More summer fun

First words

As if my girl's weren't big enough daddy's girls, it seems like Jordyn has officially said her first word...."dada." She has actually been saying it for a long time but I just figured it was meaningless babble. Well, it appears that I was wrong. This past Sunday at church India and I went to pick up Jordyn from the nursery. When we got there one of the ladies was feeding her a bottle so we were just chatting and waiting. Linwood came into the room and India ran to him yelling "Daddy!!!" And wouldn't you know it, Jordyn spit her bottle out, tried to sit up and started yelling, "Dada, Dada!" Linwood didn't see this so I quickly snatched her up and whispered, "Mama,Mama,Mama...." in her ear the whole way to the car. I wasn't going to tell Linwood what had happened but I couldn't hold it in. You should have seen the smile that lit up his face and how he puffed his chest out. Of course it is no surprise to you that he has been rubbing it in ever since.

Love you all!

It's summertime...

...and the weather is cool and rainy. No, we haven't moved from Colorado. This is just one of those freak years where it is raining for at least 30 minutes everyday (at least it has for the past few weeks). It is beautifully green here but we are just dying to take the girls to the pool. Of course we can't complain. We don't want to make you non-teachers jealous, but being off is the best! We kicked off our vacation with a fun-filled week. India went to craft class. We visited the Children's Museum for their free day. This seemed like a great idea at the time but it turns out that "free day" is code for parent bully day. We witnessed some seemingly normal parents become possessed as they fought for a toy train for their kid. Luckily, when we were about to give up hope and make a break for the car we found a special area for newborns to 4 year olds. It was much less crowded and more fun. Alas, we will return for another free day. We also visited the Botanical Gardens (India's favorite part was the chickens and sheep)and Dinosaur Ridge (India's favorite part was the cows). You'll also see from the pictures that we made a house with a sunroof out of an old refrigerator box. It was fun for all! This week we start dance classes....wait until you see her cute outfit!

We Love You!
Linwood, Sara, India, and Jordyn

Jordyn is 6 months

Our summer vacation has now officially begun! Jordyn is 6 months old and had her checkup this week. She is 18 lb. .5 oz (which is in the 83 percentile) and 26" long (53 percentile). She took her shots like a champ. The nurse said that her chubby legs help the pain go away faster. Jordyn is still all smiles and giggles (except when she is getting her 6 month picture taken). She is also quite proficient at giving raspberries. This is usually cute, except when she's eating. Popcicles are the new favorite food at our house. India does well playing Mommy to her dollbabies and little sister. She has a very consistent form of discipline. Whichever baby doesn't listen to her she throws across the room. When they wake up from their naps and see each other, they yell and scream like they haven't seen one another all week. It's very exciting! The girls had their first trip to the zoo of the season. We are happy to say this is the first of many since we invested in season passes. India just loves animals!!!

Brown Eyes

I have never experienced a love before like I have for India, oh yeah, and Jordyn now too. When they look at me with those beautiful brown eyes they can have whatever they want. Then when they say, "peees," they can get two of them. Even on the days when I am up to my elbows in baby food going in and coming out just a simple "dada" and a smile makes it all better. The greetings, hugs, kisses and screams I receive just by walking in the house blows me away and makes me wonder what I did to deserve such love. They are truly a blessing from God and I don't even want to put them up for sale on craigslist anymore. My 2nd and 3rd favorite girls in my life!!!

India Runs the Roost

Big sister India decides the schedule of the day and what goes on. She lets us know when she wants to nap, when she's ready to leave the park, and when she has to potty (most of the time). India decides when Jordyn can play with her toys,how long she plays with them, and which ones she plays with. Luckily our fearless leader gives out lots of hugs and kisses, always says "God Bless You" when someone sneezes, and without prompting says "Sawry" when she causes harm.
Jordyn is exceling in the world of 3 parents. She can sit for long periods of time, roll over whenever she chooses, and is starting to scootch when she wants to get somewhere. She even kicks her legs and screams when she can't get there fast enough. Everyone thinks their child is the best and brightest and we are no exception. In fact this was proven tonight as our little prodigy (aka Jordyn) was laying on her back in India's bed. We left the room to brush our teeth and when we returned we found Jordyn kneeling beside the bed smiling. She is amazing! You'll notice from the picture that Jordyn is also determined to sleep with a blanket on her face. We go in and take it off and two minutes later it's back over her face. I guess this is another girl who knows what she wants.

Dinner Time

India feeding Jordyn, eating us out of house and home.


Jordyn says, "OK, I've had enough. Please make her stop."



Mother's Day Celebration

Preview of the Summer

We just had a 3 day weekend and I was dreaming about summer vacation. It turns out that India is quite the arts and crafts girl. We went to storytime and crafts at Starbucks and had to drag her out of the place. Jordyn is continueing to lounge around and she is getting pretty good at rolling. We are ooohhhh so happy that summer is almost here. I have 14 more days of school, but who's counting?!

