Visit with Grandma and Papa Kapaldo

Grandma and Papa Kapaldo came up for a short visit for Abigail's birthday. The girls warmed up to them immediately, which is great because we don't get to see them that often. The visit was a short one, but a great one! The weekend flew by without us getting a chance to take pictures. We decided to take our camera to Panera, where we met for breakfast before Grandma and Papa left town. Here are a few of the pictures.


Thank you again Mom and Dad for coming to visit, we had a great time!

Two Years!

Abigail is officially two years old today! She is becoming quite the young lady.


Abigail recognizes every letter of the alphabet and can count to thirteen. She has a handle on shapes and is learning her colors. She also talks a lot and is starting to use two-word phrases, which is encouraging!

Abigail loves to run. She loves running around before and after church because of all the space. We have to be careful as she approaches the stage because of communion wine/juice on the tables and the instruments (Abigail likes the "tar" (guitar) and drums).

Abigail also loves the water and has no fear when it comes to the water. Daddy will have to teach her to swim soon.

Along with these exciting developments come the not so exciting ones. For example, her tantrums are pretty fierce. Also, she now climbs out of bed on her own. No more hanging out for a good 30 minutes before getting her up for the day (not to mention the countless times we have had to put her back in bed at nap and bedtimes).

What I love about Abigail is the way she gets in my face to say "hi" with a big smile on her face at all times during the day. I also love how she closes her eyes, lifts her head towards the sky, and grins when the sun and breeze hits her face. I love her hugs and kisses.

Happy birthday Abigail. Boy were our lives changed when you entered our world. We love you so much!

Abigail's Second Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Abigail's second birthday! This year's celebration was much smaller than last year's, but no less exciting or enjoyable.

We had an Abby Cadabby theme thanks to napkins provided by my Mom's friend (these provided the inspiration). For those of you who do not know, Abby Cadabby is a fairy in training and one of the newer characters on Sesame Street. I wanted the cake to match the theme and ended up doing Abby's wand instead of buying a special Abby cake pan. Here is my attempt:

Nonna and Papa got Abigail a table and chair set. She couldn't wait to use it. Papa started putting it together before dinner and stopped with the table. Well, instead of sitting in her high chair for dinner, Abigail tried dragging her new table into the dining room. So, Papa McEvoy and Grandma Kapaldo put the chairs together before eating.

Abigail had a great day and enjoyed celebrating with Grandma and Papa Kapaldo, Nonna and Papa McEvoy, Auntie Laura and Uncle Nick, Uncle James, and Sarah (of course).

Now for some pictures. I thought it would be fun to start with Abigail and her cake for her first birthday and her second birthday. The other pictures can speak for themselves:

Photo Fridays 03.26.10

Pigtails!

Spring Sneak Peak

Spring visited Massachusetts a few days early this year. Highs reached close to 70 degrees today. The girls and I visited Nonna and took full advantage of the beautiful weather. We started the day by checking out a nearby playground that we hadn't been to before. Abigail enjoyed swinging the most, but also went down the slides a few times. Sarah enjoyed the fresh air.

After lunch and a few errands Abigail blew bubbles with Nonna. Actually, Nonna blew bubbles and Abigail watched. Actually, Abigail watched, dipped her wand in her own cup of "bubble juice", and constantly spilled her bubble juice while going after Nonna's bubbles. On a number of occasions Abigail popped bubbles using her face, which made for some cute shots. Sarah enjoyed the fresh air.

Photo Fridays 03.19.10

I thought I'd try posting a photo or two from the week every Friday. No words, just photos (minus the occasional caption). Here is the first of hopefully many Friday posts:

St. Patrick's Day Walk

Today was such a beautiful day, sunny and in the 60's. The girls and I went for a nice walk around a local pond. I was worried Abigail would not be content with simply being pushed around in a stroller. Thankfully my fears were not realized. Abigail loved looking at the ducks, geese, swans, and dogs. She also loved seeing the pond, which she would have made a mad dash for if she wasn't strapped in.

Five Months!

