More Beautiful You

I wish I could embed this into the hearts and minds of my little girls

Longhorn Pride

We are a Longhorn family, we bleed orange and love our 40 acres! See, even the girls get into it....


Emma hoping for a touchdown


We're #1


Mama and Emma

"Pease" Mama

After many many attempts at getting Emma to sign please she ended up saying the very improtant word for the first time this weekend. "Peeeeaaase" (with hands held together) is probably the cutest thing a little one year old can say. Especially to her mother who is obsessed with manners. Bribing with candy was not a good idea on my part though. Everytime she said please this weekend she got a gummy. Good motivation don't you think? After a whole weekend of getting rewarded with candy my poor Emma had to learn the aweful truth that please doesn't always get you want you want. This morning as I was getting all of us ready for our day she takes me by the hand to the pantry, puts her little hands together and says, "Pease mama, pease." in the sweetest way. When she realized she was not getting a gummy she stomps her little feet saying, "PEASE PEASE PEASE!!!" in a not so cute way. Well, she didn't get the candy but she did get a banana. And by her upset little face it was not a reasonable replacement.

Happy (Belated) Halloween!!!

A few very late pictures of the girls. After many costume changes Madison ended up being the cutest, yummiest little cupcake and Emma the most precious pumpkin!

This is what happens when Mom is not around

My sister babysat the girls for a week and this is what she gave my daughter for lunch!

Best Friends

It seems that everytime I mention something about Madison her best friend is often mentioned so I thought I'd add a blog about her first real best friend. Madison & Molly met in Montessori school in the fall of 2007, seems so long ago now. They seemed to hit it off right away and were always together in their class. We (Molly's mom and I) think it was due to them being the only two little girls who were big talkers. These girls can talk FOREVER! They seem to have so much in common. They're both big sisters (Berkeley and Emma are also close in age), both are VERY girly, both of their moms love Gymboree (hee hee) and they are both the sweetest little girls. They've played soccer together and will soon start ballet. We are very sad that they will no longer be in the same school but know that they will continue to be the best of friends.

My Little Ballerina.....

.... starts dance classes today. She is so excited! We've been talking about dance for a whole year now and we finally found a studio close enough that seems to be promising. And to top it off she'll be joined by none other than her best friend Molly. Here is a sneak peak at our little dancer in the making.

ABC...123

For the past few months I've been working with Madison daily on different things, writing, addition, subtraction, reading, etc. Since she didn't go to school all summer I didn't want her to forget everything she had been taught. She does really well with simple math and numbers. But she has more trouble with her letters and phonics. Last night was a big "light bulb" moment for her on the reading end. I've been using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and it's been a great tool for both me and Madison since it provides guidance for the parent teaching as well. Madison had been doing great learning all her sounds but had yet to connect how the sounds came together to make a word. Well, yesterday it all clicked and she read "DAD" for the first time. She was so excited and insisted I write more words for her to read. She was able to sound out "AM" "ME" "SAM" and "MOM". Of course, I was only able to use the sounds she had mastered but it's such a great boost to her confidence. You see, Madison gets REALLY frustrated when she doesn't get something right away. I mean, she'll throw the book and refuse to go any further so it's been a struggle for me to keep her focused. Last night after Emma went to bed we kept working, learning new sounds and sounding out new words. I'm so excited for her!!

15 months old and growing

Update on Emma's stats at 15 months old

Weight: 27 lbs 14 oz
Height: 32 inches

The Stellas- My new favorite song

If anyone watches Can You Duet( American Idol type show for country duos) on CMT you've heard of The Stellas. They are a husband/wife duo from Canada and I just LOVE them. They have two little girls and wrote a song for them called "Riding in the Backseat". Let's just say I totally relate to this song and just LOVE it!! It brought tears to my eyes the first time I heard it. I can't wait for them to come out with an album.

Summer Update

Summer is in full swing so I thought I'd update on our activities thus far. This heat wave has been limiting our outdoor activities since it's been over 100 degrees for over 30 days straight!!! The pool is our only relief from the Texas heat so we go there often and is fun for all. I can lay around in the baby pool while the girls splash and run around.







We also took the girls to see Dora Live!!! I knew Madison would love it but was so surprised at how it captured Emma's attention. I don't think she's even watched an episode of Dora before. But I guess a giant monkey and million stars on the ceiling would capture anyone's attention. The week before the show Dora made an appearance at the zoo so Madison got to meet her favorite cartoon character. She was surprised at how tall Dora was, she assumed she'd be a little girl. Which is something the Nickelodeon people should keep in mind. Kid on the TV should equal kid in person.

Found the one...

For those who check this blog often, you see that I like to play around with blogger templates. Well, I've finally found a keeper! It's hard to find the perfect simple yet cute template. I'm working on getting some updated pictures of Madison's meet and greet with Dora and the girls' many afternoons in the pool. Hope everyone is having a great summer do far.

My how they grow....

::14 Month Update::

Emma has been keeping me busy so I have yet to post a little update on her so here it goes. She is going on 14 months old and is such a little firecracker. She love running around the house, playing behind the curtain, crawling behind the couch, climbing the couch and Madison's bed. It is no wonder she always has some kind of bruise on her head.

She is starting to communicate more, when I say communicate I don't mean talking. Emma has learned a few words in sign language, thank you and milk. But she has developed a few things of her own. She will smack her lips when she's hungry, bark when she sees a dog, bites me when she's sleepy and brings me her shoes when she wants to go outside. We're working on the talking but so far it's only mama and dada. She also says "coco" alot but we have yet to determine what it actually means.

Of my two girls, Emma is the silliest. We used to call Madison silly monkey and Emma is following suit. She puts plates of food on her head, makes silly faces, and immitates her daddy snoring all just to make us laugh. She loves it when we laugh at things she does. Maybe she'll be some sort of performer? She loves attention!

We are loving this stage and seeing her personality develop. I'll be sure to post recent pics and write an update on Madison as well.

I love my girls!!!

I feel like lately I have been taking this time in their life for granted. I get so frustrated sometimes when Emma is crying and Madison screaming that I forget how fast this time passes. Then there are those weekends, like this past one, that everything goes smoothly. Both girls are happy and Mommy is well rested. I realize just how much I love this age. They crack me up everyday with the little things they say and do. Emma with her crooked little teeth and awesome laugh and Madison with her sassy comments and gorgeous face. I could hug them all day!!! Emma is running around the house chasing her sister and Madison just looks too grown up. I look at her expecting to see a chunky baby with bangs but instead I see a little girl who likes nail polish and has to have a purse when leaving the house. This weekend I took them to the park and Emma was climbing and going down the slide all by herself. That girl is fearless!!!I also put a pony tail on Emma for the first time. She is finally getting some hair and she looks so freaking cute with her little pebbles do. I just want to freeze time and keep them this little forever! They are a ton of work and wear me out but when I see them playing together it is so worth it. So I made a vow to myself that every time I get frustrated or cranky at them I have to remind myself that I will miss this once they are 15 and don't want to hang out with Mommy anymore. One of my favorite songs describes it perfectly.


Five years later there's a plumber working' on the water heater
Dog's barking', phone's ringing'
One kid's crying', one kid's screaming'
She keeps apologizing'
He says They don't bother me.
I've got 2 babies of my own.
One's 36, one's 23.
Huh, it's hard to believe, but ...

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These Are Some Good Times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this
You're gonna miss this
Yeah, you're gonna miss this



I love them, I love them, I love them!!! And now I'm crying! I'm such a sap sometimes.

Hidden Treasure

I was cleaning out some files and found this...

Potty Training Memories

From March/April 07

UMBRELLA! ELLA!! ELLA!


It seems so long ago!!

Our Little Lady Turns 1

Emma had a great turn out to her first birthday party. We had an amazing time with family and friends, great BBQ thanks to Daddy and of course lots of gifts. This has been such an amazing year for our family. Thank you to all of our friends who have shared in it with us.

Happy Birthday Emma

I can't believe our little Emma is a whole year old already!!!! She has grown and changed so much in this short time. Here are a few little tidbits about the youngest little Vigil.

* Emma walks! She started at around 11 1/2 months and looks simply adorable wobbling around the house.

* She has 6 teeth- 4 top and 2 bottom

* Emma's vocabulary consists of mama, dada and shaking her head no.

* She's an eater! (see weight below) Emma loves potatoes, egg, grapes, cheerios, chicken and chicken soup.

* We finally got this little one to sleep in her room. YAY!

* Emma loves books, especially touch n feel books and any book that makes noises.

* Emma loves loves loves to follow Madison around and do everything she does. I'm sure this will get on Madison's nerves soon but for now she loves it.


Here are my big girls one year stats:

weight: 25 lbs 2 oz (90th percentile)
height: 30 inches (75th percentile)

I completly blanked on her head measurement but I do remember it being in the 90th percentile. All in all my girl is healthy as can be. She had four vaccinations, which are never fun but she did well.

Tiny Tot Nature Spot- The River Bank

We had a busy weekend. These are from our trip to the zoo's Tiny Tot Nature Spot. The girls have a blast at the river bank or mini-beach as Madison calls it. Basically, an area for young kids to splash in and play with sand.

Fiesta Time in San Antonio

We had a great time at The Battle of Flowers Parade this weekend. It's an annual tradition here in San Antonio, along with the night parade, carnival, a variety of fairs, mexican food and mariachis. It had been a while since I attended any of the festivities but this year I took Madison and her friend Molly. This was Madison's first time going. Since the crowds tend to get big I was nervous to take Emma but we will make sure to take her next year.

It's getting close!!

Announcement by Little Bird Designs

Emma Walks

On April 16 my little chubby lovey decided to take her first steps at 11 months. She was so proud of herself and so were we.

Madisonisms

This past week I had two days off work thanks to the end of tax season. One of those days I decided to try braiding Madison's hair for the first time. She kept complaining that I was pulling on it and kept wiggling around. Well, I told her what my mom always told me, "You want to look pretty? Well, sometimes beauty hurts!" That seemed to calm her down a bit. The next morning we were getting ready for the dentist and she had a painful look on her face. I asked what was wrong and this is what she came up with, " Oh Mommy, I'm so pretty it hurts!" I just about died laughing at her interpretation of my comment.

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Easter 2009

One step here, one step there.....

That's right! Emma started taking her first steps this weekend. A little step here and there, nothing major but I just know that any day now she'll let go and start walking. THEN, the real fun begins. She is so cute about it. She'll be sitting on the floor then gets up on her own, looks around to see if anyone is looking, then if she thinks no one is watching she'll take one or two steps then sit back down. She's such a cutie pie!! If we make a big deal about it she'll get a great big smile on her face and starts to clap so hard that she falls back.

I can't believe this time is here already. Seems like just yesterday I was waiting for her to pick her head up on her own. Now she's almost walking. WOW!

The Dutchman

Madison just finished her second season of soccer with the Dutchman!! (Not sure what a Dutchman is really.) She was very excited about her trophy and the spinning soccer ball on it.

The whole team


With her BFF, Molly


As we walked to the car after the last game she asked, "Does this mean I'm good?" Of course I answered yes. Is she the star of the team? Well, maybe not. Madison is just too girly for soccer, yes you can blame me. She skips around the field, runs on her tippy toes and cries an average of three times per game. She did make a goal this season, an improvement from last season, and tries every week. That is all I can ask from a 4 year old. She loves her teammates and looks forward to Saturday morning games.

Since this is an indoor year round league, we'll start another season in two weeks. Maybe next season she'll score 2 goals. Baby steps people!

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