Pink Piggies

While Leah has a rough-and-tumble, outdoorsy, sporty side...she is also a girlie girl.  She loves new clothes, dresses, shoes, purses and pink toenails.  She brought me the nail polish this morning and said "maint no-nails, pees."  So we did...

Baby Beauty

Pitiful Little Girl

This past Saturday, Leah woke up with a fever.  Now, mind you, she is 2 years old but she has never run a temperature over 99 degrees.  She is one healthy mule of a girl.  So this was uncharted territory for Craig and me.  Aunt Meredith was hanging with us, since Gammie and Papa were in the mountains for the weekend.  Leah was feeling pretty yucky, we could tell.  I treated her with children's ibuprofen which brought her fever down a little and made her more comfortable.  I was hoping she would recover quickly, not needing to visit the Urgent Care.  I know most of you other moms can agree, all injuries and sickness seem to happen after pediatricians' office hours.

Late Sunday, she started to act like herself a little more and her fever broke during her afternoon nap.  However, Monday morning I had a nagging suspicion that something just wasn't right, so I called her pediatrician and got her an appointment for 11am.  She didn't have a fever by then, but she was still very irritable.  Turns out, she has strep throat.  Welcome to the world of yucky, thick, pink, fake bubblegum-flavored antibiotics, little one.  One good thing that came of this....Leah's first Popsicle!  She loves them.  Pardon her appearance in the photo.  She had been sick, of course.

"Yes, Mommy, I Do Need Mittens to Eat My Yogurt"

Aren't You A Little Big for That?

Lifetime Sportswomen

As many of you know, Papa has a great love for the outdoors and conservation.  His desire is to help Leah and Anna also have a respect and appreciation for the outdoors and for wildlife.  When Leah was born, Papa purchased her a lifetime sportsman license from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.  As long as Leah lives, she will never have to buy a hunting or freshwater fishing license!  When Anna was born, he purchased one for her as well.  We thank Papa for this opportunity for our girls.

Here is Papa presenting Anna with her certificate.  When these two girls grow up, we are gonna have to beat the boys away with a stick.  I mean, really, two beautiful girls with LIFETIME hunting and fishing licenses??!?!

This One's for the Girls

...of the Cox family.  Remember those shoes at Nana's house we played dress-up with?  Several months ago, Nana was cleaning out closets and was going to THROW THEM AWAY!!!  NO!!!!  I rescued them and they are now being played with by a 4th generation.

Sticker Fun...Well for Leah, At Least

This morning, I gave Leah some stickers to play with while coloring.  Of course, I instructed her to place the stickers on the paper.  However, when I returned I found Anna like this...

Tent

This morning Leah and I decided to make a "tent" for her to watch TV under.  As you can see, my tent creating skills are not the best, but it will do.  Leah seemed to like it and that was really all that mattered.

Just swangin'

Anna was able to swing for the first time last night in her toddler swing.  It seems like just yesterday, Leah was swinging in it.  Leah now swings in the "big girl" swings...sniff, sniff :(

Anyways, Anna loved it...especially when Leah pushed her!

Family Reunion

This past weekend we traveled with the Tribble clan to Nathalie, VA for a family reunion.  The reunion was for the Saunders' side, which was the maiden name of Craig's grandmother on his father side.  Mawmaw passed away almost three years ago.  

We started out Sunday morning around 10am, heading north, following Craig's cousin and his family since they knew the way.  We arrived around lunch and had a really nice time.  There was soooo much food, like at any family reunion.  Leah had a blast playing with her cousins and Ya-Ya (this is what Leah calls Craig's mother).  The location was a volunteer fire department out in the boonies.  Anyways, we ate and talked and visited.  Leah and Anna were able to meet their great-great Aunt Minnie, who is Mawmaw's sister.  We are blessed to have a large extended family, even if we aren't able to see them very often.  We left around 2pm and got home before 4, in time for dinner and relaxation before the weekend was over.

Anna was so good the entire trip.  Both girls did really well.  Nick and Laura's daughter, Maiya loved the baby and wanted to hold her.  Maiya is a very sweet girl and I see my daughters, in the future, looking up to and admiring their older cousin.

Leah played outside most of the time and the temperature was in the low 90's.  You can see her face is red and she was drenched with sweat.  We blasted the AC on the way home and she guzzled water and drifted off for a nap.  We had a really great time and hope to do more fun things with our cousins!

...And Where are You Going?

Leah: Bye bye!
Me: And where are you going?
Leah: Minnie's (That is how Leah says "Gammie")
Me: Well okay, be careful.  How are you going to get there?
Leah: My tri-hee-hull.
Me: Oh, okay.  Love you.
Leah: Luh loo too.

Swimming at Gammie's

Gammie and Papa have a blow-up pool in their backyard for Leah to swim....or as Leah says "nim."  Needless to say, my little water baby has thoroughly enjoyed it!  She would probably stay in the water all day if we let her.

Anna also donned her finest swiming attire, but played in her Exersaucer most of the time.  We put her feet in the water and she screamed...so no swimming for Anna.

Love My Sister!

Playtime with Aunt Meredith

Yesterday, Aunt Meredith spent some time with us.  Leah LOVES to play with her aunt.  It's really funny because Leah takes Meredith hostage in her room and won't let her leave.  If Leah has to go somewhere or get something that is outside of her room, she says "Stay Merma, Stay" and will close the bedroom door behind her so that her playmate cannot escape.  We are thankful for Aunt Meredith and all the hours she has played with Leah and all the imaginary tea parties she has endured.

Anna - 5 months

Anna Bug just turned 5 months old this past week.  She is growing so fast.  She is such a blessing and we love her!  Some facts about her at this stage:

-She can roll from back to tummy and then back
-Finds her pacifier and puts it back into her mouth (sometimes)
-She eats infant cereal two times a day, breakfast and dinner, and has a couple tablespoons of veggies or fruit with the evening cereal.
-She has tried bananas, sweet potatoes and apples.  She ate them all, but didn't seem really thrilled about any of them.
-She nurses 6-ish times in a 24 hr period
-She sleeps from about 9:00pm to 2:30am, then nurses and is back to sleep until around 7:30 or 8am.  She sleeps on her side mostly.
-She naps in the morning from around 9 to 10 and then in the afternoon from 2 to 3.  Sometimes she may sleep a little around lunch too.
-She is enamoured with her big sister and lights up whenever Leah is around
-She smiles all the time and is very talkative
-She gives big, open-mouthed kisses on your cheek and nose
-She likes to bite her toes and does not suck her thumb as much as she used to.
-Her first two teeth (the two bottom ones) came in within a day of each other about 2 weeks ago and they are SHARP!

School

Last week, Leah started attending a twice-a-week preschool program at a local church.  She has enjoyed it more than I could imagine.  The first day, she marched right in there took one look around and ran off to play with the other kids, never even looking back.  When I came to pick her up, she didn't want to leave and clung to the teacher.  Apparently, they are making preschool WAY too fun for this little one.  She looks like such a little grown-up now when I drop her off.  She knows the routine and is better about leaving because she knows she will get to go back in a few days.  We are thankful that she adjusted so well and is having such a wonderful time!

Quote to ponder

What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. ~Eleanor Powell

Here goes nothin'...

Over the past two years, I have been a devoted follower of several blogs.  Each day I perch on the wooden desk chair in front of our family laptop and read the new entries several families have posted on their blogs.  The thought finally dawned on me....why not create my own blog so that our family and friends can keep up with our girls and see what's going on with them.  Also, it can provide a "family record," if you will, for dear hubby and myself when we are too old to remember what our girls used to do and how funny they are.  So please, enjoy!