These are the roses that Aaron picked for me on Saturday morning :)

He also got a cake for me that night. We had a great birthday celebration. He was so sweet.

In fact, let me say more about my birthday. It was actually on Wednesday, but since Aaron didn't get home until 10:30 pm that night and I was already in bed, we waited to celebrate until Saturday. He made breakfast for all of us (pancakes, bacon, and eggs), then took V outside to play all morning and pick flowers for me. After K's nap we went to the duck pond and out to eat lunch. We all took a nap that afternoon, then he went out to get the ingredients for his dinner. He cooked an awesome dinner for me while I played with the girls. He grilled steaks, cooked corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, and scallops. It was perfect. In case the description didn't make you hungry, here's a picture: Vivian sat with us at the table because it wasn't quite her bedtime. She had already eaten dinner, so she played with magnets.
After dinner we had the cake and played with the new camera until it was late. It was a great day and my husband is so good to me!

This morning we took the girls to the duck pond in Salem. Vivian loved it, as we expected! She chased them, threw bread to them, and talked about them.



This video is a little long but the beginning shows what lengths Vivian went to in order to get to the ducks. They were just too fast for her!

This morning Vivian's preschool hosted Muffins for Moms to celebrate Mother's Day. It was so sweet to sit with her and her preschool friends and I could tell she was enjoying it, too. These pictures are not in order...this one was taken when we came back to the room and V gave me her gift...her handprint on top of mine with a poem about forever being hand in hand :) This is not a good picture but it definitely shows our biggest discipline issue with V right now...putting her fingers in her mouth.

After eating our muffins, the girls had to give each other some love.

She is so excited to run and play with Avery!

Avery and her mom Janelle.
I couldn't get a good picture of us. V realized that I was smiling/posing for the camera and she thought it was so curious. She would only look at me!
And these are the beautiful flowers that were delivered to me yesterday from Mom and Dad (for my birthday)!

Mom took some pictures with her camera of the girls while we were away. Looks like they had lots of fun! When we brought them home last night, they transitioned so easily, as if they had never been gone. So thankful!
(Stephen and Michael, could you email me any pictures you took on your phones while you were here? There aren't any of you guys...)

Last Thursday we flew to Orlando for the Interstate Batteries (where Aaron works) Convention! It was a much-anticipated vacation and we had a blast. We tucked the girls in bed at Papa and Gramme's on Wednesday night, and didn't see them until yesterday afternoon! We missed them a lot but knew they were also having fun away from home. Aaron and I spend a lot of time together, relaxing and talking, reading and watching a few movies, ordering room service and eating all meals together. Of course Interstate put on a lot of entertainment for us, too!
Enjoy some pictures. To make it easier to follow, here is a brief summary of what we did while there:
Thursday: traveled (long layover in Atlanta), Aaron golfed while I napped, out to eat at Downtown Disney
Friday: breakfast, big meeting for the company, I went to the pool while Aaron had other meetings and played golf, out to the movies and popcorn for dinner
Saturday: Aaron had meetings and I slept in, I shopped with friends while he went to the pool and played golf, Interstate party at SeaWorld, Shamu show
Sunday: All day at Island of Adventure and Universal Studios, dinner with all of the employees at Ruth's Chris
Monday: Aaron morning meetings while I got a massage at the hotel spa, I went to the pool while he played golf, and we watched a movie in the room before the big karaoke party that night.
Tuesday: traveled home. problems with the plane in Charlotte so we were VERY delayed.

We just got back from Kate's 9 month well-check with Dr. B. She is healthy and strong! She weighs 18 lbs, 8 oz. (30th percentile) and is 28.5 inches tall (70th%). Her head circumference is 17.5 inches (50th%). He said she has leveled out on the weight gain curve but is getting a lot longer (tall and lean).
One thing I forgot to mention about Kate in the post last week is that she is going through a separation anxiety stage. She looks for me everywhere, crawls to me and pulls up on my leg, fusses when I leave the room, etc. Dr. B said this is the stage right before she becomes very independent and it will pass soon. I don't remember V doing this, so it's unusual for me, but I like being needed so much!

Our Kate is 9 months old today! I LOVE this age. She is quick and I have to watch her all the time, but it is such a joy to see her play and climb and be purposeful about what she does. She is showing some big physical changes...she is cruising furniture now and can climb things. She is very comfortable with crawling and can get anywhere fast. She can sit up on her knees when she's playing. She is getting three of her top teeth right now at the same time and I feel so bad for her...her gums are so swollen. It has affected some naps I think and sometimes when she's fussy I just attribute it to the teeth. But it hasn't been that big of a deal.
She has increased the amount of formula at each feeding to about 7-8 ounces. She still has a bottle 4 times a day and eats 3 meals a day. She's eating more finger foods now. She particularly likes avocado and yogurt just like her sister, and she's crazy about Cheerios.

I saw her looking in the mirror in her room for a long time yesterday. I think she's starting to figure out that there's something special about the baby she's looking at :). It was fun to witness that.

She has continued to have some issues with her skin. The constant drool around her mouth makes it irritated and I have to keep Aquaphor or Vaseline on there.

She has learned to cuddle with me and Vivian in the mornings before we get moving for the day. I love that time with them. I bring them to the bed with me when they wake up and we just lay there for about 20 minutes, cuddling and tickling and playing with the baby monitor and watching for trains.

She still has about the same daily schedule, but she is starting to drop her 3rd nap. She only has it once or twice a week. On the days when she only takes 2, she is definitely in bed by 7, if not before.

Happy 9 months baby!

Aaron's Nanny passed away on Sunday. She was born on July 3rd, 1909. She was 100 years, 9 months, and 29 days old. I didn't know her well, having only met her twice, but everyone talks about how amazing she was. She was very much a matriarchal figure of the family and a great woman of faith. Praise God for the legacy that He granted her to have in this world, for the sake of many generations exalting Christ because of her faithfulness in teaching her children about Him and reflecting His image in the way she lived. Praise God. Nanny is in the center of this picture, with most of her family surrounding her.

Today we were at Papa and Gramme's to go swimming! It was our first time putting on our bathing suits and getting in the water for this season. And of course Kate's first time ever! V looks so mad in this picture! I think she was annoyed that I was making her take a picture when she just wanted to have fun swimming.

Kate didn't like it at first but warmed up to the idea very quickly. She was happy to kick her legs in the water. Both girls mostly stayed in little baby boats.

Taking a break to eat lunch! Can you see that K raided V's Goldfish stash?

Yummy...peanut butter crackers for lunch. Gramme is the best.

Both girls were worn out after so much fun and took great afternoon naps.

Aaron and I took the babies to the park on Saturday. We brought a picnic lunch with us, but Vivian didn't care anything about eating because of all the fun happening and equipment to climb, so we had to take turns between eating with Kate and playing with Vivian. She wore herself out!
Enjoy some pictures... This picture should be at the end...you can tell how hot and sweaty she is by how red her face is :)

Kate's first time in the swings.

On Friday night we went out to dinner to celebrate Joey's 29th birthday. Of course we went to Frankie Rowlands, which has been his birthday choice for the past several years. We had an awesome time, and the food was great as always!

Happy Birthday, Joey!

Today we took a trip to Charlottesville to see Uncle Michael! We talked about it all morning and Vivian kept saying, "Michael, Michael, Michael" over and over. We went out to lunch with him in between his classes.

When we first got there, Kate ate and then we waited for Michael to meet us after his class. We started out waiting in the car like this... and then decided it would be more fun to wait outside in the grass and eat a little snack.

Uncle Michael with his nieces.
Great day trip for us!