The Great Pumpkin Festival

Today, we met Chris, Lori and Sarah outside Buffalo (in Clarence, NY) for a pumpkin festival. After about an hour drive with William sleeping and Mary Grace serenading mommy and daddy with the ABC song, we arrived in a giant parking lot nearly full. Though the lot was crowded, it was very reasonable inside. We started the day with pony rides for Mary Grace and William. William enjoyed it so much that he had a minor temper tantrum when he had to get off. It was short-lived though. Next, Sarah took Mary Grace through the haunted house. It was strange seeing my baby girl walking away with my niece, but I put my trust in her and she didn't let me down. After they both emerged safely from the house, Sarah explained that Mary Grace got scared at one point and she had to be carried. What a good cousin! We visited a few small displays including a pumpkin based teepee and a quick walk through the heavenly smelling barbeque area, then decided to get lunch. After lunch, the kids went on some rides, including the cars and the carousel. Then we made our way to the pumpkin launcher (air-powered pumpkin-shooting artillery) and got in line for the tracter drawn hayride. Then, it was time to go. We expected the kids would conk out instantly, but Mary Grace's antics kept William awake the entire way home. I've never known Mary Grace to talk and sing as much as she did. Yikes. And kicking my seat too! I'd always wondered why that set my dad off as much as it did, and now I know. :)

Mary Grace wants to drive home

On Sunday we spent a very fun afternoon at Brown's Berry Patch, all the way out in WaterPort, NY (near Oak Orchard Yacht Club). The kids had a great time on the giant bouncy pillow, feeding the animals, going down the giant slide, playing in the many sandboxes, and shopping in the gift store.

After several hours, it was time to leave and Mary Grace climbed into the drivers seat of the CR-V and announced that she would be driving home. Anne and I took it in stride and went on getting ready for the ride home. At one point, MG asked me if I would be sitting in her car seat (since she would be sitting in mine), and I said sure.

Well, it came time to leave and I went to get her out of the front seat to put her into her seat in the back and she threw a tantrum, as she genuinely believed that she would be driving home.

We tried to reason with her and explained that driving takes lots of practice and studying and she was too little, but she didn't want to hear it. We finally coaxed her into her seat but I'm sure she still thinks that one day soon, she'll be driving us and we'll be sitting in the back seat. Won't that be exciting...

Look at the Geese Mary Grace..... On no.....!

Last night we were all playing in the back yard near the sandbox and we heard a flock of geese overhead. I wanted Mary Grace to see them, so I said "Look Mary Grace, geese!" and pointed up. We all stopped to look up at them and watched as a dozen or so flew majestically overhead.

Then something went wrong. We saw debris. Yes, that kind of debris.

We all turned to stone as we tried to predict where the debris would land. I watched a large chunk land about 10 feet from me and I thought we were safe, until the splatter effect kicked in and showered Mary Grace's feet with "debris". My car also took a direct hit, as did the driveway further up.

I heard someone say it's good luck to be shat upon by a bird. I'll let you all know how the luck thing pans out... But from now on, when I hear that honking noise, I'm going to run for cover!

Family update: William is imitating more and more sounds and is starting to try and say some words. He's become quite the trouble maker too. He loves to unroll rolls of toilet paper onto the floor. Mary Grace LOVES puzzles, especially her Thomas puzzle that we bought we we went to see Thomas in the spring. Every time she sees an airplane she says that it's Uncle Jack and Jon's plane.

Amusic Park!

Mary Grace has an interesting way of saying Amusement Park - It sounds like she's saying "Amusic Park". I tried to teach her to say it correctly tonight, but she's pretty certain that she's saying it correctly. Eh... Works for me.

So that's where we went tonight. It was a beautiful summer night and the planets must have been in alignment because unlike the last time we went to Seabreeze, Mary Grace was way into trying the rides tonight.

First she went on the little cars and enjoyed them so much that she also tried the airplanes and the boats. Then we ran into our neighbors Eric and Bethany and their daughter Clementine, so we started the ride circuit all over again!

Mary Grace and Clementine even tried the baby rollercoaster but halfway through the ride, Mary Grace has a change of heart and wanted out. The attendant was nice enough to stop the ride early and she scooted under the safety bar and ran off the ride saying that the ride made her sick and that it wasn't a good ride for her.

