Hi Mom!

Just wanted to post some of the latest pictures of the girlies!

Hi Mom!

Well, I think you're the only person who reads this little blog, so I might as well say "Hi!" I'm going to do a better job of updating you with pictures - bad daughter!
Here are some latest ones of the girls:



It was over 100 degrees that day, but Emma insisted on wearing her hat - can we say Independent??


Emma likes to feed Abby - my little Mini-Mommy.



Emma and Abby playing dolls together. They love playing together and are usually upset if they are not together.


Me and Abby on the train at the local zoo. Too bad she didn't look up!


Emma on the same train ride - think she liked it?


Emma in her current favorite princess attire.



Abby discovered the sprinklers - yep, right in the face!


Emma's a little older and wiser about the sprinklers!

Hope you like the newest pictures!!

Abby's 1st birthday

Our little Abby turned 1 yesterday! This year has really flown by and we feel so fortunate to be able to share our life with this sweet girl. Here are a few pics of our wonderful day:

Cannibal King

So my mom taught Emma the "Cannibal King" song while we were in Hawaii...and she's completely obsessed with it!! We sing it multiple times each day and I was lucky enough to finally catch it on video. Here we go:

Easter and Aloha!

It's been a whirlwind around here! We had a really fun Easter this year, which was basically all about an egg hunt (or rather, multiple egg hunts)for Emma and lots of cheerio-eating for Abby.



Tuesday morning (after Easter) we left bright and early for Maui. Ted and I were attending a medical conference so we took my sister along to help with the girls. My mom also flew over from the Big Island and stayed with us for a few days. We had a FANTASTIC time!!! It was (of course!) still a lot of work, even with a 2:1 adult to kid ratio but still worth every minute. Hoping for a longer post soon...here's some pics (and don't worry, Mom, I'm working on your picture cd!)

Spring has arrived!

Spring is definitely in the air here in Sacramento. Despite a few really windy days, we have had some beautiful weather here. The girls and I have been spending lots and lots of time outside, even filling up the little baby pool for the girls. Emma is all about getting herself dressed and changed multiple times a day, sometimes in "real" clothes, but usually in some sort of princess dress. She has been thrilled to be able to put her Little Mermaid swimsuit on and splash around outside. Abby seems to enjoy the water a lot and has no problem getting splashed by big sister :) We've added a few new fish to our pond, a few new flowers to the backyard and we're getting ready to build some raised garden beds for a little vegetable garden this year.

Emma is officially 2 1/2 years old this month and seems to be growing by leaps and bounds daily. She is really independent (shocking, I know) and gets herself dressed, is fully potty trained, and even has a "job" (she feeds Oscar every night - even remembers on her own). She's really a lot of fun to be around and cracks me up with her verbal abilities - this past weekend she took to saying, "Mama, I have a question for you."




Abby will be one next month! I cannot believe that. Her first year has really flown past. She is not yet taking steps but seems ready to at any moment. She goes from sitting to standing by herself, without holding onto anything, and then stands for awhile, sort of not sure what to do next. She's got the speed crawl down and can traverse the house in no time flat. She is constantly babbling and squealing and can even say a few definite words. Mama is a clear favorite, especially when it's naptime and she begs to differ. Her other favorite is, "Hi, Dad-y" - it is so cute and definitely earns points with Daddy.



Our big plans for this month include a family trip to Maui - looking forward to beach baby pics!

I just wanted to post a couple of quick videos of the girls. We're drowning in a sea of snotty noses over here but here's some clips to keep you entertained :)


Don't you love the nose wipe???

It's a new era...

Drum roll please......

Emma is potty trained!!! Yahoo! Only 1 in diapers! I have to say that she was (and is) completely amazing. It really only took about 48 hours for her to "get it" and now she's completely figured it out. She's even dry at naptime and overnight. Amazing.




On the Abby front, she started "cruising" the couch today. Still slow and a bit unsteady, but definitely taking those steps (while holding on to the couch). She's got a bit of a handicap at the moment - her right eye is pretty swollen, apparently the result of an allergic reaction. It doesn't seem to bother her any, but she certainly looks like she's been in a prize fight! Poor girl! So here's a couple of photos of Abby, pre-shiner :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is my favorite picture from a little photo shoot I did with the girls on the front porch. I usually get about 5-8 minutes to try to get a good shot so I always feel lucky if even just 1 of the 50 I snap in those few minutes actually turns out. And this one did!




