By Geri Imler on 11/19/2009 10:51 AM

This past weekend the girls got to have fun with their Gramma and Grandpa.  They came into town for the weekend, which included a fun walk at the park, playing around our house, reading a lot of books together, and going out to dinner.  Abigail and Emma got to show Gramma and Grandpa their "tower" they like to go to at the park where they "fish" with sticks.  They also go to show them their playset outside as Gramma and Grandpa had not seen it completed yet.  We also got to celebrate Grandpa's birthday (a little late) with presents and cards.  Of course Abigail and Emma had to help him open his gifts and help him read his cards, which was super cute.  Part of the reason Gramma and Grandpa came into town was to watch the girls for us while we went to the Colts v. Patriots game Sunday night, which was a birthday gift to Tim back in September.  I will post photos from that later, but I wanted to say THANKS to them for taking care of our little girls!  Overall, we had a nice weekend together! 

  

Emma and Abigail throwing rocks into the water (left). Sophie catches a ride on her Daddy while on our walk (right).

  

Emma and Abigail walking with Gramma (left), and the girls getting a lift from Gramma and Grandpa on our walk (right).

  

Emma andAbigail showing Gramma and Grandpa how they "fish" at the tower (left).  Sophie playing on her mat (right).

  

Emma and Abigail helping Grandpa open his birthday gifts and checking them out with him.

    

Emma and Abigail reading Grandpa's cards with him (left).  Sophie taking a little nap on Gramma (middle), and Gramma reading to Emma and Abigail (right).

By Geri Imler on 11/19/2009 10:36 AM

We absolutely LOVE watching Sopie smile at things around here!  She has such a cute smile with her open mouth and dimples!  It just melts your heart!  Here are some adorable photos of her smiling!

  

Sophie's "excited" look (left) and her "relaxed and happy" look (right).

And Sophie giving a BIG smile for you!  Isn't she just ADORABLE!  This is a great photo of her! 

By Geri Imler on 11/12/2009 2:20 PM

This past weekend was so nice here, weather wise.  The girls enjoyed spending time outside and walking in the park on both Saturday and Sunday.  The park we go to has a ton of trails that you can walk on, but the one we went on both days was by the water so that the girls could throw in rocks and keep an eye out for ducks.  There is a "tower" along the way that the girls enjoyed playing on.  It is actually out on the water, so the girls picked up large sticks and pretended to fish with them in the water.  On Saturday, Abigail and Emma actually climbed up to the top of the tower with Tim so they could look around.  On Sunday, they didn't do that again but they did enjoy just playing in the water with their sticks.  Then on the walk back they kept drawing things in the gravel and telling us they were making "letters" or "numbers."  It was just a lovely day together at the park: walking, talking, and enjoying nature.  Oh, and Sophie is now big enough that she can ride facing forward in our front pack.  She LOVES looking around, and I think Tim is enjoying her more now that she is "into" things around her.  She was super cute in the front pack, but of course, she decided to "eat" it most of the time she was in it, so there is a lot of drool on it!  Guess we will need to throw that one in the wash...good thing we have two of them!

  

Abigail and Emma playing in the water with their "fishing poles" (left).  Sophie enjoying her time in the front pack as she looks around (right).

  

Abigail (left) and Emma (right)

Looking down on the girls from up on the tower.

  

Emma and Abigail playing in the water (left), and Sophie looking adorable in her drool soaked front pack (right).

  

Abigail and Emma walking with Mommy and looking out at the water.

By Geri Imler on 11/12/2009 1:22 PM

It is so fun how the little things make life sweeter.  For example, earlier this week, Abigail and Emma were trying to pretend they had backpacks on.  Since I had gotten them backpacks that were stored away, I got them out for them to use.  They were SO excited to fill them up with toys and books, and then put them on as they walked around informing me that they were "ready to go...to school!"   They told me that Austin and Ethan (their cousins) go to school, and that to get there, they had to go wait for the school bus.  It was so funny watching them walk around the house "looking" for the school bus and where the school would be.  Then, Emma got an idea.  See, both girls have been obsessed with Diego lately, so Emma announced suddenly that an "animal (was) in trouble!"  Since Diego is an animal rescuer, the girls started to pretend they were one, too.  And that meant their backpacks became their "rescue packs," just like on Diego.  They hilariously ran around, searching for animals to help, and saying, "Activate!" in Spanish (which sounds like act-tee-va-tay), just like Diego.  It took me a little bit to figure out what they were saying and doing, but then I was amazed at how they put all that together:  Diego = animal rescuer = rescue pack = activate (Spanish).  Now they love to run around with their backpacks on, either pretending to go to school or be Diego!  Another little thing this past week is that Sophie is trying hard to hold her bottle when she is drinking it.  It is so adorable watching her wrap those little hands around it and try to keep them there!  It will be so nice when she can do it all by herself!  She has also been trying very hard to grab her toys that dangle on her play mat, and she has been pretty successful lately!  I love watching her eyes get so bright and big as she works her little fingers to grab something!  The wonder and amazement on her face is truly wonderful to watch.  A final little thing that made this past week fun would be the sleeping bags the girls played in during movie time one night.  I had gotten them down for our upcoming vacation and thought it would be fun for the girls to use them for movie time. Abigail and Emma climbed right into them, snuggled up with their Blankies, and looked super cute!   They would "hide" inside of them when they thought a scary part was coming, poking their heads out to check out what was happening in the movie.  It made them seem like such big girls to me!  Check them out:

  

Abigail and Emma with their backpacks/rescue packs on.