I have some photos that my mom took of me and Randy at a similar amusic park when we were quite young, so these pictures are very special to me. (but unfortunately, we didn't bring a camera so they're from my phone camera)

At the beach!

We took all the kids to the beach this past weekend. Jon had lots of fun looking for beach glass and digging big holes in the sand, then discussing the socio-political ramifications of the hole filling with water.

Mary Grace was unrelenting in her desire to go deeper. She was in the water so long that she started to turn purple. She lectured me a few times when she fell and got some water down the wrong pipe... "That's why you should hold my hand, Daddy".

William got covered from head to foot with sand and didn't really want to go in the water. He got a little scared when I took him out into the water to get the sand off, but he was a brave little man and didn't cry.

It was exhausting, but fun. I guess having the life guards at Durand Eastman beach isn't such a bad thing (I was initially against it).

Here are some pictures from the day.

Visitors from Arizona!

We've had Jack and Jon here for almost a week and today I finally took some pictures or the kids and Jon. We were heading to the beach (more pictures coming soon) and William fell asleep holding a water bottle. Then, Jon and Mary Grace were hamming it up, so I had to take a picture of them too.

Look for the beach pictures in the next day or so!

Moooooo!

Anne has been doing a great job teaching William the animal noises. Quack-quack for ducks, meow for cats, mooooo for cows, etc. William is doing some great animal impressions.

We took the kids out for a jammie-clad, post-bath ice-cream run last night, and while we were heading north on the highway, Mary Grace was watching all the clouds in the sky. She saw some purple-ish ones and yelled, Daddy! I see purple clouds! William responded with a long "Moooooooo!", thinking Mary Grace has said "purple cows".

Mary Grace, mommy and daddy all got a big laugh out of that one, then enjoyed some delicious ice cream from Brewsters. Ahhh, summer.

William eats 'ronis with sauce

It was a very nice night tonight, so we decided to eat out on the front porch. I was greeted by two close-to-naked children who were just getting ready to eat. I asked Anne if I should get bibs, but we agreed that the less to get dirty the better. We didn't expect what you see below though...

Despite appearances, William did get most of his food into his mouth. And he was all cleaned up about 20 minutes later, after an early bath.

Frankenstein!

I went home for lunch today and was greeted by Mary Grace screaming "DADDY!" and running to me, which is usually what happens. But then from across the room, I saw a very excited looking baby Frankenstein with an ear-to-ear grin, arms outstretched and walking just like a recently brought-to-life little monster. I yelled "Frankenstein!" just as he got to me, leaning into a great big hug from daddy.

That boy is so cute.

William walks!

It started with a few cautious steps, and it's become the preferred method of locomotion! Yes, William is walking now, just a few days before his 14 month birthday.
Right now, he's screaming in frustration because he can't pull off his socks by himself. I better go help out, because we all know how annoying socks can be!

A very nice fathers day!

Fathers day was very good to me today! I'm not sure if my favorite part was sleeping in, breakfast in bed, opening presents, playing with the kids in the yard, 'roni's from Mamma, ice cream cake desert, or snuggling with sleepy kids at bedtime. I guess with a lineup like that, why should I choose? They were all my favorites!

Bunny goes to timeout.

Today after Mary Grace got a timeout for taking a toy away from William, Mary Grace handed down her own justice to her bunny. "Bunny, you going to timeout for pushing that other bunny". She mimicked the same treatment she gets, to the word! After a little while, she went back to the bunny and asked "Do you know why you're in timeout?", then made the bunny apologize to the other bunny.

Anne and I were cracking up, under our breath.

We also took the kids to Seabreeze amusement park for the first time. We expected William to patiently sit in the stroller, which he did. We thought Mary Grace would go on the kiddie rides, but the first thing she saw was a grown up ride that scared her. She was too scared to set foot on the ground the rest of the time that we were there. Poor little angel.

William is a little housewrecker. His latest trick is ignoring Anne and I when we call out his name for bring naughty. He's getting in to everything, and timeouts are a big joke to him. We're at our wits end, and welcome ideas from the more experienced readers of this blog!

Listening to the ocean in a seashell

Thank-you, uncle James, for the sea shell. I can hear the ocean in it!

Tonight after Mary Grace's bath, she looked up at the sea-shell that is on top of the medicine cabinet and asked to see it. I explained that it was a sea-shell from the ocean that uncle James gave to daddy. Then I held it up to her ear to see if she could hear the ocean, and she could! I said that we should thank uncle James and that's what Mary Grace said.

