April showers will hopefully grow our flowers!

The girls helped us to plant some flowers today! The weather has been really bipolar the past few days...85 and sunny on Friday and 55 and rainy this weekend. Gross! It looks like that's over though...and we have a nice looking week ahead! (The girls start swimming lessons on Tuesday and are SO excited so we're hoping for no rain!!!).
We had some planters that needed some TLC and the girls were a huge help! They went with us to the nursery and helped us pick out the flowers for "their" pot and helped us to plant them. They even had their very own Cinderella gardening gloves! They have their own watering cans that they use all of the time to help me water the plants so those got some use today too...here are a few videos of the process and one of the final products ("their" plant!). They loved it and keep looking out of the window to see if it's started to grow!

A fun couple of days....

Yesterday I took the girls to the beach for the afternoon. We played in the sand, went for a walk on the beach and hunted for shells. It was so much fun! The weather has been absolutely perfect the past few days...I think spring is finally here! Matt met us after work and I had packed his suit, so we took the girls swimming. It was amazing. They just squealed and laughed the entire time. They LOVE to swim!!!! They start their swimming lessons on the 23rd and I can't wait. I hope it makes them love the water even more than they already do.

Then, today I had a milestone of my own....I took the girls to swim all by myself for the first time! I know that it doesn't sound like such a big deal to most, but it was huge for me. Granted, it was only to the baby pool but with two toddlers that don't know how to swim yet, I was pretty nervous. Not to mention that it takes us about 45 minutes just to get READY to go...with the sunscreen and getting everything organized. But...we did it, it was awesome and the girls had a BLAST. I can't really say that it was relaxing in the least bit for me...but just to know that I can do it on my own was HUGE. I was pretty proud of myself to be honest...and just so glad that I can take R and R to do something that they love so much without having to wait for some help! As long as they don't realize that the BIG GIRL pool is just a few steps away....because then I'm in trouble.
(pictures of them in their new swimsuits from Joshy that he gave them for their birthday!!)

We're 2 years old!!!!!

Reagan and Riley had their BIG Birthday on Saturday! It was a beautiful day and we had a very fun time celebrating! We kept it pretty low key this year...we figure that we have plenty of years ahead full of parties and this year we kept it super small! (especially because we'd celebrated the week before in Kiawah already!) We had two sets of neighbors stop by to help the girls blow out candles and eat their Sesame Street cake! (complete with Big Bird and Elmo on top). Their super special babysitter, Miss Kristyn, came by too. So...it was small and perfect! The girls were spoiled rotten all day long with presents from family and friends and have lots of new things to play with and wear!
On all of the girl's milestones, I sat and wrote about them and their personalities...so I thought that I'd do it again since it's been a LONG time since I've done that. Here it goes...I'll try not to be TOO long winded, but no promises!
Reagan Elizabeth continues to keep us laughing and smiling all day long. She has become quite the mommy's little helper. She LOVES to help me do anything...dishes, laundry, set the table, you name it. She's also really good at telling other people what to do! She can be heard saying "Come on, Riley!" or "No, Ma'am!!" throughout the day. She LOVES her new play kitchen from Nana Susan. She asks to play in it all the time...she loves her baby dolls, loves dressing up and loves princesses...especially Cinderella! She is quite the girly girl! She has a GREAT arm...which her Uncle Ron will be thrilled about! She's practicing with her new tee ball set every day and getting pretty good at it! She still adores her daddy and loves to cuddle. She has started taking really good naps (over an hour...which is HUGE for her!) and we think it helps that she has about 10 stuffed animals and her blanket in there with her now. She kept adding new stuffed animals every day and they've just sort of all stayed in there. I'm not complaining! The girls have graduated to booster seats out of their high chairs and she LOVES it. Just today she told me she wants to sit in a big girl seat. She loves anything that big kids can do. She loves her sister and loves her family and is just about the sweetest little thing in the world. If I cough or sneeze, she'll run right over and rub my back and say "Ok, Mommy?!? Ok, Mommy?!" and it's everything I can do to not burst into tears every time. She does it to Riley too...although Riley doesn't find it as sweet! She has her first little boyfriend, Nathan. She loves him and they continue to hold hands all of the time. It's adorable. (see the picture below..we went to Nathan's birthday party on Sunday as his birthday is the day after the girl's!). She's smart as can be and continues to amaze us with the things that come out of her mouth. At the doctor's today she was 27 pounds and almost 34 inches. He was blown away by her vocabulary and said she's doing outstanding...which of course, we knew already! We love her more than life itself and are so proud of the sweet young lady she's becoming!!!
Riley Harper continues to astound everyone. She's talking in mini sentences non-stop and runs faster than any kid she hangs out with. At a birthday party yesterday all of the parents kept saying..."WOW...that kid is going to be SOME athlete!!!" which is what Matt and I say all of the time. She's SO fast...and good at kicking a ball, so I'm thinking soccer! She loves to climb on anything and everything...such a little monkey. She's fearless too...nothing seems to scare her (except Santa and the Easter Bunny of course). She is singing ALL OF THE TIME!!!!!! Her favorites are ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle, but she'll sing and hum just about anything all day long. It's so sweet. She has become super silly and loves to laugh. She wakes up laughing and pretty much keeps going all day long. She loves to make Reagan laugh too...they can really get each other going these days and it's hilarious when it happens. Riley told me today that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. Wouldn't that be awesome?! She still loves to sit and cuddle with mommy, although daddy is taking over the night time reading spot...she loves to cuddle up to him and read and drink her milk before bed. She loves her friends at school, especially her friends Nathan and Jack. We hear about them all of the time. Joshy is still her best bud too...and she looks out of the window for him all of the time. Riley loves to slide and push her baby dolls around and pretty much goes from one thing to the next every few minutes still. She's constantly on the move!!! She's just an angel and sweet as can be and gives the best and biggest hugs ever. I can't believe how strong she is and how far she's come in 2 years. At the doctor today she was 25 pounds and 34 inches! She's FINALLY in the 26th percentile for her weight...a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE accomplishment! Matt and I were so happy! She continues to be my hero!
I have the most beautiful, kind, wonderful daughters that anyone could ever, ever ask for and I feel so unbelievably blessed. Matt and I thank God every day for all that He has given us...but especially for these two precious two year olds. We love you, Reagan and Riley! Happy Second Birthday!!!!

