weekend update

OK, on Friday, our friend Emily came over and the girls got a little bit messy with one of our favorite activities: shaving cream finger paint. Here Kaylee is relatively clean at the beginning of our endeavor.

And well...the girls didn't stay that way for long! For a moment before she smeared it in more...she looked like she had a red flower in her hair...but then, mere fractions of a second later, she looked like this:
Meanwhile...Rowan is sleeping like a little angel, she looks so peaceful.
Her favorite sleeping spot is definitely the bouncy seat.
Because she is spending more time awake, we've been letting her spend some time on her playmat...which she generally likes.
Look at that face! She is tracking objects really well right now...of course they need to be within like 2-3 feet, but hey, that's something!

On Saturday it was time to celebrate Henry's 2nd birthday (phew September is a busy month for Kaylee and her friends...(makes me wonder why all these parents seemed to favor December 2005...)

Anyway, here's the birthday boy and his birthday muffin.

Kaylee approved of the cuisine.
She had a great time and even managed to sign *yes i mean sign and not sing* some of the Happy Birthday song. She learned the sign from a Sesame Street episode where the cast is learning how to say Happy Birthday to Linda.
They really did do more than just eat at the party...I just took most of the pictures around the table.
I don't know how Kaylee managed to score a seat of honor next to the birthday boy, but she and Henry do seem to enjoy quite a repoire. They are cut from the same mold sort of...both cautious and observant...Kaylee really gets excited when they get to play together.
Here are the youngest party-goers, Rowan and Emily's little brother, Oliver; they both slept the whole time!

And on Sunday, Kaylee's friend Bailey came over for a couple of hours to burn some of that afternoon/witching hour energy.
And while, Kaylee enjoys playing with Bailey, she was really interested in Sam, Bailey's little brother.
Here she is tickling Sam. She was very gentle and sweet...I hope she has as much interest when Rowan is a little older and more interactive.

And that's what we've been up to:)

Kaylee's photo shoot

OK, we tried several weeks ago to have Kaylee's professional photos taken. I really would like to have professional pictures taken to mark each birthday. Well that time went terribly...it was a nightmare. All Kaylee wanted to do was look at the props and things on the walls and basically anything but sit still and have her pictures taken.
However, take #2, went much better and we got some great pictures. I am really really happy with them, so I thought I'd share. Obviously, some cropping was done for the ones I had printed, but here they are.
This is my favorite, we got it done in black and white and really close up on the face and also in color, but we centered it more. It really looks like a glamour shot! I wish I could take credit for the hair, but it was sheer dumb luck.
I really like this one too, it captures the sweet essence of my little munchkin. We had this one done in the birthday border with a little poem: She bloomed and grew and now she's two!
I wanted one of Kaylee in more of her usual garb, so I had a casual picture taken as well. I love that little smile.
This is a more formal shot, and perhaps my least favorite, but I still love it.
And finally, if that face is not Kaylee then I just don't know what is. The printed version is more close up and I had them cut out the basket ball, but playing catch is after all how we got her to make that smiley face...
So there they are. I really don't think I could be much happier with these if I tried.

Bailey's and Emily's Birthday

On Saturday the 2oth, Kaylee was very popular. She actually had 2 friend's birthday parties to attend. First was Bailey's. Here is the birthday girl, with Daddy blowing out her candles. Unfortunately that was the only pic I managed to snap at the party, but at least I got 1.
Then it was off to the playgroup where Emily was celebrating her 2nd birthday. While the adults put the finishing touches on the decorations in the lodge, Kaylee enjoyed the outdoor/playground amenities.
Then the kiddos gathered around the Strawberry Shortcake themed table to sing "Happy Birthday" to the star of the show.
"Again" Kaylee requested. Our singing must have been good:)
Again, everyone seemed to have a good time.
And Emily reveled in the attention.
Kaylee liked her crown/party hat.
And she really liked the "Strawberry Shortcake" cake!
Happy Birthday to Bailey and Emily!

a smattering of cuteness!

Well, I hardly need qualify the following as 'cute' for that is relatively self-explanatory; however, I did want to share some of the latest pics we've taken of the girls over the past 10 days or so.
Kaylee takes this big sister business very seriously!
But she definitely likes it!
There is no real order here, but I do know that these particular pics were actually taken today!
Rowan is starting to have a lot more alert periods...
especially mid-morning, which on weekends is nice because the whole family can take a leisurely start to the day...
but is a bit harder on weekdays when Kaylee's main activities tend to fall at that time.
Just like Kaylee...Rowan really likes this bouncer. We've gone through lots of size "D" batteries in the few short days its been employed.
This is Kaylee at Sophie's house at last week's playgroup. We don't have a tricycle for her at this time, as we also own no flat land for her to use it on!
So without a tricycle...Kaylee is forced to find other forms of amusement...like laundry baskets?
"Where's Kaylee?"
"Oh, there she is." For those of you that don't know..."Oh there it/he/she is" is one of Kaylee's favorite things to say.
Here are a few cute pics of both my little girls. I really like this one, as both eyes are open and basically looking at the camera!
Again, even though they are not looking at the camera this time...the fact that they seem to be looking in the same direction as one another endears this one for me.
One syllable sums this one up: "awwwwww"
Some of you might remember how much I loved this outfit when I bought it for Kaylee...and I have about 10 pictures of newborn Kaylee in it all entitled "gnome" in the appropriate directory on our file server...so naturally I had to do the same for Ro.
This outfit does make them look like gnomes, in my opinion anyway.
But I like it anyway...and look at those eyes!
While Mommy took a nap one day last week...she asked Daddy to let Kaylee do some "shaving cream" finger painting...with some very artistic results!
And a close-up of our budding artiste. Good thing shaving cream is mostly soap:)
And finally, on 1 of those lazy weekend morning starts I mentioned earlier...Daddy snuggles with his 2 girls.
I am pretty sure nothing makes a Mommy happier than this:)
Well that's about as much cuteness as I can tolerate for now:)