Going on two hours less sleep than normal Annabelle was a bit of a pill. Look out friends, family, strangers, and animals! She was snapping at everyone and on the verge of meltdown most of the morning. This girl needs her sleep! We met up with the Carlson crew at the zoo and the big kids ran around and used up what little energy Annabelle had left. They seemed to have the most fun eating snacks, chasing each other, and splashing in the puddles.

Jack and Annabelle have learned to say each others names so well. Annabelle saw her bud and started screaming “Hi Jack, Hi Jack” and waving.

Gwyneth was so sweet – she loved the crowd and spent most of her day standing on a bench waving and saying “hi” to people as they walked by.

Sweet little Ben. He’s getting so big!

I can’t believe he’s almost 5 months old already.

B and his girls having a fun day in the sun

Jack found the snacks!

This photo is a little blurry but you just can’t beat that look of joy on Annabelle’s face. She really got a kick out of Jack splashing in the puddles.

Here we go!

We had such a nice morning with the Carlsons and it was just what Annabelle and Gwyneth needed. Both girls really enjoyed the outing and were sound asleep in the car before we even left the parking lot. We were even able to transfer them from the car seats to the beds and they slept another 3 hours! Excellent naps today and we’re hoping for happy, happy girls this afternoon.

The girls stayed with a sitter so we could meet up with some friends to watch the Nuggets playoffs and celebrate Rob’s birthday. We had a nice big table at Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton and were surrounded by plenty of big screen tvs. The game ended badly with the Nugs losing to the Lakers.

Melissa, Sheila, B, and Lansing
Jennifer, Melissa’s friend, made this cake for Rob’s birthday. Annabelle would have loved it. Uh oh – this duck has seen better days.

Happy Birthday, Rob!

We got home around 9:45 to find out that Annabelle had just gone down about a half hour earlier. That is trouble! She usually goes to bed around 7:30 so we are very nervous for what the next day may hold for us.

This morning while I was making brunch I noticed it was a bit too quiet in the living room. What could those little girls be up to ??? This is what I found…
Annabelle decided it was time for Gwyneth to enjoy the sweet, sweet taste of yogurt melts. Gwyneth agreed and they shared an entire bowl together. When I asked Annabelle what in the world she was doing feeding her little sister sweet treats I received this very innocent “what? you told me to share and be nice to her and now you tell me not to?” look. Momma can be so confusing!

Gwyneth is doing great with small bits of table food but we are really going to need to keep an eye on Annabelle and her snacks. Very nice that she’s sharing, but Gwyneth isn’t quite ready for Pirate’s Booty!

The Silverman’s joined us for brunch this morning and it was the first time we had 4 little ones in the same room. It was surprisingly mellow despite Annabelle being a bit worked up and in typical almost-2-year-old form.

The twins are almost 4 months old, so very sweet and good natured. Someday Ryan is going to like being surrounded by all these girls, but with all the pink and girlie toys around it may take a while for him to really appreciate it.

Avery is a really good sleeper. She snoozed for a good portion of their visit. Even fell asleep while I was holding her. I definitely miss that. My girls are on the go, go, go and rarely want to snuggle with their ol’ momma anymore.

A growin’ boys gotta eat!

Ok, Ok…..I MAY have walked by GG’s room on my way to get Annabelle out of bed….and I MAY have saw B picking out GG’s outfit….and I MAY have picked out the same outfit for Annabelle….and I MAY have intentionally dressed the girls in matching clothes even though I know it drives B crazy. That all seems a little far-fetched, if you ask me, and I dare anyone to try and prove it!!!!

I’ve been disliking Adam on American Idol since the week he ruined the Johnny Cash song “Ring of Fire”. In my pool I’ve been voting him off ever week since. No surprise that I finished dead last in my pool this season. Luckily the loser gets paid out so I at least got my money back. (Better than B’s results I must say – ha ha!).

I was so fired up last night. I thought Kris had a good duet with Keith Urban but could it have been more obvious that the producers were favoring Adam? From his goofy get-up to the fireworks and screaming with KISS he definitely put on a show. KISS was very entertaining but Adam missed his 80’s freak-show-hair-band calling. I think he needed this win a bit more than Kris. Moving right along….I was pleasantly surprised that Kris won and although he does that weird bit of singing out of the side of his mouth I think I might actually listen to his music — except that stupid ‘No Boundaries’ song. The show really did have an impressive line-up. Although B had to point out that he thought Rod Stewart sounded like crap. I had to disagree since the old sap is 64!

