A Catch-Up Post

Oops! Has it really been six weeks since my last blog post? I have a good excuse. June has been CRAZY to say the least. Birthdays galore, overnight visitors, and this dang summer heat have all added up to me abandoning my little blog for awhile. Time to get caught up! My goal is 6 posts before July. Hold me to it...

June started with a celebration of Dad's birthday. We all met up at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX. Dad isn't the type to enjoy a lot of attention or surprises, so we decided a nice little vacation would be more his speed for his 60th. Shelby and Haley LOVED the water, even though they didn't make it out of the toddler area. Unfortunately, the only picture I was able to snap was with my cell phone in one hand, and Haley in the other. Sorry, Haley, but if you would just sit still in the water and not try to crawl off, you might have gotten some pictures taken of you, too!

All in all, we had a great "staycation" at the Great Wolf. While Haley can be a challenge at home, she absolutely loves being around other people. So, she had a great time watching all the big kids swim, play, run, and spend their parents' hard-earned cash. Bryon and I did manage to con Dad and Christy into watching the girls for a little while so we could ride one of the water slides together. We piled into a raft with Molly and Marc and screamed our lungs out on the Tornado Toilet Flush (not it's real name...my memory is shot due to sleep deprivation).

For our big birthday dinner, we all went to Rainforest Cafe. If you have not experienced the wonder that is the Rainforest Cafe, you are missing out on lots of cool aquariums, awesome animated animals, and many opportunities to shell out more of that hard-earned cash. Here's Bryon helping Shelby win a stuffed toy, because she doesn't seem to have enough of those at home!

As you can see, both of them were very determined to win a prize. Bryon told Shelby to hit the button when she thought it was time for the claw to go down. That little engineer in the making managed to win a stuffed animal on her first try. Looks like we've got a genius on our hands!

And, speaking of geniuses, take a look at this beauty+brains in the making:

Isn't Miss Haley the most intriguing thing ever? I can only hope Dad had as much fun as all his grandkids did celebrating his birthday with him.

Twinkle, Twinkle

Cutest version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star EVER!!

Dodged that ER visit...for now!

Seven-month old Haley continues to shock us by her physical ability. This past weekend, she managed to climb up most of the staircase and finished off the rest with encouragement from her older sister. "Go, Hay!!" is Shelby's battlecry. (By the way, "No, Hay!" is her favorite admonishment. I hear it all day long...) Needless to say, the gate had to be re-installed much earlier for Haley than for Shelby.

So, we were well aware of her climbing abilities. We knew better. But, did we lower her crib mattress with these thoughts in mind?? Heck no! All of that determination led Miss "Hay" to climb over the edge today during what I thought was her nap. After hearing the big thud of her falling to the ground, screaming and crying ensued. Luckily, she seems to be doing just fine tonight, and Dad and Shelby managed to lower her mattress to a safer level...for now!!

Haley practicing for the Baby Olympics:

Not to be outdone, Shelby decided she needed to pull her own trick to earn herself some attention. Those yummy blueberries she likes to munch on seemed like a great idea to shove up each nostril. After some complaining about her nose, Dad found one blueberry in the right side. Hours later, when brushing her teeth before bed, I noticed another one on the left side. I was about to decide we needed to go to the E.R. after trying to suction it out myself for 15 minutes. Luckily, it popped out about that time.

So, while my girls scare the heck out of me with their antics, I would like to consider them both skilled and advanced for their age. One of these days, when they win the Nobel Prize, I'll remind them of the crib and blueberry incidents!

And the Oscar Goes To...

The Academy Awards Committee needs to create a new category in honor of the Pfaff girls--Best Sisters Playing in a Short Film. The first submitted entry is of Shelby pulling Haley out of the corner, where she always manages to crawl and get stuck.

Entry #2 is the girls torturing Lilly and Winsor. If Haley isn't stuck in the corner, she can be found hanging onto one of the dog's crates.

Shelby has finally started to acknowledge her sister's existence and will even try to comfort her when she is crying. It gives me hope that some day they will play together for hours on end while I catch up on posting blogs!

