Tiny Dancer

One thing Riley has really been excited to do is ballet. She loves ballet and has been asking, for months to do it, so I signed her up and she started a few weeks back! It's been great for her and so fun to watch. There are only 2 girls in her class (and one "teacher's helper") which is great, because if you know Riley, you also know that if she's not focused she's going to wander and do her own thing!!

She was SO exited to start ballet that she woke up super early that morning asking if it was time yet! Jori was here the weekend before she started so Jori and I took her out to pick out shoes and a ballet leotard and tights!
This was right before we left for her first ballet lesson!

Ty took her a couple of weeks later, with his best friend Lucas who was in town visiting. I'm sure Luke was thrilled to be taking her, but he's such a good friend that he went along! Anyways, Ty took some great pictures and video while they were there!

Seriously, this video that Ty took makes me laugh so hard every time I watch it!! It pretty much sums Riley up. She's goofy, funny and "beats to her own drum", as they say! (The blinds are in the way, but I think you can get the picture!)

JUMP, JUMP!!

Emmersyn has always loved to jump while standing on our laps! As much as I need an arm workout it got tiring so we recently got her a jumperoo to bounce in--thanks to Ty's Gma! She LOVES it and it keeps her occupied while I'm cooking or needing to get something done around the house! Here is our little "jumping bean":

Jesus loves Me!

Lincoln loves to sing--he has such a sweet voice and I love hearing him sing Jesus Loves Me. It's his "go to" song! We were eating breakfast when he broke out into song and I caught it all on video...

She's (almost) on the move...

This was Emmersyn about 2 weeks ago. 5 months old is way too early to be doing this...

Hopefully it takes her a while to figure out how to go forward! :)

So You Think You Can Dance...

Enjoy Lincoln's "So You Think You Can Dance" tryout video...

Not bad for a 2 year old!

Jump, Jump!

Definitely Lincoln's (and Riley's) favorite birthday gift that we got him is the trampoline!! Riley probably likes it even more than Lincoln does and she'll even jump on it in front of the TV when she's watching a movie. This girl never sits still. Lincoln decided that it would be fun that whenever the certain music came on to scream at the top of his lungs and Riley has followed suit. Wonderful. He also likes his new little basketball hoop!

"Swingers"

It's no wonder the kids can't wait until Daddy comes home from work. From the minute he gets home to the minute they go to bed he plays with them--seriously. He takes over so I can get a break and I don't even have to ask. I absolutely love watching him with the kids, it makes me fall more in love with him everday! I am thankful for the husband that he is, but even more for the father that he is!

My kids are happy...and they know it!

Please, please, please ignore my voice in the video! I was going to try out for American Idol, but I wanted to give others a chance to win :)! Anyways, I love capturing little moments with the kids when they are having so much fun! We sing songs all day long and they love doing the motions and dancing along:

(I also realize that the song is out of order, they just always want to start with stomping their feet!!)

Welcome Home, Daddy!

Now to blog about what I really love...my husband and kids. This video shows exactly how the kids get when Daddy comes home from work. I just finally got it on tape. Once the kids hear the garage door open they go nuts:

Just Peachy!

Have I ever mentioned that my kids could (or would, if I let them) live off of fruit? Ty took them to visit his family while I got a much needed break on Sunday. I took my "little" (she's 14) sister back-to-school shopping at the Michigan City Outlet Mall (where I actually did most of the shopping!!!) and he took them to the farm. While there they went "peach picking". They both love peaches, but I've never handed one to Lincoln whole. Ty did...and Lincoln LOVED it! Check out this video. He's really digging in!

Lincoln's WALKING!

Lincoln took his first steps almost a month ago (May19th) but it never really caught on until last week. Once he started walking, he didn't stopped. He didn't start by taking 1 or 2 steps, he started with like 10 or 15 instead. He just loves his new found freedom and loves trying to keep up with his big sister. This video was taken last week--the first day he started "walking". I can't believe my baby is a walker, although it did take him forever (compared to Riley, at least). Now that he's got about a week of walking under his belt he's barely crawling anymore. I'm not sure I'm ready for this new stage in Lincoln's life, but I just love to watch him change and grow! He's quite the talker too--even if I can understand him :).

Peek a boo (among other things)

Playing peek-a-boo, Lincoln style. I just love how Lincoln puts his hands over his ears, instead of his eyes. He loves going behind the "wall" and crawling out and surprising Riley which is what he was doing towards the middle of the video! He also plays "sleep"and wakes up to surprise her as well. They are just too much fun!!

