the next food network star

new deck

We have a deck!!!!! We hired the same guy who built our old deck and 4 days later.....this is what we had. We were smarter this time though. No more staining a 40 foot deck. This is that fake stuff. And the best part is, Malaya can play on it while I am in the kitchen. Yay!!

shoe shopping

I was able to catch a butterfly for Malaya. But, in typical Malaya fashion, she didn't want it in the net. She wanted to hold it. Of course the butterfly used that opportunity to escape. Lucky him.

Malaya loves shoes!! They probably weigh as much as she does!

Malaya

I was making a blueberry pie and Malaya was a great helper! When I was done I showed her how to lick the spatula. She just thought that was fabulous!!!!

Sean has been doing a lot of landscaping and keeps finding toads while he works. Well, they have become Malaya's best friends. She puts them in the wagon, takes them for rides in her jeep, talks to them lovingly, and introduces them to the neighborhood kids. The neighborhood kids aren't quite as brave as Malaya and end up crying for their moms when Malaya tries to "share" her toads.

Jolie

Here are some pictures from Jolie's first 2 months of life.

Before we get arrested for letting our 2 year old drive....we were going to look at a house in our neighborhood, and since it was raining, we drove there.

Malaya has turned into such a big girl recently. She wants to do everything on her own now. She is also a great big sister. She can't resist Jolie and gives her kisses all day long. She loves to hold Jolie and misses her when she is sleeping. We actually had to make a rule that Malaya could not kiss Jolie or go in her room while she was sleeping. If Jolie is crying Malaya will not leave her side and tries to comfort her. She even shares "mommy's shirt" with Jolie...and sharing is not something Malaya does well nowadays. (Mommy's shirt is her version of a blankie)

Jolie has great head control...probably because all of the fat on her neck holds it up :) This picture doesn't really look like her, but it's cute anyway.



Jolie started smiling around 2 weeks. There are a few times a day that she is really attentive and will pay attention to me for several minutes. That is when I can get the smiles out of her. The rest of the time she is just happy wiggling and looking around.

This month has gone by so quickly! It turns out that Jolie is the complete opposite of Malaya...so far. In her first month of life, she gained 3 lbs. 3 oz. It took Malaya about 3 months to gain that much weight. Instead of sewing the pants to make them smaller, I am taking them out to make them bigger. Jolie is a good sleeper too. She is sleeping 4-6 hour stretches at night...yahoo!! And best of all, she does not spend her awake time crying! She is such a good baby