My little princesses...

...aren't they cute?! The little princess is currently sick :(. The big princess and her daddy went to the baseball game today and had a great time!! Isabelle even got to run the bases after the game was over!! She LOVED it. When Adam asked her what her favorite thing about the day was (when he was tucking her in), she said "seeing Mommy when we got home from the game." That just made me smile, really, really big :). She also told us recently that God likes it when we pray and that angels are always watching over us. Gotta love Catholic school!! They are the sweetest little angels...now, if we could just make Isabelle LIKE her little sister a little bit more :). As you can see, Olivia wants to be JUST LIKE HER!! She follows her around constantly and wants to do everything she does...next week is a busy one, Izzy's birthday (FOUR YEARS OLD!! WOW!!), Gigi visits, Adam's friend Matty visits...we can't wait!!

So, I guess since it's labor day, this means summer is officially over...though it still felt hotter than Haiti outside today. Tomorrow-70's...yay! This summer went by way too fast. I cannot believe how much we have done, but then at the same time, it feels as if we've done nothing!! These pics are from our recent neighborhood picnic-the fire fighters did a huge water show and all the kids got soaking wet. Olivia loved it (of course!) but Isabelle didn't want to get her facepaint wet! We had a fun "in town vacation" labor day w/e, complete with trips to the zoo, children's museum, local parks and even a lunch date with our friends the Humphries which was fun-we don't see them nearly enough. Funny things the girls have done lately...Isabelle decided she wanted to be a "tapier" for Halloween. She also decided Olivia should be a pumpkin since "she was so incredibly adorable last year" :). She is still loving school, even the "enrichment" (after school) program. This week she will start mad science, irish step dancing and soccer in enrichment. She has made a friend in first grade named Lucy whom she adores...she named some of her animals Lucy, has been practicing writing Lucy's name and wants to invite Lucy to her birthday party. Crazy. Olivia now says up, hat, hot, no, ah dah (all done), uh-oh, mah (more), ba-belle (Isabelle), cup, yak (yes, like the animal), goat (these kids do go to the zoo a lot!), and of course, mama and dada. She's learned the signs for please and milk now, too, so she's communicating pretty well!! Tomorrow's back to the grind...it is a BUSY week, but we'll get through it!! Hopefully I can update more next weekend!

Isabelle's First Day of School

It was a big day for Isabelle today-she started her first day of school at Good Shepherd! She is in Miss Reagan's class and so far, she likes it! She's already made a little friend named Elizabeth and she told me that she went down the twisty slide all by herself again and again and she wasn't even scared :). She said they had circle time and talked about their pets but she told everyone she didn't have any pets because her daddy was allergic (that's our story and we're sticking to it!). She also was excited to say the Pledge of Allegiance, though this made Adam get teary eyed. She seemed so grown up today!! She's definitely talking a lot about her old school and her friends from her old school...I am sure the next few days will be a bit more of a transition for her but then she'll be fine. We also went to the zoo yesterday...we saw the baby giraffe (only six days old!), we fed the birds and Olivia looooved the yaks (she said "yak" all day long!), the bears ("grrrrrr") and the elephants (she shrieked with delight when she saw them). It's been a great 5 days home with my girls-I don't want to go back to work tomorrow!!!

Isabelle is an "authentic princess" :)

So, Isabelle went to Princess Camp last week at her dance studio...she is now an "authentic princess" and has a certificate to prove it :). At the end of the week, they did a little performance for the parents-here's a little bit of the show :).

Finally...a new camera!!

So, I finally found a new camera that I liked...I think :). It still doesn't replace my old one that I looooooved but it takes good pictures and Olivia and Isabelle have been cooperating as I test it out. Isabelle had another baseball game today-she wanted to wear her princess dress but then decided that maybe it would get too dirty...Olivia ate her favorite veggie bootie the whole time and cruised along the fence. Then we went to this greek festival-Izzy was mesmerized by the dancers. It was really hot, though so we didn't stay long...we're resting now and then it's time to finish getting ready for Cancun!! I just checked the forecast....5 days of rain. Let's hope not!!! G-ma gets here Tuesday-YAY YAY YAY!

Chelsea without a camera?!

