Babes at the Beach

FINALLY got Mom to the beach this year (after several years of failed attempts) for her birthday.  It was kinda short because getting all of us there took a little longer than we expected and then Mom had to get back for an appointment.  We had to set up,

Thanks Rosie!

photograph the babes and try to get them in the water

The water was cold

 and of course, have our waffles, strawberries and ice cream!!  Sorry, no photos of that-too messy! ;)  Happy Birthday, Mom!

Crawling and Cruising

Amber sure does get around now :)  So cute!  She was whining a little in this one because I kept backing away from her and she wanted to be picked up.  This was 9/3/10.  Now she's crawling to anything low enough to hoist herself up on and and then bopping her way along or around it!  Apparently uploading stuff doesn't go so well while Ken is playing Call fo Duty (I call it Doody).  It doesn't like the big video of cruising so we'll just have to skip it.

Wind-down to FALL

The weather is finally changing from the extreme heat of summer to a windy fall.  For the first time in years I'm actually not that excited.  Well, part of me isn't because I was just getting used to keeping up with shorts-wearing maintenance (hate hate hate shaving).  Most of me is thrilled for all the things this fall brings- Andrew's very first school year, my favorite weather and clothes, and good-bye mosquitoes!  Did I mention all of the babies coming this fall?!  So excited for all of my friends!   Best wishes everyone. I tried posting more crawling and cruising videos last weekend but it kept failing.  I hope to get them up soon.  To follow will be Amber's 3 seconds in the Atlantic.

Awake

I'm up in the middle of the night...
Amber seems to need to eat around midnight after 4ish hours of sleep.  Then she pretty easily (not really easily) goes back to sleep until about 4 or 5 AM to eat again.  She'll sleep until 7 or 8 ish but she's also not ravenous at that time.  Then nap time is 10 and she'll eat right before that for a decent 10 minutes (she nibbles here and there in the morning).  No solid food yet in the morning (would that even help?).  I just can't figure out why she needs to eat all night long.
I went to bed early tonight and last night to try to catch up on some much needed sleep and tonight it's biting me in the fanny cuz I'm up now at 1:30 not able to go back to sleep.
She eats dinner at 5:30 or 6 and then gets around 5oz of milk between 7 and 8 PM before going to bed.  Lunch is at Noon and a snack before nap time at 3ish.  Have you seen her?  Is she just trying to keep that chubby figure or what?
We're tired of waking up every few hours, be it to eat or just cuz she can't soothe herself back to sleep too well yet.  I saw myself in the mirror today after a long day at work and I looked as bad as I felt.  Whoo!  I'm gonna need to wear makeup when I go out from now on cuz I'm like night of the living dead over here!
Poor Ken- he's starting to feel the effects of the broken-up sleep, too.  He's still my trooper though and sometimes we laugh in the middle of the night.  Amber is pretty cute- she reaches for him, sometimes lunges, until he pays attention to her (unless he's asleep- then I just have to hold her and put her back to bed when she's full). 
I think I'm starting to feel like I could go back to sleep now, so I'll sign off here.  Crazy baby schedule!  And I think I want more.  Remember what you're supposed to do when I say that?!

"More"

I swear at 4:20 this morning Amber used the sign for "more" correctly!  I had just fed her and was putting her back to bed when she put her fingertips together a few times and aaah-ed at me.  I picked her back up and fed her and then she went back to sleep on her own after talking for a little while.  Very cute- even for 4:20 in the morning :)

Do you like it?

So, I'm enjoying my blog so far.  It's a little therapeutic and a lot of fun.  I usually can't wait to tell you something new or exciting or interesting.  I wasn't sure I would like it this much.
Do you like it?

Neighbors are nice

I like going to the playground with our friends in the neighborhood.  Lucy and Grace are so sweet and Andrew just loves to play with them.  Not to mention it's a nice chance for us moms to catch up and provide support for each other (and talk about a recent deal or shopping spree!).

Lucy, Andrew and Grace

Puffs

Amber does not eat all of the puffs you give her, despite their disappearance...  here's where the vast majority wind up:

Random Happy Thoughts

Spending the day being productive (especially when Mom & Dad have the kids).
Sharing chocolate chips and pecans.
Smelling like your friend's perfume for hours after she hugs you.
Thinking of your friend because your daughter reminds you of her daughter.
Borrowing your friend's deodorant because you forgot to put yours on (and so does she on occassion, hence her having it in her locker).
Babies, babies and more babies!
An old poem someone wrote for you.
Dancing, in any way, shape or form!
College.
Crafting.
Girls night out!
Being on the same wave length.
Baking.
My kids' smiles.

And so begins the matching outfits!

Rosie and I decided that Claire and Amber will occassionally wear the same outfits and be photographed in said outfits.  Tonight was just the beginning!

This one makes me think of The Parent Trap except of course they're really saying 'you're not my twin' and it's true (or something like that).  Or maybe it's just... Claire: "i make this outfit look gooood"  Amber: "what's on your head?"