2 months old!

Elizabeth is 2 months old today. In the past week she has been giving us lots of smiles! I managed to catch one here:

Also new in the past week is lifting her head up during tummy time:

Another cute thing she has been doing is "talking" to us. When I talk or sing to her she tries to imitate me. She moves her lips and makes little cooing sounds. It is so adorable.

looking so big!

Happy 2 month birthday, Elizabeth Grace!

swinging sisters

Look who learned how to pump a swing this week:

summer camp!

all ready for the first day of summer camp!

Happy 8 week birthday!

 Elizabeth is 8 weeks old today. She is doing great! At her 8 week appointment today she was 12 pounds, 14 ounces, and 23 1/2 inches long. She has been staying awake for longer periods of time and has been busy looking around at everything. She gives us big smiles (as long as she is not tired or hungry). She is starting to enjoy looking at toys and trying to hit toys. She loves to watch her sisters from her bouncy seat and loves to ride around in the Bjorn with Mommy. She is starting to open up her hands and has lifted her head a few times during tummy time. Anna says,"She loves milk and her favorite outfit is her strawberry onesie." (pictured below) Abby says, "She smiles a lot!"

more Sesame Place

A few more pictures of our trip from Nana's camera:

at the Please Touch Museum

the Wiggle Worm!

And finally, Nana caught Elizabeth's joyful reaction to Cookie Monster!

A bouquet for Mommy!

I forgot how pretty a bouquet of "weeds" can be - especially when they are picked by little girls for their Mommy. Oh how many bouquets of Queen Anne's Lace and Goldenrod I picked for Grandma when I was little! 

Happy Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day with a round of mini golf and lunch at Santini's. Happy Father's Day to one amazing father and husband! We love you so!

Opening father's day presents with 2 out of 3. (Elizabeth was napping.) Looks like that t-shirt needs an update! 

Sesame Place!

On Thursday we met Nana, Grandma, and Grandpa at Sesame Place! Well, actually we first met them at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia because when we first got to the Philadelphia area it was raining. We had a great time checking out the museum. Anna & Abby especially liked playing in the pretend hospital, the huge water table area, and the musical instrument area. After exploring the museum, we walked outside to beautiful weather and headed to Sesame Place! We spent the rest of the day Thursday and Friday at Sesame Place. The girls had a great time running around the park. Anna liked the roller coaster, drop tower, and swings the best. Abby liked the drop tower and slimey's shoots the best. We ended our trip just as we started it - with rain! At 5:00 on Friday, just as we were figuring out which rides we wanted to do last, the skies turned gray and it got windy. We decided to hit the road quickly, but we weren't quick enough. We ended our trip racing to our car with towels, clothes, and children in our arms and Abby correctly narrating the event by continuously yelling, "This is not OK!" And just as we reached the car, the rain let up. Looking back on it, it was pretty funny.

Elizabeth woke up at the character lunch to meet Cookie Monster. When she saw him she got the biggest smile on her face! And here she is visiting with Grover :)

As you can see, it was an action packed 2 days. The girls fell asleep at 6 pm on the car ride home and didn't wake up until 6:45 the next morning. They claim to not remember coming in the house or putting on their PJ's!

Dinosaur Discovery

Yesterday we went to the Natural History museum with Laura (from Anna's frog class) and her sisters, Caroline and Gracie. All the big girls had fun seeing real butterflies, looking at animal and human bones, learning about dinosaurs and mammals, and having lunch together. Anna & Abby especially liked taking pictures of monkey and sheep exhibits to get ready for animal week. (We are learning about a different topic each week this summer and next week is animal week. We'll be learning about all different animals together. Also, both girls picked a special animal to learn more about. Anna picked monkeys and Abby picked sheep.)

just chillin'

Thanks for the great visits!

On Sunday Grandma and Grandpa headed back to Albany after visiting us for a week to help out with the new baby. As you can see from the posts this past week, we had a great time at the carnival, strawberry picking, at the pool, out to eat, and at Abby's birthday party. It was a great week - thanks for all the help Grandma & Grandpa.

We also had a great time with Aunt Bridget and Uncle Dan who came to visit this past weekend to meet Elizabeth and come to Abby's birthday party. We had a great time catching up with them. Thanks so much for the visit!

Grandpa makes a nice pillow

Grandpa still makes a nice pillow

Abby's pool party!

This year Abby requested to have a birthday party at the pool. This past Saturday was the big day! Abby also requested to have a "princess cake," which she spotted on the internet when we were looking at her evite together. The cake she wanted had an internet video to describe how to make it. After watching the video, I didn't think it looked too hard so we decided to do it. Abby must have watched the video about 20 times in the weeks leading up to her party. Here's the video, if you would like to check it out. By the time we made the cake she was quoting the video during the process by saying, "time to put a nice dollup of icing on," "now it's time to put on the crumb coat," and "use the paper to make a nice smooth edge." The cake came out great and Abby and her party guests all loved it.

 Everybody had a great time at the party. Abby was excited to swim, celebrate with her family and friends, and of course, eat her cake. We all had a great time planning and celebrating with you, Abigail. On Sunday when I told her to thank Uncle Dan and Aunt Bridget for coming to her party she thanked them. They told her what a good time they had and she said, "I'm just so thankful!" Thank you, Abby, for being such a sweet and sensitive little girl. You share so much love with us through your kindness and snuggles. It has been a joy watching you grow from age 2 to 3. We love you so much!

Baby answers

Here are the answers to the baby guessing game from Thursday's post:

A: Anna
B: Elizabeth
C: Abby
D: Elizabeth
E: Abby
F: Anna

Thanks for playing!

Playgroup picnic!

On Wednesday we went to a playgroup picnic at Mia and Isabel's house. 4 1/2 years ago Anna and Mia started going to this playgroup together and many of the other members of the group have been in it for 3 or more years. Starting next year a bunch of kids and families will be "graduating" from playgroup as they head off to more days of preschool. Thanks St. Mark's Moms for a great 4 1/2 years of fun!

Stawberry picking!

On Tuesday we headed to Homestead Farm in Maryland to do some strawberry picking. Last year we just caught the tail end of strawberry picking and had trouble finding good strawberries. This year, we hit the farm on the second day of the season and the big, red, ripe strawberries were plentiful. Both girls filled their buckets. They also got to meet some farm animals including a lama!