Here are a few pictures from the tiny birthday "party" we had. We served cake out on the back porch so we wouldn't destroy the whole house!

Growing up!

Aunt Laurie and Uncle Nathan (and Cooper too!) gave the girls a stool as part of their birthday presents! They are obsessed. I caught them in the bathroom today numerous times checking themselves out in the mirror. It was pretty funny! They also keep asking to brush their teeth and wash their hands all of the time now! I guess there are worse things they could be asking to do, right?!  Here is a picture of the two of them brushing their teeth before bed tonight...such big girls!! I can't believe it. They are so proud of themselves too...they would have brushed for 30 minutes if we had let them!

Buddies!!!

Our sweet friend, Joshua ("Joshy" to Reagan and Riley) took the girls for a walk tonight!He wanted to hold their hands and they all gave such big hugs to each other when they said goodbye for the night. We are SO lucky to live across the street from such wonderful friends!!! The rain had just stopped and so Joshua jumped in every puddle he saw in his rain boots...which Reagan and Riley decided they wanted to do too, only they don't have rain boots! So...they did it anyway and I'm just happy that Nana bought the girls new shoes last week and they weren't wearing them tonight! I must buy rain boots tomorrow! At one point the kids all sat down in someone's driveway (no...I don't know who lives in that house!) and just looked too cute for words! Kay (Joshy's mom) snapped these pictures...what precious kiddos we have!!! (and check out Joshy's clip on tie...what an awesome outfit!)!!!

Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter day! It started out rainy and cleared up just in time for the girls to do their very first Easter Egg Hunt! It was so much FUN! While the Easter Bunny proved scarier than Santa (which is saying A LOT!), they enjoyed the presents that he left...so at least he's good for something! Cooper was such a sweet boy to Reagan and Riley all weekend...he loves them so much and is so protective of them! What a great cousin!!!
We had lunch with everyone and then hit the road to come back home...it was a great day!!!! Here are some cute pictures and even a video from the egg hunt!  Happy Easter, everyone!!!

Card Sharks

Grandpa and BopBop have always played cards as long as I can remember...looks like they're starting Reagan and Riley out early on the art of Gin Rummy! Good luck girls!!!! (check out Reagan keeping score!).