A Little of This and A Little of That

I'm a proud mama.  How could I not be with my two little princesses.  As Winter turned to Spring, or almost Summer, they were busy growing and learning new things.  Here's a little mish mash of some of the things happening at our house.

My precious Emma Bean looking less like a baby everyday.
Today I had an End of the Year conference with her teachers at school.
Below is what I got to bring home:
The left is Emma's self portrait in September.  Not bad for a 3 year old!
The right is what she did the other day.  Much improved.  Her teacher said she put a lot of thought in the colors she chose for her features and how long her hair should be.  She was also very egaer to write her name for them.
They said they hadn't seen another self-portrait like hers!

At home, she loves to draw pictures and make cards for people.  This week we all, except for Cate (Thank you, Jesus!), had the stomach flu.  Emma wanted to make Grandma and Grandpa Get Well cards.  Below is Grandma's card.

"Grandma get well" it says.
 (I wish I could say that she could spell all that by herself, but she is only 3!  Or 'Three and three quarters' she would say.)

Then she drew stripes because 'Grandma likes stripes' and on the front is Grandma and Grandpa dancing together.

My little Hallmark girl hard at work. 
Wearing her Smurfette hat. 
Because, of course, you would wear your Smurfette hat while you make cards.

 And then there is my little Cateybug.  Getting so big!  She's already 9 1/2 months!  She seems to be almost as precocious as her older sister.  She's a lot more physical and not quite as verbal, but she's still a chatter box and has LOTS of tricks up her sleeve.  More on that in another post. I think it deserves it own.

Blue Eyes in the jumper.

Showing off the thighs.  I think they're thinning out a bit.  My mom's not so sure.

 Oh wait here's more on Emma.  Emma has her physical side too.  We took her down to ride her bike at the elementary school the other day.  We thought that perhaps the steep hill outside our house might not be the best place for a beginner.

Grandpa had to stay close by since Emma can pedal, but she likes to watch herself pedal instead of looking up and steering.

Then we played hopscotch.

Cate enjoyed the view, but I know she can't wait to get out there too.

Then we climbed the cargo net. 

 Okay back to Cate.  Wow, I really didn't organize these well . Anyway, now that Cate is mobile she's discovered some new places to crawl.  Here's her favorite.

She's like to just hang out for awhile under there.

Oh and then there is Emma's little table to crawl under.

She's a girl on the go and doesn't let much get in her way when she's on a mission.

Well I'm tired now and headed to bed.  So to say Goodnight, here's a picture of Emma when she passed out the other night fully dressed - tutu and sneakers included!

Flashbacks

The other day, I took Emma to the yogurt shop in town for a mommy-daughter date.  Just the two of us.  She was a little sad that day.  She sat on the floor after breakfast that morning and said, "It's just not the same without Daddy here."  My heart broke a little so I decided a special treat was in order for my sweet girl.

Anyway, we quietly sat there eating our frozen yogurt.  Emma quietly sitting anywhere is highly unusual.  "What do you want to chat about, Sweet Pea?" I asked.  "Nothing.  I'm just eating my yogurt." Okay.  I can take a hint.  So I just watched her.  I looked at her soft ivory complexion.  Her slimmed down cheeks.  Her very thick, long hair.  Her thing, bony wrists. I tried to imagine the toddler I had in New Hampshire.  We had this brown chair in the playroom.  Many books were read together sitting in that chair.  She would bring my book after book. I realized, I couldn't see that little girl anymore.  I couldn't reconcile the baby/toddler in my memories with the all-of-a-sudden very grown up little girl in front of me.  I had this feeling that I haven't been paying attention for the last 9 months.  Since Cate was born, I've been so busy being the mom of 2 kids.  I've been busy dealing with her ever changing moods, figuring out which discipline technique was most appropriate, scheduling playdates, taking pictures ... While I was doing all this, she grew up.  She's beautiful and amazing, but I wish I had paid attention more.  Well I will with Cate ...

Yesterday I took her to a play.  It was warm so I looked in her closet for a cute summer dress that we haven't worn much, but might only get one or two more wearings.  She has adorable pink ruffled dress.  We call it her cupcake dress.  In my head, she got it last summer and looked almost the same wearing it now as she did then.  The pictures proved me wrong.

July 2010 ... yep, not last year like I thought, 2010!

April 2012

Today we went to my friend, Amanda's daughter's 1st birthday party.  I picked a pink, oxford cloth shirt dress (size 12 months) for Cate to wear.  It was the first thing I ever bought Emma, right after I found out she was going to be a girl. I like to compare Cate and Emma at the same age or in the same outfit from time to time.  So here it is ...

Cate - April 15, 2012 - 9 months

Not the same outfit, but this was Emma on April 15th, 2008 - 9 months.
With about 6 extra pounds, I think she would look just like Cate!

This was not the first time she wore the dress - I think this was in the spring of 2010 as she was approaching 2 ...
wearing a 12 month dress.
Blogger won't let me upload the one I want from when she was 10 1/2 months.

Looking back at those pictures, I noticed that around this time, Emma was just getting her first 2 teeth.  Cate is currently sprouting numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.  Yes! 6 teeth at one time. 3 are through the gums and 3 are rapidly working their way out.  Poor girl. Funny how different they can be.

That's all the flashing back I'm doing today. Hope you enjoyed it!

LOTS of Easter Goodness

Easter started with a beautiful sunrise this morning.  Another holiday without Jeremy, but we have few of those left!  I went a little overboard on Easter baskets this year trying to avoid the candy first thing in the morning. Of course, we had an egg hunt in the afternoon that made up for that.  Anyway, I also went a little overboard with pictures.  I love the camera I got for Christmas and so I take A LOT of pictures.  Plus I know a few people who don't get to see a certain pair of little girls often and want to see as much of them as they can.  I'll try to keep the words brief to compensate.

Easter morning sunrise

 

Cate's first Easter basket lots of things for her mouth ... no candy.

Emma's Easter basket still not too much in the way of candy.

 Cate enjoying one of the treasures from her basket ...

... and another one.

Emma had just the ears of  her chocolate bunny.
She, very innocently, asked, 'Did you tear his face off, Mommy?'

Hopping frogs!

Aunt Jen and Cate at brunch after church

Uncle Andrew has a turn too.

Such a big girl!

Getting a little bored, she turned her napkin into some kind of disguise.
  I think she said, in a sinster voice, that she was 'The Blindfolder'.

It was a long morning for Cate.  She fell asleep sitting up in her high chair at the club.

Emma got to do an Easter Egg Hunt.  She even won a prize ... it may have been rigged.

With the Easter Bunny, who we discovered was the daughter of one of her teachers.  Hence the rigging of the egg hunt.

Posing

This is a 'Queen Pose'.

And of course, a 'King Pose'.

And just my sweet little Emma.

This is the closest I've seen her come to real, hands and knees crawling.  She's quite fast with her own method though so she might not need this way.

My little bunny.

What egg hunt would be complete without a captain's hat and a magnifying glass?

Emma's loot ... pray for me as we deal with this sugar high over the next few weeks.

Happy Easter!