...... Goes around and Around and AROUND!

Mary Grace started singing a song to get William to laugh recently. The song ends with "Goes around and Around and AROUND", getting really loud. But the song starts with some words too which Anne and I have been unable to figure out.

So we asked Mary Grace to sing it slowly for us and we determined that we either can't figure out how the song starts or that the words change everytime.

I guess the important thing is that William gets a good giggle and belly laugh in everytime she does it, and big sister loves to make little brother laugh.

William's first pickle

William had his first taste of a pickle at Don's Original down at the lake on May 19. He seemed to like it, but he's become such a little vacuum cleaner that it's hard to tell if he even tastes anything he eats.

We've been enjoying the early summer. Mommy has the kids in the backyard playing every day and Daddy has been doing a lot of grilling. The deck off the back of the house is shaping up. The stairs will be going up this weekend and I may even get a start on the railings.

Mary Grace loves running around and playing outside. She's always asking to go outside and play, and never wants to nap; "I'm not sleepy" ALWAYS preceeds a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon and bedtime at night.

Mary Grace makes up a song and dance

Imaging Mary Grace spinning around in circles and raising her hands towards the sky when you read these lyrics:

About Airplanes
About Airplanes

About Airplanes
About Airplanes

Way up in the big blue sky

About Airplanes
About Airplanes

Yay!

Where is William?! - giggle giggle giggle

This morning I went into William's room to get him out of bed and he was "hiding" in his crib. He had pulled his blanket over his head and was sitting very still. So I played along - "Where is William?" I asked, and heard a little giggle. Then he pulled the blanket off of himself and started cracking up.

He's such a little cutie.

We also lost power to the house last night from 10:30 until 3:15, for the first time I can recall since 1996. So if anyone recorded Lost in HD and wants to burn me a DVD, I'd appreciate it. :)

How tall is Mary Grace? 5 lbs!

I'm probably past the 50% point on my deck now and I was walking through the house this weekend carrying my tape measurer. Mary Grace was very interested in it, so I said "Lets see how tall you are". After finally getting her to stand still long enough to get a measurement, she started walking off, flashed me a smile and said "5 lbs!". I guess that's good enough for me.

Also, Mary Grace, William and I went shopping for mommy for something for mothers day. Our search took us to Stevers on Park Avenue where we got some treats for mommy. As we were walking back to the car, I told her that we can't tell mommy we got her chocolate because it's a secret. Back home, all the gifts were safely stored and as soon as mommy walked in, Mary Grace runs up to her, all excited, and says "Mommy!!! We got you some chocolate!!! It's a secret!". I guess a little more explaining was in order on my part. :)

Not to leave out my boy, William has been getting closer and closer to taking his first steps. He's totally fealess when it comes to scooting and takes on stairs like he's a natural, both up and down! He gets into trouble a lot, but he is a boy. I caught him today pulling his sisters hair... So naughty!

Some photos since it's been a while:

Thankey

William's new word is Thank-you. His first word was Dry dry dry (which we say after we wash him with a wipe, while we dry him). His second word was Mommy, then Daddy, now thank-you.

It's so cute to hand him something to eat and hear a little voice say thank-you.

You like that {insert edible item name here}, daddy?

Anne and I are probably to blame for this but Mary Grace is now WAY into asking the standard question "You like that, Daddy?" She asks whenever she seems me eat something. Even if it's the same thing over and over again (like eating pretzels).

I think she asks it because she wants some, or at least thinks she wants some. Or maybe it's just to make sure you're eating something you like to eat. Regardless, it's awfully cute.

When she is really talkative, she might even ask "Does that make you feel better", which we know is from trying to convince Mary Grace to take her medicine, and explaining to her "This will make you feel better".

You like that pretzel Daddy? You like it? I like it sooo much! You like that iced tea? Does it make you feel better? I like iced tea!

Look, Thomas - This is my lovey!

We took the kids to Medina yesterday to see Thomas The Tank Engine on tour. We got to take a ride on a passenger car that Thomas pulled, meet Sir Topham Hatt, find our way through the Tidmouth Sheds maze and shop of Thomas and Frieds products.

While William just sat back and took it all in, Mary Grace's enthusiasm level was very enjoyable to watch. She liked talking to the locomotive-sized Thomas, saying things like "Look Thomas, this is my lovey". She ran though the maze effortlessly (which perplexed me until I realized that she was following the worn grass trail), and she picked out a new train for her train set (Percy) and a Thomas puzzle.

