Sleeping Beauties

I went downstairs this morning to sort some laundry and edit our pictures from this weekend's rainy adventures. After about 15 minutes, I realized the house was eerily silent. I ran upstairs to check on my little munchkins, and this is what I found. I strongly disagree with the people who say children must be up to no good when they're left unattended and everything turns quiet. I cherish those moments of peace.

Bananas, but No Rotten Tomatoes

After months of looking at food that was kept just out of her reach, Cora finally got to try some. We proudly present Cora's eating debut, followed by her first post-gorging stupor and nap.






Who doesn't love resting on a soft, comfy belly when your own belly is full? Can you blame her for passing out like that?




As for Ally, she's still telling everyone how she'll start doing beauty pageants when she turns four. Here is her on-stage debut, leading off the recent Primary talent show. (You'll need to pump up the volume.) She also threw a ball and conned all the other little ones into doing a group somersault routine with her. Although she's the one that chose the outfit, I think our princess really did deserve the crown that day.

Lip-Smackin' Fun

Here is a rundown of our children's newest tricks and habits. Some of these talents are totally appropriate and expected, some are questionable in their normality and/or usefulness:

1) Cora can now sit up for short periods of time without toppling over. When she does topple, she usually laughs and laughs and laughs. . .

2) Cora can now purposely roll onto her belly and lift her head up. Ally calls this position "being a dolphin". Cora tolerates being on her belly much better than Ally ever did; maybe it's because she's more patient and content overall. She's feverishly working on flipping back over on her own to avoid Ally "helping" her do so.


3) Cora has discovered more body parts. She chews on her feet, sticks out and rolls her tongue, and smacks her lips.

4) Cora has learned to be very tolerant of Ally's attempts at breastfeeding her. Ally says she understands no milk is going to come out until she's a real mommy, but she still likes to practice with Cora.

5) Cora loves giggling, especially while watching Ally throw a ball. She makes us giggle, too.


1) Ally can throw a ball back and forth.

2) Ally has perfected her somersaulting technique. Thank you, Ella, for inspiring her.

3) Ally picks out her own clothes. Sometimes the colors match, sometimes the type of pattern match, rarely do both match. She's never liked socks and had always refused wearing tights-- until it started getting a lot warmer here. Yes, she went to church that way. Yes, I let her ride that trike in the house.

4) Ally is finally tall enough to turn lights on and off without her green chair. She can reach the switches only if she stands on her tippy-toes and stretches really far, but that's progress.

5) Ally is learning to read. That wasn't my idea, it was hers. She was very adamant that I teach her, so I asked my sis-in-law Erin and got the book she recommended . So far, she's mastered the a, m, s, t, e, and r sounds with me. I'm not making this venture a top priority, so we're only on lesson 10. But when I'm busy with Cora, Ally keeps grabbing the book and skipping ahead. She's figured out sounds and has read words we haven't covered yet. Sometimes I think my child is reading the book on how to teach your child to read so she can teach herself to read. Hopefully her love of learning and the I'll-just-do-it-myself-then attitude will continue in a positive manner.



6) Ally can write her name. Here was her very first attempt. I loved the backward L's. They no longer show up that way. She writes them "rightward" now.



7) Ally has become an expert baby popper-outer. To date, she's been "pregnant" 8 or 9 times. When asked how she got pregnant, it's either because she ran out of diapers or (and this is Chris' favorite) she must have taken too many pills. She knows how to hold her enlarged belly when she walks. She knows how to use the excuse of being pregnant and not feeling well to get out of doing things. She knows you need to go to the doctor for check-ups and ultrasounds. She knows how to lie down and push the baby out. Each baby has been a girl, and each baby has been named Cora. Apparently, her labors are very quick and easy. The first baby came while I was taping Cora's laugh, and I didn't even know it had happened. Ally says her next baby is due this weekend.

Phillies in Arizona

We flew down to Arizona recently to see (not necessarily in order of importance, but maybe) the Phillies play a few games and to see some family. We flew in on a thursday, saw a game friday, saw a game saturday, then I came home sunday while Karen and the girls stayed behind to spend time visiting family.

So how were the games? On friday night, both families and all the kids went. With 9 tickets to buy, we decided on sitting in the outfield. But because we are all Phillies fans, we decided to sit right next to the Phillies bullpen. No home runs were hit to our seats but we got a close-up view of all the action in bullpen and even got a few balls tossed up our way.

I think I figure out why the Phillies bullpen is struggling this year, it could be their diet.














The Phillies lost after Cole Hamels did what he does best, pitch great for most of the game but then get rattled and give up a big inning, but we had fun anyway.

The second game was even better. This time only Eric and I went, no kids or wives, so we splurged and got tickets two rows behind the Phillies dugout. We got there early to watch batting practice and hoped to get a few autographs.



It was interesting to watch the players interact with the fans. Victorino and Howard signed some autographs (not for us), Werth and Ibanez acknowledged the fans but didn't stop to sign anything, and Utley looked down the entire time, never looking up above the dugout. After all the players were done with BP, Rollins came out took BP and fielded some balls. He's on the DL so I didn't expect to see him. Then he came over to our section and started signing autographs, including one each for Eric and myself. Then, to top it off, the Phillies won on a home run in the top of the 9th. So great seat, great game, and an autographed baseball. We might have to follow the Phillies down there every year.

3 Years versus 4 Months

Storming the Castle

What do smart parents do when their child turns 3 and wants a party? Arrange a playdate in the park so they don't have to plan much and, more importantly, they don't have to clean the house. What are they to do when the weather turns cold (42 degrees) and windy and rainy (in a place where it rarely rains) on the day of the party? They move the festivities to a dry location, insanely inviting their child's friends into their home.

Happy Birthday, Princess Ally!

Although the situation didn't seem ideal, it all worked out in the end. The kids had fun running around the house and playing with bubbles, balloons, stickers, crayons, and Ally's toys. And my living room and kitchen were finally cleaned up as I've been wanting them to be-- at least for a little while.

That was on Friday. Today is the princess' real birthday. What does she want to do to celebrate now? Take a bus ride to the library. And maybe eat a birthday doughnut when Daddy gets home.









remnants of a 12-child invasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .post-party snacking

Cora can walk!

If you believe the title to this post, then you'd probably also believe Ally when she tells people that Cora can say "Snotsucker". Happy April 1st! Our baby hasn't taken those first few steps yet (I don't know what her problem is!), but she has learned a few new tricks. She rolls over when we ignore her, and she sucks her thumb for comfort-- usually while sleeping. The first time she turned over, she was crying alone in her crib and no one saw it. (Chris and I were busy giving Ally a cold shower for screaming at us and not listening.) This second time, Cora was lying on the floor while I was talking on the phone with Courtney and also having a conversation with Chris about a man crawling in the wrong hole in our front yard. I verbally praised Cora for rolling over, then ran outside to check on the man. When I returned a few minutes later, I found her asleep with her thumb in her mouth. Here's the pic.