Brian, Beth, Kate, and Megan Davies

It's A Boy!

2012-01-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

We are very excited to say that Baby Davies #3 is a boy! We had our ultrasound last week and found out most importantly the baby is healthy and growing, and were pleased to see that we will be equalizing the genders a little at the Davies house. To make a big splash for the gender reveal, we had a balloon drop for our family that was in town including Brian's parents, my parents, my siblings, their spouses, and my cousin. We blew up 24 blue balloons and put them in black bags so you couldn't tell the gender. We said, "Thanks for coming out to see what Baby Davies will be. We already have two girl, let's see if we'll have three." We opened the bags of balloons from our landing over the family room and let them fall. It was a special moment and one I want to remember forever.
During the girls' princess birthday party later that week, surveying the amounts of pink, princess, and bling in our house, I noted to Brian that things were going to have to change a lot in here to accommodate a boy. I think Brian and my brother had our little boy's baseball themed 1st birthday all but planned by the princess party's end, even though it is a good 16 months away!
I think it was great to find out the sex and give the girls and us some time to adjust. I can't wait to get started on the rooms. Kate was actually super disappointed the baby was a boy. She basically told us no, she wanted another baby girl. By the end of the night she was warmed up to the idea a little, and is doing much better with the news now. Kate claims she can see what the baby is doing through my belly button and says he has cute fingers. Megan has been giving my belly kisses and wanting to "see" the baby too. The other day she was telling the baby to come out! She also adorable said, "Hi Baby. I Meggie. This is my Mama." It just melts my heart. Lots of fun, lots of planning, and lots of excitement here this month!

Happy 2nd Birthday Megan!

2012-01-12T21:07:00.000-08:00

Our little Megan has turned 2! It is hard to believe she is so big but it has been so much fun to watch her grow over the year. Megan is such such a sweet and good natured girl but at the same time can be very strong willed and demanding. We always say, "It's a good thing she's so cute." And she is so very very very cute.

Megan you have a fabulous smile and possibly the best laugh ever which we are blessed to hear a lot. You are such a chatty little girl and practically don't stop talking or moving all day. You love gross motor play and are starting to love little people and your Dora and Diego houses. Your favorite princess is Snow White, and your vocabulary is incredible and you have started singing us entire songs. I just love to hear you sing Jesus Loves Me. It is sometimes hard to keep up with you but you bring us great moments through the day. I never want to forget how cute it sounds when you say the words sister, snuggle, Mommy hold me, toy story, Merry Christmas, Hi I Meggie, or super babies. You are too smart for your own good sometimes. A constant theme of your life so far has been wanting to do everything Kate does and you make sure your are never left out. You really love your sister very much and it makes me us so happy to see you two playing together. You like Mommy and Me, swimming, Chuck E Cheese, and library story time, though you mostly like to try and climb the shelves at the library. You love routine and your night time books, especially Good Night Moon and Bear Hunt, and you are too cute at night when you choose a stuffed animal or baby to sleep with. You have always been a snugly, cuddly, and loving little girl and we absolutely cherish you!

On her actual birthday we had class at church so I made fruity cheerio birthday treats for Megan to pass out.

We sung happy birthday to her at Mommy and Me and at a small get together that night. Megan LOVED being the center of attention which she certainly deserves on her birthday!

Megan's Birthday! from Elizabeth Davies on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

We went to see Santa early this season and though Megan loves to talk about Santa I'm not quite sure how she felt...

Kate on the other hand was all about Santa!

Kate has been writing up a storm lately. Here is her list to Santa. I circled the words because she hasn't mastered spacing, but this her mastery of writing and her list of requests are adorable to me. In case you can't see it she would like a kitty, lipstick, a baby, princess, and candy. I think Santa and I can work on that as long as the kitty isn't real!

Megan loves her Fisher Price Santa set much better than the real thing. I think the size is just right for her.

We have also been teasing around the house that one of our little girls resembles Cindy Lou Who...

We got our cards out early this week. Hopefully they will arrive soon.

Merry Christmas Love the Davies!!!

