Keeping on and Counting Down

After a brief hiatus, we're back! As I said early on, while I can't make any promises about doing this with regularity, I'll try...

A recap of the last couple of weeks: We just keep on keepin' on and are counting the days until our Hawaiian getaway. We continue to come down from the rush of Easter activities and the sugar high that came along with it.

Emme has had a great couple of weeks. Swimming lessons are going well. Tonight we were a little early and she could barely wait to head over to the area poolside where kids gather for lessons. I might even go as far as to say that she is lovin' it. While she's definitely not Michael Phelps yet, she's trying hard. In addition to swimming, Emme also is enjoying dance and tumbling classes at Little Kingdom. Beyond the organized activities and the usual play with all of her babies, there has been an increase in the amount of "work" happening at her art table. She received bunny scissors around Easter and is really into cutting right now. We haven't decided if that's good or bad yet. To date, she's focused her attention on cutting only paper, but the other day I swear I saw her eyeing her hair. She continues to be the ever diligent and serious big sister. We often have to remind her, "Mommy will be the Mommy and will take care of Sutton. You just take care of Emme."

Speaking of "Baby Sutton," she continues to amaze us with her ever expanding vocabulary. She's surprised us a couple of times over the last couple of weeks. I was starting to count to try to get Emme moving. I barely got "one" out of my mouth and heard Sutton from across the room--two... three... six! Not sure where four and five went, but no one can count these days without Gracie-Goo chiming in. In the last couple of weeks she's also started piecing together the ABC's--too fun. She's our silly girl who loves to laugh, tickle, follow her big sis around and if given the opportunity would take up permanent residence outside on the swingset. Her phrase of choice before even walking in the door at the end of the day, "Iunto swing" (For those who need translation, I want to swing" :).

Besides Hawaii, the other countdown happening at our house is the countdown to Sutton's move to Little Kingdom. This countdown is bitter-sweet, as we love La La and Michael so much. However, Sutton is ready and we are excited to have the girls at the same place. I confirmed today that June 5 will be her last day at La La's house, as the new babies will be starting then.

Stay tuned... Hawaii here we come!

Easter Ensemble - Even better on Day 2!

Emme decided this morning that she didn't get enough time in her Easter dress yesterday. Let me preface this by saying that she wore two dresses yesterday. The first get-up was new and the second was her dress from last year.

Our little princess shimmied into the fancier of the two dresses this morning (petticoat and all), carefully placed three princess barretts in her hair, slipped on her tennis shoes and out the door we went.

Gotta love her style!

Happy Easter!

Although overcast and chilly, you wouldn't have known it to look at the pictures from Easter morning 2009! I promise they will be posted soon. You'll notice the sunglasses Emme has on in most of the pictures. The girls woke to find a trail of eggs and candy that the Easter Bunny left from their rooms to their Easter Baskets to a serious egg hunt in the backyard.

Both were thrilled with the surprises that the Easter Bunny left in their baskets. Emme had a great time gathering all of the eggs in the backyard. Sutton wasn't so interested in gathering the eggs--perhaps because she was more interested in all the candy that was already in her basket!

We enjoyed the family service at church, which was perfect for the girls. Thirty-five minutes filled by a puppet show and noise-makers. Sutton stood in the aisle most of the service and no one batted an eye :). Then it was on to Hillcrest for brunch and back home for naps on this rainy afternoon.

Pictures to come soon! Hope your Easter was fun-filled.

Saturday - A Beautiful, Ducky Day

The house is quiet. Daddy headed out around 11 this morning for a massage and then golf. Sutton just went down for a nap. Emme is quietly working away at her art table. Perhaps working away a little too quietly, but what mama doesn't know won't hurt her, right? :)

The weather is beautiful today, and we've been taking advantage. We've had two rounds of swinging, running and kicking around the soccer ball in the backyard. The first was especially fun because everyone was still in jammies and proudly rockin' the bedhead. When Dad left for his massage and golf (Ok, I'll say it... Seriously?!?! :)), the Antholz girlies headed out in the stroller excited for a long walk with a stop to feed the geese and ducks at Williamsburg. More than two hours later, we got home and headed back to the swingset with popsicles in hand. Then it was to the front yard to see what we could create with the new sidewalk chalk, which was just one of the many treats in the wonderful Easter baskets La La and Michael sent home with us yesterday.

Now, the house is quiet, and I'm thinking that there isn't any other way that I'd rather spend a Saturday. Although, perhaps it goes without saying that a massage and a round of golf (or in my case shopping) might come in a close second!

