Love Ya!

I know....don't you just want to eat her up. Andy gave the girls these little balloons for Valentine's Day and Jo was playing with one when I got this picture. I'm going to have to frame it.

So our dear friend Kelly Logan volunteered to babysit for us on Valentine's Day so Andy and I were able to institute the Valentine's Day Challenge. We started the date out at Q-Doba who was having a buy one get one free (burritos) if you kiss at the register deal. We stood in line for 35 minutes to order dinner for the next night (so good) and some chips and dip for our appetizer. Then we headed to Target.....oh yeah! We each had $5 and 30 minutes to find 3 things that the other person would like, then we picked the one we wanted from the 3 choices. It was so fun....and a little challenging (hence....Valentine's Day CHALLENGE). So after finding lots of good stuff, I walked away with a new utensil holder which I had been wanting for some time and Andy with Groundhog Day (great flick)! We are FOR SURE doing it again next year. We ended the evening sharing a plate of ribs at Applebees....good times!

We had one or two really nice days which were spent.....you guessed it, SWINGING at the park. I am serious when I tell you that we went to the park at 11 to meet Andy for lunch around 12:15 and Hadley wanted to swing the entire time. She did get out a couple times but wanted to get right back in. It was also Jo's first time in the swing and I think she is going to be like her sister.....loving that swing.

such a happy girl.
Hadley is ALMOST potty-trained! She wears Dora underwear at home and hardly ever has accidents. She wears pull-ups when we leave the house and has been doing so well telling me if she has to go. She gets lots of M&Ms and cookies!
This is Joni playing peek a boo on the playground. She LOVES that game!
Anytime she wanted out of the swing (to be put right back in) I made her go down the slide first. She does love those slides too. She is definitely an outdoorsy, getting dirty, kind of girl. Andy is very happy about this.
This past weekend we headed north again to see Jon, Heather, and Nolan. The Children's Museum in Indianapolis is ranked as one of the best and Monday admission was free. So, we went up on Saturday and were able to spend some time with our dear friends. They have a puppy and Joni and Hadley are checking him out.
So Hadley found Jon's Halloween costume stash in one of the closets and we got them out to play. So great!
Hadley wanted part of the action too.
Sweet Nolan-boy. He is such a cutie and the girls (as in ours) love him. Love you guys!
Joni is eating less baby food now and more people food....she loves canned green beans (hated anything green that came in baby food jars) and whole bananas. Hadley also likes to share her Goldfish with Joni who doesn't mind one bit. Her second tooth is just about to pop through!
I'll dedicate one blog post to the museum since we took so many pictures there. In the meantime, hope everyone is well. Love to you all!

1st Professional Haircut

I'm keeping on top of the blogging this month! Only a few pictures to share but we had some major events going on around here :) Below is a picture of Hadley in an Oma outfit. It was very appropriate for Valentines Day!

She does this often.....buckles herself in and all. It is somewhat humorous that she still fits so well. The only problem (or advantage) is that she can't get herself out and so I have to come to rescue. It is nice knowing exactly where she is and that she isn't getting into anything she shouldn't be. Besides, usually the only reason she wants out is so she can get back in and do the buckle again......silly girl.
Joni-girl watching while Hadley sits in her car seat and looking darling while doing it.
HADLEY'S FIRST HAIRCUT! My little baby is all grown up and getting her hair cut! Hadley was born with my wonderful hair that gets more and more fuzzy and frizzy the longer it gets. So, to shape it up a little, Nana and Papa and I took her to a kids hair cutting place in town and got her first professional haircut. They have cars instead of chairs (Hadley chose the princesses of course) and TVs to watch and toys to play with. It was so fun and took all of 10 minutes. She did great and now looks even cuter (if that was possible :))
Blowing bubbles to keep her hands occupied.
And the finished look. It is still long enough that I can put it in pigtails or a ponytail if we need to but she can also wear it down without it being all over the place. Such a big girl! Thanks again Nana and Papa!
Joni and Papa! Kemper and Janet came back through on their way home and spent a couple more nights with us. We miss them when they leave because we just have so much fun when they are here.....
we play games (notice the short hair)......
and go for walks.....
and get to dress-up in cute outfits to get our pictures taken. This was the morning they left....all ready for church and looking very Valentinesy.
Our two other big events have to do with Joni. She is growing up so fast....9 months already!!! This past week she started pulling herself up now everywhere I see her she is standing next to something....the coffee table, the chair, the toilet (I know...the door now stays shut). AND....she also got her first tooth! We knew it was coming and it finally popped through. She also enjoys real bananas and Kix (who knew). Only 3 short months and she'll be 1! So crazy! The weather has been slowly trying to warm up and we are looking forward to the heat when it gets here. Swings and slides....here we come! Love to you all!

we love nana and papa!

One more sister comparison....oh, look.....the same. This is how Joni woke up (and how I woke up) when we brought her to bed with us. Either both girls have cold feet and are using me as a heater or they enjoy it when I don't sleep :)

I know you have all been waiting with baited breath for the next picture........OUR VALENTINES TREE! Only 2 more decorating sessions to go before we put it away until the day after Thanksgiving :)

Now back to the reason for the title of this post. We DO love Nana and Papa but this week we loved them even more because they were here to play with us!!!! Yay! Janet and Kemper were supposed to fly to Egypt this week and if you have been following the news at all, you would know that the Egypt vacation was out of the question. After 5 hours on the phone and 23 different customer service people, Janet got the tickets and money refunded. So since they had 2 weeks off, where better to go on vacation than Louisville, KY to see grand-babies! They surprised me (Andy didn't tell me they were coming....told Hadley but not me) and spent a few nights with us. We went to the "Fun fun place" as Hadley calls it (Science Museum), had breakfast at Wild Eggs (so good), and went shopping to get Hadley new shoes (we all love that). They aren't staying with us the full 2 weeks (sniff), but promise to come back this way after their road trip to see us again before heading home next week.

Jo's favorite beads.

Can you guess where we are.....Wild Eggs for breakfast.

And at the mall....don't worry, it was empty.

So I know you all have been missing our zoo pictures :) but we got all bundled up and braved the 30 degree weather and did something fun outside before another snow storm hit....and yes I do mean another one. We have one at least once a week. We were three people of ten there that morning! THAT is how much we love the zoo :) It was nice not having to fight the crowds and I got some great close-ups too.

Every Wednesday has become "craft day" for Hadley. We make a picture for Nana and Papa and one for Oma and Opa and one for Daddy. She loves it and I love it so I think we'll keep it up. Here she is painting with dyed banana pudding. It was great, she made some awesome artwork and had a little snack :)

I make these taggies for new babies in the church and I kid you not....I went to answer the phone and came back and she had placed and pinned 3-4 ribbons just like I had been doing. I was so proud. (tear)

These next few are mostly for my mom who sent the girls a giant box of clothes after she hit a Once Upon a Child sale! They look so cute every single day.....and now with the new shoes too.....there are no words :) (yes those ARE horse tights that match the horse skirt you can't really see!)

Andy is back in the full swing of school and work and work and school. This first week wasn't too bad but we know that he is going to have to start studying too. The girls and I, of course, stay busy with something everyday but we love it. Joni is crawling (still army style) everywhere and is working very hard on pulling herself up. She said "mama" and "dada" last week too (first words---mama was first :)) Hope all is well in your part of the world and we are sending WARM thoughts your way! Love to you all!