By Geri Imler on 2/22/2010 3:41 PM

On February 14th, 2010, we celebrated Abigail and Emma's upcoming third birthday with a party at our house.  The girls were super cute and so excited about it all.  They loved the decorations I put up (they chose Tinkerbell together this year as the theme), were thrilled about their Tinkerbell cakes, and could not wait to open all of their fun presents.  It was mostly just immediated family and a few of their friends.  When their friends showed up, Abigail said with a big smile, "All of my friends are here!"  It was a-dor-a-ble!  For their party, we had a ton of yummy food, had cake and ice cream, and opened presents.  It was just perfect for them, and I think they had a wonderful time!  I can't hardly believe they are three already!  Such biggie girls!  

     

In the morning, before the party, the girls played with PaPa (left).  Tinkerbell birthday cakes (middle and right).

      

Photos of Emma and Abigail before the party.  Tim and I made the shirts for them to wear, and they looked SUPER CUTE!

    

Before their friends got here, my parents gave out Valentine's Day goodies to them.  Sophie (left), Emma (middle), and Abigail (right) really liked all that they got!

  

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Abigail and Emma (left), and them blowing out their candles (right).

  

Still working on those candles (left)!  And enjoying their cake and ice cream (right).

       

Abigail (left) and Emma (middle) really liked the icing on their cakes!  The girls had quite the funny faces after eating all of those colors (right)!

 

Abigail (left) and Emma (right)

  

Friends Kirsten and Addie (left) enjoyed cake and ice cream, as well as did their sister, Lily (right), with her mom, Hayley.

  

The girls waited anxiously at the bottom of the steps as Gramma and Grandpa brought down their new reading chairs with their names on them (left).  After that, the girls opened their gifts in their new chairs (right).

  

Teamwork (left)!  And getting fun purses with stickers inside (right).

     

Getting cool flipping race cars (left), and Abigail and Emma opening gifts (middle and right).

  

Emma and Abigail working on opening the big present from Mommy and Daddy.

  

It turned out to be a big tent that will go up in their room.  Abigail tested it out by laying on it while Emma checked the directions (left).  Sophie playing with MawMaw after the party was over (right).

  

More fun photos of biggie girl Sophie as she sits up to play with her penguin (left), and a spatula and plastic cup (right). 

  

The girls in their new "reading corner" in their playroom (left), and having fun in their new ladybug tent that is set up in the playroom (right).

By Geri Imler on 2/22/2010 11:28 AM

We took some photos of Sophie when she turned six months old on February 14th, 2010.  She did have a bad cold when she woke up, so her nose is a bit red and her eyes are a little tired looking.  But overall, we think her photo session with us went great!  There were a ton of cute ones, but here are just a few of them!

  

  

  

By Geri Imler on 2/22/2010 10:48 AM

The weekend of Abigail and Emma's thrid birthday party started out with a lot of fun!  First, MawMaw came into town on Friday to help with running errands and getting ready for the party.  That Friday night the Olympics started, so the girls got to see a few skiers on TV.  They thought it was super cool when they would "blast off" and jump, yelling out "wheeeeee!"  Then, on Saturday, we got up early to head over to a party for their friends, Kirsten, Addie, and Lily.  It was super fun, and the girls LOVE hanging out with their friends.  They played with toys, ate cupcakes and Jimmy Johns, and helped them to open their presents.  Of course, they were not shy in wanting to help test out the new things their friends got, but they were pretty good overall.  Then, after a nap, we went over to a hotel to meet up with cousins Ethan and Austin, as well as Aunt Mimi and Uncle Ryan.  They were staying at a hotel so the kids could have some pool time, so Abigail, Emma, and Sophie got to enjoy some water fun.  Emma especially liked the hot tub (which was surprising) because it had tons of bubbles in it.  After some swimming, we all headed out to dinner at Max and Erma's and then back to our house for some family time together.  It was a great start to an already exciting weekend! 

     

Friday night with MawMaw -- enjoying some goldfish before bed (left).  At their friends' party -- Tim with Sophie (middle), and Abigail working a party horn (right).

     

At their friends' party -- Tim and Sophie (left), Abigail trying to get a balloon (middle), and both girls chasing balloons (right).

Their friends -- Addie, Lily, and Kirsten -- opening presents.

