Summer Fun

Summer is flying by so quickly! I can't believe miss Hadley Claire is more than 7 weeks old already! So far, she has already: been born, learned to sleep through most of the night, been in 4 states on the Florida trip where she went to the beach, saw a parade, went on bike rides, and hung out with the family, she has started to figure out how to smile :-)....or maybe it's still just gas Ha! Ha! Ha! She is a GREAT little sister, she LOVES her mommy and has her daddy thinking she recognizes him.

Laney has become such a great big sister. She is interested without being too curious, but is SO helpful! Hadley is now the first word out of her mouth when she wakes up, and she likes to help feed her, hold her, console her, swing her, read her books, hold her hand in the car, and just talk to her sometimes. I can't hardly believe Laney is going to be 2 YEARS OLD so soon! She already seems so old, but it is tough to add to her age in YEARS! I can't even remember life without her!

Life with the girls is so much fun; we will keep you posted.

Laney Grace Sings Her ABC's

Laney is only a couple of weeks away from her second birthday, and all of a sudden she can sing a bunch of songs. We were in the middle of our nightly ritual, giving the girls their baths and drying their hair (only an Alsman girl would need the blow dryer at 6 weeks, I know). While we were getting Laney ready to dry her hair, we video taped her singing her ABC's. Check out the video.

"The Girls"

Today, Laney & Hadley took a bunch of clothes to the Lollipop Tree. Ashley and Courtney (sisters who own the Lollipop Tree Children's Boutique) placed a huge back to school order for Joey & Brooke's Ruffles and Ribbons outfits. Then, this evening, "the girls" came by to play. "The girls" are Laney's best friends, twins born three weeks after Laney. The girls have such a good time together (when they can stand to share the toys and attention... ha ha ha... 2 is such a funny age!) They sang songs, played with baby dolls in the strollers, made sandwiches in the play kitchen, colored pictures for their mommies, and played in the yard on the Dora the Explorer jeep, swing, and tricycle.
It truly is amazing to see how much Laney can do now. She can identify about 30 different body parts, say many more words than we can count, and can definitely repeat ANYTHING you say! She also has learned the words and motions to a few songs now (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Wheels on the Bus, etc.....oh yeah, and of course about 10 Barney songs.) She is so much fun to watch. As her communication develops, it's easier to see how smart she really is. One of her best talents though, is hugging and kissing her mommy, daddy, and sister.
Hadley has already changed so much! It is kind of sad to see the little things that tiny newborns do slip away as she gets stronger and longer. She will be 6 weeks tomorrow! Time is flying by way too fast. Right now, she is in a bit of a high maintenance phase, but has started to set a fairly standard routine and is ridiculously cute. She has started waking up only once before 3-4 am. each night, but has lately been staying up from 3:00 until after I goes to work. We are definitely in the sleep deprived phase right now. I was started nodding off at my desk today and had to take a walk to wake up. It's a bad sign, I know. Those of you with kids understand though.
The whole family loves taking walks through the neighborhood behind our house and to Mimi & Pops' house. We strap her into the carrier and she's out like a light within about 100 ft. Laney just looks around and sings songs the whole way. Joey LOVES to sing loudly throughout the neighborhood, and Laney eats it up.

SISTERS!!!

What a special gift each of our girls have, they are sisters. I believe they have already started to create a very special bond. It is so neat to watch them together. Laney Grace is so sweet to Hadley. She is constantly kissing and hugging her. She loves to hold her, point out and name all of her features, and push her in her baby swing. She is very nurturing. We just love to watch them together.

Fourth of July trip to sunny Seaside Florida

It is an absolute favorite, ,as well as a treat ,to go to Seaside with our family. We enjoy and look forward to 4th of July at the Beach. This year Blake and I were brave enough to take brand new Hadley Claire who was only 2 weeks old. She really did amazing. Miss Laney Grace could not get enough of the beach this year. She LOVED IT!!! She was continuously saying, "Beach, Beach!" It was so nice for Blake and I to see how much fun she was having. However, the word "Vacation" definitely has a different meaning for Blake and I now. Ha- Ha. We had a wonderful time though spending time with our family. It truly was an amazing trip. Laney Grace is still asking about the beach.

Our new home

We are very excited to be in our new home. It is perfect for us! The girls absolutely love it . The yard and big playroom are their favorites. We love watching Laney Grace running and swinging in her new yard. Blake loves that it is right down the street from where he grew up. It truly is the perfect house. We are so close to both of our parents homes. Nana and Papaw are approximately one mile away and Mimi and Pops are not even quite a half a mile away. Boy are we lucky. Here are a few pictures of the house.

Our trip to CMoE

At 2 weeks of age (June 26th), Hadley took her first trip to the Children's Museum of Evansville (CMoE) with the family. Mead Johnson had an employee-only company event with dinner at the museum. If you haven't been, it is a very fun place. There was a 2-story water room with a giant washing machine whirlpool, a construction room with gears and a sand (actually rice) table...which Laney LOVED, a room with body parts (like the nose with booger-green tunnels for kids to climb through, and a lot more. This was a very fun trip, and Hadley was just happy to be walked around in the Bjorn (strapped to Joey). Here are some pictures...