18 Months

Last week my sweet little girls hit the 18 month mark in their lives. This isn't to say the sweet is gone but sometimes it is a little overshadowed with more mischievousness and our days can easily be filled with discipline.

Yesterday the girls went to the doctor for their 18 month check up. Everything looked great, they are hitting all of the major milestones, and they only got one immunization (Hep A). No more shots until 5 years old, PTL!

Here are our stats for the month. Both Hannah and Meg are staying consistent in their growth but we are pretty convinced there isn't any identical-ness between them.

Hannah:
Weight: 23 1/4 lbs (45th percentile)
Height: 31 1/2 inches (50th percentile)

Megan:
Weight: 25 lbs (50-75th percentile)
Height: 33 1/2 inches (90-95th percentile)

On a side note, we went to the local festival in town here for a concert last night and the girls loved the music but we quickly realized who would be the entertainer in the family. As Hannah stood in the bleacher isle and danced to the music, she also thought she should be the token sympathy laughter for the man making all the jokes. She wasn't even conspicuous about it, a little on the obnoxious side but it was hilarious. She is quite the entertainer.

Meg still proves to be the book worm in the family (and we all love to read). Her new favorite place is to climb up on our king size bed via the ottoman, tuck her little legs under the covers and lean back into the pillows with the stash of books she also tossed up there beside her. She is in her own little world up there and could read for hours.

Both girls continue to amaze me with their speech. They say about 20 words but their recognition of things is incredible and endless. I couldn't even begin to count how many things they identify. They still love animal noises and body parts (now including belbow (elbow), knees, shoulders, cheeks, chin and their all time favorite belly button). They love to sing, be outside, love on their dogs and daddy, and be the center of attention.

I am doing well, now at 25 weeks my belly has popped and I am definitely feeling pregnant. Our little girl is still nameless but making herself known by her continuous movement.

My sister is here for the week with her little girls as we enjoy the festival in town. And in a little over a week Charlie's sister is getting married and all of the L ladies are in the wedding. Hopefully two will be successful in not only walking down the isle but in throwing pedals too. Any hints or advice is welcome.

I'll try and post some updated pics soon!

A little Potty Talk

This is just a quick note to say that we had our first "pee pee" in the potty tonight by our very own Miss Megan. We returned after bedtime from a party tonight and Hannah went straight to bed because she fell asleep to daddy's singing in the car. But Meg got her bath and bedtime routine. We haven't really started potty training b/c everyone says they'll regress when the baby comes. But I figured, what the heck, I'll just keep sitting them on the potty at regular times during the day and see what happens. So, tonight before getting into the tub, Meg went #1 in her little potty. She could have cared less but was a little concerned why I was so excited and why daddy was so happy when he came in and saw what she had done.

Oh how the little things make me smile. I do think she will be a reader on the potty like many people I know, it was the Corduroy book that made her forget all about where she was sitting tonight when she went potty.

Thanks for indulging a very proud mommy. Don't ask me in a couple days how it's going and rain on my parade. Let me relish the glory for awhile!

Arky, Arky

Once again, sorry for the lack of postings and pictures but we've been so busy and I have been horrible about taking pictures of my little girls.

As I sit here writing this I can faintly hear my darling husband singing the song lyrics, "The Lord told Noah to build him an arky, arky...." and Hannah and Megan giggling as he sings. Charlie does a little song number as part of their night time routine and story time. It just warms my heart to not only hear the girl's joy but also the love in Charlie's heart for his girls. I have to chuckle now because by verse four he is yawning through the words but still singing none the less.

We had a great weekend. It was so beautiful here. Grandma Linda and Grandpa Bob came up to see us and we had a great big cookout at Aunt Kristen and Uncle Dave's for some family that we don't get to see very often. There were a ton of kids and our girls were exhausted after all the running around they did.

Here is a picture of us before church that Grandma took. My effort to wear the slimming color of black didn't work out quite as I planned but thankfully Hannah is covering the worst of it!

Have a great week. I hope to take some pics this week and get them up here for you! We love you all!

Gotcha Day Weekend in Chicago!

For our very first Gotcha Day as a family Charlie treated the girls to an awesome weekend in Chicago. He picked a wonderful hotel where we felt like princesses. We stayed just two blocks from Navy Pier, two from Dounkin Donuts, and about five from Michigan Avenue.

The first afternoon Uncle Wes met us at the hotel and we walked Navy Pier and ate at Bubba Gumps. The second day Grandma Linda met us and we spent most of our day at the Lincoln Park Zoo. We all had a blast but the girls really enjoyed the animals. Some of their favorites were the polar bears, black bears, lions and the monkeys. Then we all met Uncle Wes and Mary at Gino's for some Chicago pizza (mommy chose this for her birthday meal, surprise, surprise). The four of us headed back to the hotel to swim for a few minutes before signing off for bed. Saturday morning we met Grandpa Bob and Grandma Linda for a morning at Shedd Aquarium. The girls loved fish but Hannah really enjoyed seeing the fish with her grandpa explaining them to her. Meg was just thrilled to run around and point to pictures.

The girls did really well for their first time in a hotel since our one night together in Korea a year ago. However, they were so glad to be home that they slept for twelve hours straight last night!

We had a wonderful time with our little peanuts! Thank you for all of your birthday cards and phone calls. I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend my birthday or have had more fun then with my family! Thanks Charlie for making us feel so special!

Outside of the zoo!

Hannah watching the polar bears with daddy.

The girls pointing out the lions to grandma and daddy!

Meg making her best fish lips at the Reef exhibit at Shedd!

Hannah pointing/saying "eye" as she touches a wood turtle that she wouldn't sit on!