Playing Around

Here are some random photos of the kids playing around.

Rachel didn't take a nap yesterday, so to keep her happy and entertained we made brownies. They were very "numnum"!

Here they are playing together on the floor. I didn't notice this until I uploaded the pictures that they're basically in the same position.

Guess Rachel thinks she needs to start him early on learning the alphabet. Here she is using her flash cards with him.

Rachel likes to play pretend a lot and this is her way of playing naptime. She once saw me take a nap in my recliner and ever since she's mimicked it. This time it was Buzz's turn to nap with her (though of course she didn't really nap...that would silly!).

And here's William napping for real :)

March Snow

I can't believe we got snow in the middle of March this year! And not just a dusting...4 inches at least! And in a flash, it was gone. The high the next day was in the 60s! Here are some shots of how we made the most of our 24 hours of snow.

My spring wreath dusted with windblown snow. The winds were wicked strong that day.

Yes, she's headed toward me with that monster snowball!

Bring it on Little One! :)

Rachel made her Daddy pull all the icicles off the side of the house and brought this one in to show me; then we kept it in the freezer for a few days.

Our little snowbaby got to see the snow too, though I doubt he'll remember any of it :)

Here's William getting his XBox 360 lessons from Dad.

Go! Go! Yay Dad!

For a brief moment she let me put her hair in pigtails. Maybe one day she'll keep them in!

Her First Science Lesson?

Rachel discovered this weekend that there are particles in the air, and that morning sunlight brings them out. This video is the second time she started swatting at these; I wish I could have gotten a video the first time she did it, because she had this look of awe on her face the first time, as if she was thinking "Holy cow! There's stuff flying all around me!" :)

She Is So Like Her Mother...

Turns out Rachel is getting more and more girly everyday. It appears she shares my love for clothes, babies, and instant gratification (or do just all 2 year olds have absolutely no patience?).

Last week Rachel got two surprise packages in the mail, both containing clothing; one from my mom and one from my aunt. On both occasions she immediately demanded to put on the clothes (and in my mom's case, shoes) that came out of the box. Since she's still not talking much, this demand consisted of several loud shouts of "Mom! Mom!" and her stripping off whatever clothing she was wearing at the time!

After putting on the blouse my aunt got her, she rubbed her tummy and said "woo woo" which means she likes it!

Then she had to show William her new bunny rabbit!

After putting on the dress and shoes from my Mom, she proceeded to twirl around the kitchen island. Good thing I have a sports setting on the camera or these would have all turned out too blurry to see!

Yesterday when I told her we were going to the store, she decided to put her "baby" (which is actually a lion but she calls anything cuddly a baby right now) in William's car seat. I love when she plays pretend like that! Last week's trip to Central Market yielded a balloon for Rachel; she Loves balloons. In fact, this one was around for about 4 days! She was so tired when we got home, but she would not give it up even for a showing of Toy Story.

And lastly, an example of why timing is so important for pictures with kids :)

2 Year Old Emotions

I read in our pediatric development book that 2 year olds' emotions can change from one minute to the next. I thought this set of pictures explores that idea pretty well! The looks on both their faces are so funny in these (this is why I love digital cameras...I'll take 2 dozen pictures and get some pretty good ones for all the ones that turn out blurry or fuzzy). The following pictures took place over about a 2 minute time span.

William Is Such a Lucky Boy...

...his sister didn't get rides like this until she was about 3 or 4 months old!

Baths, Naps, and Other Stuff

William got his first bath last week now that his cord finally fell off. While he was quite startled when I first put him in the water, he quickly came to really like it and his subsequent baths have been really easy because he seems to like the water a lot.

Rachel was a good helper too during his bathtime

And since we're talking of bathtimes, I had to include this one of our bathing beauty. We can't even say the word "bath" without Rachel getting very excited; she'll start stripping off clothes and diaper and run to the bathroom if she even thinks she's getting a bath!

Here's a couple of good shots of William by himself.

A sleeping baby is a happy baby (and makes a happy Mommy too!)

And finally, some pics of a very happy 2 year old enjoying the fruits of Mama's culinary labors! She really got into to cleaning this beater covered in banana bread batter (say that fast 5 times!).