Sunny days!

We have had some fun days these last few weeks. The girls and I love being outside playing, picnicking, going to the park, or whatever as long as it's outside. After 21 straight days of rain a few weeks ago, the sun is our current best friend! Here are some pictures from the last few weeks and our good times.

At the Riverwalk with Kylan, Kynlee, Caroline, and Clark


Picnic/splash park fun with Caroline

Kate planted her first flower...a blue days!

Playing outside while mommy and daddy plant impatiens

Swimming at Nanny and Bumps' Memorial Day weekend

A trip to the zoo...Kate posing with the donkey!?

Maggie and Kynlee at the zoo

Maggie's baptism

Sweet Maggie was baptized this morning by Reverend Dave Thomas (yes, like the Wendy's guy!). We had family over for breakfast followed by the 11:00 church service. We had a rough start because Mags was ticked that I took her program away when we stood up, but once Rev. Thomas got her, she was great. She looked beautiful and was sweet as could be!

Sister Kate got to stand up with us during the baptism and noticed that she was on the big screen. This was just too much for her to stand, so she spent the baptism waving to herself on the screen! I'm not sure if the congregation was more focused on Maggie being baptized or on Kate and her show. Either way, Maggie is baptized and she had a big day.

And now, mommy and daddy get a week long rest. Mimi and PopPop took both girls home with them and are bringing them back on Friday for Kate to be a flower girl in our cousin's wedding and then the big 3 year old birthday on Sunday. Whatever will Ryan and I do with this free time...whatever we want!!!

9 months!

In 3 short months, we'll be celebrating Maggie's 1 year birthday...I can't believe it! She's made it 3/4 of the way through her first year and we must be doing something right because she's fat and happy!:)









Maggie's 9 month appointment was today and she weighs 19 pounds even (Kate weighed 19 pounds even at her 1 year!) and she's 27 1/2 inches long. Her weight is in the 60% and her height is in the 65%. She averaging out in each category, down from 70% at her 6 month appointment.

A few "firsts" for the month:

• 2 teeth!! You may be able to see them in the pictures, but you'll have to look really closely.


• Mags had her first fever which then lead to her first ear infection. Not a fun first, but such is life. After 10 days of antibiotics, Dr. Hughes gave her a clean bill of health.


• She's trying more "real" foods - hamburger, watermelon, avocado


• She learned to clap and now we're working on waving bye-bye, but when you tell her to wave bye-bye, she just claps!:)

Still no mobility yet. I'm wondering if Maggie will ever take a notion to crawl, but when people are always handing things to you or carrying you around, when could you possibly learn?! She has it pretty easy!

Maggie continues to be an incredible baby. She's so easy and happy and lovable!

Below are the pics of the two girls on their 9 month "birthdays". Maggie is the top picture and
Kate is the bottom. Notice the hair on both of them - a mess!

Sleepy baby

Shawn Johnson in the making?!

Kate had her gymnastics performance last week and it was super cute...way better than I had anticipated. (Not necessarily her performance, but the whole thing!). They started out as a big group doing their warm-up, which consists of push-ups, sit-ups, and frog jumps. Then each class rotated through 4 stations in the gym and we got to follow them around to watch, take pictures, and video. Kate has loved gymnastics this year. We are already signed up for the 3 year old class next fall.

Here are some pictures of Kate in action and a video of her getting her first "Olympic" medal...how cute!

Kate and buddies...Luke and Laiken (Caroline was out of town)

Somersault fun! (And please ignore the panties. She wouldn't wear her leotard without them!)

Just relaxing from all of her hard work!

Kate's teachers...Miss Michelle and Miss Kay

Diaper Dolphin and Minnow

The girls both took swim lessons and both "graduated" from their programs. Maggie was a Diaper Dolphin and has advanced onto the Flipper level (whatever that means!) and Kate was a Minnow and got a ribbon saying that she can "climb out of the pool unassisted," "float assisted for 10 seconds," and "holds face in water for 5 seconds." Quite impressive, huh?!

Dancing Machine

Kate Butler has apparently been a closet dancer just waiting for the perfect opportunity to show her skills! Don't get me wrong, she dances plenty to Yo Gabba Gabba songs, the Backyardigans theme song, and a variety of music on the radio (much to Ryan's dismay...I mean a 2 1/2 year old singing and dancing to "If You Seek Amy"?!), but she has much more in her that I was unaware of, until last weekend!

We went to Midland for a family friend's wedding and Kate had the time of her life. She warmed up slowly, but when she heard "Single Ladies" by Beyonce come on, she was overcome and she didn't stop until we left at 10:00.

"YMCA"
Doing the "Macarena" with Kamryn

Down, but not out!:)

(Mags wanted to dance but since she can't even crawl, that makes it difficult. Instead she had a bottle and fell asleep on Mimi's shoulder. But I'm sure she'll learn plenty of dance moves from her big sister!)