Chatter_Box.avi

Both Sydney and Abigail love to read books. We were able to capture these clips from a 5 minute reading time last Saturday. We don't know what she is saying, but we are sure that she does...

Our babies have turned into toddlers, and it seems to have happened overnight. As their eyes have opened to the world around them, we have witnessed their curiosity and frustrations in a new way. For example, both of the girls are trying to climb but finding out about gravity the hard way. Running looks like fun to them, but hitting things with a thump emphasizes the 'hardness' of real life. This stage is a hard one for the parents as well; we are enjoying holding them but want them to be independent and explore the world apart from our arms. As I write, the sounds of a frustrating cry iminate from the nursery--this is the first night without the bottle before bed; doctor's 'suggestion'. He indicated that their dairy intake in the form of milk should taper off at this age and that the bottle has to go. We will miss holding our little ones and connecting before bedtime--so goes parenthood...changes.

The girls have started to show much more personality this month--spinning, talking, reading alone, smiling on cue (see above). They have embraced their daily schedule and know when it is time to eat and go to their highchairs; when it is naptime (night, night) and search for Paco and Leo (favorite stuffed sleeping buddies); and when to find a dark corner of the house (just after having been changed) to fill a diaper. Papa and Gramma found out these truths this weekend as they spent time with the girls. As you can see from the picture from the neighborhood 'track', Sydney and Abigail love to walk when outside--there is hope that they will love nature like Mama and Daddy and be hikers someday. FYI-many more pictures on flickr.

Abigail Spinning Round

It has been a busy day with church, the New Members Lunch ("Foundations"), and cleaning up the house for Lifegroup tonight...but there is always time for spinning 'round and 'round. Compliments of Abigail.

Gramma Gin

We captured this video as Gramma Gin watched an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos. Her laugh was contagious.

Two weeks ago tomorrow, my Gramma passed away. She lived a very full 92 years--she was the mother to 5 children, Gramma to 14, and Great Ginny to more than I can count. My family was blessed to have her live with us my whole childhood, for 20+ years. Now that I am a mom myself, I have the responsibility to pass on what I have learned in life to my daughters. My gramma taught me a lot. She taught me to live everyday as if it was your last, to love life and your family, and most importantly to love God and follow Him.

Gramma was full of spunk. If she got tickled over something, the whole room was sure to be laughing by the end of it. Our family became spoiled by Gramma's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and her fresh whole wheat bread. As a child, my gramma made many of Miranda's and my clothes (most of which we loved).

My gramma had 14 months with Sydney and Abigail. She just couldn't get over the fact that there were two of them every time she visited. She couldn't remember ever having seen two little one's who looked so much alike! Sydney and Abigail loved to sit in her lap and she loved to watch them explore their world around them. When the girls and I were in St. Louis over the 4th of July, Gramma went to the park with us and really enjoyed watching the girls swing. We went back to the park when we were home for her memorial service and it was good to remember watching Gramma sit on the bench and watch the girls. Sydney and Abigail won't remember their Great Ginny, but Brad and I hope to tell them enough stories about her that they will feel like they do.

Although my Gramma's earthly life has ended, we know she is rejoicing with the angels today. We had such a great time with family in St. Louis and it was good to see cousins and aunts and uncles we hadn't seen in awhile. We look forward to seeing Gramma again someday.

Park time with the girls

Although Sydney and Abigail still like to put the playground mulch in their mouths, we enjoy swinging and sliding at the park. We took a quick trip to a park in St. Louis with the family over the holiday weekend. One of the first laughs out of Sydney sounds like the forced type, but after the initial "I think that Daddy wants me to laugh now" time, she really was enjoying it. As you can see by the video, Abigail was not in the mood and put her hand in my face to say, "Get away from me Daddy, I am more interested in watching the other kids play!" The girls are not shy about telling us their opinions...

Sydney Puts Balls in Container

She finally figured it out and we were there to witness it! Life is grand.

Hello Friends and Family,
When Rebekah and I started thinking about having kids a few years ago, the first thing that popped into my mind was the financial side of things. I am charged with formulating a budget, keeping enough money in the checking account, and, in general, keeping up with the family finances--so thinking about money and how much of it we would need to take care of another human being (or two!) was not unusual. Now, we don't think twice when asked to sacrifice certain things for our kids and would not change a thing. But when we think about college and the $500,000 to $750,000 that each of our girls will "cost" us in the next 20+ years, we don't mind asking for some help...

One easy way that won't cost YOU anything is through Upromise. They give us a few cents for stuff that our friends and family normally buy through tracking Kroger Plus Cards and other grocery cards, as well as debit/credit cards. It is not much but can add up if we have help. For instance, we get approximately $0.15 each time we fill up our gas tank at Exxon/Mobile and $0.45 when we buy new wipers for our cars at PepBoys. Please check it out with our Upromise Link and let us take advantage of "strength in numbers".

And, of course, if you have kids or grandkids of your own that would benefit from this service, signing your family up for Upromise is easy and recommended.

Labor Day Weekend 2006 (45)

We have just returned from our long weekend in St. Louis, and I wanted to get these pictures to the people as soon as possible. We heard many comments from family this weekend about keeping the blog and pictures updated on a more continual basis. Although the girls have had a fever over the past two days, the weekend went great, and we had a nice time with many members of Rebekah's extended family. We were able to attend a Memorial Service for Rebekah's Gramma Gin on Sunday--more details to come.