Gotta remember this...

Caroline and I made a Key Lime pie on Friday afternoon and I gave her a taste of it today. Her description after the first bite? "Mmmm. Tastes like summer." Ugh. Love that girl. Such a sweetie! 

Bonus pictures!

Sunday stroll around the 'hood

Ellie is not excited that her Grammy is leaving for 3 weeks!

Ellie is in full destruction mode these days, which explains why the vacuum is always out.

The "tastes like summer" pie!

Last day of school! It was a rainy one.

Their new favorite playtime activity. Ellie needs a helmet. STAT!

I'm 21 weeks! 

She was not too happy with me because I wouldn't let her climb on the coffee table. Mind you, she's fallen off of it 3 times. On her head. I don't know how she hasn't broken her neck yet...thank you, guardian angels!

Ellie turns one!

Ellie Kate turned one last week and she has taken that milestone as an opportunity to explore her mischievous side. Constantly. When she's awake, I do not rest. There's no sitting. No relaxing. It takes everything in me (and Caroline!) to keep her from harming herself. I'm thinking about investing in a baby helmet for her, or seeing what I can do about recruiting a few more guardian angels to watch over her. 

She checked out perfectly at her one year appointment, measuring the same height (30.5 in) as Caroline did at the same age, but weighing a tiny 5 pounds less! It's no wonder C's clothes are falling off of her. Her allergies are getting better and her skin is looking much clearer. We switched from the $300 lotion to a much cheaper $200 one (haha), and started using CeraVe instead of Aquaphor. I'm hoping the harsh Texas summer isn't going to undo the work I've invested in her skin. I'm already dreading chlorine mixed with sunshine. I can only imagine what she'll look like come August. 

At a year old, Ellie is crawling as quick as a mouse. She loves to pull up on anything she can, including my legs or the legs of the chair I'm sitting in while eating, and then pulling herself on top of that object. She really enjoys throwing herself backwards off of the highest object she can climb...hence the need for a helmet! Her favorite perch is the coffee table and has recently discovered that she can climb the ladder and slide on the swing set. She loves to watch Caroline and copy everything she does. I think it'll be a while before she starts walking. Her legs are so tiny, I'm not sure how they are going to hold the rest of her body up!

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to lately:

Lucas loves to laugh when I tell him that I really, really enjoying going to lunch by myself. This is why. My lunch usually ends with little fingers in my food and a tiny hiney on my lap. Side note - shopping for a maternity swim suit is as fun as going to the DPS.

I asked Caroline to find some shoes and get ready to go to HEB. These are the shoes she chose.

Sassy faces first thing in the morning! This is usually an indicator of how my day is going to progress.

I can't turn my back for a second. She loves to climb.

She calculated the easiest way to get on the couch. Trampoline to air mattress to couch.

Ellie is not a fan of standing. Once she's up, she can't figure out how to sit back down. I showed Caroline how to gently help Ellie sit, but that hasn't ended well at all.

Little honey.

Silly honey.

She wasn't too sure about taking her 12 month pictures!

Happy Birthday, Ellie Kate! She love to say "cheese" when the camera is on!

The lady who made Ellie's cake was so sweet and made a cupcake that was corn free. Ellie really, really liked it.

Climbing wears her out.

Ellie doesn't know what to think about her Big Dog (my brother, Steve).

Anyone want to have a tea party?

Meanwhile, in the world of 3 year olds, Caroline is still as silly as ever. She woke up from a nap looking amazing, so I sang "Miss America" as she came down the stairs. She sat down and refused to move until I stopped signing.

Caroline's Princess Party

We celebrated Caroline's 3rd birthday yesterday. She requested a Princess Party with cake, watermelon, and pizza. She also asked for a girls only party, but I invited a few cute fellows to celebrate with us! 

Spring has sprung!

It's finally springtime, which means smocked bubbles and sundresses are back in the closets. At last! Given Caroline's latest obsession with not wearing pants, the warm weather made perfect timing!

Caroline had a great time on Rodeo Day at her school. A denim dress was the closest we got to a western look. 

