We love our Annie aka cousin Darby!!

Just wanted to shared that Blakely and Lilly's cousin will be playing the part Annie in "Annie" next weekend. Check out the article below. Darby we are all very proud of you and can't wait to see you in the production. Blakely already loves to sing "Tomorrow."
copy and paste article below
http://www.helena-arkansas.com/articles/2008/02/20/news/news1.txt
Enjoy Video of Blakely and Background Swinger Lilly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gFVqCcJApY

Blakely is 2 1/2

Wow! Blakely is 2 ½ !!! This is definitely a fun and at times hard stage (it least for mommy)You are very independent! “I do it!!!” frequently comes out of your mouth. You test us all the time. You don’t like time out and seem to be going more often these days. You love to make messes. The past few days, you got into the Vaseline- it was in your hair, carpet, and your clothes-total mess.(check out pic) Then, you somehow got the Benadryl off of the counter and opened it and poured it all over the floor. It can be a little frustrating around here at times, but I know this stage will pass. Here are some other things that you are doing.
First it is great that you are potty trained-it least during the day. There are a few accidents, but when they do happen you totally hate it and cry, cry, cry. You are such a good big sister. You help mommy with getting things for Lilly and when she is crying you try to comfort her. You really have gotten into playing the mommy role with all your baby dolls. You will rock them and pat them on the back and say it's OK baby. You love Princesses. Cinderella is your favorite-I've actually had to hide the rella dress (as you call it) because you want to wear it all day long. You still will find another dress or put on or your tutu. You love crowns. If you have a dress on you must have a crown. It is precious. You already told me that you want a princess party. You love going to MDO (you call it church) You will say "mommy I go to church, play with kids, girls, boys, eat crackers." You love the Ritz crackers!!!You have good manners: will say thank you and please without remindersOur routine at night is read books, sing songs and say our prayers-you always list family members and lately you add your name to the thank you list. So funnyFavorite Food: hot dogs, hamburgers, oatmeal, pancakes, green beans, rice, bananas, apple juice, popcorn and fruit snacks you call them car snacks(the box we bought one time) Favorite Songs: Jesus Loves Me, ABC's, Happy Birthday, and any song from your children's hymn bookYou can: Count to 20, you know your ABC's, recognize B and know that is what your name starts with. If I ask you what your name is you say “Bakey Ezibeth” can pretty much tell us anything you want-sometimes I have to translate for others, jump, run, working on the tricycle thing, you are learning so much all the timeFavorite characters/Movies: Dora, Cinderella, Backyardigans, Cars, Nemo, Little Einsteins You love to play with your little friends: We do a lot with Bella and Julia-you have so much fun when you all three get together. You love your little friends in NWA, but since we live some distance away we don’t get together as much as we would like too. You LOVE our dogs, Jeb and Chloe-you all three are best buds.
You are such a joy Blakely and have truly blessed us immeasurably.

Picture Craze and Other thoughts

I got a little addicted taking pictures today of the girls, especially Lilly-mainly her because she just sits there and smiles so big at me. We have all been under the weather this week except for Daniel. I have actually had my 4th case of mastitis and I am on my second round of antibiotics. I am really trying to nurse Lilly for it least 6 months or longer, but if this mastitis thing happens again I might have to change my thinking on that. Blakely has had an ear infection and we also found out she is allergic to penicillin-broke out in hives-kind of scary. Lilly has just had an awful cold. So that has been our exciting week at the Pope house. Now back to my picture craze today. I love dressing up the girls in cute bows, flowers, etc, Daniel thinks it is all a little much-the flower, the bands, etc... in the hair, but I think it is absolutely adorable. Blakely usually won't go out of the house without a bow. I have to admit that most of my ideas/bow-flower making, are inspired by others (Keri, friends, blog friends and other photos on the web.) I would like to think that I am a little creative, but don't we all get inspirations from others. So to all of you who have great ideas or maybe get your ideas from others-I would like to say thanks for sharing them with me. So as I have rambled on and on about whatever - I will share my pics from today. Blakely will be 2 1/2 tomorrow so come back soon and check out my post on her.

Valentine Party 2008

Keri, Caroline and Carlee hosted a great Valentine party at their house. The kids painted heart ornaments, ate yummy cupcakes, played and got too many goodies. Blakely of course found Caroline's dress up clothes and had to put them on. Lilly enjoyed the exersaucer and laying around on the floor. Thanks for sharing the pics Keri. Kate I also got some off your blog. Both of the girls had a great time!

Happy Valentine's Day

4 Months Old

You are such a sweet little girl! You definitely have a strong personality. When you are happy you smile and laugh so big and when you are not so happy, you make sure everyone knows. We went to the Doctor today and you are perfect. She was very impressed by all that you are doing. Rolling over, grasping at objects-you started grabbing your feet today, copying sounds that we make, following objects-you especially love to watch Blakely. Weight: 14 lbs 8 ounces (75%)Height: 25 1/2 inches (90%) Head: not sure the exact, but it was in the 50%You are nursing about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day. Some nights you still wake up twice, but here lately it has only been once. I know you can it least go six hours without eating. Hopefully that will get better. We love you little Lilly!!!

Day At The Races

We enjoyed a day at Oaklawn this past weekend. We went with Sara, Toby, Gina and Jim. We had such a great time! It was nice to get away for awhile and not have to worry about the girls. The girls had a fun time at my parents. I think the girls keep them pretty busy. Thanks for watching them.

First Rice Cereal

Lilly enjoyed her first taste of rice cereal yesterday. She did pretty well and seemed to enjoy it. It's hard to believe that next week she will be 4 months old

More First for Lilly

Fun in the Box

Blakely enjoyed hours of fun playing in this box yesterday!!

Pics from this past week

We had a fun time last week playing in the snow. Blakely really enjoyed herself. When she got outside she immediately started making a snow angel...she must have seen that on TV, because we have never showed her. She also loved trying to catch the snowflakes in her mouth. (Blakely would not keep her gloves on at all.)
Lilly is such a cutie. She loves to smile and roll over. She first rolled over from her back to her stomach a couple of weeks ago, but she is now rolling both ways. It is kind of hard to get a picture of her doing it. We also put her in her high chair. I'm not sure who liked it more, Lilly or Blakely.
We had the Nutts over for the Super Bowl and had a great time. The girls always have a fun time together.