Sarah is already five months old! She continues to grow and develop. She has rolled over from her back to her belly about a dozen times. She is now at the point when, by the time we get to her in the crib she is in a totally different place from where she started. When Sarah is on her belly she moves her arms and legs quite a lot. She tries and tries to move forward but hasn't grasped the skill yet, but will before we know it!


Abigail is very comfortable around Sarah and Sarah always has a smile ready for Abigail. Sometimes Abigail can get a little rough and reckless though. She's tried sitting on Sarah and using her as a hurdle to jump over! Thankfully, I've been able to stop her before anyone gets hurt.

Oh What a Night!

Two nights ago was a rough one. Abigail woke up at 12:30 and didn't get back to sleep until 3:30. I did what I could to get her back down in an effort to keep her quiet and to keep Sarah from waking up. About an hour and a half in, I explained to Abigail that it was time to go "night night" and went back to my room. I could hear on the monitor that she was not falling asleep. The next thing I know she's running through our doorway to our bed.

For those of you who don't know, Abigail has done so well with her big girl bed. We put her in, she plays around for a little bit, she falls asleep, wakes up, and waits for one of us to retrieve her. Two nights ago must have changed things.

I think most moms would expect the next days' nap to either happen soon (quick to fall asleep) or be extra long. Well, Abigail's nap was neither. I went through our routine, put her in bed, and moments later she came trotting out of her room with her stuffed elephant (oh, and a big smile on her face). I put her back two more times and she got out two more times. This was especially tricky because the maintenance man was patching up a hole in my closet and Sarah was getting hungry. After the third time I put her in the crib hoping she would sleep while I fed Sarah. All she did was stand up and cry. I went back to the bed, she came out a number of times, back to the crib, back to the bed, she came out more, back to the crib...you get the idea. Plus, all the fuss kept Sarah from sleeping for her afternoon nap. I had had enough. The three of us were going to go for a ride. Both girls napped for about an hour.

I went out last night to have dinner with friends (and was so grateful for the break). I came home and Jonathan told me I should be glad I was out. He spent a little more than an hour and a half putting Abigail back to bed.

Here's hoping she gets the idea in the next few days.

Ok, now some cute pictures of me and the girls during a small dress up session:

Sarah's First Solids

The Doctor gave us the ok on Tuesday to start Sarah on solids. Her first feast was rice cereal. She didn't eat much and didn't seem too excited about it, but she ate it!

Meal Time with Abigail

Meal time with Abigail is sometimes hit or miss. We never know how a new meal will go for her. Lately we have been pleasantly surprised. The other night we had a chicken skillet dish with corn and black beans. She really seemed to like it, especially the corn. She kept saying "corm" (not quite getting the "n" sound out) as she grabbed pieces and put them in her mouth.

Tonight I made a new recipe for meatloaf - turkey meatloaf to be more specific. First of all, Abigail hasn't been fond of ground meat. Second of all, it was a meatloaf made with turkey. Well, the meatloaf turned out to be really tasty and surprisingly moist. Abigail actually ate it! She was more apt to eat more though if it was on the spoon we used to serve veggies:

Abigail is also very into drinking out of a cup without a sippy top. We let her go ahead and have water this way tonight. She is a funny girl though because she decided she wanted to consume her water with the same spoon she used to eat the meatloaf:

Four Month Check-Up

Yesterday was Sarah's four month check-up (a little late, I know). Sarah is a tall little girl, measuring 25.75 inches, which is in the 86th percentile for girls her age. But she is a slim little girl at 14 pounds 8.5 ounces, which is in the 56th percentile. Don't worry though, we still have the usual baby rolls.

Sarah is a little wiggle worm when she plays on the floor. She rolls onto her side a lot when playing with/reaching for toys. As of tonight she can officially roll over. Up until this evening she had almost completely rolled over twice-one of her arms gets stuck under her. But now she can completely roll over and has a few times.

Another new thing for Sarah is that she has discovered her feet. She grabs at them and her socks sometimes as she rolls over on her side.