. We were also celebrating the fact that we survived their first year of life.

I still remember all those feelings I had that first night we brought them home ( "how am I going to do this, what if I hurt them, what if I drop one, what will I do when Brad goes back to work, etc."); I think Brad would agree that those first few months with the girls were the best days, and the worst days, of our lives. (worst because of the sleep deprivation, arguments in the middle of the night - I threatened divorce many times, and postpartum depression; best because we FINALLY had these 2 precious little babies to love).

For all you new mom's out there that may be experiencing these same emotions, just remember that "God doesn't give us more than we can handle." You will survive and actually miss those first few months. It really does fly by so enjoy every moment!

Thanksgiving 2007

Happy Thanksgiving! We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at the Clement's with family and friends. Then, we did another Thanksgiving dinner at "Pa Pa's" house.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so it was a treat to have Thanksgiving dinner twice. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for!

Halloween 2007

We had a lot of fun on Halloween! We went trick or treating with cousin George in our neighborhood and stopped by to see our friend Bridget.

Sisterly Love!

The girls love each other so much! This is evident to us because they are constantly making each other smile and laugh. Hannah loves sucking on Grace's hands, arms, toes, etc. Grace thinks it's hilarious. We also think this is pretty funny and enjoy watching the girls interact together.

The girls love playing patty cake and know how to clap their hands. They also clap when they hear the word "yeah" or "good girl." They are also starting to learn the word "no." We are starting to say that word now, usually when Hannah steals Grace's toy (and Grace lets her know by screaming) or when Grace takes Hannah's pacifier out of her mouth. Grace doesn't even use a pacifier, but still enjoys taking it from her sister.

The girls are eating stage 2 baby food now and thoroughly enjoy it (except for peas - I don't blame them - have you ever tested baby food peas - yuck)! They are also learning to use a sippy cup and enjoy drinking ice water in a real cup. They are growing up so fast!

I'll post more updates and pictures soon!