October Update

Gracie riding first pony at the fair

Lily, not quite understanding where to look for the corndog
photo-op

Lola our little corny dog

Mama and Gracie on flying bumblebees

A little chapina's dream: jumping and flying!

Happy, happy girl

Guess who walked first?

Not too far behind...

I love this pic, but have recently

looked at it and hoped we don't

have another one of these poses

with police officers as a teenager

Super sweet

Watch out world, we're walking!

And we are coming for you!

Blogging is becoming very hard to do. Time is increasingly short. My attention and help is needed by somebody around the clock.

It will probably be more likely to blog on a monthly basis, but I do miss posting and sharing every little bit of these precious girls' lives.

Here's what we have been up to:

Gracie continues with preschool and is doing extremely well. I have probably jinxed myself by saying that, and next week we will have some major breakdown. However, she is listening well, loving her teacher and her friends. I am extremely happy with the preschool we chose and love that it is bilingual. Gracie is using her Spanish and is really understanding that some people speak Spanish, some speak English and some speak both. I really feel it has helped her understand the concept of family and belonging as well. My favorite Gracie moment of the month has to be when she asked me if I was her friend. I told her that I was her Mama and therefore I was her best friend. Gracie replied, "Cool." Funny, sweet girl. Above pictures show her at the fair. This child loves to do and see all things. Scared to death, but going to ride that pony no matter what! English continues to build, but it is still difficult for most people to understand what she is saying. We'll get there.

Lily and Lola are both walking! HOORAH! It was actually Lily that started first. She is more of a daredevil than Lola and really "got" it when she was cruising. Lola started shortly thereafter, but still is doing an Elvis version and going really, really slow most of the time. Won't be long though. It is a whole different world around here. Someone is always getting into something. Lily and Lola both are babbling, talking and squealing all the time too. Lily says Mama, Papa, Gracie, Tilda, thank-you, pretty, and hi, and probably something else I am forgetting-she talks all the time. Lola says Mama, Papa, Gracie, Tilda, and hi. They both imitate all the time, blow kisses, wave hi/bye, clap, dance, pretend to eat food, etc. etc. This is truly a magical time in their development. They love their big sister Gracie and love it when she plays with them.

It has been a really busy month. I have returned to work, very part-time and mainly when Gracie is in school. The babies stay home with our great new sitter that we love-thank God. So far, it is working out pretty well. We feel so fortunate to have found both the great sitter and the great preschool.

Don remains in the hospital, this Wed. will be 6 weeks. He is scheduled to come home on Friday, Oct. 16th, our 10 year wedding anniversary. He is healing well and just working on getting stronger at this point. We all miss him so much and can't wait for him to be home.

We are excited for our first Halloween with all of our children together and then all of the big holidays as well. It is truly a time to celebrate, as we are so fortunate to have these kiddos and love them all so much.

Take care! Mel