Four Months

I Love These Girls

I love watching Grace and Leah interact.  I think they're going to be great friends.

Yesterday I attempted to take some portraits of Leah (her official "Three Month" portrait, just one month late).  I dressed her in the same little dress my mom dressed me in back in 1984 for my Three Month Portrait at Sears.  I wasn't entirely successful; it was a struggle taking pictures of Leah while Grace was in the room!  Grace hopped in this one, so I went with it!  More pictures to follow...

WHOA!

O Christmas Tree

Last Saturday was the third annual trip to Tridelphia Tree Farm for our family.  I reluctantly let go of the idea that a Christmas tree isn't a Christmas tree unless it's a Douglas Fir, and we settled on a white pine, which I'll admit is rather shapely and charming.  It only took 30 seconds for my husband to saw it down!  I was impressed.  Leah was asleep.  Grace was cold and couldn't move very well in all her layers, but she was a little interested:

"I'm cold and my nose is running."

Leah is strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn carrier under the blanket.  She missed the whole thing!
We got around to decorating the tree on Friday night while MomMom and Poppy Wilson were visiting.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

A Girl and Her Christmas Sprinkles

Grace had a very special playdate with her Grandma Deterding this morning.  She got to make some Christmas cookies.  I'm sure she was loving every minute of it...she recently began showing an interest in all cooking, baking and meal preparation that goes on in my kitchen!

Grandma snapped these pictures of their adventures in the kitchen!

A Gift

If you know of a deserving couple planning a 2009 wedding, check out what Stacy Richardson Photography is up to this Christmas!  

What is She Thinking About?

Just look deep into the eyes of this chimp.  She's pondering something deep; I don't know what, but I could have stared at her staring into space for a long time.  

Steve, Grace and I joined his sister Amy, her husband Scott and their son Gus on a trip to the Baltimore Zoo on Friday.  We didn't make it around the whole thing before the kiddies were ready to go, but highlights of the visit (for me) were the chimps and the 8 month old, 750 lb. baby elephant, Sampson.  Grace's highlights were the tank of fish in the monkey house, the rocks next to the tram stop, and the white owl.  And the clementine she got to eat for her snack.  I didn't ask Steve what his favorite part of the trip was...if there's enough interest I'll ask him and get back to you.

*Dec. 3rd Edited to add:  Steve's favorite part. "Um, probably the cheetah.  When Grace and I went back to look at it, it was growling.  It was pretty cool.  And intimidating."

There you have it.  Steve likes cheetahs.  And Cheetos, too, for that matter.

Sights Around Annapolis

On Sunday, Steve and I joined two other couples from our small group Bible study on a photo scavenger hunt around downtown Annapolis.  The rules were simple:  each couple submits three pictures in each of the following categories-- "trash", "hardware", and "essential things that are often overlooked".  Here are some pictures that Steve and I took (*edited to add:  not all of the pictures fit into a category!).

Celebrity sighting:  The Governor of MD's elbow as he disappears into his hybrid SUV:

Happy Three Months!

Our kids seem to have two different personalities, and as pictures are worth a thousand words, I'll let this image explain:

"Eeyah" is three months old today.  She and her sister celebrated with Leah's very first sleepover at MomMom and Poppy's house.  I can't wait to hear how it went...

A Little About Leah

I was gently reminded today that it's been 10 days since I posted on the blog.  So I frantically searched our computer files for a picture that hasn't been posted yet and came across this one of Leah.  Being that she's just 2 days shy of her 3-month birthday, I thought I'd take a moment while the girls are peacefully napping to write a little about Leah Anne.

Leah is probably one of the two most beautiful little baby girls I've ever seen.  (The other would probably be her sister Grace).  She's so cute and delicate and maybe she'll end up keeping her wavy dark brown hair and blue eyes.  

Leah still eats a lot.  Every three hours.  And once during the night, too; but that's ok.  She managed to sleep through the entire night until 6:15 am last night, so we're very proud of her.  

Steve and I are beginning to see some personality in Leah, now that she is a little older and awake for longer stretches of time.  She is very happy and very vocal; we often hear her oooh-ing and ahhh-ing at someone or something, and she can grab and shake any toy that strikes her fancy.  Leah also has a more contemplative side-- she could spend all day being held up against my chest with her head resting on or looking over my shoulder, quietly observing the world around her.  In the picture, she's doing just that on her Daddy's lap.  Grace is probably running around the living room like an adorable mini madwoman and putting on quite a show for baby eyes to see.

Just like her sister, Leah is most ticklish under her chin, and loves to suck her little thumb.  We're all looking forward to the day when she's big enough to play with Grace (it'll be here in the blink of any eye!)

I hope a certain uncle won't have to wait 10 whole days before I get another post up...lucky for him the girls are spending the night at his house tomorrow night!  

Guess What Grace Can Do:

Hangin' Out

Two Months

Leah is two months old!  Nearly 10 weeks, to be exact.  She seems unimpressed in this photo, but she actually really enjoys swatting at her hanging giraffe-- and she's good at it, too.  It even makes her smile and coo.  Grace is going to spend an exciting weekend at Mom Mom and Poppy's house, so I'm hoping that Leah and I can have some quality time together; just Leah, Momma....and the camera (of course!)

Leah is almost sleeping through the night!  She's done it several times so far; we're just waiting for it to stick.  She still prefers being held upright against your chest, don't even think about cradling her in your arms.  She has an adorable smile.  She is already trying to roll over.  

At her two month check-up Leah weighed 11 lbs. 6 oz. and charmed the whole office!

She Looks Like She's 15

Well, maybe not 15, but she doesn't look like a baby any more when she sports a ponytail!  Of course, the up-do only lasted for about 10 minutes before Grace yanked it out with an "Uh oh!"

and then ran away as fast as her Sesame Street shoes could carry her before Mommy could try out another style...

 

New Photo Session

There's a new post over at Heather Grace Photography!  

Still Here

I just realized that it's been a long time since we've updated!  I guess having an infant will do that to you.

I've been busy with a couple photo shoots, and we all recently enjoyed AACS's Homecoming events and a long weekend-visit from Grace and Leah's Aunt April!  Leah has been to two high school football games this fall and Grace put two words together for the first time yesterday-- we were talking about Steve and she said "Daddy school", because Daddy was at school!  

Grace is also into pumpkins.  Here are pictures of Grace's first pumpkin.  Grandma and Grandpa Deterding had one growing in their backyard, and wouldn't you know it was the perfect size for Grace.

Grace, Leah and I took a field trip to a farm last week with some other moms and kiddies from church, and Grace got to pick out another pumpkin.  There are no pictures of that adventure since I had my hands full of Deterding girls!

Eee-Yahhh!

Here is Grace with her sister Eeeyahhh and her friend Lion, taken a couple weeks ago.  

Stephen

I told Steve that you (well, two of you) wanted more pictures of Steve on this blog.  So I grabbed the camera and went outside, where Steve and Grace were cleaning out the car, and he obligingly posed for me.

And because Grace happened to be there, I took a picture of her, too.

And here she is earlier in the week, daintily stepping through the muddy grass with her beloved bubbles.

Hmmm, I still need more pictures of Steve, don't I?  

One More

I've been playing around in Photoshop when I get a spare moment, so I thought I'd share a picture that I edited today.  It's Leah.  I took a lot of pictures of her.  Isn't she cute?  That's Steve's arm, as well.  I should take more pictures of Steve.

But you all check this blog to see the girls, don't you?  

Priceless

She smiles!  More of these to come.