Thank God for iPhones!

iPhones are magical things.  They allow me to read the news, catch up on Facebook, play a quick game of NERTS, and read a chapter of Maria Murnane's latest book all before 9:00 in the morning.  They also allow my girls to Face Time with family, which has led to them thinking that placing a regular phone call means that the phone is broken. The most important thing an iPhone can do is take a picture at a second's notice.  I take so many pictures of the girls! I should probably download them to my computer soon because I'm running out of memory (on my phone and in my brain...but that's a different story). Here are a few from the past few weeks:

 

Ellie was either really mad about something or giving me a "cheese!" face. I can't remember. She likes her "car" but can only go backwards. Caroline LOVES to push her around the house going entirely too fast.

Caroline and Addison, her little buddy from down the street. I'm pretty sure these 2 will be getting into some silly trouble in their teen years, but thankfully that's still 10 years away!

Sweet girls before nap time. They both love their loveys! It's such a source of comfort for Ellie and Caroline is almost done with hers. She is down to 3! Ellie, on the other hand, has about 8. And she sleeps with all of them.

Caroline really enjoyed the face painter at Olivia's birthday party! We hired her to come to Caroline's party. It's princess themed and up until today boys were not invited. I told her she has to invite boys so that the princesses will have princes to play with. She didn't seem to thrilled with the idea. I'm hoping she'll forget about it and be excited when her boy friends come to her party in April.

She looks a lot like I do when I drive. She's probably seen this expression a few times at the 4 way stop by our house.

Daddy and his princesses! Caroline now refers to Lucas as "my prince." She's convinced they will get married one day.

Ellie is in the throws of teething. She now has a bottom middle tooth and a top incisor. I guess the middle top teeth will come in eventually? Giving her pain medicine is hard because they all contain a form of corn syrup. I usually give her a little bit of Benadryl with the Tylenol. It seems to help the allergic reaction and the teething pain.

One day her pain was so bad that she just laid around all day. It was so sad!

Sassy pants.

I finally got a smile out of Ellie after about a week of teething! Yeah!

Sweet Ellie Kate is crawling all over the place now. She tried crawling over to Lucas and Caroline but got tired on the way.

Oh man! She was a total mess this day! She tore a magazine apart and chewed on a green straw while making some pretty hilarious sounds. She was happy, so I was happy to sit back and enjoy her show.

HEB FINALLY fixed the seat belts in their large kiddie carts. While that makes them much safer, they are still impossible to drive. I always say a little prayer that the car carts are all taken when we walk in because I'd much rather push a regular cart than these...but...I guess it's fun for the girls.







 

Brrrrr...it's cold in here!

(there must be some Toros in the atmosphere! 10 points if you can name that movie!)

It's been a little cold outside, so we've been staying warm inside! This weather is very unusual for a normally mild Texas winter but I'm not complaining because I'm one of the rare few who enjoy freezing temps. It's a drastic change from our 100+ summer days that seem to stretch from May to October.

Here are a few pics from the past few chilly days!



She was contemplating who to marry. Tyler or Jackson? Such a hard choice. I was shocked that someone other than Daddy was a choice. I told her not to stress out too much about it because she didn't have to decide for another 30 years.



Ellie wanted kisses from Caroline! Caroline was sitting on my lap and Ellie scooted herself over to get in on the action. She pinned her big sister down and got some lovin'! She's not crawling yet but she's alllllmost there.



Dora was super exciting and extra captivating this morning. On a side note - fruit loops, when slightly chewed on and then spit out, will stain sheets. Kind of makes me wonder about the dyes that are used to make them? And then ingested?



Couch to 5k hasn't killed me yet! I'm on week 4. It is VERY hard to run pushing 70+ pounds of babies and stroller, 80+ if you count all of the gear they require to remain happy for 45 minutes. Needless to say, I'm totally exhausted by the time I'm done.



Caroline had a long morning of shopping with me and Ellie had a long morning of playing with Grammy. We came home and got ready for naps in our warm beds! Caroline decided she was going to read to me by retelling a Pinkalicious story. It..was..grueling...but amazing from a former teacher's point of view! Ellie had enough after a few minutes. She put her head down and waited for it all to be over.

I hope everyone has had a great week! It's almost the weekend, which means Luc and I are headed to the Wildcatter's Ball at Hilton Americas. We decided at 8:00 last night to go. Caroline and I went dress shopping this morning (I strongly dislike Deerbrook Mall) and Luc found a tux during his lunch break. I'm excited for a night out and the girls are excited for a night with Grammy and the Bock!