Fall Favorites

2011-12-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of my favorite memories from this fall! I know its almost Christmas, but it is fun to catch-up now that the weather has us inside, and I just can't let these precious shots not get their due!

My two girls playing at Independence Grove.

Kate putting her new big girl bike to the test during family walks. She rode it for miles this fall and I do mean miles at a time.

Megan got a new house this summer and she LOVED it!

A beautiful trip to Lincoln Park.

Apple Picking!

You have to love pony tails on little girls!

My two adorable cuties!

So Much to be Thankful For

2011-12-06T12:25:00.001-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving and felt a little extra thankful this year! We now have three little peanuts to count as our blessings. I am now in my 2nd trimester of pregnancy with our third baby. We are so excited to welcome this new little addition around May 31st our due date.

The girls, especially Kate, are very excited to have another baby and I am too, especially now that I am feeling better. It has been pretty hard being pregnant having two other kids to take care of, but I feel like I am entering a much easier couple of weeks.

Kate and Megan will be great big sisters. Kate has now decided she has a baby in her belly and adorably uses what she claims her baby wants or doesn't want as a means to getting what she does. Megan adorably says she wants a, " Baby Bruh-der." Either she is smarter than the genius I already think she is and wants to stay the baby girl, or repeats the last of the choices I ask her. I'll go with the former. : ) Brian and I are truly excited for either a third girl or a boy, we really don't know what we would like more. We will find out the sex of the baby sometime in January and are very excited for all that pregnancy, newborns, and kids bring.

My Mom cooked a great meal that we really enjoyed and it was all together a great weekend. It was so much fun to spend so much time with extended family and with Brian. Kate asked Brian at the end of the weekend if he had to go back to work on Monday. Brian explained to her the need for him to work and Kate cutely retorted., "I'm losing my patience with you going to work." It is funny to hear your phrases used by kids and even sweeter that Kate loves spending time with her Daddy. We all miss Daddy when he goes back to work, but look forward to any time we get to spend together.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and one we certainly felt tremendously thankful about.

Our Trip to the Magic Kingdom

2011-11-19T12:21:00.001-08:00

In September we took the girls to Disney and it was spectacular! The girls had a great time, but no one could have enjoyed it more than me. I know the girls were on the young side, but they LOVED Disney. I think Kate was the perfect age because the cute thing is she thought everything was 100% real. When we walked into Cinderella's Castle for a princess breakfast and Kate saw Cinderella there to greet us she gasped in amazement. I will never forget that!

Seeing the characters was a great activity for us. We were all about the princesses and pretty much everyone else too. Megan really warmed up to the characters the longer we were there and was so happy to see her favorite Snow White at the breakfast. By the end of the week she was jumping in laps, giving hugs, and kisses. Kate was serious about it from the beginning.

The rides were a very fun part for all of us and as we went in September a very uncrowded time we got ride everything multiple times. The girls especially loved Dumbo, the tea cups, Pooh's thoughtful spot, and It's a small World. Kate called it the Little world and when we were on it Megan would insist, "One More Time!" In the airport on our return trip 20 month old Megan looked at us and out of the blue in the cutest way possible declares, "Ride Dumbo." Sorry Meg, no Dumbo outside of Disney.

We all loved the parades, fireworks, and shows. Kate was so into the shows. Thinking they were real she was a little scared when the bad guys appeared, and when Mickey asked for her help in sending them away she earnestly shouted, "Dreams come true. Dreams Come True." To see her face during these shows was worth the entire trip. After we got home she was restless in her sleep one night. I went in and she was whispering in her sleep, "Dreams come true. Dreams come true." Too Cute.

It was a fabulous vacation that I will never forget. It was wonderful to go with my parents. I loved every minute of it and as a Mom of young kids I couldn't have had a more fun trip. Disney really created a total experience and I think you can put me in the fanatic category. We had some great meals including the California Grill where we watched the fireworks, character meals, and enjoyed time by the pool each afternoon. We loved our hotel, we loved the meal plan, we loved the photopass, we loved the pool parties, we LOVED Disney!

Below you can see all of our pictures and even the photobook we received in our vacation package. The photobook contains all of the professional pics the photogs at the park so nicely snap for you. Just thinking about the photobook or the trip for that matter makes me smile.