Girls, Girls, Girls

My bestie, Miss Megan, learned last week that she and her hubby will join the land of pink princesses, easter bonnet extravaganzas, baby dolls, and all things girly. Her call brought tears to my eyes and took me back to the anticipation and arrival of our own little girlies. We're so excited to meet baby girl Davison this summer!

Emerson Jules

Sutton Grace

A fish... not so much.

Although Emme looks relaxed in the pool, please note that this picture was not taken at swimming lessons. While there have been moments like this at her first two lessons, based on Dad's description the waters have been a little rough at times.

Week 1: Good first lesson. Emme wasn't sure about participating at first, however, her friend Andrew from Little Kingdom was there and held her hand to get her to go to the pool. Dad's assessment of the lesson after her initial trepidation: "She was never the first to do something, but was always second!" Her efforts were rewarded with Jimmy John's (she only eats the chips :)) and a strawberry shake from McDonalds.

Week 2: Drama! Things were off to a rough start when Emme thought she might have to take her bandaid off to get in the pool. It should be noted that there wasn't actually an injury under the bandaid :) There were lots of tears, and it's not a stretch to say utter hysteria. Dad finally got a bit firm and was able to talk her into the pool. However, she refused to put the arm with the bandaid under the water for fear it would fall off (the bandaid not her arm, in case you were wondering). With about 15 minutes left in the lesson, she finally forgot about her bandaid, relaxed and had a little fun. Her instructors tossed rings in the shallowest end of the pool to try to get the kiddos to put their heads under to retrieve them. Emme picked up the rings with her toes, kicked up her leg and grabbed them with her hands. Can't say she's not creative!

I should give a shout out to Daddy in this post, as he is the go-to-guy when it comes to swimming lessons. Mom and Sutton just wait for the updates by text or when they get home!

Stay tuned to see how the rest of her lessons go!

Cool Dude

We're prepping the girls for Hawaii in a couple of weeks and each got a new pair of sunglasses the other day. Sutton is a big fan! While pictures say a thousand words, it's a shame that you can't hear Sutton saying, "Cool Duuude" every time she puts them on.

Easter Eggstravaganza

One more week before the grand Easter finale - the Easter bunny visiting, Easter egg hunt in the back yard, church and dinner at Hillcrest. We thought in the interim, you might enjoy pics from our fun activities leading up to next weekend.

Last week was the first annual "Easter Bonnet Eggstravaganza" inspired by the Elmo Easter Parade book the girls got recently from Grandma Jules. In the book, Elmo and his friends all made Easter bonnets and then paraded on to the bunny hop. We decided that our fam could not be left behind. So we made a special trip to pick out bonnets for the girls as well as all the Easter bonnet fixin's. Emme got to pick out anything she wanted to decorate her bonnet. She decided on pastel colored plastic eggs, fuzzy chicks in yellow and pink, ribbon (pink gingham, blue gingham and green flowered), silk Easter lilies (yellow for Emme and Pink for Sutton :)). She also managed to throw in a pink princess jump rope and a few other goodies! Mama manned the glue gun while Emme instructed me where she wanted everything placed. Travis was in charge of Sutton's bonnet... not sure if he enlisted her help or not :)

Does it surprise anyone that Emme decided Daddy's creation for Sutton was where it's at and that's the hat she wants? Note that you can't actually see the hat under all the flowers, eggs, and ribbons. The whole thing was great fun and we've decided that we will make it an annual Antholz event, as the girls get older there will be a competition for the best bonnet.

Yesterday we colored Easter eggs and pulled the Easter bonnets out for a few more pics. Emme really was into it this year - not sure if you'll be able to see it in the pics, but she has the dye on her hands to prove it :) Sutton even got in on the action. Only a couple minor bumps in the road. Early on Sutton fell out of her booster and cut her lip. Definitely a second kid, as we picked her up, gave her a kiss and put her right back on the booster without skipping a beat. You'll also notice that there also was egg on the floor. Emme was a little difficult to stay ahead of and we did lose one or two eggs :) She loved coloring them and also loved putting stickers on them when they were dry. You know it's going well and she's having fun when she poses for pics and doesn't even realize it.

Wednesday is Emme's Easter party at Little Kingdom and also show and share day, so we told her that she could take the bonnets to show her class and maybe even wear one when the bunny comes.

Stay tuned for photos after the Easter Bunny visits!