Merry Christmas

Just a quick "Merry Christmas" and a "Happy New Year" from all of us. We'll be doing a little holiday traveling, back to Mississippi, so there will be no more news from us until next year. Yea 2007!

Christmas Dance Recital

Weslie had her Christmas recital Sunday, and she did very well. At her last dance recital she was. . . kind of. . . let's say, "a nonconformist", but this time you could tell she was really trying to do what she was suppose to be doing.

It's Christmas Time

Even though it's only the beginning of December, Christmas is in full swing here. We got the tree, Weslie and Gabbie have seen and talked with Santa Clause, and we're practically finished with our shopping. Weslie has a Christmas dance recital this Sunday and then our church's Christmas play the following week.

60 and Sunny

Here it is the last few days of November and we're having unbelievable beautiful weather. We took advantage of the sure to be one of the last nice days for a long while and walked down to our little park/playground. I hope Weslie and Gabbie can always get a long together so well.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, it's been a somewhat busy month, but not too busy that we could have a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Danny did all the cooking, including the turkey pictured to the side. Everything turned out really great, but as sometimes happens at holidays we were plagued with sickness. Weslie, Gabbie, and Danny all got stomach virus, but not Mary. Go figure. The girls handled being sick astonishingly well.

Happy Halloween

Not much went on this Halloween. The vast majority of the houses in our neighborhood were "lights out, we're not playing this year". Weslie wanted to be a mummy so she could scare people. Making a mummy is a little harder than it looks. She kept coming unraveled. Gabbie was also a mummy, a barely wrapped mummy. The phrase, "like herding cats" should be replaced with, "like wrapping a toddler".

Back to Reality

Even though the weather started out kind of lousy, everything turned out great in the end. That's when the sun came out. We even have pictures to prove it.

Happy Birthday Gabbie

It's hard to believe but it's been a year already. Look through some of Gabbie's old photos and videos to see just how much she's changed.

Gabbie's Photos

What's a Nor'easter?

We decided to have a little holiday for Gabbie's birthday and headed to the beach. It just so happens that a Nor'easter parked itself there at the same time. The weather was bad enough that the Weather Channel people where there covering how bad it was. They were out on the beach, in all their rain gear flapping all over the place, showing how strong the wind was and how big the waves were. It was no big deal for us. Our hotel had an indoor pool.

Say Cheese

Weslie just turned three a little while ago and Gabbie is about to have her first birthday, so its a perfect time to have some professional pictures taken. It's really amazing how fast they are growing up.

It's October, that means PUMPKINS

With only 29 days till Halloween we made a mad and hurried rush to get our pumpkins. We went to a little farm just north of Bel Air to get our pumpkins straight from the Great Pumpkin himself. Silly grocery store pumpkins where did you come from? Are you even real pumpkins? Good grief, Linus would be so disappointed in you. Anyway, we had fun. There was a hay ride, and hay rides are always fun.

Gabbie's Walking

Gabbie has been stumbling and bumbling around for a week or so now, but in the last few days she is actually, what I would consider, walking. She's at the point now that she's walking as much as she's crawling. It's still a little weird to see her walk into a room instead of crawling. Now all she has to do is learn to walk in shoes. She doesn't like shoes.

Gabbie's Plotting Something

We're not sure, but we think Gabbie's got some kind of devious scheme brewing. We find her sometimes quietly babbling to herself. She seems to be hiding the extent of some of her abilities, i.e. she walks, manipulate objects, and use tools better when she thinks no one is around. And, she plays dumb when we try to take her photo or video. This picture was taken surprise paparazzi style.

Bicycle

Weslie has moved up from her tricycle to a new two wheeled, not including the training wheels, bike. From the very first get go she has been riding like a pro. It's incredible how big she is getting. The next thing you know she'll be asking for the car keys.

Look Who's Standing

Gabbie has been trying to stand for a while now. She's up, she' down, she's up, she's down, but recently she's been standing on her own for more than a few seconds. She's obviously standing long enough to get the camera and take this picture. She's even trying to take a step now and then. It can't be long before she's walking, can it?

