It's Ali's First Fourth!

Alison was excited this morning for her first Fourth of July.....ok, maybe she was more excited to see the shiny flashbulb, and it was mom and dad who were excited for her first fourth. Anyway, here a couple of pictures of Alison in her outfit for the day.

She continues to develop really nicely......after a brief stint of waking up at night, she's back to sleeping thru the night (thanks to some cooler nights and a strategically placed fan) again. She's rolling all over the place and she even does some crawling motions......she just can't get the legs and arms timed just right yet. She's not sitting up on her own yet, but if you prop her up she can hold herself up for a while and then she rolls back on to her back without any trauma.

Be back later with some pictures of Sis........Diva's currently getting her hair and nails done.

Ready for the pool

We went to the pool this afternoon and here's a few photos before the trip. Grace did her 50 times down the slide as usual......she's getting a lot better about talking her turn at the top of the slide. She's not just walking in front of older kids who are kind enough to let her in front of them. We also ran into a couple of her friends at the pool (Wyatt and Bella) who are a little younger and less experienced at the pool. Grace cheered them on as they took their turns down the slide!
Alison really warmed up to the pool today. It's taken her a few trips but she's smiling in the water and was even laughing quite a bit while she floated in her float-ring. She was one of the younger babies out there today and the only one floating "on her own".....

Video of the 6 month cupcake

Here's a short clip of Alison's experiment with cupcakes on her 6 month birthday......she wasn't quite sure what to do with it.....in the middle she discovers that maybe frosting isn't that bad, but she wants no part of trying the cake......maybe she thought the frosting was the best part and the cake wasn't worth it.

Who's Zoo-ing Whom?

We made our annual trip to the St. Louis Zoo over the weekend.....the girls had a lot of fun.....we had to get there early to beat the crowd and the heat......Here are some photos -

The girls try to see what animals they measure up with
If she could straighten out her legs a bit, she'd be taller than a hawk Grace getting swallowed up by a hippo
I ain't afraid of no goat!
Grace and Ashley checking out the hippo tank....
Grace hanging out with some of her really "cool" friends (this penguin exhibit is the coolest thing (no pun intended) that I've seen at a zoo....these penguins are outside the exhibit)

Alison riding the carousel.....I think she's riding a baby hippo....
Grace having fun riding the bunny......
Silly faces outside the penguin tank.....(you literally get splashed by the penguins as they jump in the water)
Alison chilling out.....she was ready to go home.......

Alison turns one-half

Alison's 6 month birthday was last Friday......time fuh-lies......We went to visit Ashley's parents in St. Louis for the weekend and left Friday morning. After we got there, we made some cupcakes so she could try out some cake and frosting......she wasn't a big fan.....(we will be scheduling the DNA tests tomorrow to see who her real biological parents are).....she got some frosting on her fingers, but when we tried to get her to taste it, she cried.....I'll post some video of the event later.

Anyway, here are some photos of Alison on her actual 6 month birthday, and one photo of her cupcake experience (sitting in Ashley's old highchair)......

You never know where you'll find her

Tonight, we went upstairs to turn in for the night......As I went upstairs, I heard Grace talking to herself (common practice), and I could tell it wasn't coming from her room. I thought she was in Alison's nursery, but this is where I found her:

The difference between dads and moms? - I went to get the camera, and Ashley worked on telling her to never climb up there again because it could fall on top of her.

We're headed for St. Louis this weekend......early next week, we should have some pictures from the zoo, and Alison eating her 6 month cupcake!

Grace goes to Soccer class

We signed Grace up for a t-ball and soccer class this spring called Kicks and Swings.....for two nights a week for five weeks, they teach the kids some basics about throwing, catching, kicking, and listening to instructions (obviously, this is by far the most challenging aspect of the class). On Mondays, they have soccer stuff, and Wednesdays are the t-ball sessions. Grace seems to like soccer the best because she gets to run around more.

In the video, during the warm-up stretches, you can see her favorite teacher (she's the tall one), and you can also see a new little friend she made named Savannah (she's the one in the purple shirt with her hair pulled up in a pony-tail kind across from Grace). The kids like to play on the slides together after class.

Hopefully, later this week, I'll have a chance to add some more from class, including a very competitive, almost violent game of Duck, Duck, Goose.....j/k.....it's not violent.