Booty Shakin'

Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

Here she is, in her first debut....

Animal Sounds

The girls are getting good with their animal sounds... but sometimes we run across ones that even John and I dont know! So if anyone knows what a butterfly or giraffe says we would appreciate the help!!

Here is a clip of Bella's explanation of what her favorite animals say!

Texas Time...

We made another trip to Texas for a couple of weeks but this time John accompanied us on the plane! The girls did travel well this time and by the time we got to Mom's house that night they were exhausted. That's not to say they slept or anything, but they were tired!

Friday John and I went to Chance and Dina's to visit the new babies. They are so cute & tiny & made John and I NOT miss those good old days. I never knew how wonderful babies were until I had my own........ and then got to hold someone else's and give them back! Check them out if you have a chance at http://duttontwins.blogspot.com/. They are just too cute for words but their pictures do them a little more justice.


Then on Saturday we all went to Mimi's house for pictures. It was somewhat, okay-VERY chaotic, trying to get a picture of everyone at the same time. We need an awesome PhotoShop program to enable us to take fifty pictures then choose pieces of each one to make one good photo. Capturing all of those kids is near impossible- they don't even look at the camera at the same time, let alone smile or look coherent. But we did the best we could with what we had!




My aunt Patti and my cousin Megan came and Megan brought her beautiful little girl, Evelyn, who was the best baby I have ever witnessed. She would do a half cry/whine when she was hungry then Megan would give her a bottle and she would hold it up herself and she was back to happy! It was un-natural but I only say that out of pure jealousy & admiration. Megan is a wonderful mom & very lucky to have such a great baby.




For the rest of the trip we bounced around between Mom's house, Matt's house & Dad's house. The girls had their first horseback ride and enjoyed all of Matthew & Hannah's outdoor toys. They have way more than we do since they can play with outdoor toys year-round in Texas! Bella really liked the car-type toys and was pretty protective of her rides.



Then Emma found her inner-Texan and found Matthew's John Deere tractor. She couldn't figure out how to make it drive but she definitely gave it her best shot. And she likes to help out sometimes so she gave the driveway a good trim while we were saddling up Buddy for a ride. They had so much fun being able to play outside and enjoy a little sunshine. In fact, while we were doing these very activities I received a text message from John who was back in Virginia and he was watching it snow on the back porch.



Emma liked being on Buddy with her Uncle Matt, whom she is very partial to, but Bella didn't enjoy her ride all that much. She is more of the soccer/snowboarding/adventurous type than a relaxing horse-ride on a Sunday afternoon kind of girl. Both girls are very fond of their Uncle Matt. He always knew exactly what they wanted, which usually requires more energy than any one person has. They always knew to go to him if they wanted to be thrown in the air or do flips off his belly. Somehow kids can smell a "dad" when they meet one and they knew right off that their Uncle Matt would show them a good time!

Valentine's Day with Daddy

John brought home Valentine's Day gifts for the girls and they were very happy. They actually smelled their flowers and didn't even try to eat them!! Afterwards everyone had homemade cookies & a good night's sleep!

Hop Skip Jump

We found the coolest place in Virginia Beach right down the road from where we used to live. It is called Hop, Skip, Jump and it is a one-room building with every toy you can think of. There is a huge treehouse/slide, shopping carts & groceries, dress up clothes for boys and girls (even though all the boys playing dress up had on high heels and boas with their dresses), musical instruments, rocking horses, bouncy castles, huge doll houses, and so much more. It was a lot of fun for me too, as you can tell.

The girls played for at least an hour and a half & had a great time. I can't believe they put in such a great place AFTER we moved away!! Isnt that always how it works out?!?!

Another Week....

Well, we made it another week! The girls have been sick off and on and the weather has been freezing so we haven't had too many adventures lately. We are mostly staying home and indoors so all of the toys have had a busy week as well.

They love climbing and sliding in their room. They get up to the top and say "go, go, go" before they can slide down. And sometimes Bella acts like she's counting at the top but the only number she knows is "TWO!!!" then I say three then she slides down.

Now that the playroom upstairs is underway a little bit that occupies a little of their time. They love having the freedom to go up and come down as they like. They won't play in there unless the light is on though- already afraid of the dark... and its not even that dark!!!

They say a new word every day it seems. Emma is more of a talker than Bella right now and she has learned "ball," "hello," "all done," "more," and "baby" in the past week or so. Bella says "hi" instead of "hello" which seems very odd that one would learn one word and one the other but I am trying to be less and less surprised by what they do!! The "B" words aren't coming as easily for them as I thought they were supposed to. I was told that "B" words were the easiest to say and usually the first but not in their case.

We have made a couple of trips to the park on a few occasions if the weather cooperates so they enjoy getting out of the house. Its so much fun to take them now because they actually climb the ladders and slide down all by themselves and Emma likes to swing while Bella likes to explore the area. They love climbing on anything that stands still long enough and like to watch the big kids in the other section of the park.

They aren't scare of much, which is good and bad. They don't understand that you can't walk in front of another child while they are swinging because they could kick you into next week and just because the older kids can play on the zip line doesn't mean everyone should be able to do it. But at the same time its really cool because I assume they will need help getting up a ladder or over a step and they prove everytime that they are perfectly capable. I am already being needed less and less for the daily tasks.

They are getting better at feeding themselves, too. They are good with a fork because the food stays on it better than a spoon but we are trying to let them experience things for themselves. It usually means more time spent cleaning up but I guess that is the price you pay. Bella likes feeding Emma and herself yogurt and cheerios and whatever else she can find. She doesn't usually share crackers but anything else is fair game.

You just never know what they are going to do in a day. Emma loves to play dress-up already- especially in my closet. Here she had found a scarf of mine and knew exactly where it belonged. They are starting to try on shoes and apply makeup and every bottle or spray can (even if its Vicks) should be rubbed in their hands and applied directly to the hair. Emma especially thinks every product out there is a hair product. And sunglasses are a must for the little diva as well. She is going to be the first one in high heels with her ears pierced I'm sure. The only thing I can't get in her hair is a clip but we're still trying.

But all in all, I guess we are doing well. They have so much personality you just can't predict what the day will hold, but I guess that is why we do this! And if nothing else, I can never say we are bored because there is always something to do at the Tropilo house!!!