Quick--look out your windows......do you see the pigs flying??? They're flying here in Jersey--otherwise I wouldn't be posting again so soon :)!! Lesley, you were right!!!

Since I have the day off from mommy duty, courtesy of our beloved sitter Michelle, I thought I better hurry up and post the girls' birthday letters before it gets relegated to my neverending "to do" list. Feel free to skip over them, as I cannot make any promises regarding their entertainment value!

My dearest Katie-Kat,
Happy belated second birthday, my sweet! I cannot believe that you are already two--it seems impossible that you are no longer a helpless lil' babe. You walk (and run, hop, and jump) and you are talking up a storm--when did you stop being a baby? How did I miss that transition?

I do believe that you've inherited my gift of gab, and I love watching you get so excited about learning new words and trying to figure out how to put sentences together. Your communication skills are mind-boggling to me. Perhaps every new parent feels this way, but it amazes me to witness your vocabulary expanding by such ginormous leaps and bounds.

You are such an affectionate little girl--whether we are leaving the house, or just going upstairs for a night-night, you are constantly saying goodbye to your various toys and random household objects. It's so adorable to pull out of the driveway, and listen to you shriek "bye home, bye home." I cherish the way you will, seemingly out of the blue, decide that we should hug--I wish I could freeze those moments. Your hugs have a way of making all the stresses of life fall to the wayside. I can't think of anything sweeter than the way you come up to me and say, "Mommy, hug, hug Kate" with your arms open wide. It melts my heart.

You're such a nurturing "older" sister--you certainly have your moments, but again, it's so touching to see how you are always looking out for Julia. You are constantly bringing her snacks, toys, and of course, Lovey. There have been a few mornings lately where we've let Julia sleep a bit later than you. While I really enjoy getting some one-on-one time with you, you've got about a 10-minute threshold before you start missing your sister and start yelling "Buggie, Buggie." I hope you will always look out for her the way that you do now, just as I hope she will do the same for you.

You also, much to my dismay, seem to have inherited my temper.......there is absolutely no middle ground with you, and you wear your heart on your sleeve. We've had a lot of time-outs lately, but you are really responding well to our new "system." One of your favorite things to do when you get into trouble is to try and cute your way out of time out--meaning, before time out is over, you will look at me with a pathetically forlorn expression and either start asking me for hugs, or you'll try to climb in my lap. I cannot tell you how hard it is for me to maintain my composure and not start laughing. This discipline stuff is hard, although I know it will take you many, many years to really understand that.

You are currently in love with Dora & Diego, Elmo, slides, snacks, Thomas, jumping, and hopping. You love to go over our lists of necessities whenever we switch activities. Whenever we get ready to leave the house, you have to tell us "shoes, socks, coat, walk, beep-beep, sippy." Quite efficient with communicating your thoughts, I'd say.

I am so in love with you, my child, and I still am in awe that I am lucky enough to be your mommy. Not a day goes by that I don't thank the powers that be for giving your daddy and I such a wonderful and precious gift.

I love you Taties,
Mommy

My Darling Julia,
Oh my sweet lil' bug, happy second birthday! I can't believe that you're two!! The time is going by much too fast for my liking, and I cannot get over how much you have changed since your baby days.

You are such a joyous and delightful child--what a world of difference from the baby who cried seemingly non-stop the first 10 months of her life! You almost always have a smile on your face (and what a smile it is, with those scrumptious dimples you got from your daddy), and it doesn't take much to make you laugh. You almost always wake up happy, and I get so excited walking into your room in the morning, because I love the way you pop up in your crib and say "Hiiiiiiii, Mommy." It never gets old!!

I worry that Daddy and I have created a bit of identity confusion for you--while you are certainly aware that your name is indeed Julia, you've become so accustomed to us (esp. Kate) calling you "Buggie" that you respond to that more often than you do your given name. We've also had a couple of people suggest that we should cease calling you by your nickname b/c of the, ahem, "long-term implications".........I'm sure that they worry you will be teased on the playground at school, but to us, you are our sweet and precious Bug. No matter what that word means to others, for us, it holds a lot of affection and love.

Daddy and I keep referring to you as our little engineer. Your ability to become so singularly focused, especially when it comes to trying to figure out how things work, is astounding. One of your favorite things to do, and this is fairly new, is to line things up. Over the past week, you've worked very hard to line up rolls of paper towels, soup cans, and your toy balls. Your precision is spot-on, and you get very, very upset, if things aren't exactly right. You want things just so, and being a bit of a control freak, I can very much relate to your desire.

You remind me sooooo much of Daddy--besides looking so much like him, you have his same need to work and work at something until you find a way, your own way, to figure it out. You are one determined child and you have such a love of learning! You get so excited when you learn something new, and once you figure something out, you like to do it over and over and over again (aka "the repeat game")--which is pretty hilarious to watch. Whether it's saying a new word, or pushing the "eject" button on the dvd player, you keep on keepin' on.

You and I have a special game that we play, and I try to get you to play it with me at least 5 (or 100) times a day. It isn't even really a game, but it's one of my favorite things to do with you. And typing it out, I know it will sound so simple and silly, but I love it. I start by saying "Juuulia, Juuulia." And then you look at me, and you always smile while saying "Mahhhmmmyyy, Mahhhmmmyyy." See, it sounds so lame, but the look on your face and the tone in your voice when you say it are so full of love and adoration that I can't help but feel weak in the knees.

You're also proving to be quite musical--I do suspect that you may be a bit gifted in this area (hee hee). You do have a talent for picking up the melody of a song after hearing it only once. Your favorites right now are "ABC", "Twinkle, Twinkle", and "Dora" (to which you now make up your own lyrics). The sweetest is the way you sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" and always leave out "the world"---the Julia version includes the line, "up up up so hiiiiiigh."

My sweet, sweet Julia Grace--what a gift it is to have you for my daughter. You're my precious lil' pixie and I adore you to pieces.

All My Love,
Mommy

Well, it looks like I'm going to win the award for being the laziest blogger ever!! Seriously, I thought this was something I was going to keep up with, at the very least, weekly, and it clearly isn't turning out that way.....grrr.

Kate & Julia are officially two!! They had a fabulous birthday season.....all of our Ohio relatives, minus Uncle Dan and Cousin Jack (who were sorely missed), came out to visit the lil' monkeys. We had two weeks of almost back-to-back visits and it was wonderful to see everyone! The girls were thrilled to spend time with both sets of grandparents, Aunt Jen, Aunt Sara, and Cousin Livvy (aka "Lilly" in twinspeak). Scott and I really appreciated everyone making such an effort to help us celebrate the girls' birthday and it was rather difficult for all of us to adjust when everybody left (esp. me as we all know how homesick I am).

The girls are talking soooo much now--watching them grow and change is so fascinating these days, especially since their language acquisition has gone through the roof. They repeat EVERYTHING they hear, and I'm amazed at just how much they are able to communicate with simple two or three word sentences.

I've included some recent photos of the girls, and I hope to return soon (hmmmm....how likely is that) to post my birthday letters to the girls!

Heart hug!