A Party for Weslie

Even though Weslie turned three this week this was her first birthday party. Nothing to extravagant. Just some of her friends, balloons, and cake. Yea, CAKE. Weslie's party was a Backyardigans theme with matching decorations, gift boxes, and of course the CAKE.

Happy Birthday

That's right, Weslie's birthday was this week, and she turned three. Not only did Weslie turn three, but so did our website. Take a little time and look through some of the old pictures, videos, and news of Weslie. It's like watching the last three years pass by as quickly as they seemed too.

It's a New Car, Bob

Well, new to us. We hated to see the old Passat go, but with growing maintenance cost and a need for a little more space it was time to get a new vehicle. It's a Ford Explorer with the all important third row seating. It's the closest thing we could find that had all the functionality of a mini-van, but is not a mini-van. Not that we have anything against mini-vans. Some of our closest friends drive mini-vans.

Gabbie's New Trick

Gabbie has been crawling for awhile now, and in the last past month has been pulling herself up to a standing position. Her new and dangerous stunt is climbing stairs. Thankfully we have gates on our stairs, but under close supervision Gabbie can climb the entire flight of stairs.

The 4th in Mississippi

We drove down to Mississippi to spend a little time with our families. It's a long drive, over 900 miles, but well worth it. Weslie and Gabbie had a fun time playing with all their cousins and aunts and uncles. We were in Mississippi for a little over a week, but the time just seemed to slip away.

First Concert

Weslie and Gabbie went to their first concert. They went and saw Milkshake. Danny was reading the paper and saw a little announcement that they were giving a free concert today, and he said he had seen them on TV. So we got everyone together, got a bite to eat, and then headed off to the show. It was held in a little old school building because of the tremendous amount of rain that evening.

She's Up

Gabbie is really trying hard to stand. She is pulling up on everything. Her crawling is still in the army style, but she can really move. Last week she discovered how to sit-up by herself, and when she sat-up she giggled and clapped her hands. She knew that she did something, and was very proud of it.

A Star is Born

Weslie's dance class is coming to an end, but not before they get everyone together and put on a little show. Weslie did very well. There were some times that she danced her on little dance or danced when she wasn't suppose to, but that's all part of having cute little kids dance in a program.

She's Loose

It's been quite busy here lately. Danny's parents came to visit for a couple of weeks, and we went to Williamsburg, VA to meet up with Mary's parents on vacation. However, the big new is that Gabbie has started crawling. She's doing the same army style belly crawl that Weslie did.

Go here to see a video of Gabbie crawling

Say Cheese

We thought it would be a good idea to get some photos made. Gabbie is seven months old, Weslie has changed so much since her last portraits, and it's almost Mother's Day. Everything went very well. Gabbie and Weslie were all smiles and giggles.

Weslie's Garden

We went out today and bought some flowers for our little deck, and thought it would be a good idea to have a little garden for Weslie. A very little garden consisting of one tomato plant, a bell pepper plant, and some herbs. Check out her little gardening outfit and watering can.

Look Who's Sitting Up

Gabbie has been sitting up for a few of seconds here and there for a while, but now she is sitting for several minutes. She is also really moving around on the floor. She's not crawling yet, but she has pushed up into a crawling position, and she pivots on her belly to face towards whatever has grabbed her interest.

Happy Easter

We had a fairly busy Easter weekend, but luckily the weather was beautiful. Our church had a "Spring Fun Fest" on Saturday, and then of course Easter was Sunday. Weslie enjoyed dying the eggs and then finding them, but I believed her favorite part was the chocolate candy. That seems to be Gabbie's favorite too. Weslie and Gabbie had beautiful Easter dresses to wear thanks to their Gramma's mad sewing skills.

Six Month Checkup

Gabbie had her six month checkup recently and she couldn't be better. She was in the 95% in weight at almost 20 lbs., and off the chart in height at a little over 28 inches. She's rolling over constantly, and is moving around on the floor mysteriously. No one has ever seen her actually move from point A to point B, but if you're not paying attention she might not be where you left her.

New Wheels

Because the weather is finally becoming a little more pleasant, we got Weslie some new wheels. She loves her "bike", that's what she calls it, and rides it all over the place. She picked out this one over the Princess and Dora ones. She especially like the little cubby in the back, so her toys can ride too.

