Which Grandma?

For the past several months Aubrey has figured out her own way of distinguishing between her two sets of grandparents. She always uses the phrase "the one that has Jenna" to decipher which set we're talking about. While Calvin and I have tried calling them Grandma Wagner and Grandma Timm, it doesn't seem to click for her. We've also tried explaining that they are Calvin's mommy and my mommy, but that just seems to confuse her. So lately we just play along, because hey, it works. All she has to do is ask if they are "the ones that have Jenna" to know which ones we're talking about. It's hilarious!

Tess

It is amazing how much difference a year has made with Aubrey and her fear of Tess. Last summer, every time she saw the dog, she would start crying or ask to be picked up. By the end of the summer, she was finally okay with her as long as she was at least five feet away, but she didn't like to pet her or have her anywhere close. This year (once we started going out more) I've found that Aubrey will go up to Tess and pet her on her own - which is absolutely amazing! She doesn't run from her anymore nor does she seem scared of her. I'm not exactly sure what has caused the change - if it's that Aubrey's taller or if she's just more used to her or if Tess has just calmed down more. Whatever the difference is, I'm just glad for the change. It's so nice not hearing Aubrey scream from fear over the dog. On a side note, Chloe loves Tess! She loves looking for her outside and will go up to her and pet her. She's not a fan of being licked in the face, but she's definitely not scared. Yeah!

It Finally Happened!

Two weekends ago, Calvin and I took the girls to Champaign with us to do some shopping. He needed to check prices for some bids, while I wanted to go to Sam's and the party store. I don't know what was up with Aubrey, but she was so chatty! She talked throughout our trip, most of the way home, and non-stop once we got home. I vaguely remember Denny telling me before Aubrey was old enough to talk that one day I would wish that she couldn't talk. I knew that day would come, and I totally realized it the day we went to Champaign! I was seriously ready to go outside or lock myself in a room for just a few minutes to get some peace and quiet. The funny thing is is that I still can't wait for Chloe to talk and be able to tell me what she wants versus screaming. I'm sure I'll reach the same point with her though too. :) (By the way, our trip was exhausting! In Sam's, we ended up losing one of Chloe's shoes and broke the zipper on Aubrey's coat. It of course was our first stop, so Chloe had to go the rest of the day without shoes. I was so happy to get home!)

Chloe's silly face!

Chloe's favorite thing to do - eat!

Watering flowers

Hannah's Bridal Shower

On Saturday, we had a bridal shower for Hannah at my house. Everything turned out really nice - it was warm outside, quite a few people came, and she got some things that she needed/wanted. Grandpa and Grandma were even able to come, which was awesome! We hadn't seen them since the fall, so it was great to be able to spend a little bit of time with them. Both girls loved the shower, especially the presents and food. Hopefully Hannah enjoyed it as much as they did! :)

Chloe went right over to Grandpa and sat on his lap.

Aubrey got to play games with the "big girls".

Helping Aunt Hannah open presents.

Chloe hopped from person to person.

Chloe with the women she's named after.
Great-Grandma & Chloe
The girls with Grandma and Grandpa
Four generations

Cousins

Nic, Ingrid, and the boys came to see us on their way to Virginia. They were making the rounds trying to see as many people as possible before moving to the East coast. It was so nice to spend time with them again, especially Nic, as the last time we had seen him was at his graduation and we didn't get to spend a lot of time with him. Anyways, the kids had fun playing together. Luckily, it was pretty nice outside, so we were able to send them out to play some. Chloe loved having all of the excitement that comes with visitors and enjoyed "playing" (a.k.a. sitting next to)Colton and watching Maximus. While it was sad to see them go, I'm so glad that this time they went together as a family.

Chloe and Colton playing together

Maximus and Aubrey watching a movie together.

Aubrey and Maximus took turns trying on Nic's marine hat.

All four of the Timm cousins - I could only get Chloe to stay if she held her bucket.

Swinging

Chloe loves driving this car.

