Fort Lee

Gracie loves playing in Delaney's crib and Delaney is usually happy with whatever. This is the first of many forts I'm sure.





Ummm....don't let Delaney fool you. She still has NO ability (?) or interest in drinking from a bottle or sippy cup. If you're wondering, we have tried so many bottles and cups; and different people have offered them to her and she could care less. All she does is gum it or toss it.

I even went out of town for a whole weekend - I went to New Orleans the end of April for, my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Brooke's Bachelorette Weekend (a future post).

Delaney didn't take a bottle or sippy the entire time I was away. She made due with rice cereal, baby foods, baby yogurt and water from a medicine dropper...oh, and she slept that Saturday night while I was away from 7 pm until 5 am. WHAT THE...?!?!

She's still waking every 2-3 hours at night...which I KNOW is totally out of habit...but I don't have the heart to make her "self-soothe" which is really just a fancy word for cry it out.

Good thing she's so cute and good during the day.

Bye Bye Binky!

Gracie stopped using her binky on Friday, March 18th. I was convinced it was going to be a struggle but to my surprise it wasn't a major ordeal...
THANK GOODNESS.

The last day for her binky went like this...she was really busy playing with several friends on what turned out to be THE DAY...so I went with this strategy...I told her that she didn't need it while she was playing that morning and later when were driving over to another friend's house I "forgot" to take it, mostly because I didn't want her falling asleep in the car at 3 pm. She played and played all day with her friends and never asked for it and once it was time for bed, that little ole' green binky sat on the back corner of her nightstand. If she would have asked for it or made a fuss at bedtime - I probably would have caved and given it to her. But she didn't ask...so bye bye binky. The next morning, she asked Todd for it but he managed to distract her with other things. She only asked a couple more times during the day and that was that...the end of her binky!

We told her how proud we were but we didn't make a huge deal about the binky being gone. We took her to Toys 'R Us so that she could pick out a very special big girl toy. I was pushing for one of the power wheels cars (I had always wanted one) and after she test "sat" in every power wheels car at least three times...she opted for something else. She is her Daddy's girl because she chose a cost conscious sports set. She got a soccer, lacrosse, hockey set & goal. She absolutely could have had the power wheels car because I certainly would have bought it for her - while I said giving up that binky was no big deal...to me, it really was a big deal and I think she deserved a BIG present in return. But really, to a 3 old year, it wasn't about the best or most expensive toy...it was about us just making her feel special and loved.

It was a very bittersweet transition for Todd and me. While we could not be more proud of her, we're also a little sad that our baby is not a baby.

She's...a big girl!

M Train & Circus

The end of March we rode the "M Train", which is what Gracie's best buddy Baynes calls the Metro, to see Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's Circus at The Verizon Center in DC.

Ann Colter, Baynes' mom, and I met while touring preschool open houses. I am so thankful for her friendship. Her husband, Rob, and Todd hit it off & now play golf together. Baynes and Gracie are such good friends. They're in the same gymnastics class and always love our playdates. Ronan, Baynes' sister, and Delaney will hopefully be besties too.

NICE! We might need to work on picking in private!

My cousin Ben and his wife Laura.

Delaney got tired of the Greatest Show on Earth.

M training it back home!

Ummm...Hello!?!

Sorry for not posting anything for weeks! I promise I'll catch you up soon. I have lots of stories and, in my biased opinion, very cute pics of the girls. More to come by Tues!

Until then....here's the girls with the Easter Bunny!

Lee Little Lephrechauns

Power Wheels on St. Patty's

On St. Patrick's Day, we visited with our good friends The Haleys. Gracie had a blast playing with Gabriel...they were so cute together and played really well. I loved when they played hide-n-seek upstairs - it was so funny to listen to them counting, searching and giggling! I held 7 week old, beautiful Isabel Grace - I can't believe I didn't get a pic of her sweet face. She's so cuddly and has a head full of gorgeous dark hair. I think the highlight for Gracie was taking a ride around the block on Gabriel's Power Wheels Truck.

Gabe is such a good driver.
He steered around newspapers and
drove straight on the sidewalk.

Gracie loved the real FM radio.

Gabe was cringing because Gracie wasn't steering.

Caution: Student Driver

Gabe's
Driver's Ed Training School

Taryn --- thanks for having us over and for feeding us lunch! We definitely have to get another playdate scheduled soon!