The girls are getting big

We went to the doctor this week just for the normal routine check up and immunization shots. Isabelle is 22 pounds (45%) and 32 1/2 " tall (95%). All the kids were the same, long and lean. :) She isn't walking yet and the doctor said she isn't concerned about it until she turns 18 months (she is 15 months now). Other than that doctor said she is doing great!

One of her favorite things to get into is the tupperware cupboard and the other is my purse...if she sees my purse on the floor or somewhere within reach, she is there quick and into my wallet. She likes to pull out all the cards.

I just started letting her use a spoon for eating but not all the time because honestly it's just too messy. She loves it when I give it to her though. :)

Cadence also had her check up and she weighs 29 pounds (50%) and is 39" tall (75%). Doctor said she looks great and doesn't have any concerns. She wore her dress up princess boots out and asked for a picture.

The girls play well together. Once and awhile Cadence is a little awnry and likes to take all the toys away from Isabelle. Hopefully as Isabelle gets older the good playing together continues.

Birthday Party

We had the kids' birthday party this weekend. The original plan was to go to the firestation and have a tour...but I guess a few minutes before we got there they got a call so we missed out on the tour. So we headed home to have some swim/play time. The kids had fun even without the fire station. :)

Cadence had some trouble blowing out her candles. You can see Jake trying to help out. :)

Both of the kids got lots of great gifts and had so much fun opening everything up. Dylan is really into StarWars right now and he got a bunch of new stuff so he was super excited!

And Cadence got her 1st big girl bike. She got on and started riding with no problem, I guess that's the benefit of having a older brother and being able to see how things are suppose to be done.

And Mark made a fantastic dollhouse for her. It is complete with tiled floor and carpet. :) It is huge and she loves it (actually all the kids love playing with it). Such a fantastic gift for her to have for a long time...maybe she'll keep it and give it to her kids (that would be really fun)!.

Happy Birthday!

Transformation

I've been working on a few furniture projects lately. The first is a desk that I found in front of someones house for trash pickup. I don't really have any shame any more about picking up other peoples garbage especially when I know that transformation that can take place. :)

I was really wanting a desk for Dylan's room for him to have quiet space for his homework. He was so excited about it and wanted to help out with getting it ready.

This is how it turned out. I still need to buy handles for it (I have to order because it is odd sized holes). I love it and it fits perfectly in his room!

I recently decided that since I have quite a bit of experience with painting furniture now (with all my random projects) that I would start to pick up some cheap pieces to repaint and sell on Craigslist. This is my first beauty. :) It was actually a free post on Craigslist and it was still there once I got to the house. Gross right (yes, that is dirt and grime on top)!

I just finished it up this morning and here is how it turned out! Notice the red theme...I think the color turns out really nice and is unique so people like it. I just posted it on Craigslists so we'll see how long it takes to sell and how much I make. :)

I have one more dresser in the the garage for my next project. I figured if I have a hobby, I might as well make some money with it. :)

Open Wide

Today Cadence went to the dentist for the first time. This picture is actually at the end, she is showing off her clean teeth. :)

She did amazing, wasn't scared at all and listened to the directions great.

No cavities!

2 more

2 nights ago Dylan pulled out 2 of his teeth all by himself. There was one on the bottom and a top tooth that have booth been loose for awhile. Mark accidently had hit his top tooth with something in the car when he was moving things around in the back on our trip that made that one really loose.

They were just hanging there and I guess Mark told him that he should just pull on it a little to see if it would come out...so he tried and it popped out onto the floor. I was outside and all I hear is Dylan running out giggling excited about pulling his tooth out. A few minutes later it's the same thing all over again, Mark talked him into trying the top one to see if it would come out and sure enough out it came. :)

California Trip!

We went on a trip to LA this weekend to visit Michelle. It was such a fun weekend and the kids did so amazing for having long event filled days with no naps.

