Chloe got her hair cut

Chloe was groomed today.

And she was tickled pink.

Not really.  She hates getting groomed but she always looks so fabulous afterwards.  And now she's all ready for Valentine's Day.

We're having a...

BOY!!!!  

And he's due to arrive May 25.

And since we love balloons we decided to have a little family photoshoot.

We used our tripod and remote and snapped pictures away.

Both Faith and Grace had a blast playing with the balloons.

Then they wanted to play in the box, of course.

They took turns popping in and out of our box yelling, "Surprise!"

The best family pictures are the ones that are fun to make.

Ultrasound pictures

Here are the ultrasound pictures of our new bundle of joy.

 Here's a profile picture.

 It's a boy!

 Here are his feet.

 And tiny little toes.

 Then the technician switched to 3D as she tried out her new machine.  Here's his little face.

 And arms and hands.  

And his little legs.  We love him already.

Popsicle treats

It's been exceptionally warm lately, so I decided to give the girls a treat.

Popsicles on the porch!  At first, Faith wasn't too sure about the chilly goodness.

But it didn't take long for her to decide that she loved it!

Grace has always loved popsicles.

Any flavor will do.

This porch popsicle picnic may become a regular event this year.

Why buy expensive toys?

My girls typically would rather play with a box than most toys.

It can be a great hideaway for when they've got something they're not supposed to have.

Or we can play peek-a-boo.  Or a little hide-n-seek.

Regardless of what we've got on hand, it's just fun playing with my kids.

Piggy tails

My girls have a lot in common with each other.

 But they are also quite different.  Take their hair for example.  Grace's hair is so curly I can't tell which end is growing out of her head.  Surprisingly enough it's halfway down her back now when its sopping wet.  But as soon as it dries it curls right back up next to her scalp.  Faith's hair, on the other hand, is as straight as can be and constantly stays in her face.  I've tried everything:  gel, helmet head hairspray, you name it, but her hair still falls down in her eyes.  So we've taken to using hairbows.  Which is a challenge in of itself since Faith likes to pull them out.

 Recently, I've tried piggytails in Faith's hair.  And I must admit that I love this look on her.

 And thankfully, Faith seems to tolerate it.  At least for a few minutes at a time.

 Of course, Grace didn't want to be left out.

So now both my girls are wearing piggytails.  At least until they pull them out again.

Finished bow holders

We finally finished our new bow holders.

This is Faith's.  Please excuse the dirty walls.  My children are artists in the making and sometimes they use their walls as a canvas.  Or as napkins.  I have cleaned the walls since these pictures were taken.  I promise.

And this is Grace's.  And yes I hung it crooked.  Grace has already pointed that out to me.  And eventually I'll get around to straightening it up.  Just remember it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful...

Making hairbow holders

Faith's hair is constantly in her eyes and I can never find something to hold her hair out of her face.  Mainly due to the fact that she hates wearing bows.  But that's another issue.  So today I decided to make hairbow holders for both girls so I can keep up with a growing supply of hairbows.

First I let the girls pick out any color they wanted.  They both wanted hot pick, of course.

Then I let them each paint a wooden letter for their first names.

This was another very messy adventure that probably should have been done outdoors.

Grace is a bit more meticulous than her little sister.

After the letters were covered in paint we added hot pink glitter.  My girls like pink and sparkles.

Here is Faith's "F."

And Grace's "G."

Do you see my countertops?

They were covered in paint, too.

So was the floor.

But I have good helpers and they helped me clean up our mess until everything was as good as new.  Now all we have to do is glue some ribbon to the letters and hang them on the wall.  We'll have to wait until they dry first, of course.

Feet painting

Today the girls and I decided to get a little creative.

So we painted with our, I mean their, feet!  Can you tell that Faith didn't like her feet covered in paint?

This was a very messy adventure.

But fun nonetheless.

We turned their feet prints into butterflies.

And then I let the girls paint with their hands.

Grace, however, wanted to continue using her feet.

This is Faith's finished masterpiece.

And this is Grace's.

Hiking by the bay

It was another gorgeous day outside today so we decided to go on a hike.

At first Grace wasn't overly thrilled.  She wanted to ride her bike but the terrain was a bit tough for her.

Faith insisted on riding her bike.  Which meant we had to push her over that same terrain.

Soon enough though the girls started to get a bit more excited.

Grace found an "umbrella" and decided to carry it along her journey.

We went down by the bay.    

And saw downtown Mobile way across the water.

It didn't take long for us to warm up.  Grace decided to carry her jacket instead of wear it.  How clever is she?

After an hour or so, even Faith wanted to venture off without her bike so we loaded it back into the car and continued walking around Blakeley.

We even had time to play hide-n-seek.  Grace is an excellent hider.

But her Daddy is an even better finder.

All in all, it was quite a wonderful day spent outdoors just enjoying each other's company and nature at her best.