CLICK HERE for the Pages of our Disney Photo Book!

CLICK HERE for All Our Disney Pictures!

Halloween Fun

2011-11-08T13:18:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a great time this year mostly because the girls were really into it!

We had lots of costume choices for the girls because we have an EXTENSIVE collection of dress-up at our house. We had some cooler indoor options and some warmer outdoor gear. Kate went back and forth between princesses in her all too important costume choice. For our first event which became an indoor event due to weather, we had two adorable princesses Roses and Belle, as they are referred to in my house.

For school Kate loved being Rapunzel. The hair was the real seller and I think she is quite the ringer for A-Pun-szhel as Megan calls her. We even grabbed a great Pascal from Jacob's exer-saucer to complete the costume.

Kate just loved being the leader in the pre-school parade.

And she enjoyed posing with one of her boyfriends Jackson.

Megan also made appearances as a dog, Minnie Mouse, and Tinkerbell due to her Mommy's indecisiveness, the plethora of costume choices, her lack of really caring, and her overall cuteness.

We also really got into pumpkin carving this year. Ben and I were the main culprits with Uncle Ben doing the surgical work, but it was very fun and they came out beautifully!

The actual day of Halloween our (5th Halloween related event) was really fun. We went trick or treating in Katie and Ben's neighborhood and enjoyed a hayride and fire.

I think when it was over we all had our fill of Halloween!

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation Part III NY

2011-09-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

In August we made it back to see our NY family and as part of the trip spent the day in Lake Placid NY. We climbed Mount Jo which overlooks most of the high peaks and Heart Lake at the base.

We made the trip with Brian's Dad, our 11 year old niece,Michaela, our 3 year old Kate, and 18mo old Megan on Brian's back. It was quite an endeavor, but the views were more than worth it!

Mount Jo overlooking the High Peaks and Heart Lake

The reward on the way down, beautiful Heart Lake on summer evening in late August, absolutely picturesque.

Our crew heading out on the Adirondak Loj trail.

Brian, the strong Daddy with the 18 month old Megan on his back managed the 1 mile very vertical climb like a pro.

Michaela and Kate took turn being the leaders and were awesome on the entire trek!

A Trip to Lake Placid could never be complete without a stop at the Chapel Pond Overlook. Brian and his family have been taking picture at this spot for years!

The trip also always includes time in the Town of Lake Placid and on Mirror Lake where Brian's parents honeymooned. The cousins had a great time playing in the park, walking the downtown, and picking out some souvenirs.

A newer tradition is a stop at Tail O' The Pup for some dancing and great BBQ.

Great Fun was had by all!

CLICK HERE for all of our NY 2011 Pictures!

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation Part II The Wisconsin Dells

2011-09-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

Every year since I was a kid my family has gone up to Wisconsin for summer vacation. If possible I love it now even more that I can bring my own children. It is also very special because Brian's parents now join us, cousins, and my sister and her husband were able to bring little Jacob for the first time. We have an awesome time swimming, reading, cooking, having fires, visiting water parks, and all of our favorite attractions. The best part of course is all of the family time and the wonderful memories we will savor the entire winter! Some of my favorite memories...

Cousin Time

The Feed the Deer Park

A Beautiful Boat Ride on Lake Delton

Enjoyed by almost everyone...

Our Waterbugs

CLICK HERE for all of our Wisconsin Dells 2011 Pictures!

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation Part I Mike and Stef's wedding

2011-09-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

We have had a great and busy summer. Now that September has hit, cooler weather has rolled in, school is starting, and all the pools are closed I figured I do a catch up series of blog posts to capture our wonderful summer.

The biggest event of the summer was my brother Michael and his new wife Stefanie's awesome wedding. It was a beautiful day and we all had the honor of standing up in it, including Kate who was an adorable flower girl. Everyone, especially Stefanie, looked wonderful and we all had a great time dancing. Mike and Stefanie had an amazing first dance we will all remember. Kate showed off her "hockey" dance, and Meggie smiled and yelled cheese anytime she saw a camera. Above and Below are a few of my favorites and all of my pictures are in a photo album link at the end.