This picture cracks me up. I told her she couldn't get up until she ate all of her peas! She wasn't happy, but did finish them...I WIN! :)

It's hard to tell by the picture, but the kids were being really quiet so I went to see what they were up to. Riley had grabbed my glass of water off of the counter, poured it into her kitchen sink and was giving Lincoln a "bath". He was completely soaked from head to toe! (Big surprise--Riley is half naked...)

My little walker

Lincoln's new favorite thing to do is walk behind his walker. He thinks it's the funniest thing when he falls too, so he does it on purpose. He's starting to get some really strong, chubby legs and I'm sure will be walking soon enough!! Enjoy my little guy and his big personality!

Time to EAT!!

It's times like these that I'm so glad I keep my camera close by! I was feeding Lincoln tonight and between bites I went to warm up some more food for him, I thought he had enough to hold him over, but he started crying. I was in the kitchen saying "just a minute Lincoln...", then all of a sudden he stopped crying and I heard Riley talking to him. I peeked out over the counter and saw Riley feeding him because he was still hungry. (They didn't notice I was videotaping) If you listen closely you can hear her saying "Open wide", "Here's a pea" and "Chew, chew Lincoln. Chew, chew!". How sweet. Such a loving and sweet sister Lincoln has. (By the way, just ignore her gagging him with the spoon at the end :)).

Dada and teeth!

I've been trying to get Lincoln saying "Dada" (his first word--darn :)) on video for a while now, and I finally got it (actually on accident) at dinner this evening. He's starting to eat mostly table food now and is learning to feed himself, he's such a messy eater.

He's now also saying baba (bye bye???) and Mama!

Here's also a picture of his two teeth. I'm so surprised that he still only has 2 teeth, I think that he's going to be the kid that has just a couple of teeth and then the rest come in all at once!

ABC's and sitting up

Riley officially knows her ABC's...well she has for a while, but will never sit long enough for me to get video of it...until last week:

We've been working on them for a little while now and she normally says them a little more clearly than she does in the video, but you get the point. Such a smart little thing! I had to cut the video off before she started "now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me..." because she started coloring on the wall...YIKES!! We're working on counting to 20 now--she's got 1-10 down, now it's 11-20. :)

Another milestone we've reached is Lincoln sitting all by himself (well with the boppy, just in case he takes a spill.) I didn't know when he officially started sitting by himself, but lately he's sitting for long periods of time. He's also still army crawling ALL the time and can get everywhere...he's even starting to get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth.

Lincoln sitting at 7 months!

When the kids go to bed...

....we play Rockband :)...Like I don't have more to do with my precious time when the kids are sleeping, right?? :)

This was my first time playing and I suck, we didn't even get through half of the song because it was too hard for me (and that was on easy mode:)).

We're dorks, we are well aware of that :).

Lincoln's Army Crawl

Lincoln has become increasingly more mobile over the past couple of weeks. His new trick..."army crawling". First he started getting everywhere by rolling and now he's figured out how to use his chubby legs to "propel" himself forward. Now, at 6 1/2 months, he's getting all over the house. Yesterday morning I was giving Riley a bath and Lincoln was playing in the living room; in the matter of 5-6 minutes he ended up at the bathroom door grinning at me! I'm not sure if I'm ready for two babies who can get into EVERYTHING!

Poor little guy is SO fussy lately, he and Riley are sick again. I took them in yesterday and he's got his very first ear infection and Riley has a double ear infection. This is also the first time Riley has ever had an ear infection--hard to believe she's gone more than two years without one! Enjoy the video.

Pumping!

Don't worry, this video is NOT of me :)! Just of Riley, being Riley. She's so observant and I've noticed a lot lately that she copies my every move and every word (I really have to watch what I say). This morning was no exception. I was changing Lincoln's diaper and I heard the noise from the kitchen and I snuck up on her with our video camera... What was she doing, you ask?? She was pumping!! She had even lifted up her shirt! It was just too funny.

I just couldn't resist putting this embarrassing video up :).

Good Morning!

This morning I FINALLY got Riley "eating" her cereal on video. She's been doing this since she started eating real cereal. It cracks me up...she must watch Ty eat his cereal too often. When she's done she always says "more milk momma", I secretly have the milk next to me so I don't have to get up 10 times :). Both kids are usually so happy in the morning, it is one of my favorite times to spend with them.