On the way out, we drove to a railroad crossing and got out of the car and waited for the train to come by so we could see Thomas one last time. It was probably the best idea of the day, as Mary Grace got to see Thomas approach steam-whistle blowing, pulling all the passenger cars. Once Thomas passed, she also got a kick out of waving to all the other kids on the train.

No William, I'm crying now!

Anne just conveyed a story to me that I had to post. Apparently, Anne was changing William's diaper in Mary Grace's room this morning. William can be quite a challenge when it comes to diaper changes, so to distract him, mommy gave him one of Mary Grace's toys.

Of course, Mary Grace started crying because she didn't want William to have her toy.

Next, William started placing the toy into his mouth which as we know is a no-no. So Anne took the toy from William, which led to William screaming. So now both kids are crying...

And the point of this post is Mary Grace's next statement. "No William, I'm crying now". Yes, we have a couple of fakers...

House Wrecker

Anne and I are very fortunate to have experienced having both a boy and a girl baby. I'm ready to share with you the biggest difference. William loves to get into things much more than Mary Grace ever did. So much so that I've begin referring to him as "the house-wrecker". To be fair, he's just a baby and doesn't get into too much trouble, but I predict that will change as he continues to gain skills in his new world.

So today Mommy and Mary Grace were in the kitchen and William came crawling in from the living room. Mary Grace proceeds to exclaim "Uh oh, here comes the house wrecker!"

I must learn to be careful with what I say around that little girl!

Look Daddy, There's a Cowboy!

Those who know where we live may know that there's a Jewish Temple just up the street at Culver and Monroe. It's a more traditional following, so on Saturdays, you can usually see groups of people walking to or from the temple dressed in more traditional clothes; for the men, simple black suits with a brimmed black hat.

So we were all going somewhere in the car, stopped at the light at Culver. A member of the Temple walks past us in his black suit and hat. Then Mary Grace pipes up from the back seat "Look daddy, there's a cowboy!" It took a second for us to get what she was talking about, but Anne and I got a big laugh out of it. Then once we stopped laughing, she added "He's going to get his horsey", resulting in an even bigger laugh from the front seat.

William, while not quite as eloquent, has become quite verbal. He talks in his baby babble nearly all the time. He's developed a great belly laugh, and gets quite a kick out of his sister's antics. Mary Grace loves to put on shows for him to make him laugh, and he usually wants to jump in and participate. This usually leads to them getting all wound up and Anne and I sitting back and enjoying the show.

William has just started giving kisses too. Big open mouth face/lip contact kisses. He's also learned to wave bye-bye, and can recite the value of Pi to 12 digits.

Here are a few photos of the little people that make a mess of our house everyday.

 

William in his sweater with ears. And Mary Grace after gobbling up her strawberry ice cream on Daddy's birthday. The cake Anne made me was delish! (thanks Honey!)

One for the road

A few more recent photos of the kids. These were taken on St. Valentine's day. We did our traditional family outing at the Northside Inn in East Rochester the day before the holiday. We got a big winter storm that night and the next day, and we all stayed inside for the whole day and watched the snow pile up. These photos were taken to delay the onset of cabin fever.

Naughty Behavior!

You're probably thinking I'm going to write about either Mary Grace or William's naughty behavior, but no, it's my naughty behavior I'd like to document.

It has been way too long since my last blog entry. I've missed the winter solstice, Christmas, New Years day, and some miscellaneous semi-holidays which only impact me by making me play garbage day roulette (will it be Thursday night or Friday night?).

The quick summary of events since December 2.

Mary Grace enjoys water color painting, playing with play-doh, watching Caillou, eating cheese, dancing on the bed to Daddy's aerobics music, taking long baths, and playing hide-and-seek.

William enjoys watching Abby, playing with Abby, eating Cheerios and Corn Puffs, playing peek-a-boo, being held by mommy, his exersaucer, crawling on his tummy, eating paper and watching Baby Einstein.

Mary Grace doesn't like William playing with "her" toys, doesn't like most foods (or so she says until she eats it all up), doesn't like sledding when it's very cold outside, doesn't like walking in snow, doesn't like going to bed and doesn't like the workmen ("I cared of workmen").