A Pretty Good Looking Bridal Party

The Davies Family

The Beautiful Flower Girl

Megan Hamming it up for the Camera

Posing on the Patio

Dancing the Night Away

Kate and Her Beloved Aunt Stefanie

The Bundalo Siblings

Me and My Guy

Me and My Girls

Click Here for all of Mike and Stef's Wedding Pictures!

3 Year Old Preschool

2011-09-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

Kate had her first day of 3 year old preschool today. She did wonderfully! We made it in to see Miss Cathy and her classroom earlier in the week and she was excited to find out she was now in the big girl class for 3 year-olds and not the 2 year-olds any more. It is amazing to me how much my little girl is growing and I am happy that she is adjusting so well.One of the fun perks for Kate is that she gets to see Daddy from time to time at school. That is a great thing for a true Daddy's Girl. Also important for the first day of school, a cute outfit, nice hairstyle, backpack - Tinkerbell, and new sneakers - pink and light-up.

Kate does wonderfully at school, she is very cooperative, and we couldn't be prouder of her!

Its a Heat Wave!

2011-07-21T21:22:00.001-07:00

How to Beat the Heat in Style

by: The Davies Girls

#1 Sunglasses are a must!

#2 Scout out a favorite watering hole and jump right in. Ours is Valley Lake.

#3 Make sure you have the proper swim attire. The best way to conceal a swim diaper is with lots of ruffles.

#4 Picnics packed lovingly by Mommy are great ways to make sure you don't have to stop the summer fun for meal time.

#5 Splashing the Day away is always a cool activity. Just be sure to bring some water toys.

#6 Stay well hydrated and be sure to take rest breaks, preferably with your toes in the sand.

#7 Cool treats are a summer must, especially when they come covered in Sprinkles from Tastee-Freeze.

#8 When the evening cools slightly, you can resume non-water based activities like catching lightening bugs in your backyard. That screams summer!

#9 Most of all be prepared for some wild times!

#10 Just don't be out-done by your little sister!
And remember summer is always better shared with your best pal!

Schools Out for Summer!

2011-06-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Kate finished her first year of preschool last week. It was adorable to see how proud she was of her graduation and I am so thankful to her wonderful teachers and all she was exposed to this year. She learned so much and hope all of Kate's years at school will be as wonderful as her first.

It is fun to have Kate home everyday and we have already started into our summer routine of activities like the Grayslake Pool, Valley Lake, the Sprinkler Park, the Almond Park, Independence Grove, and the list goes on. We have plenty to keep us entertained and all three girls of the house are happy with that.Kate continues to be an excellent swimmer and Megan is crazy for the water. She is really almost too brave. I'll certainly have my hands full with these two!

Kate is especially excited for summer as you can see in her music video below!

CLICK HERE for a Video of Kate Singing About Summer!

A big highlight for us this summer is Kate's new Pre-Ballet class which she refers to as Ballet Team.

She absolutely LOVES it and we caught a little video of her first class below.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate's 1st Ballet Class!!!

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-31T20:17:00.001-07:00

Happy Memorial Day from this patriotic duo!

I feel like I have the two cutest and sweetest kids on the entire planet!

What a lucky Mom I am.

Megan at 15 Months

2011-05-24T19:28:00.001-07:00

So Megan is a little over 15 months and she is pretty much 15 months going on 3. She is a precious little girl with an endearing smile, adorable laugh, and an infectious zest for life. She can be the sweetest little girl who loves to cuddle and gives the best hugs and kisses, but she know what she wants and when she wants it. Her will is like iron and her heart is good as gold. That is why we often describe her as our spunky little Meggy.

Megan certainly know what she wants, and luckily she is really starting to be able to communicate it to us. Her vocabulary is incredible. We stopped counting at 100 words just before she turned 15 months.

Some of my favorite words are of course Tay for Kate, Ge-Kah for her cousin Jacob, an adorable Tirsty (Thirsty), Mine which is a good word for a second child to master quickly, Go-Go for Diego which has now progressed to De-Go, Doh-Da which sounds incredibly like a good rolled r, and I think she has the cutest uh-oh and hooray of any child on the planet. As an unbiased mother I also think she does the cutest woof-woof for doggies and roars for lions.

