Most of September...

Two posts right here back to back - proof that we are still alive! We've just been busy finishing up summer and getting back into the routine of going to school and all the other regularly scheduled activities.

Right before Ivy started back to school, we made one last day trip to the NC Zoo with friends.

Here's Emily and her friend Kaitlyn (she is about 2.5 weeks younger than Emily).

Ivy climbing the spider web at the zoo play ground...

Ivy and Grayce going down the leaf slide...

Ivy and Grayce on the Praying Mantis sculpture...

Posing with the Bison statue...

Ivy started back to preschool. This year she goes three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She has some great friends in her class and she has wonderful teachers.

Here she is on her first day...

"Mom, are you done taking picture?"

We've been taking Ivy to ride her bike more often lately. Hopefully the more she practices, the better she'll get. I think she's ready for a bigger bike; still with training wheels but she looks a little big on this tiny bike.

We stopped to take a few pictures...

Emily chewing her finger - she's recently gotten 4 new teeth and there are still two more coming in! She's handling it very well but sometimes she just needs something to chew on. Fingers are the most convenient.

Ivy watching a little tv before bed - looks comfy, huh?

Emily watching Ivy out on the back porch...

Emily playing with Malcom. She LOVES our cats!

Hopefully another post tomorrow - about Emily's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

(I can't believe she's a year old already!!)

Second half of August

We didn't do a whole lot during the second half of August... Just hanging around the house enjoying the last of summer before Ivy started back to school...

Emily had her first taste of lasagna...and LOVED IT!!

Ivy after playing outside...

Hurricane Isabel knocked down one tree...

Emily became much more confident when pulling up on things...

Emily helping with the laundry...

First half of August...

Ivy out playing in the yard...

Ivy in her curlers

(no pictures of her curly hair - maybe next time)...

Emily has learned to drink from a straw - I pulled out the old

straw sippy cups from when Ivy was a baby. So of course

Ivy wanted to try them out again...

Richard's Aunts Sandy and Judy were so kind and let us stay at

their house in Sunset Beach while they were away on vacation.

We left late Wednesday night (that ended up being hard on Emily - she didn't

sleep well that night at all!) so we wouldn't spend part of Thursday traveling.

Thursday morning, we got up and caught the 10:00 ferry from Southport

to Ft. Fisher.

(oddly enough, Richard, Emily and Ivy all had on their 4th of July clothes)

While in Ft. Fisher we visited the aquarium...

Ivy spotted a praying mantis...

After the ferry ride back to Southport, we drove around a bit and

went to see the Oak Island light house.

We got up one morning and went to play miniature golf.

One afternoon we went to the beach - it stormed pretty badly so we

headed to the little Coastal museum at Ocean Isle Beach.

Back to beach for an evening walk and some pictures...

Sunday morning before we left for the day we hit the beach one more time...

A quick picture of Emily - she kept messing with my camera.

I love those big brown eyes!! And she doesn't usually have her paci

(only at bedtime and nap time) but she found it in the diaper bag! :)

Phone photos

I finally plugged my phone into my computer so I could get some pictures off of it. Here are some of the many I took...

There is this app where you can take a picture of someone and turn them into a princess. Ivy did these...

Ivy with her crimped pony tails...

Ivy and Emily in the grocery cart - this might have been the first time they both sat in the grocery cart together...

On my phone you can turn on the front camera so you can see yourself - Emily loves that!

Emily at Ivy's swim lesson...

Emily chewing on a corn cob...

Ivy trying on hats...

Emily playing in the kitchen

Emily relaxing on the floor

Emily at her 9 month doctor appointment

Ivy eating lunch after she had just gotten her ears pierced

Ivy playing in the sand at the beach

We made a homemade peach pie at my mom's house

Emily swinging at Grandmama's house

Ivy trying on another hat (we do that a lot!)

Emily playing with her feet

Richard and the girls

Emily pulled up for the first time!

These are my shoes from when I was little. We took them and had them polished so Ivy can wear them for the rest of this season...