  

Sophie trying to hold her bottle as she falls asleep.  And Sophie getting her keys on her play mat.

  

Abigail and Emma watching a movie in their sleeping bags.

By Geri Imler on 11/4/2009 4:23 PM

I have had some pretty long blogs lately, so I will make this one pretty short.  The other day we got Sophie a highchair to match the other two that we have for Abigail and Emma.  It is a space saver one that converts into a booster seat but that starts out being able to be reclined for her to drink a bottle in.  It is so nice to have her now "sit" down to dinner with us each night at the table!  And it brings back memories of when the girls were that little, which is hard to believe sometimes.  The other fun thing I wanted to post involves a pair of boots for Abigail and Emma.  Last August, their Uncle Dan got them each a pair of leather boots from Nordstroms to wear.  At the time the boots were way too big for the girls, so I tucked them away in their closet until they could wear them.  This week I pulled them out, and of course the girls wanted to wear them.  So we put them on, and they showed them off to everyone at the YMCA.  Abigail and Emma thought they were super cool in them, and well...they were!  Plus they loved how the boots sounded in our kitchen as they went "klippity klop" across the floor.  Just two little things that have added to the fun around our house: a highchair and boots!

 

Sophie in her new highchir & enjoying a bottle in it.

 

Emma & Abigail showing off their boots and then pointing to them.  (The boots actually go up to the middle of their calves!)

By Geri Imler on 11/4/2009 2:55 PM

Halloween was a really fun and busy day for us around here.  Since it was a Saturday, of course the girls had to wear their OSU dresses and cheer for the Bucks.  They are so funny in that every time they see the dresses, they yell, "O-H!" or "Go Bucks!"   During the day, we did some Halloween crafts, including making a Haunted House out of foam cutouts.  The girls did an excellent job with it, and then proceeded to play with it all day, making their animals knock on the door and say, "Trick or Treat!"  We ended up putting magnets on the back of the houses and hung them up on the refrigerator.  When I told Abigail and Emma later that it was time to put on their costumes, they were SO SO SO excited!  We got the girls all dressed up, and then decided it would be a good idea to practice trick or treating at our own house first.  So Tim took them out to the driveway, let them run up to the door where they rang the doorbell, and when I opened it they said, "Trick or Treat," which of course came out sounding like, "Bick or Beat!"  I gave them each a piece of candy, they said, "Thanks!" and after a few photos, we were ready to go!  Our first house this year was going to be their friends' house as we went over to their neighborhood to go around with them.  The girls did a good job in their neighborhood, and it was especially funny trying to get a photo of all six kids together.  Sophie did an excellent job with her first trick or treat ever...she slept in her Daddy's arms most of the time!  Then it was back to our neighborhood where I took Abigail and Emma around while Sophie stayed home to help Tim hand out candy.  The girls loved trick or treating and were not shy at all about running up to the houses.  In fact, it was hard for me to keep up with them!  I was not sure how many houses they would last through this year, but they just kept going and going until I finally told them we had to head back home.  Once home, they sat out with Tim for a bit to hand out candy, but then it was on to actually eating some of their candy.  They tried a few different candies, I put on a movie for them, and it was a "no tub tub" kind of night!  It did take a little bit for the sugar to wear off as the girls ran laps around our family room and couch.  Luckily in the morning they had forgotten all about the candy, though Abigail did ask if it was Halloween and if she could wear her costume.  I think Abigail and Emma really liked trick or treating and will look forward to doing it again next year.  On a side note: when we got home to go around our neighborhood, Emma informed me that she had lost a shoe.  I called our friends, and they looked around for it with no luck.  So Emma had to go around our neighborhood with mismatched shoes.  She was fine with that and still had fun, but then she pouted later that night about it and was upset the next day.  So we went and got her another pair from Target, which she proceeded to wear the rest of the day.  Then, two days later when Tim moved his car, there was the mysteriously missing shoe, right in the middle of our garage...go figure!  Anyone need a black pair of size 8 shoes?!?

    

Abigail (right) and Emma (middle) showing off their haunted houses they made. Sophie in her "Baby's 1st Boo" shirt (right).

 

Emma, Sophie, and Abigail before they got their costumes on (left).  Sophie looking at me like, "What am I about to wear?!?" (right).

    

Abigail and Emma practicing Trick or Treat at our house (left and middle).  Sophie during the practice run (right).

Sophie sitting with our carved pumpkins.

 

Mommy, Sophie, Emma, and Abigail ready to head out to trick or treat (left)!  The first house, their friends' house, the girls got ready before ringing the doorbell by fixing their witches hats (right).

   

Sophie at her first trick or treat (left) and then for the rest of them (middle).  Abigail and Emma...trick or treating pros (right)!

Fun with Friends!  Abigail, Emma, and Sophie with their friends, Lily, Addie, and Kirsten Jacobsen.