Megan in the last month has even progressed to some 2- 3 word sentence. Her first official sentence was, "Hi, Daddy." Some other good ones; Ah Tirsty, Ah Wove You, Mommy Hold (Howd) Me, Me Snack (Me Na), Change Diaper (Cha Da Poo) and My ----- (fill in the blank with whatever her sister currently has).

I think as her vocabulary progresses she'll get to be an even easier child, and we won't have to put up with the dramatic crying, while we figure out exactly she wants. Yes she cries very dramatically at times. It is as if you broke her heart just by leaving the room, or by putting the wrong pair of shoes on her. However, as soon as you give her what she wants, like the pink crocs instead of the gym shoes, or the toy just out of reach, the heartbreaking crying stops and a giggle of accomplishment replaces it. It took me awhile to figure out how badly Megan wanted to wear Kate's dress up heels, but once we figured it out one of Megan's favorite things to do became clip-cloping around in little Cinderella shoes and all we hear is that satisfied laugh.

Megan is a great eater. She is not picky at all and loves when we say prayers at dinner. She doesn't mind being messy at all. In fact, sometimes I suspect she seeks out messes.

One of the reasons I say Megan is 15 months going on 3, is that she wants to do everything her sister does. She so badly wants to be just like her sister it is overwhelmingly cute, a bit heart jerking, and a little frustrating all at the same time. If Kate has a yellow spoon at dinner, Megan wants one. If Kate is coloring with markers, Megan wants to. If Kate doesn't have to sit in a high chair, then Megan doesn't want to. As you can imagine Megan's desires not meeting with her abilities can be challenging but mostly they are adorable, like her love of teeth brushing. Megan is obsessed. All we have to do is mention teeth and Megan literally sprints, and I mean sprints to the bathroom.

I know Megan wanting to do everything that Kate does is because Megan adores her older sister. She gives great hugs and kisses to her sister, proclaiming "guh" as she gives them. Kate is fabulous to her little sister. Megan sits on Kate's lap while Kate "reads" her stories. They play hide-and-seek together and mostly get along very well. The other day they were in the family room and Kate told me, "Mommy, Meggy and I are playing together. We're friends." There is no greater joy than to see these two girls together.

As the weather is getting nicer Megan is showing she loves the outdoors. If we mention outside she runs to the door and screams until we open it for. She also seems to be super athletic. She is really fast and really strong. Seeing her muscle her way onto the chairs and climbing things is pretty impressive. Her little feet are so fast, and she can really move. As I write this I can just her her feet going pitter patter, and the image that come to mind is like an avalanche downhill. Once she starts going she really doesn't stop until she runs into things, like the wall. She is really brave. Sometimes a little too brave, and boy is she tough. Multiple times she has collided or fallen and Brian and I look at each other waiting for screaming, but she amazingly shakes it off, stands up with one of her killer smiles, and keeps going.

We cherish both our beautiful girls and are so thankful for you Meggy. You have a lot of energy, require a lot of energy, and bring us an unthinkable amount of joy and love.

Happy Mother's Day Beth!

2011-05-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all, this is Brian. I thought I'd hijack the blog for a few moments to wish Beth a Happy Mother's Day. In her honor, three very amateur videographers and actors shot the following video...

Beth, you bring such passion, energy, patience, and love to each day as a Mom. I am so thankful that God gave you to my girls and to me! I love spending each day with you, and look forward to many, many more! Enjoy the day!

Easter 2011

2011-04-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter from our Little Girls!

We had a great day, and though it took me 2 hours to get the girls out the door in their Easter Best by myself, it went surprisingly smoothly!

I had the cutest Easter Bonnets for both girls!

Kate loved every piece of her outfit especially her princess gloves. Megan, unfortunately refused her hat, which was too bad because it was adorable.

We also organized an Easter Egg Hunt for Easter Sunday at church. We stuffed somewhere between 750 and 1,000 eggs, the weather actually cooperated, and it turned out to be a great event for the kids.

Kate took the time to help her little sister with finding some Eggs, and Megan certainly got the hang of it.

