Peek a Boo

These are from a few months ago (May 2010, actually), but I don't think I ever posted them, and what's the point of taking cute pictures if you don't post them? Taken in the locker room of the PG swimming pool. Siena thought it was hilarious to hide in the locker.

Buddha Baby

Tessa is officially HUGE. She is in the 96th percentile for weight (13.7 lbs at 2 months), and 90th percentile for "height" (they call it length, although her calves are so huge and strong she can fully support her own weight). As Caroline puts it, "She's a chubba wubba!" And she is such a happy baby! I had to put some pics of her on here. And she's a big talker too. She talks the most right after she wakes up.

Fun with old Friends

as in, friends we haven't seen for awhile. Not that they're old...
Mary was my roommate my first year at BYU. A couple years later, my mom moved to Provo and bought the house right next door to Mary's family's house, so we were permanent neighbors... except neither of us really lived at home very much after that. We both went on missions, got married, Mary moved away. I tried to move away too, but my husband and school brought me back. Anyway, we ran into Mary's parents at Johnet's wedding reception and found out that Mary lives right here in Tri-cities! So we got to visit with her last Saturday. Our girls had a great time together! Siena loved their kiddie pool. And we forgot to bring swimming diapers, so she wore her regular diaper in the pool. We kept laughing at how much that diaper held! For the first time in her little life, Siena finally had a "bum bum". We thought she should be a model for Target brand diapers to show how much water they can hold! Although it was hard to get a clear shot of it, since she is a constantly moving target.
Mary's husband Jared frilled some chicken for us and we had a lovely picnic dinner, followed by birthday cupcakes and each of Mary's darling girls (Abby and Maddy) gave Siena a cute present. So sweet!

Turning Two

mixing the batter

putting all the baking cups in place
no cupcake would be complete without confetti frosting!
Oh yeah! It was worth all the hard work!
our smiley baby. I couldn't resist throwing this one in there!









Siena is 2 today! And she is finally going poo-poo on the potty! Such a blessing. We had a fabulous day today. First, we hit up a rummage sale, and found a perfect entertainment center for $5, a Lincoln Logs set for $4 and an Easy Bake set (all the cooking utinsels, cookie cutters, rolling pin, etc etc) for $1. And they threw in the "2" candle for her cupcake for free. Not bad!
Then we took Tessa to the Dr (we were concerned about her small soft spot n the front of her head.) Turns out it is on the smaller side of normal, but still normal, so that we good news! Then mommy helped Siena bake some cupcake for her party this afternoon. After everyone took a 2-hr nap (Tessa actually slept 5 hrs!), we went to this great park with slides and where water shoots out of the ground. Siena LOVED it! And our new friends Rita and her kids, from church, came and joined in the fun to make it an official "party"! To top it off, Siena had a Wendy's Frosty and fries for dinner. It doesn't take much to make a 2-year old happy!
Then she opened her presents. She got a Princess Palace bath toy from Rita and fam, some darling outfits and ladybug lights from Uncle Jeff, Aunt Mary & cousins Hyrum and Joseph, a beach ball and an organic cotton ladybug outfit from cousin Jairus and Aunt Melissa, a sand bucket and beach toys from mom and a tricycle from dad! She LOVED all the presents, but she wouldn't get off the trike! She feels so grown up riding in it (even though she hasn't quite figured the pedal thing out).
What a great day!

life in Washington

So We finally made it out of Utah! yah! Thad's been here for 3 weeks, and the girls and I just made it here a couple days ago, thanks to my mom driving out with us. It is so nice to be back together as a whole family again. that single parenthood stuff is totally over-rated! Anyway, some news since we have been here:
* Siena made her first "poo-poo on the potty" yesterday!
* Tessa laughed for the first time (actually, she has laughed in her sleep before, but her first time awake was in her daddy's arms)
* I made a new friend in church today and we already have a playdate for tomorrow. The ward was SO welcoming!
*Siena is no longer sleeping through the night
* Tessa resumed sleeping 12 hours straight, eating, then sleeping another 3 hours
* Siena (2 years old) and Tessa (2 months old) are wearing the same size diapers (size 3)!

Tri-cities isn't supposed to get much rain, since it is high desert and in a rain shadow. But it has been sprinkling off and on since we got here. I'm not complaining. It's been perfect weather! There is this really great place at Columbia Park down by the river with a family fishing pond, Water Play Place and the Playground of Dreams. Here are a couple pics of Siena having a good time at the Playground of Dreams today.

Weekend in Wisconsin

The girls in their new matching swimsuits!















Last Weekend I packed the girls up, and we headed to my new sister Anjenette's house in Sheboygan, WI to visit her, her husband Jonathon and her 9 kids, with Melissa and David and their cute boy Jairus. We had SUCH a great time, playing Capture the Flag every night we were there (Anjenette's family is big enough for 2 teams), and David introduced the family to Ultimate Frisbee. We went swimming a couple times, which Siena loved! We took walks, went to "Potty World" aka Kohler Inc., which was pretty cool. My best friend Elena came to visit me on Sunday from Chicago. It was wonderful to see her! We all took a nice walk to this lighthouse together. I learned a lot of things for Anjenette's family. I never saw them fight, raise their voices or anything of the sort. They were all eager to help, always wanted to hold Tessa, changed her diaper, played with her, did Siena's hair, fed her, etc etc. And Siena loved playing with her new cousins! It was the best vacation ever! But the best part was getting to know my new sister and her amazing family! I even got a new orange chicken recipe that we tried out tonight and turned out decent. Yay for new family!