This picture makes me laugh!! Now that Abby is pulling up everywhere, this is pretty much a routine shot of her - her big, beautiful, blue eyes peeking up at us.




Could she be any more beautiful?? This her "Belle dress" and it is her new favorite dress up attire. She cracks us up, running around in her princess dresses and plastic high heels - diaper in tow.



And big news around here...Emma had her first day of school last week! It's a parent participation preschool type of class. We go once a week and Emma already loves it. This is Emma on her first day - all smiles.

Happy February!

Quick video

Just wanted to share a quick video clip of the girls. Abby is crawling and Emma is dressed up like a princess (a princess with crazy, post-nap hair). Enjoy!

Hello 2009

Maybe it's just the new year, but it seems like both of our girls have grown so much in the last few weeks. Emma is all about dress-up. She received some beautiful dress-up clothes for Christmas and has spent each day trying them out. She especially loves the princess dress and the little high heel shoes (which, surprisingly, she's able to walk in very well). She loves reading the Fancy Nancy books and, at times, could give a drag queen a run for her (his?) money!
Abby is now mobile! She's crawling all over the house and loving every minute of it. She's also eating cheerios, which is a milestone in this house (and a favorite activity for Oscar!). She idolizes her older sister and is happy as a clam being anywhere close to her.
We have been doing some more projects around the house. We're working on making our back garage usable as a craft/work/play room and it's really coming along great. We are also hoping to get started on some kitchen work (new cabinets and countertops) this week. Things are going really well around here - a good start to 2009.

Here are some more Christmas pictures...enjoy!

Christmas 2008

We had such a great Christmas! The whole month was really filled with lots of holiday fun. Here are a few highlights from the season:

** driving around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights (over and over and over)
** Emma jumping up and down about the giant inflatable penguin in our front yard
** Abby all snuggled up in cozy hats
** Singing Frosty the Snowman a thousand times!
** Emma crying at Charlie Brown Christmas because she thought Snoopy was hurt (all was well after I explained he was just pretending - then everytime we watched it she would say, "Snoopy's okay.")
** Emma asking Santa for a "new puppy" for Christmas (good thing she means the stuffed kind!)
** Decorating a gingerbread house on Christmas eve

Here are a few pictures of the season...enjoy! Happy New Year!

***Okay, picture uploader is not working right...I'll post more pictures later.

Is it really December already????

Wow! I can't believe it's already December - and nearly half over at that! We are very much in the Christmas spirit over here at the Muller house. Emma is LOVING all the Christmas lights and decor, particularly the snowmen and penguins. I think by now I'm singing Frosty the Snowman in my sleep! It is certainly her favorite and who can resist her little voice saying, "Snowman, one more time, please?" She has no idea that Christmas leads to presents, only that it means lots of pretty lights and fresh baked cookies - works for me!

Abby is turning 7 months old tomorrow! She is certainly becoming her own person - complete with likes (mommy, breastmilk, making lots of noise, breastmilk, her sister, breastmilk...) and dislikes (napping, rice cereal, peas, her car seat). She was a bit underweight at her 6 month appointment (VERY hard to believe, given her abundance of baby rolls!) so we were on Operation Milk Production over here. It worked! She passed her weight check on Monday and is back on track. Yeah! She is still working on the crawling - still no forward motion yet but coming ever so close! She's sitting up like a champ and loves bouncing around in her exersaucer. She has her moments, but overall she is still such an incredibly happy baby. Such a joy!

Here are a few video clips of the girls. The first one is Emma and Abby having a little rock concert in the living room. It was so stinkin' cute! The second one is Emma saying her ABCs. She's been saying them for a bit now, but she's finally (sometimes) willing to do them on command. She was brushing her teeth the other night and was willing to let me video her singing them so this is actually taken in the bathroom - not the best scenery for the video, but beggars can't be choosers around here! Enjoy!

Just a few pics

We had a great Halloween with the girls. We took them (well, really just Emma - Abby wasn't too impressed) trick or treating in a really great neighborhood nearby that turned out to be a popular spot. There were people everywhere and many of the houses were decorated, complete with lights, sounds, even a projector screen! Emma was a bit scared at first and although she had been practicing her "trick or treat" for days, she was too shy. After a few houses she caught on, and about halfway down the street she took to saying, "Couple more, please?" Very cute!

Abby is growing by leaps and bounds everyday. She is so close to crawling - I think I've had the video camera on standby for days now! She's up on all fours, rocking back and forth, and is able to scoot backward, but no forward motion yet. As she is quick to let us know, it's very frustrating!