   

Abigail and Emma helping Lily open a present (left).  Abigail demonstrating how to swim in new floaties (right).

  

Later, out to dinner with cousins Austin and Ethan (left).  Austin and Ethan enjoying some Wii time at our house (right).

By Geri Imler on 2/22/2010 8:33 AM

Let's see...the first half of February included a fun snow day outside making snowmans with Daddy, Sophie getting to try out a swing for the first time (in the snow!), Sophie holding her own bottle, fun puzzles from a friend, Valentine's Day, and great sister time!  Abigail and Emma also learned to use the potty (yippee!) while we are still working with Sophie to get her to sleep through the night.  Overall, it was a VERY busy start of the month!  Check it out!

     

Abigail swinging in the snow (left).  Sophie enjoying her first time in a swing (middle)!  Emma also having some swing fun (right).

  

Emma and Abigail helping to build a snowman (left) and the end result (right).

  

Meanwhile, inside Sophie works on getting a Nuker to chew on.

  

On to building another snowman in the front yard with Daddy (left).  Emma and Abigail with their second creation (right)!

Sophie holding her own bottle!

  

Abigail and Emma with some fun puzzles a friend of mine sent them to enjoy.

    

Our Valentine's Day!  Abigail & Emma opening their cards (left), and Sophie with her first Valentine's Day card (middle and right).  Of course she had to eat it!

    

Abigail and Emma being super adorable (left)!  Emma, Sophie, and Abigail ready to head out to do some errands (middle).  Sophie rocking her shades (right)!

By Geri Imler on 2/15/2010 1:41 PM

So, let's try to get caught up a bit.  Back in January, Tim and I took a little time to ourselves and left the girls for the weekend with his parents.  It was the first time since Abigail and Emma were born that I had left them (almost three years!), so I was a bit anxious, but also excited.  We went to Chicago for the weekend, enjoying dinner out with friends, the Shedd Aquarium, shopping on Michigan Avenue, and a romantic dinner out together (with no kids!).  It was a wonderful weekend, and the girls had a ton of fun with Gramma and Grandpa!  I must admit it was nice sleeping all night and sleeping in the next morning, but it was sure strange to not have anyone else to look after, pack up, clean up after, worry about, etc.  I can't remember the last time when the only bag I had to lug around was my purse! 

     

Photos of Tim and I before heading out to dinner both nights. 

The day after we got home, I had walked out of the family room to get something, only to return to find Sophie had discovered a new toy....the box that holds all of her toys.  She had somehow pulled it over the top of herself, and when I lifted it up to peek in at her, she just smiled and tried to pull it down over her head again.  She played with this box for a long time, proud of herself when she would pull it down and surprised when I would lift it back up.  It was super cute and shows just how ornery Sophie is!

  

This is how I found Sophie (left), and this is her reaction when I picked up the box to say, "peek-a-boo" to her (right).

  

Sophie trying to pull the box back down on herself.

  

She had so much fun with it (left)!  Somehow she got herself turned around, too, and instead of her head, she got her legs in the box (right).

Sophie

Tim also had the fun experience of feeding Sophie her "mush" (rice cereal), which was the first time he has done that with her.  She seemed to enjoy it!

  

Tim feeding Sophie (left) and her thinking, "Do I have something on my face?!?" (right).

Lastly, we all went to a bounce house one day.  Abigail and Emma ran around like crazy while Sophie slept a bit and then hung out in the Snugli with me.  The girls became more brave the longer we were there at the bounce house, and Emma even went down some really big slides by herself several times.  The girls had a lot of fun, and I am sure we will make a return trip some time!  We didn't take our camera into the bounce house, but we did get a cute photo of Sophie in her hat later when we got home.  Check her out!

Sophie in her cute hat!

By Geri Imler on 2/1/2010 9:12 PM

Sorry again for not keeping the blog up to date!  We have been busy as bees: from Tim and I having our first weekend away in three years (yes, I said three years), to Sophie's sleep training and starting solids, to Abigail and Emma starting potty training, I have not had time to update the blog.  I will try to get some things posted tomorrow or at least by the end of the week.  We also got a new kitchen table, which is super exciting!  So check back a bit later for more fun photos and stories of our cozy life! 