Say Hello to Hammy (not shown)

We got a new addition to the house hold, Hammy the Hamster. Of course for the first couple of days we haven't seen much of him. He's been hiding in his little house. We're hoping that by the weekend he will have gotten use to his new home and won't be so shy. Our cat Jasper has taken a particular interest in Hammy, but we believe that it is probably best if they don't meet.

Sunny Days are Here Again

Well, at least for a little while. We've had a string of sunny and quite warm days, and everyone is taking advantage of it. Where ever you go there are kids playing and some parents too, but the warm weather is fleeting. For the next week or so our highs are suppose to be is the mid 40's. Oh well, warm weather will be here soon. We just have to wait.

All Clear

While nobody has been officially sick for almost a week, it's taken almost that long for everyone to fully recover. Weslie and Gabbie are still on their meds, but they are back to normal. It's nice to have the family healthy and happy again.

First Haircut

Well, Weslie finally got her first haircut. It's took almost two years before she really got any hair, but once she did it started growing like crazy. We took her to Planet Kids, which specializes in cutting kid's hair. It wasn't much of a haircut. They just trimmed it up a little.

Look Who Came to Visit

This weekend we were hit by a small outbreak of the flu. All of us except for Weslie, who was smart enough to get her flu shot, but then again she got strep throat instead. So everyone was taken down by something. We spent all weekend going back and forth from the doctor's and the drug store.

Gabbie Bit Me

Imagine our surprise when we found out that Gabbie got her first tooth, and then her second one the very next day. They're the two middle ones on the bottom. If she would only get her two front teeth she'd really be able to bite.

Finally Some Snow

After the warmest January on record, we finally got some snow. Actually, we got more than some snow, we got about 15" of snow in one day. It took a little while to dig out, and then the snow was so deep it was hard to play in. Go here to see a video of her playing in the snow.

Princesses

Recently Weslie has become a big fan of the Disney Princesses. It all started when we went home for Christmas and her cousin, Reagan, had Princess everything, and they would play dress-up all day every day. So, when we found out that Disney Princesses on Ice was coming to Baltimore we bought tickets. Weslie loved it.

Nightmares

Weslie has been having a rough couple of nights. She's been having nightmares bad enough to wake her up crying and that she's scared to go to sleep. What are her nightmares about? Not monsters, ghost, or goblins. Her dreams are haunted by . . . Oobi. Oobi is the main character on a children's show. Of course she's scared. He's a hand with eyes. If that's not scary I don't know what is.

Has it been Four Months Already?

Gabbie had her four month checkup, and like Weslie was she's above the 95% in height and weight. We just have big health babies. Our pediatrician has ok us to start feeding Gabbie solid food. That is if you consider baby food solid.

No More Braces

It's hard to believe that it's been two years since Mary had her braces put on, actually 23 months. Well, today they came off. It takes about as much time getting use to not having braces as it did getting use to having them. For a little blast from the past check out our news archive for March, 2004.

Weslie on Ice

We thought it might be fun if we took Weslie ice skating, so off to the local ice rink we went. We paid our admission and rented our skates before we realized that none of us knew how to skate. It took a little while but we all finally got on the ice, except for Gabbie, and had a good time.

Gabbie's Vertical

Gabbie is in that magical time around three to four months where she is getting stronger and more active. She's kicking, pushing up, being grabby, and very vocal. Even though it's kind of new to her, Gabbie seems to like the "jumpy" seat.

A Source of Future Embarrassment

We're sure that sometime in the distant future Weslie will not appreciate this picture, but we thought it was cute. As the picture shows Weslie is no longer in diapers. Potty training was fairly easy. She had been saying that she wanted to use the potty for a while, so when we bought her one she took to using it with no problems.

A New Year

Well, it's a new year and we've been on the road more than we've been home. I believe we spent a total of about 36 hours in the car and 4 hours in the air this holiday season, a new record. We got to see our families back in Mississippi, and that was worth the traveling. It's always funny going back home, somethings never change and others are unrecognizable.