Creativity is Back

In the last year or so, I felt like my creative/artsy side was lacking. I just didn't have the motivation or energy to do much of anything like that. Well...I'M BACK!!! YEA!!! I love being creative and making things.

After putting the girls down for a nap yesterday, I went to Temple to do a little shopping for some needed household items. While I was in town, I ran by Hobby Lobby. I just walked around and carefully examined things that I really liked. I then came home, and full of inspiration, I made some fun things for the girls' room. I had 3 canvases from Eric and was never sure what to paint on them. I finally decided...check it out!

I hung this on their door...

Then I painted these little "initial" ones to put inside of the big, pink frame that I had on the wall above their bed...I painted them to coordinate with their piggy banks that they got from Jennifer Poppy as a baby shower gift! :) The piggy banks are below...

I didn't make this, but it is one of the "household" items I got at Marshall's. Since the girls are getting more and more accessories, like hats and sunglasses, I figured that they needed something to hang them on...cute, huh? :)

Then I couldn't possibly do a blog without a picture of one of my girls...here is Lilly from her nap earlier today. I think she likes her teddy bear!

Look What I Just Found...

I just looked through my video folder...these are all off of the camera, so there is no sound, but there are some cute videos.

This video was taken on August 7, 2008...the girls were 2 days shy of turning 2 months old.

This video was taken sometime in September...

Here is Eric and Lilly in early August...

Just thought they were super cute videos...I am amazed, when I look at pictures, just how much the girls have grown. They went from being 5 lbs and tiny almost 9 months ago to being around 20 lbs now and moving all over the place.

I am already working on their "special" 9 month birthday post...which is on Monday! :) I didn't want to forget to say a single thing ....

Random Post...

I just really enjoy doing this blog. Nothing huge has been going on so I was unsure what to write about. We have just been having our normal happy days...playing, eating, and napping. :) Well the girls have been doing all those things. I have been playing, cleaning, cooking, etc... Some days it feels like the cleaning and cooking cycle never ends.

I made my first attempt yesterday at making baby food from scratch. It was a lot of fun. I got some fresh strawberries, washed them, and put them in the food processor. The girls were suspicious at first, but after a bite or two, they were won over! :) I also roasted a butternut squash and a sweet potato to puree today. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Here are some really cool pictures, if I do say so myself...I LOVE my family so much and nothing brings me more joy than to spend time with them. When good picture moments happen, it is really exciting! :) So here are a ton of pictures, and I mean a ton of pictures!!!

My sleepy heads all bathed and ready for bed...mohawks courtesy of mommy. I just like to play with their hair :)

The next morning...does anyone remember the "Flying Nun"? I think I saw a few episodes of that show on Nick at Night as a kid with my mom and grandma.

Does anyone else like that $1.00 section at Target? These ears are not the best quality but for a dollar, who cares! I pulled into the driveway and put them on the girls before Daddy came out to help me bring them in...I think he thought they were extra cute!

They tried them on for a few minutes, then I put them up until Easter time.

They will just not keep their socks on...this is Lexi!

Then yesterday I was going through their clothes to see what things no longer fit...I found these adorable little dresses with matching bloomers. The girls got these as baby shower gifts from Jack and Laura Barrett. The dresses are 0-3 months and I LOVE them, but when the girls were that age, the straps just fell off their arms. I kept them hoping they would one day fit. Now they fit and are more like tank tops. They will be great for the summer.

As long as they had them on, I added the sunglasses and took pictures. They showed daddy their summer look. Lilly is in the stripes and Lexi is wearing the yellow. :)

I love those lips and BIG eyes...
This was really funny! Lilly pats everything..the floor, mommy, the dogs!!! She decided to pat her sister on the butt a few times, but in the picture it looks so much like she was giving her a little spanking! It cracked me up!
Such a serious look...

Lexi was checking out a white box on the bed...

The last two pictures are Daddy and his girls! I love how sweet he is with them...they are lucky girls to have a great Daddy who adores them!! First is Lexi and then him snuggling with Lilly. :)

My Glamour Girls

I finally got them! I have been wanting to get these for the girls ever since we first saw them in the Baby Gap. When I saw them and tried them on the girls, they were all grins. Lilly posed for me and got soooo excited! So I waited and waited...now they have their own pairs!!

When I brought them home yesterday, they laughed at each other...Lilly is in red and Lexi is in the cow print.

Ha ha ha!! You look silly!

I love to pull them off too!

Yummy! They even taste good!

I want yours, Lilly!

Then today, I took the girls out for a brisk walk around the block. Since it was cold, we bundled up. They love to take walks and were little movie stars today!! They didn't try to pull them off once when we were outside. I think they figured out the reason for wearing them! Lilly is in back. :)

Proud to Be an American!!

I think it is safe to say that Lexi is ready for this year's 4th of July parade! She's got the flag waving down!! My dad and Eric went to "The Tea Party '09" today in Ft. Worth...a rally against over taxation. Papa Epps brought home this American flag and you can see the results for yourself...

She also had a little fun with Tucker licking her fingers when she went for his nose...

Both of my little girls had a great day hanging out with my family!!

Guess What...

I knew she had it in her! Apparently Lilly only needed the right kind of motivation...a tiny little Elmo book! Lilly started crawling today!!! YEA!! She has been sitting up on all fours for weeks now just balancing there. Way to go, Lilly girl!!

Birds and Babies

I hope no one minds all the pictures I put up of the girls. I figure it anyone doesn't like it, then they will just not read it. I have accepted the fact that I document my children so well and am proud to have the technologies with which to do it! :) I got some good ones the past couple of days.

My girls after they first wake up...

I always go get them up and change their diapers. Then I bring them into our room and Eric and I just snuggle them while they have their morning bottles. I do not nurse them first thing in the morning, since they don't nurse very well together and after sleeping for 11-12 hours, they are soooooo hungry, so we make them a bottle. It works out well!!

Lexi is being quiet and cute while I take the next picture...Lilly sound asleep! What a cutie!

The girls are now getting too big for their swing, so I packed it up and put their activity station toy in its place. They love it there because they can look out the back door and the window. I loved the sunshine on Lexi's face the other evening!!

Miss Lilly still eating all her toys!!

Now for the birds...As many of you may know, I was originally going to study bird behavior in graduate school. It's a long story, but I ended up not doing that. However, I still love watching them and taking pictures of them. As part of my birthday present, Eric took me to Hobby Lobby and we picked out a cute birdhouse to hang from our front tree. I also have an Air Force birdhouse that I bought for Eric as a housewarming gift back in the day.

So this week, we hung up a hummingbird feeder, a songbird feeder, and 2 birdhouses in our front tree. I am not done rearranging them, but I like them up there so far. Yesterday, I was on my way out to run errands and spotted 2 house finches and 2 sparrows eating the seed. I was sooooooo excited! Here is a bluebird that was in my backyard the other day!!

I am pretty sure this is the House Finch that was in my feeder yesterday. He has been hanging around lately with his mate.

And last but not least, this is a picture that I took when I lived in Waco. This was my friend Bubba's birdhouse. He had just passed away and then he had new baby sparrows in his birdhouse waiting for mommy to bring them more food. It was really sweet and I wish he could have seen them. If you look closely, you can see a baby mouth begging for food. I just love this picture!