More new photos

Since Marie seems to be changing day by day, I though you would all appriciate an update! Marie can smile now, and does, a lot. She's a pretty happy girl, until she gets tired, then the screaming begins. I've been using a Peanut-Shell baby sling and it's been a lifesaver so far. About 5 minuets after being in her "shell" she is generally out cold.



Josie is doing great, completely potty trained. She loves her sister, and is a huge helper. She really likes playing with Marie (reading to her, pretending to put her down for naps etc) but Marie is not always the most cooperative. Josie can write her name now, and she can regonize letters A, B, C, JOSIE (of course), T, M, & N. She also is a huge talker and recently has been overheard saying the following: "Can we have a piscetti pickmick?" "Bikini bread (zucchini bread)" "Under and lightening" I think that's all of her recent cute sayings. I list them here so that I don't forget.

Josie has also taken to referring to herself in the third person almost all the time, which is sort of interesting. She'll come running in and say "Mom, Josie wants some chocolate milk". Definately one of her cuter phases.

Marie was babtised on Easter, here is a photo of us with her God-Parents, Stacey (Luke's sister) & Glendon

Marie's cake

Out cold. Marie was having a real problem staying asleep on her back at night, so with her dr's permission we've started putting her down on her tummy. She's now a champion sleeper and generally goes about 5 hours a stretch at night, which is awsome!

The girls....

Me, Josie, & Marie in her beloved Peanut-Shell. As you can see the sling is basically just a pouch, no buckles or straps, and she fits right in. She really seems to like it in there, expecially since it's so close to her favorite thing, being held.

Almost a smile...

New pictures!!!

Marie in her Easter dress, we babtised her on Easter Sunday but sadly I forgot my camera so I'll don't have any photos to post on that yet. As soon as I have some I'll put them up here. It was really a beautiful service.


Marie getting huge and holding her head up much better. Josie adores her, which is not to say she's not jealous at times, but she seems to take it out on Luke and I rather than her sister. Marie has started smiling and of course they melt your heart. It's amazing how fast tiny babies change, I had forgotten.









Two sleepy girls....














This photo cracks me up, click on it to enlarge, Marie is staring up at Luke. She's really seeming to see more now, making eye contact and following things. Her eyes have also started to lighten up a bit from that generic baby navy blue. I think they'll be similar to Josie's.

Recent pics...

Here are some of the most recent photos of our girls :) It's amazing how much Marie changes from day to day, I had forgotten how quickly they seem to grow in the beginning. She had her 2 week checkup today and is tipping the scales at 8lbs, 4oz, and is 20.75 inches long now.

Marie Isabel

Marie Isabel has arrived! March 3 (oddly enough born on her due date!) at 5:17pm, 7lbs 15 ounces, 20.25 inches long. She has a head full of dark, thick hair. All are doing well, if a bit tired, and enjoying our new family! Enjoy the pics and our love to you all!

Shannon, March 2, ready for baby...
Marie Isabel, moments old.
Josie meeting her new sister, she thinks Marie is "pretty okay" and "alright". She is protective so we're pretty sure she likes her!
Luke is an incredibly proud Daddy!
More of Marie...
Finally home, napping girls...

Holding Marie for the first time, Josie is a pretty proud big sister!

Our pretty, pretty girl...

Some really good artwork

The other morning Josie was drawing on her magnadoodle and I had to take pictures, she was doing some really good faces.


This one actually has pupils in it's eyes if you look close enough!
This one is me she says. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

And finally, because she's such a goofball, here's a great one of her idea of a "really good" outfit. Poor kid got my knock-knees though. She loves that rose, we won it at the carnival at a fair last summer, so it's really cheaply made. I don't think it was meant to be played with as much as it is, but she drags it around with her quite a bit. I just realized how old this pic is though. She's come a long way since November. For those that don't know, Josie is completely potty trained now!!! No more diapers, only big girl panties! We're really proud, but I think she's proudest of herself and her accomplishment!

Belly pic update

Ahhh, the belly. Getting bigger!

Sorry this one's blurry, I'm thinking we need a new camera. This pic, and the other in the red shirt are from a month ago, so about 28 weeks.

Almost exactly a month later, the belly at 32 weeks. Not much bigger I notice now, but if you look low where my hands are you can see it. I feel huge. Baby is doing great, very active. More so than Josie was for sure. This one kicks like crazy, and certain activities will actually wake it up and set if off (namely getting up at night to use the restroom, I dread it because it takes forever to fall back to sleep with No 2 kicking like crazy). Currently I'm measuring a week to two weeks big, but since Josie was 8 lbs 6 oz they're predicting this is just a large baby. I'm up to Dr appointments ever two weeks, and my next is Wednesday the 17. Currently I'm 33 weeks along, so that means we only have 7 weeks to go! I can't believe it's getting so close. March 3 is definitely creeping up on me. Luckily it's scaring me enough to get my butt into gear and start getting things ready.

Christmas cont...

Christmas Day we went to Luke's sister & her husbands new house, it is beautiful! We had a nice visit there with Luke's mom, and then came back the next day.
For Judy, because there aren't many pictures of you guys: Sorry it's not the best, but it's not too bad ;)

And Josie and Uncle Glendon checking out one of the movies she got (I love their two heads peeking over the couch):

Christmas!

We spent Christmas Eve at home, having a "lunch" with Josie's Great-Grandma & Grandpa and Papa Steve. We exchanged gifts and had a great time. Papa Steve totally spoiled Josie with this ridiculously nice princess dress up set and she LOVES it! She's a diva, I know.




Luke and I also got her a tricycle, which she had been asking for about a month- 2months before Christmas. She loves it, but with the cold & snow she hasn't had a chance to ride it outside much yet. It's a good thing we have hardwood floors so that she can cruise a little in the house.

And, of course, another year gone by without me getting a decent picture of her in her Christmas dress (red velvet jumper & black turtleneck this year for those of you who care about details). I know, but blame it on my "pregnancy retardation". Luke's been using that excuse a lot lately!

Snowstorm pictures

As you know, before Christmas we got hammered with a pretty good snowstorm here. We actually really enjoyed the time to relax & just stay home. That and Josie loved the snow. Here are a few photos of our beginning attempts at "digging out".

This is our "sled" that Josie loves, I took a pool floatie and tied a rope around it to drage her around. That's us summiting a 4 foot drift in the middle of the lawn.

This is my favorite picture of the snow, her cheeks matched her coat & pants, and she was just smiling away.

Here's Luke shovelling the front walk, somewhere under that drift by the wall of the house is our air conditioning unit, totally covered.

The amount of snow around her playset tells you how high it was, I think we got about 20" but the wind blew so badly it all drifted. I couldn't get her inside, she wanted to stay out and play, too bad it was only about 15 degrees at the time.

Feeding Cows...

It's good to be 2, you don't have to walk, you can see everything from Daddy's shoulders, and, in this instance, he sort of looks comfortable to sit on...






Papa Bob helped Josie climb to the top of a pretty tall haystack, she loved it up there and didn't want to come down.







I like this picture, you can't see too much but the sun gives it a nice element.







Here's Josie sitting on "Blue". She actually asked to get up on him, which I though was awsome. She really enjoyed it. And, one left over from the river, Luke and Josie climing rocks.