William doesn't like hearing his milk being prepared because he has to have it NOW!, doesn't like to be told not to play with Abby's food or Abby, doesn't like chunky baby food, and doesn't like when Mary Grace takes toys from him.

Some recent milestones were William pulling himself to a standing position, Mary Grace pee pee on the potty, William feeding himself small pieces of food, Mary Grace drinking from a cup (with mixed results).

Finally, here are a few recent photos. Lots more on KodakGallery. Email us if you are interested in seeing them.



All bundled up for sledding with Mommy


All excited about eating some paper!


Playing in William's crib

Cute! Super Cute!

It is amazing how quickly time passes. It's been over a month since my last post here and it feels like a week. It's the same way with watching the kids grow up. In just a few months, Mary Grace will be 2. Then a few months later William will celebrate his very first birthday. With both of them, time has gone by so quickly.

Since my last post, Mary Grace has become a big helper. She loves to dust, using wipes for diaper changes, she gets a kick out of sweeping the floor, and she has a great time pretend-cooking. She also helps unload the dishwasher, puts dirty diapers in the diaper pail, and she's starting to learn to wash herself in the bath. And her vocabulary! She seems to say something new every day and is putting together her own sentences, like "I can't reach it", or "I want to watch Caillou". In response to Mary Grace demanding "I want some milk", we taught her to instead say "May I have some milk please?". She's totally on-board with it. Awesome.

William is a bit more relaxed. His favorite thing to do is eat. He's started on baby foods and LOVES it (except for the peas and summer vegetables). He gets most of his exercise by laughing and doing pelvic thrusts, lifting his bottom off the floor by pushing his feet down. To be fair, he has shown an aptitude for getting around by rolling. He's the jolliest little baby though, except when he's getting new teeth. So far, the bottom front two have proven painful to anyone dumb enough to give him a finger to chew on (Anne and I), and the top front two are just poking through.

We're all looking forward to Christmas and Santa's visit. Rest assured that there will be several posts leading up to and following that magical day. As always, here are some proud parent photos.

Mary Grace is SO BIG	Sitting pretty at Mamma's house
William and Mamma	Happy baby in the sunshine!

Happy Halloween!

Last week was Halloween and it was quite a difference from last year. Mary Grace dressed up as a fairy princess and William wore a recycled kitty cat costume (which may look familar to many of you). The night before Halloween -- known as begger's night in Buffalo -- we tried Mary Grace's costume on. She put up a big fuss and wouldn't wear it at all. "Uh oh", Anne and I thought. On Halloween, we tried to explain that if she wore her costume that she could go get treats from all the neighbors, but she just cried and cried as we put the costume on her. Our first stop was at Adele and Les's house, right across the street. We coaxed Mary Grace into saying "Happy Halloween" and "Trick or treat!", and when she got her first treat in her goodie bag, all the crying stopped and she got really excited for more treats. William was a very good kitty cat. He had the most fun trying to put some of his larger treats into his mouth. He wasn't quite into character though; instead of meowing, he was doing his normal growling while putting things into his mouth. Finally, a big thanks to Dave Burnet for taking awesome photos of the kids and to Uncle Denny and Aunt Marge for getting me to write this blog.

William turns 6 months old

It's hard for Anne and I to believe that William is already 6 months old. He's had a lot of milestones lately, from crying out "mama" (coincidence, we believe) to getting his first two teeth (the same two that Mary Grace got at 7 months), to starting on baby foods (he loves just about anything).

William just eats and eats. In that sense, he's the complete opposite of Mary Grace. They're also very different in weight, as William's weight is approaching his big sister's weight.

He's also become a good communicator, letting us know when he's hungry and when he's tired. When he's hungry, he talks baby talk for a while, then starts to whine. Once he sees the food, the whining turns into a full (and loud) cry. When he's tired, he rubs his eyes a lot and whines.

Mary Grace's swimming classes have just concluded and as William has just turned 6 months, he's eligible. So expect Anne and I to be swimming with the kids on Tuesday nights after 6. MG has learned to go underwater, jump off the side into daddy's arms, and use a barbell floater to swim around the pool (with Daddy holding her legs and pushing her). Finally here's a few photos.

	Mary Grace and William in our bed one morning. What you don't see is that a moment later, William rolled over towards MG and tried to suck her face. :)
	Happy Baby William fresh out of the bath. William gets a "kick" out of his bath, kicking his right foot constantly to make big splashes and get Anne and I all wet
	Where did those pink cheeks come from? It got cold out for a few days and William got all bundled up in his new winter hat!