Kate posing with her preschool friend Adelyn.

My cute little Meggie!

Megan loved the chocolate. I mean LOVED it. I think Kate in this picture is already thinking, "You didn't let me have that when I was her age!"

Everything at church was wonderful, especially the service. There was so much energy, and it was a great place to celebrate Easter morning.

After Easter service we all took naps, and then headed over to my sister's for a wonderful Easter meal. When it was all done we posed the three little ones attempting to capture them in their Easter pajamas.

What a blessed day for many reasons!

Care Bear Countdown

2011-04-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

Kate been all about Care Bears lately. I don't know what it possibly is about this 1980s series that so captivates my 3 year old, but I am not asking too many questions. Now that Kate has transitioned out of her afternoon naps, these lovable bunch of caring bears makes our quiet time go very smoothly. Kate got a special present from her Aunt Ginger the other day. Ginger brought over her entire collection of Care Bears to share with Kate and Megan! Kate was thrilled and moves them all around the house. Megan has taken a special liking to wish bear, which is just her size. Each night Kate picks out 3 and takes them to sleep with her. It is so fun to see her enjoy something I so liked from my childhood. Thanks for the present Ginger!

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Meeting the Care Bears!!!
CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Doing the Care Bear Countdown!!!

A Visit From Gammie and Pop Pop

2011-04-13T19:22:00.000-07:00

Brian's parents are awesome about making the trip to come see us. They come a few times a year and we always have a fabulous time. Besides helping us on many home improvement projects, Gammie and Pop Pop play with the girls non-stop. It is so special have this time with our NY grandparents.

While here Megan added the word Pop Pop to her repotoire. We think she might have referred to Gammie as Ga-Ga, but before we annoint a new Lady Gaga we will need Megan to get a little more consistent on that one.

While Linda and Roy were here we were able to color Easter Eggs and play Hot and Cold to find our Easter Baskets. Kate really enjoyed the basket hunt, but was a little confused as to why we wanted her to go by something hot.

Gammie and Kate also played many many many games of Memory and a little Go Fish. When she plays she asks in the cutest voice, "Excuse me Gammie, do you have any Cindys?"

We also had a fun visit to Chuck 'E Cheese. It is great to have grandparents to spoil you!

Kate loves it when she and Gammie do one-on-one activities. This trip out Gammie brought lots of activities and Kate loved every one, including finding the pattern. Right Gammie?

With all of the excitment happening at the table, Megan didn't want to be left out and figured out how to climb on the kitchen chairs, so she too could be a part of all the fun.

Megan was quite proud of her accomplishments. Mommy, not so much. I think some of my sanity dissapeared with that milestone. It was a great visit and we can't wait to see them soon. Thanks for all the fun!

Kate My Precious Three Year Old

2011-04-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

I never really got to give Kate an official I'm 3 post because I did something very similar just before, so here is a tribute to my Kate at just over 3. Kate is such a sweet and kind little girl. She loves school, listens very well, and loves playing dress up. She dons her Cinderella outfit pretty much daily and shares well with her sister, always finding a crown and shoes for her sidekick. Kate is super into anything art. She loves coloring, painting, construction paper, and is really developing her fine motor skills. She can spell and write her own name and does it on almost anything she creates. She has amazed us by writing DAD next to the prince from Cinderella, and even her cousin Jake's name after hearing it spelled only once.

According to Kate below she wrote Kate loves Mom.

She recognizes many words as we read and even her preschool teachers are thoroughly amazed with her writing skills. She is really starting to color within the lines and I personally love her family portraits complete with hair on each of us. This one includes the sun, wind, grass, a spider web, and her dog, pal Perito with his footprints.Kate is going through a real independent streak. She insists on dressing herself, buckling her car seat, and being the leader. Most of the time this is really cute and helpful. Speaking of helping, she loves helping her Mom and Dad cook, clean, or go on errands. When I vacuum she takes my little battery powered vac and redoes every spot I cross. She also loves going on errands with Daddy in Daddy's car and not with Megster because she's too little, "Right Dad?" Another of her favorite things is to run up to Daddy for the children's sermons at church. She sits right on his lap and listens to him adoringly. I made the mistake of missing kids kingdom once due to her dawdling in the nursery and Kate literally sobbed the entire rest of church because she wanted to be with her Daddy. Can you tell she is just a bit of a Daddy's girl? Kate is really into the old school 80's era Care Bears right now that we rent from her favorite store, Video Family. It's actually Family Video, but she says it so cutely we might lobby for a permanent name change. Reading wise she is going through quite the Berenstein Bear phase. Kate has the politest and sweetest, "Sank You." And if we thank her she says, "No Pwoblem." Kate also loves her cousin Jake and is one of the most nurturing 3 years old.