Playing Together

I caught the girls in a rare moment of playing together. Both girls were playing with Chloe's new Color Wonder paper and markers. (That stuff by the way is AWESOME! Chloe carried it all over and I didn't have to worry about her getting marks everywhere.) They only played together for a couple of minutes, but it's a start. It'll get better, right? :)

Happy Easter!

On Easter morning, we woke up, got dressed, and hunted for Easter baskets before leaving to eat Easter breakfast at church. After church, Chloe took a nap and then we headed to Grandma Wagner's for dinner. We enjoyed spending time with family and playing games. When we got home, Dani and I hid eggs outside for Aubrey. She loved hunting for them, and then wanted to hide them for us outside. It was cold and windy, so we talked her out of it. All in all, it was a great day.

Aubrey found her Easter basket hidden behind the couch.

Spending time with the cousins at Easter breakfast

The girls in their Easter dresses

Our family in our Easter finest

Me and the girls

Dani and the girls

Dad's Birthday

We celebrated Dad's birthday while they were here for Easter. The girls made him cards and we gave him his gift early.

Isn't her hair cute? This is what happens during naptime. :)
Eating cake with Grandma

Coloring Easter Eggs

Friday afternoon we sat down with the girls to color Easter eggs. Aubrey was so excited, while Chloe was clueless. Aubrey helped mom boil the eggs and get everything set up to dye them. She loved coloring all over the eggs and then putting them in the glass. She could even put the egg in the glass by herself. She had a lot of fun. Chloe tried to help, but she either ate the crayon or tried to dump the glass that was full of dye. Needless to say, she didn't color too many eggs. :)

Getting ready to color eggs

Dani and Chloe waiting

Aubrey waiting patiently with Jenna

Aubrey coloring eggs

Chloe attempting to color eggs

Hannah occupying Chloe

Jenna had the girls sit down and make cards for Dad's birthday. Chloe loved it!

Update

So, I know I've been slacking lately in posting things, so I told myself that I would sit down tonight and let everyone know what's been going on in our lives the past few weeks. The weather hasn't cooperated much for playing outside. Aubrey wanted to play in the snow this weekend and ride on her sled, which is strange considering that she never wanted to ride on the sled when we had lots of snow. We didn't end up going outside though - it melted before we got out there to do anything with it. Instead we helped Calvin work on painting the basement. That's right - the basement! It's all painted now and Calvin's working on installing the drop ceiling now. It's looking good. I'll have to post pictures of it as soon as I get some taken. Aubrey had a blast painting on the walls and then painting some cinderblocks that were down there. She’s acting more and more grown up here lately. She definitely picks up on things and doesn’t want to be left out of anything. She always wants to know what’s going on. She’s also graduated into wearing underwear at naps and at night. All of a sudden, she was dry at both, so we decided to try it and she’s been wearing them for a week with no accidents. Hooray!

Chloe’s her usual independent self. She loves to bounce from thing to thing and is constantly on the go. We’re still working on sharing between the two girls. Chloe always wants to be near Aubrey, which Aubrey is not so appreciative of at times. I’m hoping that some day the girls will actually be friends and like playing together. :) Mom says it will happen. She still only has four teeth, but she’s been drooling like crazy again, so maybe there’s more teeth in there? She fell this week in the basement and smacked her nose on the cement. The poor little thing’s got a bruise on the bridge of her nose. Both girls also have colds that started on Sunday. The good thing is that they started at the same time, so hopefully they won’t pass it to each other. Calvin and I have been trying very hard to stay healthy. Hopefully we’ll stay that way!

She's learning to feed herself with a spoon. Like the oatmeal on the forehead?

I was able to paint some with her awake by giving her food and toys - a little bribery never hurts.

Easter with the Wagners

On Sunday we went to Denny and Eileen's house to celebrate Easter early with them. They always hide Easter baskets around the house for the girls to find. They also do an Easter egg hunt for them. Usually we do it outside, but because of the rainy weather, we did it in the toolsheds. The girls had fun (Aubrey more so than Chloe) looking for the eggs. Chloe liked putting the eggs in her basket the best. :)