Mommy is a year older

So tomorrow is my birthday... another day another year. This year it was a low key celebration style. We went out to dinner at Chili's and then we took the kiddo to the pet store. Today we went out and played in the yard. All in all quiet and unassuming. But I did get some really wonderful shots of Ash and Daddy playing in the yard today. I am about to go to bed its midnight here.... but I thought that I would post a few photos for you all ! Enjoy!

Lazy day lazy day

Taryn is a fuss to the 10th degree today and it seems like it wants to be April all year long... so I am not in the mood to do much more than post a few photos while I listen to my newest daughter cry in the background while my husband takes a turn at making her happy.
Enjoy!

Taryn Taryn Bo Baryn is two months old!!

We had Taryn's two month check today... and found out that she is a beautiful healthy little girl! Well no I knew that before... but the doctor found that out today. She is 11 lbs 13 ounces and she is 22 inches long... ( well just about 22 inches long but whose REALLY counting?) She is in perfect health and came away with a prescription for a vitamin that the doc suggested because of the fact that T is a breast fed baby.
We have been so amazed by how big she is getting and Dave even called her a "bruiser" saying that she was going to be much bigger than her sister... because she already was bigger.... I warned him that you don't know until you know... but he insisted that she is such a big girl. So I looked back for a comparison and at the two month check our Ashlynn Bear was 12 lbs 13 ounces and 23 inches long. So much for T being so much bigger than Ash was... Ash had a full pound and a little more than an inch on her. There is no way to know what either of these two girls will be as adults so I will stop all speculation right there. But I am happy to say that at this age we were having such a tough time with Ash and eczema and Taryn doesn't seem to have the same trouble. We will see as time moves forward... but I just may find that for all Taryn is harder to please and far more demanding of attention... Ashlynn's health concerns may not be an issue with this one. One thing is certain.... God is teaching me the lesson very clearly that all people ( read babies) are indeed very different. Just because you have had one DO NOT think you will have the same or even a comparable experience with the second. Not that I thought that I would... but I thought there would be some similarities and this is like opposite ends of the spectrum! One thing is very sure though.... it keeps things interesting.
We went to the Children's farm this weekend. Ashlynn was entirely taken with the animals! NO FEAR! She stuck her hands in to pet and held food in her hands with never a hesitation. Now every time we get into the car she asks if we are going to ride ponies or pet goats. She must have had a ton of fun, because it made quite an impression. We did get pictures of that!!! I am still out of sorts that I forgot the doggone camera for the zoo trip. ARGH!!! But at least I got a few of this last weekend to share.
Ashlynn has started calling T Taryn Bo Baryn because of the name song. When I ran out of things to sing one night while T was fussing I pulled that out and started singing it. Ashlynn thought that it was great fun. She was giggling hysterically by the time I was done. I did Ashlynn's name too... but it didn't glean near the hysteria. Since that night though Ash has called her Taryn Bo Baryn. She is becoming quite the loving older sister and while she enjoys time with just mommy she worries if Taryn isn't with us. Mommy took just Ash out on Monday to play ( no pics of that one... I ran and twirled with my daughter rather than just watched her and Daddy watched Taryn) and she ate up the time... but kept asking if Taryn was okay. We went to the store today just Ash and I and the same thing "Taryn Okay? Taryn okay?" She also wants to hold her all the time and is asking to kiss and hug her spontaneously. It truly is a wonderful thing to see. For her part Taryn is completely taken by her older sis. She talks up a storm and smiles something fierce when Ash is in her line of sight. She gets those legs kicking and her arms a waving and everyone in the world can see that she likes her older sister. I hope sincerely that they will grow up to be great friends.
So two months gone... and I won't lie and say that they have been easy. They have flown! That much is true. They have been wonderful in their own way. They have been difficult and they have been full of trials, but I am not sure I would change one thing about them. I am learning how to be a mommy to two little bit by little bit. I am madly in love with my newest daughter and though I joke about her crying ( and sometimes it DOES feel excessive) I love that she has standards and that even at a few weeks old she will stand up and say something about it. I adore her feisty little spirit. And we are coming to terms with each other little bit by little bit. I am learning her cries and she is .... well she is still crying... but she is getting used to being down and it takes longer for her to start wailing these days. Funny thing though I am getting to the point where I hardly hear it anymore. She started up while I was filling out some paperwork at the docs and I didn't even notice until some woman gave me a nasty look... Oops.... not everyone understands that when you have a kid who cries so much your psyche tunes it out in self defense. Ah well they can give me dirty looks all they want... they don't have to LIVE with her! HA HA HA