Mommy kiss?

Today we all slept in until almost 9. Mary Grace had lost her lovey at around 6 and was screaming for one of us to pick her up off of the floor and give it to her. William had his first shots yesterday and didn't sleep well until after 6:00am.


We took the kids to Cobbs Hill park for a little fun in the filtered sun. Mary Grace ran around and collected sticks. Mommy assembled those sticks into a teepee. The fresh air must have been too much for William because he slept nearly the whole time.

After a late nap, we went out to dinner at Charbroil on Monroe. Mary Grace did very well and ate macaroni salad, bread, broccoli, meatloaf, french fries and jello. She fed herself the jello with an adult spoon and did really well! William didn't make a peep the whole time. Afterwards, we took the kids for a stroller ride at Schoen place and bought some duck food and fed the ducks. Mary Grace got such a kick out of throwing the food at the ducks. Unfortunately, we didn't bring a camera to capture it.

As I was putting Mary Grace to bed tonight, we had just finished our night time ritual and I was walking out of the darkened room and Mary Grace said "Da?". I replied "Yes Mary Grace?". She asked "Mommy kiss?". I answered "Yes, Mommy will give you a kiss as soon as she is done with William" and she finished "OK, goodnight". This is my 18 month old daughter.

Strawberry Ice Cream

A few weeks ago after an evening drive, we all had a craving for ice cream. We decided to try Brewsters, on Rt. 404 near Five Mile Line Rd. Long story short, it was amazing. I had the creamsicle, Mary Grace had strawberry and mommy had ?

We decided to take Mamma there tonight and that's where the funny things start.

First, Mary Grace runs up to the counter, stands right in front of the person ordering and repeatedly demanded "Strawberry! Strawberry! Strawberry!". She ended up getting her free strawberry cone and eating the entire thing! That little girl loves ice cream.

We were listening to Wiggles songs on in the car and Mary Grace would say the next line of the song before it came on. I guess we need a bigger music selection. I wonder if she would like New Order or Depeche Mode?

Next, we pointed out the crescent moon before we left. As we were leaving Brewsters, Mary Grace said "Goodnight.. Goodbye moon". Thinking that the moon would stay at the ice cream place. But the moon followed Mary Grace all the way home! She kept looking out the window and yelling out "Moon!" whenever she saw it.

Not to leave William out... He has decided he's too big to take naps during the day, and is still sleeping reasonably well at night. He gets a kick out of watching Mommy and Daddy perform for him, and is starting to watch his big sister more and more. We've started him out with some teething toys and the exer-saucer too.

Here's a few more recent photos:





The movie star smiling for her adoring fans

Her silly brother hamming it up.

Mid-summer post

Having two kids has kept us very busy this summer. Anne and I have finally taken to creating a much more rigid schedule. We hope that this will give us both time to do some of the extra things we've been missing out on.
As for the kids, Mary Grace continues to amaze us with her development. She's started putting words together to form short sentences and is able to say and remember so many words, it's amazing. She loves taking our hands and walking us to what she wants.
William has been sleeping through the night more often than not. He's ahead of Mary Grace on that front. He loves to talk while he puts his fists into his mouth. We've caught him sucking a finger or a thumb from time to time, but he still needs the pacifier. He had his baptism while Jack and Peg and Nate and Jon were visiting.
We keep saying that we need to get Mary Grace to the beach before the summer ends, but finding the time has been challenging. Here's a few recent photos of the angels to end this post. Thanks for reading!

Mary Grace imitating William, or vice-versa.

Mommy and William at the baptism.

Daddy and Mary Grace at the baptism.

Summertime and kids

We're nearing the official start of summer on June 21, but my thermometer says it started weeks ago with some record heat. This week has been just fabulous and Mary Grace and I took our first swim in the inflatable pool last night.

She was insane! She tried to touch the bottom, putting her face in the water. She came up all wet and coughing, then got all excited and tried to do it all over again! I think she's a natural Pisces, just like her Daddy.

William has been growing by leaps and bounds. He's already over 11 lbs and has been laughing and giggling. He's nearly 2 months old already! Where does the time go?

Here are a few recent photos of the kids. I promise my next post will include a link to a bunch of pictures we've taken this spring.

Mary Grace is fascinated by the camera!	William happy to be held by mommy