B and I have very similar taste in music so we’ve always rooted for the same people on the show – most of the time they lose though because we don’t have the same taste as 13 year old girls who seem to do all the voting. Oh my my, were we surprised when Annabelle started rocking out to Queen Latifah and Fergie. She was seriously rockin’! She cried when Jason Mraz sang and asked for “mo, mo, mo” until we went back in the show and gave her more Queen Latifah. Oh boy! Where did this girl come from? She also liked Fergie’s shoes and was strutting around the living room on her tippy toes trying to immitate her walk. We have to keep a very close eye on this girl!!

Gwyneth was cracking us up too because she wanted to dance but couldn’t be sitting. She wanted us to hold her hands so she could stand up and rock. She was really groovin’ and would only sit down when it was time to clap. The girls were cracking each other up with their moves and Annabelle really wanted to hold Gwyneth’s hands so they could dance together. It took me back to the dance routines my sisters and I would make up and make my parents sit and watch. I can’t wait to see what these girls come up with!

Last ranting on American Idol this season. I swore I wouldn’t watch next year, but I’m sure to make a liar out of myself.

Red Robin has to be the most kid-friendly restaurant. My sister, Becky, has always told me that but I was never a huge fan so didn’t bother to check it out. We decided to go Friday night for dinner and the girls were so entertained. It was loud, lots of other kids, and of course balloons. Annabelle ate half a mini-pizza and two bowls of mandarin oranges. I guess we’re living the kid-friendly-suburban-chain-restaurant life for a few years. Small price to pay for happy girls.

I had to drop YaYa off at the airport this morning. Annabelle yelled “Bye Bye, YaYa” and Gwyneth waved as we left the house. We are so sad she had to head back to Chicago. The girls had such a wonderful time with her, ate some new foods, weigh a few more pounds, added a few new words to their vocabulary, learned a few new dance moves, and have a few more toys! We’re going to miss her very much. Luckily she’ll be back in just over a month for Annabelle’s birthday.

Although I was told that she didn’t share much. Gwyneth loves the ball that YaYa got for her!

It’s almost as big as her.Hugs for YaYa!

Sweet kisses for YaYa!

I am so grateful that my mom was willing to come out and help us with the girls so B and I could take a quick trip together. I would have had to go regardless because of work, but it was so nice that B could get away with me. We were able to visit with some wonderful friends and the girls got some special time with YaYa.
After work tonight it was back to business as usual at the Meyer house. It’s so nice to be home and have some quiet time with the girls. I sure did miss those little faces!

We are finally home! It was a pretty quick trip, but way too long to be away from the girls. I was so antsy on the flight & drive home. I just could not wait to see them. YaYa took such good care of the girls. I swear they’ve each gained 5 lbs since we left. We had a relaxing night at home with Annabelle and GG showing us all the new tricks that YaYa taught them!

When we first walked in the door Annabelle was standing there looking a bit confused to hear the garage door. When she saw B’s face she started jumping up and down and shrieking. She was so happy!! She gave us both big hugs and danced all around. GG was so tired but she managed to stay up to say hi to us. She was all smiles and I swear her cheeks are even chubbier than when we left!! The girls were in very good hands and had so much fun with their YaYa!

We met the Geyer twins!! We headed over to the Geyer house to meet Kennedy & Hudson. We spent the evening with Ticey and Hal’s mom, Karen, who was in town from Colorado as well. Hal had to work late so we were only able to see him for a little bit, but who am I kidding…I was there to see those see those sweet little babies. They are almost 7 weeks old now and over 8 lbs. I was able to hold them both and B even took a turn holding Kennedy. Karen treated us to a dinner of chicken enchiladas which were so good and B helped himself to some of her brownies. She use to make those brownies for them in highschool so it was a delicious blast from the past for him.

I walked off without my camera battery so I have no pictures to post unfortunately. It was wonderful to see the Geyer’s though and I’m happy to report they are doing really well and don’t even seem too exhausted after keeping up with two newborns. I hope we can get all 4 of our kiddos together soon.

It’s really hard to believe that my baby is already 9 months old! She is a mover and a shaker. She is crawling and pulling up now. She loves to dance and she has the best little belly laugh. I took her for her 9 month portraits and she was so very serious. She was not smiling but we got some of the sweetest shots of her gorgeous blue eyes and those kissable chubby cheeks. She is such a little angel!! There are tons of great shots from the sitting, but these are just a sample of my favorites: