Cutest girls in the world

Annabelle and Jillian can be the best of friends, but they can also fight over the silliest things. In this video, they happen to be playing happily together.

 

 Here is a video showing that occasionally I can get Sarah to suck on a pacifier, but only when she is extremely tired.

Jillian is going through that stage where she wants to do everything on her own and freaks out if I try and help. Only when she has tried herself and failed several times in a row will she allow me to offer assistance. Here are 2 examples of her trying to put her pajama shirt and pants on.

                                                  And here are some pictures of these cute sisters!

Air Show

A few weeks ago, Michale and Annabelle went to the annual air show. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay long enough to see the airplanes do the really neat tricks since I had to be somewhere and Michael had come home and watch the kids. But they did have a good time together and got some cool videos of motorcyclists doing tricks.

Happy Father's Day!

         

We had a splendid Father's Day last week. Annabelle, Jillian, and I (mostly me) spend the week before getting ready. Annabelle and Jillian drew beautiful pictures for him and helped me with some of the presents. As you can see from the pictures, we gave Michael an U.S. Open towel, a large framed map, Killing Lincoln, a homemade candy tie, samples of why we love him, and pictures that Annabelle and Jillian drew. Michael is such a wonderful husband and father. I'm so grateful for everything he does for us. I could go on and on, gushing about all the reasons I love him, but I won't. Let it suffice that I'm extremely happy with my choice of husband. Thanks for being so wonderful, Michael.

Sarah laughing

Sarah is starting to laugh! It’s such a wonderful sound to hear. I could listen to her laugh all day long!

1st place half marathoner

 

Michael decided he was going to run the Teton Dam half marathon about 3 weeks before the date of the race. He had not been doing much running before that. In fact, I think he's only gone running one time since Sarah was born. But once he decided he was going to run it, he really focused on getting prepared and training his body for it.

The morning of the race, he left before the kids woke up. We got to the finish line to wait for him about 8:50 a.m. When we saw him coming, we cheered for him like crazy. Annabelle was especially intrigued by the prospect of a race and when the first few runners who were running the 5K and 10K finished, she kept saying how much she wished she were running the race too. In the picture below, Michael is in the blue shirt.

 

Michael did a great job. Not just great, he won 1^st place in his age group! He ran a smart race. He didn’t sprint out to the lead at the beginning of the race, but allowed himself to set a good pace and ended up passing almost everyone who started out running too fast. He ran the half in 1:41:35, with a 7:46 minute mile pace. What a stud!

All of the participants received a medal. Of course, Annabelle and Jillian loved wearing it.

 

We stayed around for a while waiting for the awards ceremony. The race ended at a park and the kids had a blast playing on the playground for a few hours. Even Sarah was a perfect angel, even though I know she was getting pretty hungry near the end. 

 

GO MICHAEL!

Kids

Here are some cute pictures and videos of the girls together. Annabelle just can’t get enough of Sarah. She constantly wants to hold her, burp her, play with her, etc. Jillian likes to play with Sarah when Annabelle is, but she’s not nearly as gentle as Annabelle.

Annabelle and Jillian are a big help when it comes to keep Sarah healthy. Because Sarah doesn’t take a pacifier and she is getting a tooth already, she often puts her hand in her mouth to suck on it. We are trying to keep her from sucking her thumb, so whenever she does put her hand in her mouth, we pull it out again. Michael likes to place her hands under her bottom when she’s lying on the floor or sitting in her bouncer and she can never get them out. It’s mean, but funny. Annabelle and Jillian have also taken the initiative. They are also keeping an eye out and whenever they see Sarah’s hands in her mouth, they pull them out and tell her not to do that. It’s great.

The Wrap

Last Sunday afternoon, we decided to go for a walk. I didn’t really feel like pushing a stroller, so I whipped out the wrap that my friend made me just after Sarah was born. I’ve never had one before and wasn’t sure how to use it. After looking online for a video that would explain the way to wrap it around myself and Sarah, I tried it. Michael had to help me. It's going to take a lot of tries before I can wrap it correctly and get Sarah in it by myself. Anyway, it worked for almost the entire walk. Towards the end, it loosened up and I had to use my arms to support Sarah in the wrap. But with practice, I should be able to teach piano, make dinner or lunch, vacuum, etc with two hands while still holding Sarah. She’s getting to that social age where she doesn’t like to be laid on the floor or sit in her bouncer. She’s like to be held and move around where the action is. I’m hoping the wrap will give her what she needs while allowing me to do what I need to do.

Swimming suits for the first time in 2012

Last week, I got back from an afternoon run up to the temple and back. It was quite a warm day and I was really wishing we had a swimming pool in our backyard to help me cool down. Since we don’t, sprinklers sounded just as good. They sounded good to Annabelle and Jillian as well. Th girls got in their swim suits and we went outside. By this time, the breeze had picked up and I had cooled down enough to realize it didn't feel as warm outside when you're not running and it might be a little chilly if you’re wet, but the girls were so excited so out we went. We lasted about 30 minutes before Sarah had had enough (she was sitting on my lap on the patio steps and she and I didn’t ever get wet) and Jillian was ready to go inside as well. Annabelle had a blast running through the sprinklers (by herself- Jillian was excited to get wet until we went outside and it was actually time to play in the sprinklers. She sat with Sarah and me on the steps) . When we came inside, the girls watched a movie while still in their swim suits (they refused to take them off- they wanted to play “beach”) while I fed Sarah and put her down for a nap. After, the two older girls and I went back outside to play in the water and what should we see, but our good friends playing in their yard in the sprinklers, so we joined them for a little while. We had a good time. Don’t Annabelle and Jillian looked so cute in their swim suits.

Who's who (the second time)

After Jillian was born, I dressed her in the same dress that Annabelle wore when she was a baby and wrote a blog entry showing a picture of both girls in the same outfit around the same age and asked, "Who's who?". Now that I have another girl, I'll do the same thing with all three of them. So, I'll ask again, which baby is Annabelle, which is Jillian, and which is Sarah (an no, of course they're not in order oldest to youngest)?