This is a picture that Dylan took out his window as we were driving in of the windmills. He thought they were so great. Of course the trip got a little long and Dylan started to get a bit antsy sometimes which meant that he started to mess with his sister. The picture below shows what that involves.

We went to Disneyland on Thursday. It wasn't too busy so the lines weren't bad at all. Mark and
I had free tickets to get in and we didn't have to pay for Cadence since she is under 3 (until this Friday), so it was a cheap entry for us! The voucher we had required photo id to use it and when we were walking to get in line Mark asked me for my drivers license to which I felt my stomach drop and say..."I didn't bring my wallet with me today, I don't have it". It was such a gross feeling of thinking that we would have to drive the hour back to Michelle's house and then another hour back to Disney. Thankfully Disney was so nice and just gave me a free ticket to get in that didn't need photo id. Such a relief...so thankful to Disneyland!!

Mark's mom had given the kids money to buy something while at Disneyland. They were so excited to be able to bring their wallets with and be able to pick out what they wanted. Dylan's first purchase was a big cotton candy which he shared very nicely with Cadence.

We rode all the rides and the kids loved it. Cadence was a bit scared on some of them but in the end she said she liked everything.

Isabelle did such a great job and we took her on the rides that we could but she was so exhausted by afternoon. She finally konked out in her stroller for a little bit.

Cadence picked out her treat to be a huge lollipop. She ended up dropping it on the ground soon after we had it opened and it shattered to pieces. She was so upset about it that Dylan consoled her by giving her the other toy he had purchased with his money...a flashing R2D2 robot from Star Wars. It was really sweet of him.

The next day was beach day. The kids loved it! The weather was perfect and we stayed out all day. Dylan had lots of fun building a sandcastle and found feathers (gross!) as his castle tops. They were all covered in sand and Isabelle ended up eatting some as well. :)

When we first arrived Dylan was so excited to get into the water. He ran staight down and was jumping around and said "This is awesome" with no exaggeration probably 50 times in a row. It was so fun to watch him be so excited. :)

Isabelle just lounged around...she wasn't sure what she thought of the sand. She ended up taking a nap for about a hour on me, it was so relaxing! The afternoon ended with walking the pier & having some funnel cake & icecream for treat.

On Saturday Michelle took the kids to Toys R Us to pick out their birthday presents. She did this last year and the kids have a lot of fun with it. It is of course hard to wrap their little minds around that they can pick out whatever they like...but only one thing. It was hard for Dylan to narrow his options down but Cadence was very sure of herself as to what she wanted. Cadence ended up picking out a little purple purse that came with some plastic jewelry, cell phone & keys...which she loves and carried it around on her shoulder for the next few days. Dylan picked out a pirate play island thing which has already gotten lots of use.

After the toy store we headed to lunch and then Griffiith Park train area. We rode the little train that went around a that portion of the park.

The kids thought it was great to climb on all the old trains and check everything out.

That evening we headed back to the beach and Michelle was able to take this really great family picture at sunset!

Trip endings are always hard...especially for Dylan, especially when it involves leaving Michelle. They have a special connection and Mark and I think it goes back to the season of life where she came and cared for him while we were in the hospital with Lincoln. I'm not sure if he really remembers that time but I know that it gave him a sense of security that she was there caring for him with things were so strange in the house.

He wailed & cried for a solid 20 minutes after we left Michelle's apartment. We always tell him it is ok to cry and he did. :) He kept saying "goodbye michelle, goodbye apartment, goodbye city"! It is always so sad to see his defestation with the circumstance. He begged to stay for just one more day. We answered by saying "now that Michelle is so much closer, we'll be able to visit a lot more often." It consoled some and then was met with "can we plan the next trip now?"

Until next time. :)

The kids love it when Mark wrestles or tickle attacks them!

Isabelle is going to grow up so tough. :)

These pictures look like Isabelle is crying but she is actually squeeling & laughing.

So great. :)