mrs. sparkly eyes

not to be confused with mrs. sparklenose, also a regular at our house.

new tricks

both girls learned new skills this week. in what is becoming more and more evident in their personalities, one child is a little more understated:



and one is...um...not.



helen rolled over this morning from back to front while i was in the bathroom brushing my teeth. there was no fuss or fanfare on her end, she was just happily on her tummy listening to some tunes when i returned.

thea has been extremely complimentary lately. is this a normal stage of a child's development? she tells me 'good job mommy!' for any number of things throughout the day. just this morning she complimented zack, 'good parking daddy!' and me, 'good laundry mama!' [we've become mommy and daddy now. she has pretty much dropped mama and dada unless she's sad or tired.] carley taught thea the go bananas cheer and thea has really made it her own. she often substitutes 'bananas' for my name and i honestly feel like i am living with my own personal life coach. "go mama, go go mama!" i'm not gonna lie, it makes life pretty fun.

oldie but goodie

thea was looking at videos on my phone today and played this one which i don't remember ever seeing. it was taken when helen was just five weeks old. thea continues to be such a good big sister and regularly gives her little sis hugs and says, "aaaawwww, i LOVE her."



plus a couple pics of thea and my parents, taken that same week, just before they left san diego. i regret not getting a photo of them with both girls but hopefully they will be back out here soon [hint, hint].

she found her voice

happy birthday aunt becky [yesterday] and cousin william [tomorrow]!! we love you!

the time has come

i go back to work on tuesday [boo hoo!!!] so i'm trying to eek out every last second with the girls while i can. we've had a busy week dancing, dressing up, playgrounding, blowing bubbles, painting, putting together puzzles, tummy timing and more.















after spending the weekend watching all the devastation in japan and learning about a tragic incident at one of our stores in maryland, i feel very unsettled. please be safe everyone. life is precious.

miami!

below are some of my favorite photos from our trip to miami. we feel so fortunate to be able to visit such an amazing place, be treated so well while we are there and see [almost] all of our family, who traveled a long way to be with us. it was a wonderful vacation and we're already planning for 2012. we will come prepared with lots of airborne, homeopathic immunity boosters, oscillococcinum and tissues :)

on the move

helen rolled over today from tummy to back. i'm calling these her first legit rolls even though she did roll over once awhile back. it was the night carol was leaving san diego, so i think it was january 17. we had said goodbye to grama and closed the door when she remembered she had forgotten her phone. she knocked on the door and came back inside and at that very moment helen made her grand move. instead of cheering and rushing to take a video, zack and i just looked at each other in horror. the look on our faces must have screamed, "oh hell, we're so not ready for this!" because carol immediately said, "...and that's the difference with baby number two."



happy birthday to uncle eli and happy anniversary to nana and papa, both occuring yesterday!

three months old

hellie belly turned three months old today which didn't go unnoticed by her big sister who, never one to let a celebration pass her by, sang 'happy birthday' many many times.

helen had a check up in early february and she weighed in at a hearty 12 pounds six ounces, doubling her birth weight in just two short months! she was 22 inches long which put her in the 37th percentile for height and 85th percentile for weight. i thought she was going to be a peanut but looks like i might have been wrong!

i've been meaning to post this photo, which is a lot like this photo, since the day of our appointment:



helen handled the immunizations like a champ...looking at the size of her legs, i'm surprised she felt anything at all!

this month marked her first trip on an airplane, taking four flights to/from miami and, simply put, she was amazing, waking up for a sum total of about two hours the entire time we traveled.

she continues to be such a sweet thing and oh-so-quiet. she gurgles quite a bit but in the softest, most gentle way where you have to lean your head in and listen closely to hear her.

she's a little angel. in fact, we have two angels and i thank my lucky stars every day.