Visitors!

My sister and her family, including her newest - six-week-old daughter, Tessa came for a lovely visit this weekend. There are a few pictures toward the end of the post with the cousins. My brother-in-law will eventually get us some pictures he took of pool time with the kids and group pictures of all 5 kids. Until then, enjoy some pictures from before and during the visit! Clinging to Daddy - Claire wouldn't let me get a good picture of her in the pigtails. She LOVES this hawaiian dress, and she LOVES her daddy!
Evie Jane in her Hawaiian shirt as well.

Sorry it's a blurry picture, but that's the way it goes in the jumperoo. Evelynn still doesn't jump at all. She twirls some and is perfectly happy to be in the jumperoo, but I guess she isn't a jumper.

This is a crazy picture. The other morning, Claire decided to do this with her baby dolls. She had some in the living room and the playroom all layed out like this. She said the babies were on blankets (they're on big sheets of paper which she uses to draw pictures).

Claire looks 100% Peel in this picture - very like her Daddy, Aunt Lara and her cousin Sara to me.

It was a shame this picture turned out blurry - it was still too cute not to share! These two play so very well together already. I'm sure it will just get more and more fun as they grow up.

My little chunk :)

She still looks like she's got a lot of hair in this picture. I thought it was mostly going to stay, but it appears that it is falling out pretty rapidly lately. Claire's was very thin at this point, but hers came back in blonde so she looked much balder. Evelynn's is growing back in at about the same rate as it is coming out, and it is still very dark.

I just liked this little look from Claire.

It's hard to get a good picture of both girls side by side. Claire was being really silly, but this was about as good as I could hope for - it's still a fun picture!

And then of course, Claire decided that Lucy (Evelynn's doll) and BeBe (Claire's doll) should be in the picture too. Claire tends to hold Evie's hand anytime I take their picture together. Not sure if she's trying to be super cute or if she just doesn't want E smacking her in the face (which happens a lot lately because Evie likes to throw her arms around).

Claire with cousin Mercy, who said at end of visit, "I love her (Claire) so so so so so so much!"

My favorite moment of the week with Mercy was just after they got in. She was babbling incessantly at Claire and Claire was just following her around the house listening. Mercy ended a long string of talking by asking, "Do you want to play in here with me, Claire?" to which Claire enthusiastically replied, "YEAH!" Mercy whipped around and said, "You can TALK?!?" So so funny!Tessa and Evelynn - about 3 and a half months apart. I have a cousin who is exactly my age (born the same day). We didn't grow up in the same town AND he's a boy, so we've never really been close at all. I hope that these two will be close like Mercy and cousin Stone (who is 3 months younger than her) still are!

Just after nap on day one. Both my girls napped and slept well while cousins were here wearing them out in the mornings.

Claire with cousin Wyatt. They played very well together. He is a year older than her. Wyatt dragged Claire around the house - literally. We kept having to remind him to let her go and just ask her if she wanted to come with him. Most of the time she would follow right along. The very last morning, she was a little too tired and decided to cling to Mommy instead, but they had a good time.

While Wyatt and Claire were in the wagon, Evie Jane enjoyed some time in the swing outside. She's such a happy little girl!

And one last picture of Evelynn and Tessa.

What a lovely visit!

Waiting for Visitors

Tomorrow we will meet our new cousin, Tessa Joy! HOORAY! Today we enjoyed a rainy afternoon nap and some play time. Just loved the above picture for the little feet. Don't know why but when you put Evelynn on her tummy she sticks her feet way up in the air. She has no interest in rolling belly to back yet. She thinks if she is on her tummy, she should just go on and crawl. She is, however, really, really close to rolling back to front at this point and will only stay on her back for the few seconds it takes to roll to her side.
Peek-a-boo, I see you! Evelynn (like most babies this age) LOVES to look at herself in the mirror. She appears to enjoy this activity most when mommy is holding her so she can see us both.

Is there a doctor in the house? Claire has been really into playing doctor lately. She has a little playset and her favorite thing to do is give shots. She gives a shot before taking a temperature, listening to a heartbeat or checking blood pressure. She turns the shot upside down, so the plunger is against the patient, presses down quickly and says "ALL BETTER!" with lots of enthusiasm, then goes on with the rest of the exam. Sound like any doctors you know? Yikes!

I just liked this little look from Evie Jane. Her daddy appreciates pictures with personality and I'd say this one shows a bit of personality from our littlest girl. People are always asking who she favors and I'd say both of our girls are certainly blends, with Claire favoring Geoff more at the moment and Evelynn favoring me a bit more. But only time will tell, babies change so rapidly. All I can say (as a VERY biased mother) is that I am the proud parent of two BEAUTIFUL little girls, and I couldn't be more happy.

A Much-Needed (TONS OF PICTURES) Update

Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I won't bore you with too many words when I have so many good pictures to share. I will give a tiny update. Evelynn is 17lbs 12 oz - nearly what Claire weighed at over 12 months! She is in the 97th percentile on BOTH weight and length, so no worries - she'll slow down soon. She is NOT rolling over, but is very close to sitting up. Doc says babies that big often skip one skill or another. She seems to be very close to getting moving, as evidenced by the wiggly nights she has been spending moving all over her crib. She is STILL in our bedroom for nights, but I am working this weekend to move her down to one feeding a night. I figure that should put us in a position to get her into her shared room with Claire, and I have an ultimate goal of Claire's second birthday as the absolute last night I will have Evie in our room.
Claire is up to the 25th percentile on her weight - 23lbs. She is healthy and boisterous and inquisitive and just plain sweet. She is so helpful, loves to do dishes, laundry, you name it! We postponed potty training for a bit due to an out of town trip but we are determined to have it taken care of this summer, preferably down pat before we travel to Nashville in late June. She's a smart girl and has shown lots of interest in it, so I think (HOPE) it will go fairly well. Her vocabulary is growing monumentally and she continues to be her Daddy's girl.
Now, enjoy the many pictures below - so many I decided not to worry with captions...

Fun Times

Yes, warm weather is here. All three Peel ladies have already been for a dip in the pool. Evelynn was a bit unsure at first, but has discovered a true love for splashing with both her hands and feet - something she also enjoys in her nightly bath with Claire.

Nothing in the world is cuter than pigtails! Geoff swears Claire is a perfect mix of me and his sister Lara. On another note, she is sitting in a rocker that her great-grandfather built for her great-grandmother (Geoff's mom's parents). Nani had it repaired, stained and reupholstered as a gift, and it is just BEAUTIFUL. But it can't eclipse that little beauty sitting in it! Our cat Irving is so desparate for attention, he's even willing to settle for attention from toddlers and infants!

I've told Claire that she could be making a life-long friend. I had my cat, Libby, from the time I was four until I was 21.

Play time with Mommy! Evelynn loves to be on my legs like Claire is in this picture, but of course, Claire wanted to be there too. So I had to move Evie over and give Claire a turn. What fun it is, and what a tough job to constantly divide yourself between two such beautiful babies!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I just liked this little face Evelynn was making here - she looks like my Dad. :)
Claire wearing Mommy's shoes for a change (usually she goes for Daddy's). If her nose looks a little red, we had a not so fun day involving a bad fall from the shopping cart at Walmart, a mild concussion being the result. She got a red nose, a big bruise on her noggin, and she threw up all over herself in the car (why is it always in the car??). Ahh the joys of childhood. Yes, she's fine!