Kate you are all together such a joy, and I wish I could keep you 3 forever, my little girl!

Viva Las Vegas

2011-03-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

My Mom went to the wholesalers convention in Las Vegas a few weeks ago for her on-line business and was nice enough to bring me along. It is great to be an employee of Finer Things. The business is really taking off and we have expanded to our own website and started selling on Amazon. As you can see there are some really good perks as an employee. The trip was wonderful. It was so nice to be in warmer weather, see the sights, and relax. We had an amazing time! We ate some incredible meals, swam in the pool at Paris, enjoyed the Bellagio fountains, did a little business, and I even found out I'm a pretty good poker player. What fun to spend a few days just me and my Mommy!

Winter Fun

2011-03-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

We've been able to have some great fun this winter as a family. I try and schedule one stimulating activity a day for the girls. Sometimes they are small like a trip to the library, or toddler open gym, and then there are some bigger family trips that I call Daddy in for. These outings are so much fun and help me keep my sanity through the winter. Kate gets very excited when we are making our plans and proclaims, "We're going on an adventure!" She also comes up with ideas and after sharing checks where I stand by saying, "That sounds like a great idea, right Mommy?" If I agree, she lights up with a smile. We made it to the Kohl's Children's Museum and we all had a great time. Kate loved caring for the animals, "eating" in the restaurant, and "shopping" for groceries. She could have been there all day!

We made it there last year and I never got around to posting the pictures. So here are 3 of Kate when she was our little girl!

Our two staple activities through the winter have been swimming at the Y and playing at Chuck E Cheese. I try to couple these outings with a dinner out and we call these family Date Nights. Kate takes lessons on Saturdays and has continued to amaze us and her instructors with her advance swimming abilities. Megan loves the water too and I love that it tires them out. When we go swimming I bring the girls jammies, shower them in the locker room, and they are often sleeping by the time we get home! .

We also had a fabulous family Baptism. My cousin Matthew was baptised and Kate and Megan both had an amazing time at the banquet that followed. Kate and Tommy danced the night away. Megan danced, danced, and then danced some more. She was quite the party animal, and even developed a little break dance routine.

Brian took a Tuesday off and we made it to "free" day at the Shedd aquarium. Pretty much anything that was fun you still had to pay for, but at least general admission was free, and we did have a great time.

I just love the theater for the dolphin show. One wall is floor to ceiling windows and overlooks Lake Michigan. Chicago really is a great city!

What a great family outing!

Professional Pictures

2011-02-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to get the girls' 1 year and 3 year pictures.

It is always quite the process to get the outfits together, get both girls there (in a good mood), get the perfect shots, and then choose the perfect combinations of poses and sizes from the 190 pictures they snapped. All the work and angst is always well worth it to capture my precious girls.

A special thank you to Brian who assisted in this adventure and is always a tremendous help in the process.

Our Favorites of Kate!

Our Favorites of Megan!

A Few Extra Fun Poses!

Our Sweet Sweet Girls!

Valentine Wishes!

2011-02-13T20:01:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from our two little sweethearts!

Below Kate would like to sing you a Valentine inspired song and Meggie sends her special Valentine kisses.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone we love sooo much!

Valentine's Day 2011 from Elizabeth Davies on Vimeo.

Snow Bound

2011-02-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

We had quite a snowfall last night into this morning. We received a little over 20 inches, which were accompanied by some pretty fierce wind that categorized the storm as an official blizzard. It was fun to see, especially because we were all snuggled into our toasty home last night, and are all 4 enjoying an official snow day at home today. With the wind there were quite a few drifts and below is what were welcomed with when we tried to open our front door this morning.

