Things On Thursday

Here are a few things that we've been doing to pass by the last days of summer.

Haley has been building lots of things.

Emily is helping with the dishes.

Haley helps out with the laundry.

We've even been to the beach a few times.

The weather isn't always great, so we don't usually stay too long.

There is a lot of coloring with chalk and usually a few games of tic tac toe.

Haley has been busy painting masterpieces.

Hard to believe school starts next week! Summer has just flown by!

Irene

One of the things we get to deal with being in Key West is hurricane season. The season starts June 1 and doesn't end until November 30. That's five whole months that we are closely watching the weather.

And let me tell you, this city girl is not a big fan of hurricane season. It makes me nervous. Not knowing if the storm is going to stay on its current path or go a different direction. Not knowing if you stay put or have to evacuate. Not knowing where you have to evacuate to. There are just too many variables to know what a storm is going to do.

The size of the storm pretty much dictates what we do- either stay in Key West or drive 8 hours to Orlando. It's not like we don't have any time to prepare (like with a tornado) because you usually have a good idea of what's going to happen a day or two out, but the whole wait and watch thing just makes me go a little crazy.

Last summer I was even more nervous about the season because Emily was supposed to arrive around the end of July. I kept hoping and praying that nothing would come along because I wasn't prepared to- a) have a home birth, b) go up to Miami or Orlando to have a baby, or c)evacuate with a newborn. We have been really lucky since we got here in September of 2009 and haven't had any major storms come our way. Until Irene.

We have been watching the weather pretty much every chance we get. Looking at these maps makes me more nervous. A category 1 and 2 hurricane!?! Oh boy. Of course, we still don't know what's going to happen. It's looking like we won't really know what Irene is going to do for another day or so. Sunday it looked like she was coming right for us and today it looks like she's going east. I would love to send her towards Texas for family and friends to get a little rain, but Mother Nature is in charge of all this.

In any situation, we are prepared. We have food and water to get by. We will be together. I was hoping we would get really lucky and not have to deal with any hurricanes while we were down here (probably wishful thinking). Only time will tell what we do. Keep you posted!

Theater of the Sea

We left our little rock last week for a day trip up to Islamorada, which was about a two hour drive up the Keys. Everytime we go up to the mainland we pass by Theater of the Sea and always tell ourselves we should go there before we leave. And we finally did it!

We got there just in time for lunch and a major rain shower. We huddled under our little table umbrella trying to eat and not get soaked.

The rain eventually let up and we were able to run over to the first show- The Bird Show. The parrots did all sorts of tricks and Haley loved cheering them on.

My favorite was when she kept "shhhh"ing the birds who were talking during the show. So cute.

Even Emily enjoyed watching all the birds.

Our next stop was to see the dolphins. Talk about cool!

Then we moved on to the sea lions.

Haley loved watching the shows with Daddy. She was so interested in everything the animals were doing.

The last part of our day was the bottomless boat. Both girls were pretty excited about this one.

In the middle of our tour, a dolphin jumped through the middle of the boat. Now that was something you don't get to experience every day.

The girls had fun and we made lots of fun memories.

One more thing checked off our Key West "To Do" List.

Gotcha!

Emily loves to crawl all over Haley (and Haley is usually a pretty good sport about it). I see lots of wrestling in the future. This is what I imagine Emily saying.

"Oh, I got my big sister!"

"Look Mom! I got Haley!"

"Haha! I got my sister and she can't get out!"

"Oh Haley, are you sad that I got you?"

"Here's some kisses to make it all better."

"But I still got you."

Two Little Girls

Before I had kids, when I thought about having kids, I always envisioned that I would have one boy and one girl. It just seemed like it would be nice to have one of each. When I was pregnant with Haley people would ask if we wanted a boy or girl. I would usually respond with it didn't matter to me, because it didn't. When we found it we were having a girl, I was pretty excited. I had my little girl to dress up with pretty girl clothes (at least that's what Zach would tell me).

Then, when we found out we were pregnant again, I was pretty sure we were having a boy. The day we found out the sex of baby #2, I was pretty surprised that we were having another girl. Once it sunk it that there would be two little girls running around our house, I was beyond excited. They would get to be sisters. They would get to share secrets and clothes. They would be best friends.

Now that Emily is 1 and Haley is almost 3, it's fun to look at them now and then and see how similar and different these two little girls are.

When they were first born, Haley was 1lb less and Emily was 1/2 an inch longer. Both labors were totally different. They both were born with their daddy's beautiful blue eyes and long eye lashes. Neither one had much hair.

At 1 year, they have very different personalities. Haley was (and still is) fearless. Emily is more laid back, but will go after what she wants. Haley likes to get into things, get dirty. Emily doesn't really like a mess. They both are very affectionate and sweet.

We gave away quite a bit of Haley's baby clothes before we moved, so Emily is just now starting to wear her sister's old clothes. It brings back so many memories of Haley as a toddler. But I love seeing these two little girls wearing some of the same clothes.

I love when I get a picture of Emily that reminds me of one that I have of Haley. Like this little red chair.

I've had people ask us if we plan on trying for a boy and I tell them no. We are so happy with our two little girls. They complete our family.

Things On Thursday

Well, I missed last week, so here's a little bit of catch up of a few things we have been up to lately.

Emily is such a rockstar!

We built a fort under the kitchen table one day. Haley put all her pillows under there and read all afternoon. Emily enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with the sheet.

Zach took Haley to Home Depot for one of their kids workshops. She loves hammers, screwdrivers, and fixing things, so this was perfect. She built a pencil holder all by herself.

Another day we somehow managed to sneak in a trip to the park. It was pretty overcast and that was the only reason we figured we could do it. Haley had so much fun. She found a wagon and a shovel and was digging up treasure the whole time we were there. Emily loved playing with (I mean eat) the rocks. It makes me wish we could get out to the park more often. Maybe in November when it starts cooling off.
Don't you just love a little girl who just woke up?!

I was making mashed potatoes one night and for whatever reason, Haley decided it was a phone. She held it up to her ear and kept saying "Hello, hello? No. It's a smashed potato."

And this bunny. Every day he keeps appearing at the end of the kitchen rug. I'm not entirely sure why Haley chooses to leave him right there, but he watches over me while I cook...every day.