Kids say the cutest things!

WARNING: This post is only interesting to me, my mom, and my mother-in-law. The rest of you can either a) keep reading and expect to be snoozing before you get to the end or b) quit now and catch up on someone else's more interesting blog!

Shelby has really started talking and has the cutest things to say. Because I am so sleep deprived, I'm sure I won't remember any of this next year. Plus, by the time her lovely teenage years roll around, I'll need something to look back on to remind me how precious she once was! So, here are some of the heart-melting things that have come out of her mouth:

*Good girl, Momma (pats on my back included)

*REAK A BOOK A DAY (her high pitched, loud, giddy request to read a book, not sure where the "a day" part came from!)

*More (the cutest part is the sign language that goes along with her request)

*Twink, twink, you are (Name that tune!)

*Pets (Wonder Pets, her favorite show on tv)

*Store Tiiime (storytime at the library. It's the highlight of our week!)

*Arrr's House, Mimi's House, Wizabef's House, Grammy's House (Her response to me asking her to guess where we are going)

There are also a few things that drive me insane. I just hear most of them way too often:

*Hug, hug, hug (while it sounds cute, she uses that word at the most inopportune time, i.e. in the car on the freeway or in the middle of me cooking dinner, to try to get attention)

*Poop, poop, poop (again, her ploy to get immediate attention, usually in the bathtub when I'm trying to wash Haley's hair)

*Ow-side (this girl could live outside. She just loves running in the grass. While I don't mind her outside, it's just easier to keep her contained inside.)

I'll update this post periodically, as she is learning new words everyday now. No need check back except for Mimi and Grammy since we are the only ones that find it interesting!!

Hello, Real World!

What a great weekend! I was able to step out of my covered-in-mystery-stains uniform and put on my time-to-rejoin-the-real-world party clothes last night. And, oh, what a night it was!

Bryon's longtime friend, Joe, drove all the way from Denver with Susan and their six-month old baby girl, Alyssa. Alyssa and Haley are less than 24 hours apart in age, and it was so much fun watching the two of them interact with each other. Haley was in shock that another human being was her size.

We managed to get two sitters for one night and go out for dinner and catch a Mavericks game. One of the babysitters snapped a picture of us all dressed up in our Mavs gear, and Susan wearing her Nuggets threads:

This was the third year in a row that Joe and Susan have come to visit us to go to the Dallas Mavericks vs. the Denver Nuggets game. The first year they came, we weren't able to go to the game at the last minute. Then, last year, Susan and I were both pregnant. Nothing is more annoying than being constantly nauseated while watching 20,000 other people drink beer and scream.

I was really hoping third time was a charm, and boy was it ever! Joe's boyfriend idol, Dirk Nowitzki, scored a triple-double, for only the second time in his career. I can't even remember the last time I had so much fun. In fact, my face is still sore this morning from laughing and cheering so much.

Real World, I hope to join you more often!

Has it really been SIX months?

I'm in complete shock around here these days. SOOO much has happened in the past month that I haven't even had a chance to appreciate the fact that Haley hit the magical age of 6 months. Ah, 6 months' old. The amount of time it takes most babies to start becoming just a teensy-tiny bit easier.

In the past week, that seems to have become true. Haley is sleeping better. She sits up completely on her own now. She is doing the infamous "army crawl" to steal her sister's toys. The two of them even play "Eek-A-Boo" (as Shelby says) together while I sip a vodka drink update their baby books.

So, why was March so traumatic, you ask? Three numbers--9-1-1. Yep, we had to dial that fun phone number to report our truck had been stolen. Here it was on the happiest day of Bryon's life: (if you don't count those wedding and birthing things...)

After I sipped a few vodka drinks got my senses together, I realized this was not as big of a deal as one would think. The police said this happens even in the best neighborhoods and was just a passing group of car thieves. Luckily, it looks like our trusty insurance company is going to take care of things. The silver lining is that I should be driving a new car sooner than I had expected. Yea! Just keep your fingers crossed that our insurance company won't double our rates...