Our little Rayna-roo

Here Rayna is checking on her Stella. Lately they have had so much fun pretending to put the other one to sleep. They will take turns singing songs to each other and then they leave and the "sleeping" one will call out, "Mama!!" and the "Mama" will come running back in to sing another song. Something seems very familiar about this game:).

Rayna loves to tell everyone she loves them. But it is extra cute because she aways says, "I love you too" even when she isn't replying to an I love you. When Stephen gets home from work she will sometimes run to him and say, "I missed you too, Daddy!"

Watering the plants

The girls helped me water the plants out on the balcony today. It is so cute how much they love doing this. It is so fun to watch them enjoy something so simple.

They would run into the kitchen and I would fill their cup up a little and they would go and give each plant a little "drink" as they call it.

The Carlson Family Comes to Visit!

The Carlson Family came to Dallas to see us last weekend. We had so much fun with them. We felt so special that they made the trip to see us and we aren't even officially related! We packed as much fun as we could into the two days that we had. It was so wonderful to get to be with them again. We just love them so much.

On Saturday we went to the Galleria Mall in Dallas to ice skate. Stella is a pro at it these days! This rink was about twice the size as the one in NYC so it took a lot of work to get around each time.

Here she is showing her confidence going along all by herself. She did better than me!

I love this picture. It looks like she is doing a fancy dance move.

The whole Carlson gang got out on the ice together. They were all great at it. Even their little one was flying around the rink with her dad. Their son loved it. He didn't want to leave and he had already convinced his parents to take him again when they got home.

On Sunday we went to the Fort Worth zoo. It was a beautiful day! A little chilly but the sun was out. Here we are all together. We didn't even try to get everyone looking. We would have been there all day.

If you look closely at this picture you can see the look of admiration on Stella's face. This was the look she had the whole time they were here. She just thought he was so cool. And he was so sweet to her. He taught her how to play hide-and-go-seek and how to play his PlayStation game.
She had such a great time! Watching your child have so much fun has got to be one of the best things about being a parent.

Rayna had a lot of fun too. She has a hard time keeping up with the big kids but she did what she could. And she loved seeing all of the animals.

The zoo had a really great bird sanctuary. You could buy little sticks with seeds on them and feed the birds. We all had a great time doing this.

Our little crew!

All three girls had fun getting rides when they got tired. Must be nice!

Stella thought this was so fun! Don't worry she isn't actually holding her all by herself. If you look you can see Stephen's shoulder. He is holding her from behind. But it is hard to tell.

Here are all the kids having an ice cream social together!

The grown-ups played a couple of games, that Charles had brought along, when the kids were asleep. I don't think I have thought that hard in a while:).

We had such a great weekend. My heart has been so full all week. Thanks for coming to see us, we love you so much!!

P.S. Doesn't that look like fun?! You should come and see us too!

Valentine's Day Party for Dad!

The girls and I planned a Valentine Party for Stephen when he got home from work. They got dressed up fancy for the party. Jewels, high heels, and princess dresses were the perfect attire for this party.

Here they are waiting at the front door for their party guest!

Stella helped me make an invitation to the party for Stephen. We had taped it to the front door earlier in the day and the plan was for him to get it when he got home. But Stella was too excited to wait inside so she just handed it to him.

Stella and Rayna got Valentines from their fan club (a.k.a Mimi, Pops, Gran, DD, Granny & Papas). They had fun opening all of their mail. They carted them around in their strollers all night.

I love this picture of Stephen. Give him a steak and a Shiner and he is a happy man!

He was a perfect guest at our party. He made sure the girls knew he was blown away by their decorations and valentines. They thought he was well worth all of their hard work and so did I.

Stephen made us a heart shaped pizza the next day. I thought it came out so well I had to put a picture up.

Homemade Tutus

I found a website online that showed you how to make tutus. It was really easy and fun. Stella modeled them for me this morning. I couldn't believe how easily she agreed to it. She has a little bit of a fever so maybe it was making her unable to think straight. Usually she is always sure to run around like a wild woman when I want her to take a picture.

These are from a few nights ago. Rayna had fun running around and testing out the new tutu.

Her cheeks are still just so cute. Even today at the grocery story she was getting compliments on them. And to think how small they are compared to the day she was born. I remember holding her cheeks back so I could get an idea of what she would look like as she got older. I hope they stick around for a lot longer.

Here she is as her regular wild and fun self. You can see much more of her antics on our picasa sight. She had a great time rocking the horse so hard she would fly off of it.

Rayna has really got the cowgirl thing down! Here is is saying, "Yeehaw!"

Stella's Ballet Class

Stella had her ballet class today. Her teacher, Mrs. Joanne, let me come in at the end of class and take a couple of pictures. Rayna and I watch her through the windows you can see at the back of the picture. She is having so much fun being a ballerina.

Here they are practicing their routine to, "Butterfly Kisses" for their recital. It doesn't matter how many times I hear this song it always makes me tear up.

Ever since Stella left her last ballet class, two weeks ago, she has been telling me that Mrs. Joanne told her that we need to call and remind her to bring the canes (their props for the recital) to class. I wasn't sure what she was talking about but she has been so persistent. This morning she kept telling me, "We really need to call Mrs. Joanne and remind her to bring the canes. She told us to call and remind her." So finally I agreed. I called her and she said Stella was right. She had told the class, "Girls, you need to call and remind me to bring the canes or I will forget again." She told me she would have forgotten if Stella hadn't called. After class Stella told me that all the girls cheered for her because Mrs. Joanne said she had remembered to remind her to bring the canes. She was very proud! Hopefully she has been blessed with Granny's great memory!

Tot Yoga

We went to a Tot Yoga class this week taught by a new friend of ours. It was not your typical yoga class, as you might expect, with a bunch of babies and toddlers running around. The girls weren't that into it during the class. I think they were a little confused as to why all of the mommies were rolling around and standing on their heads. But when we got home the girls couldn't wait to show Stephen their new yoga moves. This one is called Downward Dog in yoga but the teacher called it a bridge for the kids.