Fall Photo Shoot!

I had a quick photo session done with the girls earlier this month because Macey is changing so much and Maddie is growing up too! Before we got to the studio, I bribed Maddie with a big cupcake from Martha Green's Bakery on State Street if she would smile for the pictures. I should not have done that. She tried so hard to smile. It turned into a squinty-eyed grimace instead of her beauitiful big, brown eyes and pretty smile. What you can't see in the photo is what we call "Maddie's happy hands." Since she was 6 months old, whenever she is super excited about something, she extends her arms, balls up her fists and then stretches her fingers straight out and then back into fists again. Her aunt Laura says she'll do this on her wedding day. I hope so :) - that's when you know Maddie is really happy about something.

Macey did not think anything was even remotely funny at the photo shoot. She is normally a pretty happy girl with big, gummy smiles showing off her 2 little bottom teeth .... but not this day.

This was the end of the photo shoot. By this point, I told Maddie to stop smiling. That's why her face looks the way it does. Macey had started to clap a little, but still was very skeptical of the whole situation. Not the best photo of my two girls, but I still love it.

In conclusion, I do not think my girls do well with ten minute mini-photo shoots. They have never smiled on command and in order to evoke the real smiles and laughs that I see every day, we need more than ten minutes. So, we'll be doing a longer family photo shoot in the next few weeks that will hopefully capture those big, gummy smiles and happy laughs I love so much.

Sister Love

One of the greatest joys of being a mom is watching my girls be sisters with each other. They seriously LIVE for one another. Nobody can make Macey belly laugh like Maddie does and no one can make Maddie instantly happy like Macey does. I know they loved each other before they came to this earth. It's almost as if their spirits remember each other somehow. They inherently know they are each other's sister and are fiercely protective of each other. If a cousin starts to be a little too rough with Macey, Maddie senses it from a completely different room. She comes tearing in there and saves her. If Maddie is sad about something, Macey crawls over to her and smiles and laughs at Maddie until they're both laughing and happy again. I love watching them and imagining little snapshots of time in the future - first days of school together, boyfriends, slumber parties, sister fights, etc. Our sweet girls are literally a piece of heaven in our home and we are so blessed to have them in our family.

Here are some fun pictures and videos of the girls...

Maddie is very careful to always include Macey in whatever she is doing, without any prodding from us. She has always been very concerned and considerate of her sister's feelings. Maddie loves to play with the Little People animals and line them up. This was a sweet moment one morning when Maddie kept handing animals to Macey to make sure Macey had one to play with too.

Maddie & Macey are extreme couponers in training. Look at Maddie's face ... she was super excited when her Macey was finally big enough to graduate from her car seat to actually being able to sit up in the front.  

:) Oh my goodness. Is there a word to describe moments like this?

These are older videos from when Macey was just a few months old.

Here are those Maddie-induced belly laughs I was talking about...

Stay tuned for more updates on our busy lives .... the ongoing renovations to our house, potty training, Halloween, fall photo shoots, and more :)

Macey - 8 months!

Macey is 8 months old and is so much fun! She is a little sensitive sometimes, but we still love her.

Macey had her 6 month check up in August. These were her stats then, I'm sure they have increased by now!

WEIGHT: 17 lbs, 12 oz. - 80%

LENGTH: 25 3/4 in. - 47%

HEAD: 17 1/4 in. - 83%

Macey likes to just be part of the action. Whatever is going on, she is content to watch it happen. Sitting in the shopping cart, watching me cook dinner from her high chair, or crawling after Maddie, she is happy to be part of our family. And we are happy she is part of ours!

She loves her Uncle Derrick so much! She kicks her feet and flaps her arms and squeals when she sees him. He is so wonderful with our girls and we are so lucky to have him in our lives. He took Macey out to draw with sidewalk chalk on the porch one morning - so fun!

Macey's first ponytail! And the first picture of her bottom teeth! 

Macey shopping at JoAnn's Fabrics! She feels like such a big girl now that she can sit up in the front of the cart by herself.

Macey loves to splash and play with toys in the bathtub! Can you tell?

Macey sitting up at church! 

She is a happy girl and has accomplished a lot in her short life...

• sits up on her own
• crawls
• pulls herself up on everything
• says Mama, Dada, & baba
• claps her hands
• raises her hands above her head and say "Tada!" - my favorite!
• throws a ball - and she has a pretty good arm!
• stands on her own
• walks if she can hold your hands
• has her two bottom teeth

We love our sweet Macey bug, but no one loves Macey as much as Maddie does. These two girls LIVE for each other and can't stand to be apart.

We are STILL working on getting Macey to sleep through the night (don't ask) and when she fusses a little on her way to dream land, Maddie gets big, wide eyes and says, "Mom! Macey's awake! Can we go get her?" I have to physically restrain Maddie from running in Macey's room and thwarting my efforts of a full night's sleep.

This video is from a few months ago, but I love it. It shows Macey's true personality. She is content to just play on the floor by herself as long as she has toys to chew on.

Macey's other favorite past time is jumping. She loves to jump on your lap when you hold her hands, but she really loves to jump in the jumparoo Grandma bought for her to jump in. She literally will jump for 40 minutes straight. It seems like quite a workout and she is thinning out from her jumping sessions. She is so thrilled to be able to jump independently.

We feel so blessed to have our two beautiful little girls who bring so much happiness into our lives. They are so sweet and loving and bring the spirit of Christ into our home every day.