Official crawling alert!

Brielle just crawled! I mean, she's been getting around for quite some time now, but officially just now she crawled on her hands and knees! Wow - she's getting so big!

8 Months sure went by fast!

Ahh, Brielle is 8 months old today! I simply cannot believe it. Where'd the time go? It's definitely going faster with Brielle than it did with Sophie... maybe because I'm busier, because I'm keeping up with two of their milestones instead of just one, because time flys when you're having fun? Elderly people also regularly tell me that time goes by quicker the older you get. I find that kind of sad. I want to slow-mo the girls most days and keep them this little and young and innocent and full of wonder and adoring love. I know all too soon they won't want me to shower them with kisses or sit on my lap and cuddle. Soon they'll trade in their baby dolls and barbies and favorite blankies for lip stick and cell phones. Why can't I have them little for longer? (Not that I want to be-grudge them growing up. Not at all. It's just it's happening way too fast!)

Brielle is almost crawling! She gets anywhere she wants to go via this army crawl-meets-worm method. And she's getting pretty fast too! She still is the sweetest little girl - always happy and smiling (ummm, until I leave the room) and she smiles with her whole face - this big, gigantic grin that overtakes her - it's adorable! Everywhere we go she is smiling at people so much and so big that they come over and talk to us - tell us about their own kids, or just dote on her. I feel like she's much like an angel would be on earth - happy to see everyone, smiling at them like she knows everything about them, all their dark secrets, and still has nothing but love for them. She makes them all feel special with how much she seems to adore them. I know that I am no where even remotely in the same area code as a Godly love, but my heart hurts when I think of how much I love these two muchkins of mine. It makes me awe at how much our Father in Heaven must love us.

I can't even imagine how quickly the next few years will go. I think I'll log off here and go hug my kids!

I think I may have an artist....

Yesterday Sophie picked up her MagnaDoodle and said "I'm going to draw Ariel!" I 'uh-ummmed' and 'yeah-ed'... and then she brought it over to me to show. Can you believe this? From a 2 & 1/2 yr old? I thought it was pretty impressive to have eyes, a nose, a face outline, and sorta a mouth. She started to erase it from the top (why the eyes are partly gone) before I cried "NO! It's so beautiful - you did such a good job, I'm going to take a picture of it!"

Love

Let's keep it short (for now at least)...

It's crazy how much I love these little pooping-whining-hitting-biting-fussing-never sleep enough -peeing on the floor-cat chasing-sticker eating-crazy girls of mine! :)

Spring time cuties

I love spring! I love how green everything gets. I love how much you love the sun and warmth when you haven't experienced it for four months! I love getting the kids out of the house and letting them run with reckless abandon. I love how everything is new in the spring... new grass, new babies, lovely new-ness all around. It's so fun to share spring with my new baby. She's just old enough that she's exploring everything and curious about everything and notices everything. I take her outside and she just seems to soak it all up. Sharing all these firsts with a new baby - it just doesn't get much better than that!

And for those of you that are curious... Brielle is 7 & 1/2 months now (OH MY GOSH! Where did the time go???) and weighs about 17 lbs... which is roughly what our cat weighs ;) lol She's almost crawling, but not quite yet. She scoots herself forward by pulling with her arms or rolls anywhere she wants to be. She's also getting on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth - she's so close!

She's toothless for the moment, but not for long! She's been cutting a tooth on her bottom front for quite some time now, it just hasn't poked through the surface.

She's such a joy! She doles out smiles and giggles readily and loves completely. She adores her big sister. Sophie can always put a smile on her face by singing or dancing or twirling in circles. Brielle also thinks that sounds are completely funny. You pull packing tape from the roll (and get that kinda squeak) and she busts out with a belly laugh. You sneeze and she giggles. You slide a magnet down the fridge and she can't think of anything funnier (video of this one to follow). She's such a sweetie and finds joy everywhere. I pray that she always is able to keep this quality.

Grumpy Ol' Troll

Ever watched Dora? Well we're big Dora fans around here. If you've seen an episode where they go over the troll bridge, you've heard the grumpy old troll song. If you haven't... you're about to :) Sophie's singing it and even trying to do the gruff troll voice. It's pretty cute (if I do say so myself!).