Catching Up

It's been a busy month and June is already looking just as busy...if not more. The weather is becoming warmer and warmer so we're finally getting to go outside throughout the day and cook on the grill. There are lots of fun things to fill you in on.

Lily
Lily is growing like crazy. She is eight months old and has hit a few more milestones this past month. Her two bottom teeth came in and she's on the verge of crawling. No more stationary baby - anyday now we'll have a moover and a shaker on our hands. She is still just the happiest baby ever and smiles a lot which brings so much joy to our family, even Zoe thinks so! I caught Zoe and Lily interacting last week and Zoe said, "Lily, you're the best sister ever." Her comment made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Lily definitely LOVES her big sister and lights up when she enters the room.

Lily is also "singing" a lot these days and says "dadadada," "babababa," and something that sounds like, "zazazaza" which of course we like to think she's practicing her sister's name. Lily is also pretty much on solid foods and is starting to woof down Cheerios. She also loves eating bagel chips. So our baby girl is really an older baby these days. A bitter sweet for me as I miss holding her in my arms but I love seeing her master the milestones, too.

Zoe
Like a light switch, Zoe has blossomed in her own ways, too. I feel like this past week she has entered a new level of maturity. She helps us so much and really cares for her sister. Of course, we have our occasional challenges, but overall she is a supercalafragilisticespialidocious kid! Can you tell we've been watching "Mary Poppins" lately?

She has her first dance recital on June 14th and we are gearing up for that. It should be interesting to see what twelve 3-4 year olds will do on stage. I'm sure we will get a few chuckles and feel so proud at the same time.

Zoe is also doing really well with letters. She can write all of them and knows how to spell her name, Lily's name and a few other short words. She also like to make up spellings of real words. For example, she says, "Know what L-E-L-E-S spells, MommyDadd?....It spells Kevin." Who's Kevin you ask? She has three imaginary friends: Kevin, Macey (who is also a real friend of hers) and Poopoo (yes poopoo, as in well...poopoo).

Nicole & Steven

Our recent exciting news is that we installed central AC upstairs in our house. Who knew you could get so excited over something like that? Steven is especially thrilled with this new installment since he is so hot blooded. The man is a heat generator!

We've recently become members of two CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture): a vegetable one and a meat one. Basically we have bought shares into two farms and get the vegetables and meat from them. The meat farm, Chestnut Farm in Hardwick, MA, does a dropoff near our town. They provide fresh, free range meats that are given natural and organic feed. The animals are also cared for kindly and lovingly before heading to the slaughterhouse. I'm actually bartering this meat for some photography. Definitely the strangest things I've ever bartered. Starting this week we will be getting all our vegetables from a local farm, Powissett Farm in Dover, MA. Every week we will go and pick up fresh, organic vegetables. There is also an opportunity to pick your own, including tomatoes, herbs, fresh flowers, peas and beans. The farm is so beautiful and a place where we plan to have many picnics.

My mom is planning to visit us next week for a few days. It will be nice to spend some time with her and have her see the girls, too.

I am hoping to head to Arizona to finally meet my new nephew later this month. Adam was born in Decemeber and is thriving (he was born at 29 weeks). I think he's almost 10 pounds and is smiling and laughing a lot these days.

Like I said, June is looking pretty busy for us so I'm sure I'll be posting some photos of all the events. In the meantime, enjoy the above (fairly recent) shots of the girls.

Ciao until next time.