I still haven't found my camera...I think it's gone forever....so, I'm in the market for a new one. I ordered one from Amazon and just wasn't happy with it, so I'm going to go to Best Buy tomorrow. Olivia has tooth #3 coming in right now!! Very exciting for her...we just got home from happy hour in the park next to our house. We have the BEST neighbors and so many kids running around-we feel so blessed. Hopefully I can take pics and send them soon!!

Happy Birthday Olivia & Daddy!

Olivia and Daddy celebrated birthdays this week. Olivia loved eating her cake and Isabelle loved making and decorating cupcakes for her little sister. We all wore pink hats and everything and, of course sang Happy Birthday twice for Daddy and Olivia!! Isabelle blew out the candles each time. Olivia blows kisses now anytime someone starts to walk towards the door. She understands so many of our words these days-it's crazy to watch those little minds at work!! She's really getting close to walking...which makes me a little sad, seeing my baby grow up so fast :(. But, we're just very fortunate to have such healthy, happy little girls. Though a little boy would be fun, too...HA! Adam looks at me like I've lost my mind anytime I bring that up!! I probably have. :). HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY AND OLIVIA!!

Hiking, Baseball and Visitors

Well, I'm behind on the blogging! It's been a fun month with lots of visitors. Now that the weather is warmer, we've been doing some hiking, too-both the girls LOVE being outside! Isabelle started t-ball. She's the smallest one on the team and the ONLY GIRL! but she loves it! Daddy has already said they will be practicing after work one night a week :). Her team is the Orioles-she's been making us all put our hands together and say "Goooooo Orioles!" I think she likes it! We also had the whole family (except Christopher & Kristen) in town last weekend to celebrate Olivia turning one! She still has a few days until the actual day but it was fun having everyone in town to celebrate, including Olivia & Isabelle's cute little cousin Ryan-he is an absolute cutie pie!! Olivia didn't really like doing the whole first-birthday-cake thing, but we'll try again on her actual birthday and maybe it will work better then :). We're just so happy it's summer! We're going to the pool this weekend and are looking forward to lots of fun activities outdoors this summer with the girls!!

"Da Da"

Adam went to get Olivia out of bed this morning when she woke up. He went into her room and she was standing at her crib. She saw him and the first thing out of her mouth was "Da Da" :). He was a VERY proud papa!! In the car today, Isabelle pretented to call Daddy. She told him that she was thirsty and then pretended that he answered and told her she could get a drink when she got home. Very cute! Isabelle also made a bookmark at school today. I went to pick her up and she brought it to me and said "Look I made this to put in our books!" She was very excited about this little art project! She is also saying that she is 4 now and not 3 anymore (I think this is because her friend Alex just turned 4 :)).

Best Friends

So, we had our third soccer game last week...Isabelle and Savannah had a blast in practice and a blast during the game, though they didn't want to play at all!! Isabelle told me later she doesn't like the game because everyone takes the ball away from her :). Today is Earth Day. Isabelle was singing Jack Johnson's "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" all evening long. They also talked about pets today at school. She said she didn't get to tell about her pet because she doesn't have one so she told everyone about her stuffed animals. Then she told me that when she grew up, she was going to move to a new house by herself so she can have a pet. I asked her when that was going to be and she said it would be when she was sixteen years old. I told her I never wanted her to leave because I'd miss her and she told me, "yeah, I'm growing up really fast, aren't I?" :). We also have been doing lots of "science experiments" at Isabelle's request-she loved freezing different liquids outside during winter but now we do it in the freezer. Gigi gave her the idea of putting different things in the liquids to see if they would freeze-we've used raisins, peas, grapes and today-a hot dog!! Olivia is growing leaps and bounds. I swear she looks different every day. Her hair is out of control these days-a few hours after a bath, it's sticking straight back in the air!! Thank goodness for the bows her Godmother Melissa sent her :). She loves when we repeat the sounds she's making and she also loves playing with the phone. She's mastered "bye bye" and "hi" (and the waves that go with them) and cannot get enough of her sippy cups, especially when Isabelle is using hers, too! She and her best friend Ellie follow each other around the house-they are ADORABLE together!! It's so fun to see our girls with their best little friends!! We also had a visit from mommy's best friend Auntie D this past weekend-she's moving back to town in a couple of weeks and we are all VERY excited!!