Look at that smile though... who wouldn't love her?
Seriously who... I want names!!!!

Daddy's Girls

I thought that a montage of Dave with his ladies might be nice to see. You will most likely never see one of me with the girls... because I am always the one taking the pictures. Maybe some day. I have been trying to use the option on our camera to take video. I thought that would be a nice little addition... um the camera is really just meant to take pictures though. No sound ( which isn't a surprise I knew that) and the picture is really really bad... I deleted all videos that I have tried to take. The one that I took of Taryn outside today made her look like a smurf. She was literally blue looking. I had her outside for light too... sigh maybe some day I will have a video camera and will have some nice video to share until then you will have to make do with the photos.... As if that is hard, these are some of the cutest girls on earth!

Just to show you that it wasn't a fluke and you are not seeing double!

I got yet another photo of Taryn that looks very very similar to a picture of her older sister. While it isn't nearly as amazing as the last set and the eczema is a dead give-a-way, it is still very very striking.

Playing with bubbles and other assorted hijinx

Dave says that I may be over doing it with the photos... but I read an article recently about a man who is making it his mission to take a picture of his children a day from day one until 18 so that the progression of growth can be seen. I was sort of taken with the idea. How neat to see the progression of the growth that we don't notice from day to day. I like the idea to a certain extent. But the pictures that he had in his article were stiff pictures of a kid standing against the wall, and I wasn't so taken with those photos. So I have made it my mission to take as many interesting photos as I can of my children doing what it is they do best... being silly and having fun. ( or in Taryn's case swinging and learning how to smile. ) But I cannot take just one photo a day of my children. I have to take many many photos for more reasons than just one. Firstly you should see the number of photos that I have of the back of a head or half of a face or a tongue sticking out. Children are constantly moving unless they are asleep... and half of Taryn's photos are taken in the swing the other half are taken in the baby carrier. So I have outtake after outtake and every now and then I end up with a gold nugget of a photo. The other thing is that I have cute kids.... really really cute kids... how could I possibly stop with one photo. It is simply not possible!!!
I miss days, and I suppose that will make the progression a little off... but well life at times is a little hectic with two children under two. I am only human after all and when I realized as we were pulling off the highway that I had forgotten the camera and could not document Ashlynn's first trip to the zoo. We were not going back for it though as it was more than an hour drive. Sorry charlie. No pics of the zoo visit. Which in some ways breaks my heart due to the really amazing look of Awe that Ash had on her face when her daddy lifted her up for a better look at the seals... or the excitement when she saw the tiger, or the wonder when she was just on the other side of the glass from a monkey. The photo opportunities were many... and I didn't have a camera. But so goes it. The other thing is that it is bound to get boring seeing Ashlynn in different ( and sometimes the same clothes a week later) in the same settings. But Ash and I do not go too many places during the week and she is always learning and exploring new and different things. So be it. That is what we will have interspersed with the exciting days that we have one the weekends.
So this is our record of the lives of two of the most beautiful girls in the world. And while we may miss a few days here or there.... the hope is that the content of the pictures I do get will make up for the days that I drop the photo ball. And if I do say so myself I am getting better and better at catching the really good moments and the really sweet smiles.

one of these photos is not like the other

The two photos above are of the same baby.... or are they??? ummm no they are not. The one above is Ash at roughly 8 weeks. The one below is Taryn at 71/2 weeks! SCARY!!!