By Geri Imler on 1/20/2010 1:51 PM

After all of the chaos of Christmas and the mass amount of new toys and things for the girls, we decided we had to come up with a new strategy for organization around here.  So, after turning the dining room (which was rarely used) into a playroom, it was time to figure out just how to store all of those toys that were on the floor and in plastic boxes so that the girls could easily get them out to play with and put them away when they were done.  So we come up with the idea of these "cube shelves" with bins in them for the girls to keep their toys separated and organized.  We filled a whole wall with these shelves, divided up the toys so similar things would be in the same bin, and then used the opened shelves to store other toys.  We stuck their bookshelf in the middle of all of this, Tim decorated the top of the shelves with baskets of animals, and ta-da!  An organized, easy to use and clean up, fun-to-be-in playroom!  The girls LOVE being in there, and they do a great job of helping to clean up before nap time and bedtime each day.  We have made the rule that the girls must keep their toys in the playroom unless they are given permission to have them elsewhere in the house, and this has really helped to cut down on clutter in the other rooms.  Of course there are days when the playroom looks like it exploded everywhere, but at least it is easy to pick up and put back in order.  Also, getting a lot of boxes and toys off of the floor and into the bins and shelves has really opened up the floor space in the playroom, too.  The girls are free to be creative and independent in there, and it is a lot of fun to just sit in there with them as they play.  And Sophie enjoys watching her sisters move around and be active as she rolls around on the floor in there.  Overall, we are very pleased with the result so far!  Take a look at the new shelves and bins:

The new wall of shelves and bins in the playroom.  The floor space is completely open in front of this wall now, which gives the girls a lot of room to play!

By Geri Imler on 1/20/2010 1:24 PM

Sophie is getting to be such a big girl!  This past week she had her two bottom teeth pop up, and then a few days ago, she tried rice cereal for the first time.  She didn't know what to make of it at first, but I am pretty sure she liked it because when I put the bowl down for a second she started screaming for more!  Emma and Abigail were great helpers, too, by feeding her some spoonfuls and talking to her while she ate.  It was hard to remember just how much she would probably eat for her first try, but Sophie let me know by opening her mouth over and over for spoonfuls until she finally didn't open it anymore, so she must have been full.  She is now eating it both in the morning and at dinner time, and she seems to really like it!  I love that she already knows what is coming now when I put her in her seat at the table, and that she keeps opening her mouth for more to eat!  I did forget how much comes back out that you have to keep putting back into her mouth, but it is still super cute!  See Sophie's big milestone below!

  

Here comes the very first bite (left)......and her reaction of, "What is this?!?" (right).......

  

.....and then thinking, "Maybe this is not too bad" (left).....and finally enjoying it as she gets messy (right)!

By Geri Imler on 1/19/2010 8:13 PM

Another day of snow brought more snow fun!  The girls kept asking and asking to go out and play in it as soon as they saw there was more snow, so Daddy took them out with him when he took down Christmas lights outside.  This time, Abigail made a snow angel, which is funny because we are not sure where she learned to do that or if she remembered it from last year (which would be pretty amazing!).  Emma decided to "paint" the tree with snow, and of course they made snowballs to throw up in the air.  They had a great time, but did get a bit chilly this time! 

   

The girls making snowballs to play and trying to make a snowman (left).  Emma (middle) and Abigail (right) as my little eskimos!  Abigail is pretty happy about her snowball.

 

Emma painting the tree with snow (left) and then watching as Abigail makes a snow angel (right). 

By Geri Imler on 1/19/2010 7:57 PM

Sophie is such a mover and a shaker as a baby that we decided to get her something fun to use all that energy in.  She has been using so much of Abigail and Emma's old stuff that we wanted her to have something of her own, so we got her a brand new jumperoo.  It is like an activity center that she can sit in and also bounce up and down.  The seat rotates all around so she can play with different things, and it has several height adjustments so it can grow with her.  At first she just looked at it, not really sure what she was suppose to do in it.  But she is starting to build up her "stamina" to play in it for longer periods, and as of today, she just loves to jump and bounce up and down in it.  It is like she forgets that she can do that in it, and then when she starts jumping she gets really excited and happy.  Super cute!  I think that this Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo is going to provide a lot of fun and entertainment for our little energy ball!

  

Sophie enjoying her new Jumperoo!