Happy Anniversary!

Happy 40th anniversary Grandma and Grandpa P! We love you very much. Sending big hugs and kises.

XXOO
Lily and Elsa



Elsa and Lily rock on their favorite chair.


Elsa kisses her hamster.


Ms. Lily Cash, the woman in black. Daddy loves this outfit.


Snuggling with their bears. "Bear" is the new word of the week.

The boxes are back and so is Mark.

As I hinted in my last blog, Mark went on a trip to the E. Coast for a job interview. It went pretty well and we should know more by the beginning of February. Keep your fingers crossed that it all goes well. It looks like we will be moving to Princeton, NJ by the next school year, although it could be as early as
May. Mark's interview will determine how he is funded and when he will start. We are pretty excited. Princeton seems like a nice, if schmancy, college town and there is direct train service to NYC. We will also be close to Philly. Mark was able to check out the housing situation. It seems there will be lots of young families like ours.

On the homefront, I handled the girls on my own for 4 days/3 nights. It went pretty well. I'm proud of myself because this is the first time I've managed without anybody flying out to help. I stayed home from work and we had lots of fun playing together. Even though the girls are a lot to handle during the day, they go to bed by 7pm. So, it was pretty fun for me to have some evenings by myself. It was almost like being home alone. Neither Mark nor I have been alone in our house for more than couple hours in 16 months. Isn't that weird?


Here are the girls and I modeling our tshirts from Daddy's trip.


Closeup of Elsa's shirt.


The boxes are back. The girls have been playing with the diaper boxes all weekend. I had a box set aside for recycling. When I came back to the room, they were both in it. (Lily L, Elsa R). How fun!


Here's Elsa in her box. They keep inventing games with boxes. Sometimes they put things "in" the box. Othertimes, they push the boxes up and down the hall. And they also like to use the boxes as drums. They are so creative.


Box races in the hall. Elsa front, Lily ledge.


More fun at the tot lot. The tot lot is about two blocks from our house. Its where all the neighborhood toys are put to pasture. Since the girls don't go to daycare, I've been trying to have them interact more with other kids. They are still on the young side for the tots. But, they have a good time. Here's Lily filling her tank.


Elsa is on the rocking horse. She got on the horse all by herself!


Lily trying to figure out the pushtoy. She doesn't get the "pushing" part. She tends to "carry" the toys around. She walks around the house holding the giant ball and also the diaper box.

The girls are getting so big. They turned 16 months last week!

We will update the internet when we know more about the timing of our move. Hopefully, it will be soon as we are both anxious to make plans. For now, good-bye from Limbo-land.

While Daddy's away, the girls play

Scenes from our week.

Enjoying the Sunday paper. (E, L)

Lily playing ball in the hall. "Ball" is our word of the week.

Elsa feeding her baby.

Fun at the tot lot. (L,E)

Elsa playing with the dumptruck.

Lily's driving. Elsa likes to push Lily along. Working together is fun!

they're back!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are back from our adventures in the great midwest where the girls got to celebrate the holidays with their extended family. We stayed up in NW Indiana. But, Mark's parents were able to come up and visit. We also had a chance to meet several of Grandma Kathy's siblings (she's one of 8!) at a family reunion up in Tinley Park. It was fun to meet everybody. Her side of the family is so big, its really hard to get everyone together.

The girls did ok with their traveling. But, I have to admit that we might have been a little over ambitious in our plans. The girls seem to be going through a big cognitive and developmental growth spurt. So, they were pretty riled.

We learned a lot about their distinct personalities this vacation. It turns out that Lily is a little ham. Who knew the girl is a party animal? She loved all the family parties and liked to be in the middle of everything. She got to practice her walking skills for an adoring audience. The only problem is that she got so excited that she forgot how to take naps or sleep at night!

Elsa seems to greatly enjoy peace and quiet. She likes her own space and wasn't into the big crowds. So, all the little parties were hard for her.

Even though it was a bit chaotic, we were very glad to celebrate the holidays with everyone. We were especially happy to attend Auntie Meggan's wedding shower. Yay! Let's just hope that next time we come home that we can avoid the stomach flu. That was one rough ride back! Poor Mark was holding a baby in one arm and an airsick bag in the other. Thankfully, we are all feeling better now.



The girls in their XMas dresses. Elsa l, Lily R. I didn't have the opportunity to take many pictures of our vacation. So, please send copies!


The girls at their Godmother Meggan's wedding shower. The theme was fiesta!


Some pictures from home,

Lily walking around the house. Over the past couple weeks, she's made the transition from part-time crawler/walker to fulltime walker. Very exciting. She's very proud of herself.


Elsa hiding behind the couch with a book.


Elsa the lego queen. They got lots of neat lego's for Xmas. A big hit!


Mommy in the girls' xmas present from us. We're teaching them to be gerbils! Can you believe it all folds up into a little box.


Lily in the tube.



Elsa making a silly face.


One of Lily and Elsa's favorite activities. Couch climbing. Elsa's teething again as you can tell by the picture. I think they are getting their "fang" teeth.