Sprinkler Fun...

We were outside playing the other day and our sprinklers came on at around 4:00. India had a great time.

Who'd Have Known?

I always wondered why lead paint on the walls was such a big deal....

Sister Bonding

These 2 girls are absolutely in love with each other. They have to know where the other one is at all times and can't go very long without touching each other. It is absolutely adorable to watch!

Jump around! Jump! Jump!

The Jumperoo is currently the hottest toy in our house. Of course it is supposed to be just for Jordyn, however it is quite common to find India or one of her toys also enjoying this crazy bouncer.

Checking In

It is yet another rainy Friday and the forecast is for another rainy weekend (I think this is the third in a row). Next time you come to visit us in CO you will find the weather to be a hot topic of conversation. This week, Monday we got an inch or so of snow, it was gone by Tuesday when the temperature spiked to near 80 degrees. Wednesday and Thursday gradually cooled off leading up to today where it is chilly, damp, and rainy. Well, at least we are guaranteed another beautiful day soon! It is now officially May so I am anticipating warm, gorgeous weather daily.

Sorry for post without pictures, I don't have the camera right now. We'll make up for it this weekend. I can tell you that the girls are just as adorable and entertaining as always. India seems to be getting onto the potty better everyday. She still doesn't have the foresight to know when she has to go, but she is fast to tell you when she needs changed. The other day we were at the park and she stops at the top of the slide and yells "Pee!" as she presses her knees together and holds her hands over the front of her diaper. I wasn't sure what to do at that point since she seemed frozen and there was no potty close by. I though about the bushes but there were other people around, so I just said, "It's okay. Let's go down the slide." I'm sure potty training guru's would argue how I am stunting her progress but, hey, this is real life and none of us wanted to go to jail for indecent exposure.

Jordyn is already becoming Ms. Independent. In fact sometimes I wonder if the girls need us at all. This morning India was sitting on the potty drinking her milk and Jordyn was laying close by holding her own bottle, looking around, smiling. I guess we are still valuable since India still can't lift her sister without dropping her (believe me she tries) and for some reason I can't convince India to get up at night to feed and change Jordyn.

Truthfully though you just cannot turn your back on them for a minute. Yesterday India was drinking her very own fruit slushy. She had a lid and a straw and she was into it so I didn't pay much attention to her. Before I knew it the cup was on it's side and she had poked a hole in the styrofoam and was reaching in to grab handfuls of her slushy. Priceless!

Speaking of food, Jordyn is really enjoying life with solid food. Except for green beans that is. With every spoonful of green beans she gags, acts like she's choking, and gives you the "how could you do this to me" look. I am debating whether this is cruel and unusual punishment or if I should keep feeding them to her. She likes peas, sweet potatoes, bananas, and apples A LOT!

Take care and look for pictures soon.
We Love You!
Linwood, Sara, India, and Jordyn

Rain, Snow, Go Away

We have had a lot of quality time to spend together indoors this past week. Even though it's almost May, Denver weather still hasn't gotten the memo that winter is over. Thursday rain turned to Friday snow (the mountains got up to 4 feet but luckily most of ours was rain)then rain, then snow, then Saturday rain, then snow, .... Today the sun came out and we feel alive again!

To entertain ourselves we went camping in our dining room with our new dome tent. (Hopefully it will see plenty of dirt and dew this summer!)India woke up from her nap and stood on the landing with big eyes and an open mouth. I guess I would be equally shocked if I had woken up to a huge tent in the house. Jordyn was none the wiser. She is happy anywhere and everywhere doing anything. You'll notice from the picture that she has moved from cereal to green beans and peas. She seems to like them okay. What can we say, food is a hobby of hers like the rest of us!

More Pics

Happy Birthday India!

Surprisingly the cat does not play music.

In the name of love

Hope that everyone had a great Easter filled with as much laughter and love as our house. Finding Easter Eggs and chasing wind up chicks were the big hits this Easter morning. It has officially been proven that the chick will not bounce on the head of your baby sister. India is so sweet and she has more love for her baby sister than she knows what to do with so it can sometimes comes out in pulling arms, dragging, lightly high fiving heads, covering faces with blankets, and throwing heavy toys that she wants to share. All in the name of love!
Jordyn has her own ways of showing love as well. She likes to eat noses, grab lips, and pull her big sister's hair....which is met with a loving "No J! Stop!" She has even shown just how much she loves, and is comfortable with, her Daddy by making him her favorite place to do her business. The other day he had to cut her out of her clothes like she was at the ER! Trust me, baby business can defy all the rules of gravity and logic!!! I assured Linwood that he would look back on this moment and laugh. That time has not come yet.
Just a quick plug...we really like being able to share the lives of our children with everyone. It's not hard to start your own website and it's FREE! www.blogger.com. If anyone feels so ambitious, we would love to spend our days smiling at your kids pictures and stories :-)
Linwood, Sara, India, and Jordyn