Happy Halloween!

We had a blast for Halloween! Mary Kate was "Ariel the Nernaid" and Claire-Bear was a chili-pepper. Mary Kate was all set to be Snow White for Halloween until one day she decided to be Ariel. That left me in a dilemma because we didn't have a costume for Ariel. So, thankfully, my parents went to the Disney Store and found one on sale. Whew, we dodged that bullet!

Also, Aunt Jennifer made Mary Kate the cute fall outfit that she has on in the picture by the pumpkin. We apparently carved our Walmart pumpkin too soon because it rotted days later.

Down on the Farm

Last Saturday we took the girls to Petite Creek Farm in Cartersville for some pumpkin picking and animal petting. Mary Kate had a blast and Claire thought it was pretty fun too!

Catchin' Up

We celebrated Brian and Mary Kate's birthdays during the month of September. We celebrated mine too, but we won't go there. Brian told me that on his special day he just wanted to spend time with his girls and watch football.



All Mary Kate could talk about for a whole year was how she wanted a Nemo cake for her birthday. The week before her party she changed her mind and wanted a mermaid cake. My mom helped me make it.



Brian's sister, Jennifer, decided to make Mary Kate a dress for her birthday. She asked me to come over to help her make some dresses, and well, let's just say that I don't think she realized how "challenged" I am in the sewing department. But I can iron like a champ! The dress turned out so cute! I think she could sell them.



And of course, we need to show off Claire-Bear who is quickly approaching 7 months.

Sweet Sisters

The "Dark Eye"

Mary Kate fell off of the bed the other day during her "nap time." And I do use the word "nap time" loosely. She no longer sleeps during "nap time" but plays, sings, and apparently does various acrobatics which cause her to fall off of her bed. She ended up with a black eye. It's not that bad for a black eye but she called it her "dark eye."

Here is a better picture of her but not her "dark eye."

Update

Hello All! If you check this blog often, then I am so sorry that I have been slacking in posting pictures. Here are some sweet ones.

National Cow Appreciation Day

Madelyn here! I decided to update the blog for my sister since she tends to be too busy with the girls to do it. Last Friday was National Cow Appreciation day, and if you dressed up like a cow and went to Chick-fil-A, they would give you a free meal. So I talked to my sister and we decided to take her girls, as well as the little girl that I babysit. I got really into the costume making, and even decided to make one for my sister, Claire, and myself (Claire's turned out to be really cute!). Anyway, we went, got free food, and MK got to give many hugs to a gian cow they had there. All in all, it was really fun and worth all the funny stares we got while walking into the mall.

Just Claire

Bumbo Seat

Claire's Aunt Jennifer let us use her bumbo seat. I wasn't sure if she was old enough to sit in it yet, so last week we tried it out.







Not sure what we think.



Survey says- We don't like it!

I guess we will try again in a week or so. :)

Matching Again

My friend Kirsten made these dresses for my girls. She is extremely talented. I am not sure if you can tell, but their dresses have their names embroidered on them.

Let's Go Yoga-ing

Brian got me a membership to a gym in town for Mother's Day. I am very excited about it and have gone twice. Last night (my second time going) I wanted to do the 6:30 class but didn't know what it was until I showed up. Turns out it was "power yoga." I was a bit nervous after Jennifer's post, but I thought I would try it out. Here are some of my observations:

1. Up dog and down dog is a position in yoga, not a command to a dog.

2. Apparently, my hamstrings are glued in a too-tight position and have been since 1978.

3. I am not flexible.

4. I do not have good balance.

5. Yikes! I do NOT bend that way!

6. I enjoyed the relaxation part of the class. However, Brian wants to try Yoga and he would fall asleep during the relaxation part and I would have to drag him home. (He falls asleep in less than two minutes).

7. Men don't look attractive doing yoga. (Sorry honey, but maybe you should just try it at home). I too had one male in my class and he looked a little funny doing some of the moves. Then again, so did I.

All in all, not a bad experience, but I couldn't tell if I got a work out or I was just plain worn out from trying to figure out all of the strange positions people were getting themselves into.

First Hair Bow

Smiley Face

Mary Kate has discovered an interest in drawing. She will make all kinds of cute squiggles and will say that they are anything. She drew the features on the face. I made the circle. This is her very first face, that actually looked like a face, so we took a picture of it!

"Claire-Bear"

When Brian and I were talking names and were deciding on "Claire" we decided that we absolutely would not call her "Claire-Bear." Well, we are calling her that. I think it suits her. Not because she acts like a bear, but because she is cuddly and soft and very sweet.

Yes, We Are...

the kind of people that like to match our cute kids!

Throwback Post:Balloons and Bows

Balloons and bows? If you think that sounds like more girl stuff, you would be right. When we arrived home from the hospital with our brand new baby girl on March 12th, here is what our mailbox looked like:





The bow is courtesy of Cabell Sweeney, our most talented friend. Ever been to Cracker Barrel or someplace and seen the college-themed pottery? That's her. She also painted an awesome picture for Claire's nursery as a shower gift...now we can be snobby and say that we have original artwork in our house. I guess we should say that while holding a glass of shiraz or something.

The balloons are courtesy of David, Julie, Ellen, Meredith, and Christina Tomlin, our across-the-street neighbors. Christina and MK were born six weeks apart, and have become fast friends:



And, in a flash of diplomatic genius, I managed to talk the entire Tomlin family into standing next to each other and smiling:

Little Cowgirl

MK is apparently following in her cousin Haley's footsteps with the cowgirl thing.





Meanwhile, I am more and more happy each day that we have girls, who like hairbows and pretty stickers and things like that. I have found that they also like to decorate things. The only fitting caption to the following pictures is "MK lives here."





When I rounded the corner and saw that, the look on my face was not unlike the look on Claire's face here:

Updates via Picture

So we haven't been great about updating the blog with pictures of baby Claire and our new situation. I don't know why...it's not like we have been busy or something.

Here is an update:

MK has learned the joys of playing on Daddy's back:



Baby Claire has learned the joys of tummy time:



MK is showing potential of becoming the next Jackson Pollack:



Aggie, as always, is hanging in there quite well:



MK is extremely affectionate and doting toward Claire:



Claire met our good friends Ben and Kristie Hogue, who are expecting their first child this summer:



And Bryan and Krista Pierce - Bryan is our pastor at Seven Hills Fellowship:



More to come!

MK is settling very well into life as a big sister...a few shots of her life these days: