Happy Halloween!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

One Step Closer

We have been having so much fun with the girls this week. They both have been in such a good mood all week. On Monday, Olivia began to stand on her own for a few seconds at a time (see video below). We think she will be walking soon. Violet discovered an interest in the stairs the past few days. She has become pretty quick at getting up them, but she still needs help going back down. Tonight I was upstairs in the girls' bedroom getting pajamas, and all of a sudden Violet came crawling in. Go figure!

The girls spent last weekend at Grandma & Grandpa Suchy's house. Jamie went up there to go bow hunting, and by his own generous will he offered to bring them up with him so I could stay home and have a weekend to myself. It was wonderful! Don't get me wrong, I love my family to pieces, but it was nice to have some time to do whatever I wanted to do (which mainly included doing laundry and cleaning). The best part was waking up in the morning and knowing that I could just lay in bed and not have to get up with the girls!!

The girls also received a special package in the mail the other day. Our friends from Germany sent them a traditional German Christmas calendar. Beginning December 1st, we open a flap for each day until Christmas. Behind each door is a special treat. Thank you Esther & family!!

The girls are such a blessing. Jamie & I are both exhausted pretty much every night, but it's worth every second. Their simple smiles make it all worthwhile. I was playing with the girls outside on the swingset this evening, and I was thinking to myself that I just can't remember what life was like before they were born. Olivia has such a zest in her that makes us laugh. She is our spunky girl that will keep our lives interesting. Violet is such a sweetheart and loves to pass out hugs and kisses. Violet's daily daycare report today said "Violet was chasing her friends to give them kisses today!" That's our Violet. It's amazing how they can have different personalities, but you love them both equally just how they are.

Here is a video of Olivia standing. It also shows our bottle collection...prepare to be amazed!

Party Hardy

We had a fun weekend...the girls were able to party hardy! On Saturday, we went to a birthday party for Jamie's cousin's daughter that turned 3. The party was at the Maple Grove Community Center, which has a pool, so the girls were able to wear swimsuits and go "swimming" for the first time. Violet loved it, Olivia wasn't quite sure about it. It took them awhile to warm up to all the other kids in the pool and all the splashing that was going on. I think they were pretty overwhelmed at first and just wanted to take it all in!

After the party, we drove up to my sister Rhonda's house. We cracked up because our girls were in bed at 7:30 and went to sleep without making a peep while Rhonda's three-year-old daughter (our niece) Emma was still running around and looking for things to do at 9:30 p.m. when us adults were all ready for bed! Emma has pretty much always been a night owl. We had Emma's third birthday party the next day. The kids were able to wear costumes if they wanted to, since her birthday is so close to Halloween. Olivia dressed as Supergirl & Violet dressed as Wonder Woman. They looked pretty cute! Emma, the birthday girl, looked adorable in a ladybug costume. Rhonda did a great job planning the party - there were a lot of fun things to do! They had a scavenger hunt, a drawing contest, bobbing for apples, a pinata, and pumpkin decorating. Our girls were too young to participate, but it was fun to watch our other nieces and nephews join in the fun.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

Olivia (pink swimsuit) & Violet (red swimsuit):

Olivia (Big Sister) & Violet (Little Sister):

Supergirl (Olivia) & Wonder Woman (Violet):

Olivia & Violet with Grandma Thronson: