I try so hard...

...to get a good picture of the girls together.  I've been trying since the day Makena was born!  But I still find myself unsuccessful.   

Makena used to sit still but Karis would always take off.  Now that Karis will stay still (if I bribe her), Makena won't stay still.  One day I'll get a good picture.  In the meantime, here is today's attempt:

See what I mean?

Highlights From This Week

#1  Saturday morning chores with the girls... in matching outfits.  Derek got up with the girls and thought it'd be funny to dress them up in similar outfits.  It was pretty comical for us because lately every time we take them out, someone asks if they're twins.   Just this past Tuesday we went to a park and a lady came up to me and with a surprised look said, "Oh.. you have two girls." She had just realized that Karis and Makena were not the same child.  She thought they were one child and I had changed her clothes.    

#2  Family walks around the block after dinner. 

# 3  The girls playing well together.  The other morning, they emptied both bins and all the drawers... but I thought to myself, at least they're playing well together.  They have also been really into books so we spend a good part of the day reading and looking at books.

#4  Karis got her first ice cream truck treat -- a Dora ice cream bar.   Karis woke up from her nap the other day and heard the ice cream truck.  When she asked about it, I explained to her that the sound was coming from a truck that had ice cream.  She then of course wanted ice cream, so I grabbed my wallet and we ran out the front door.  It was fun standing out in the street and picking an ice cream bar from the pictures on the side of the truck. Ah, the memories!  

# 5 We watched a friend's daughter on Thursday.  I watched her about a month and a half ago and the girls were extremely jealous when I held her.  But this time the girls loved playing with her and didn't mind when I was taking care of her.  It was really cute watching them so into the baby.  I guess they're ready for a little sibling...  =)

#6  We went to a Christian bookstore on Saturday morning.  Bob and Larry from the Veggie Tales were there to promote their new video.  Makena was terrified of them but Karis was excited to see them (she just recently started watching Veggie Tales) and she loved giving them high-5s!

 

#7  Later in the day, we went to The Little Gym for an open house.  It was Makena's first time in a gym and she loved climbing and exploring.  Karis did her usual thing and by the end of our time there a couple people were referring to her as the "crazy girl" and "fearless." Yup, that's Karis.

Afterwards, we ate dinner and played by the water fountain.

a letter

dEar MoM anD dAd, 

SoMeTimeS yOU geT maD wHeN wE ThrOW fooD oN thE floor, CliMb On fuRnITure, sCrEAm, and sTufF liKe that. nExT tIME, loOk aT tHeSE piCtURes and JusT REmeMber hOW cuTe anD fuN we Are ... aND tHat We aRE jUsT kIds!!

loVe,

KaRIs and MaKEna

Karis' sayings reveal she is a sponge

"Thanks, babe." "That's close." "No problem." These are a few things that have rolled off Karis' lips lately.

I was sitting on the stairs with Karis awhile back. I cannot recall now what she did, but I was appreciative of it and replied, "Thanks, babe." She immediately spouted it off back at me. It was cute. I know, I'm marking my words. It won't be long until she is mocking me with my own words, right?

Both Lena and I find ourselves saying, "That was close Karis" in response to her nearly falling, tripping, etc. While at Nana's house last week, Karis was getting off the toilet by herself but without the aid of a stool (pun intended) like we have at home. We have shower doors in our bathroom but Nana has curtains. Karis lost her balance briefly and went to grab the shower curtain to steady herself. It didn't help her, but surprised her and maybe even furthered her challenge to balance herself. She finally regained her balance. She turned to me and with big eyes said, "That's close. That's close." Yes, Karis, it was.

Karis and I went to run an errand the other afternoon to give Momma some quiet time. I opened the back door of the car for her and asked her, "Can you climb over and up into your seat?" To which she quickly replied, "No probmem, Daddy." I caught her on video using the word "probmem" again in response to me asking if it was a problem for me to put a bag on the floor in front of her car seat.



This next one started a couple of weeks ago... and typically happens at bedtime. The funny part is the context in which she uses it. I'll ask her about a Bible story I've just read to her, for instance, "What did Jesus say?" She shouts but yet still with some uncertainty in her voice, "Fight." Tonight, she made a fist and yelled an invitation to me "FIGHT?" I asked her who taught her to fight. Surprisingly and not surprisingly, she replied "Jesus." I have to ask her Sunday school teacher what they are teaching. Although I did read the story of David and Goliath the other night. But it wasn't Jesus that fought. Very interesting and funny.

The other day I was holding Karis in the kitchen. She saw a photo on top of the stove and asked to see it. I pointed to Lena and asked Karis if Momma looked happy or sad. Then I pointed to myself and repeated the question. She said happy both times. I went on to explain that the photo was taken on our wedding day and that it was a very happy day for both Mommy and Daddy. That's when she said, "Me married, Daddy." Fighting back tears, I said, "Sure one day honey. In like 40 years."

Crazy Busy

What a crazy couple weeks it has been for us.  Our lives are not usually jammed pack, not even close, but for some reason, everything hit the last week of July.

I do consulting work for a couple of marketing research firms.  They haven't called upon me in about a year.  Out of the blue, they both contacted me in the same week and a half and needed way more hours than I could give them.  I had to turn work down, which was hard because the extra money is always nice -- and needed!  I ended up working about 10-12 hours each weekend and a little during the week.  If they had called me any other time, I probably could have done more, but that was all I could handle with my regular two days a week in the office and everything else that was going on.

Every night that week we had an event, whether it was a work-related thing that we all, or just Derek had to go to, or a dinner guest at our home.  On top of busy evenings and late nights doing consulting work, I was also making a cake for my niece's 4-year old birthday.  And if that wasn't enough, I hurt my foot (probably had a hairline fracture) the week before so getting around was exhausting and painful.

After a busy week, we packed up and made a trip out to Arizona to visit Nana and see Aunt Stephanie (Karis and I hadn't seen her for two years and she had never met Makena).  The car ride was probably the best it has been so far. Karis was so excited to see Nana and Aunt Steph that she just patiently enjoyed the car ride.  We also introduced her to lollipops!  Makena did pretty well too.  I think there was a span of 30 minutes where she just sat quietly while Karis napped.  That's huge for her!

 Here are some pictures from our visit at Nana's.

Makena eating yogurt ... all by herself (could you tell?)

It was about 110 degrees every day we were there.  We had fun cooling off in the pool.

The girls loved playing with Aunt Stephanie!

Steph, Jim and Derek went hiking at high noon.  Crazy!!  Too bad I had a hurt foot and couldn't go with them... not!

Aunt Stephanie introduced a frozen banana on a stick to Makena.

Aunt Stephanie trying to get a bite of Karis' ice cream.  Not a chance!

Aunt Stephanie reading a bedtime book to Karis.

Playing games on Steph's phone.

Sharing a good laugh. So sweet!

Update on the Sisterhood

The girls have been so fun together. They have their moments when they actually enjoy doing the same thing or something together, like jumping on the bed or sitting together and eating a snack.  I love hearing Makena giggle at/with Karis.

But still, there is lots of sibling rivalry, competing for attention and tattle-telling. We try to encourage Karis to teach Makena some new things, instead of doing things she's doing to get attention. I can't wait for the day when they'll go off and play together. Makena of course loves to play with Karis right now, but Karis still doesn't feel the same.  Hopefully one day soon she'll enjoy and appreciate having a little sister.

Every now and then Karis will just want to hug and hold Makena. You would think it would make me happy to watch it, but it actually makes me nervous because I can't tell if she's hugging Makena or putting her in a head lock!

Makena loves to watch and copy us, especially Karis.  She tries to act like a big girl just like Karis. She likes to drink out of a regular cup, use markers, and walk down the stairs (as opposed to crawling down backwards). She gets into plenty of trouble that way!

Makena is definitely holding her own with Karis.  She also keeps bopping Karis on the head and I think she's paying back all the times Karis did that to her when she was a newborn.  =) 

A Safari Ride

On one of the last days in Pennsylvania, we went to Tobias Lake.  It's a private-owned zoo with an amazing safari ride.  We had been wanting to take the girls to a zoo for awhile now, so we were excited when we heard about this place.  Even though it was hot and humid, we all had a great time.  The girls loved seeing all the different animals up close and personal.  

We started out like this on the safari ride:

But most of the time, the girls were like this:

After being in the hot sun and hours past her naptime, Makena finally gave in and fell asleep. 

Karis said her favorite animal was the tiger.