Daddy's snow blower was a little outmatched!

Thankfully he had a few adorable helpers!

(Notice the snowbank as tall as the trunk of our tree.)

We went outside for a few minutes to "enjoy" the day but quickly retreated inside due to the wind.

I'm assuming this Ground Hog Day Blizzard means 6 more weeks of winter.

No barbecues for a while.

The snow banks are almost as tall as Kate and certainly as tall as Meg!

This was quite the snowfall for Chicago. Contrary to popular belief we really don't get that much snow. This was the third largest snowfall of all time for the Chicago area. The news was and is still going crazy over such a story. Everyone is trying to name the storm. Some of the most creative are Snowmeggedon, Snowtorious B-I-G, The Chizzard (standing for Chicago Blizzard), and my personal favorite the return of Sammy Snowsa.

All in all we are enjoying all things winter and especially partaking in Kate and Megan's favorite winter activity, sledding at Nana and Pa's. They have a hill down to the lake that is the perfect kid's sledding spot. The pictures below are from a much warmer day of sledding and fun.

Like most things in life we are embracing winter, and are certainly enjoying hunkering down, catching up on a few things, constructing a Father Daughter Snowmen, making a great big pot of Chicken Noodle Soup, and watching our new favorite show Mad Men.

Our Princess Birthday Party

2011-01-23T21:31:00.000-08:00

On the 16th, Kate's actual birthday, we had a Princess Party for the girls. It was so much fun to celebrate our two precious princesses. The party was totally pink, was totally princess, was all girl, and turned out just I had envisioned.

Their invitation read; Join us for some fun, as our little Megan is turning 1!

It will be extra special so you see, because our Kate is turning 3!

The Birthday girls! With matching dresses and pink sparkly shoes!

The 12 ft x 8 ft Princess wall hanging that made our "ballroom". When Kate first saw it after nap she brought her mouth to her hand in wonder and gasped.

The chocolate, strawberry, and raspberry princess cupcakes made by Nana with individual "smash" cakes for Kate and Megan.

The princesses and knights enjoyed the "ball" after getting properly attired in Kate's dress-up collection.

We also had a Princess Parade where we announced each little girl and clapped for her as she walked down our family room stairway into the "ballroom". Each girl was awarded a glowing magic wand for the fairest, most stunning, most beautiful, etc. all made up and presented by Uncle Michael.

The "ball" consisted of Disney princess Sing-Along, freeze dance, and finished with a Daddy daughter dance.

We completed the ball at the stroke of 7 with a Princess pinata!

Our two girls loved their cakes and being sung to one at a time. Kate successfully blew out her and Megan's candles.

Everyone brought such generous and thoughtful gifts for our two little princesses. Both girls were very into their presents.
After everyone left Megan decided to be less princess like and really went for her cake!

No hands or utensils needed!

Delicious!

It was a fabulous day and fun to celebrate our two special little princesses with our family and friends! Thank you everyone!

CLICK HERE for all of our Princess Birthday Pictures!

Happy Birthday Megan!

2011-01-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

Megan turned one on Sunday. It's hard to believe our little Megan is already a year old. I can't believe my little baby is so big. The good part is I remember how much I love this stage. This beginning walking and talking stage is just so fun. Megan is just recently really starting to explode on the language front. I love language acquisition and love that Meg's first words (which she has said for some time) were

Mom-ma

She has also developed a good

Da-da, Na-Na, and Te-Te, (K,K)and Pa in recent weeks, looking right at or pointing to the correct person.

She has recognized her first TV character "Da!" at first and now "Doh-Dah" for Dora.

Megan has mastered her first animal sound while playing with our Fisher Price Nativity Set, if you show her the sheep or ask her what sound a sheep makes she proudly exclaims, "Baaaaaa!" She has even learned,"Ba-be" for Babies starting with Jake of course . She cutely picks up toy phones or real ones, puts it to her ear, and says, "Hi" in the sweetest voice you have ever heard.

Most recently, Megan has started walking! She stands unassisted and smiles from ear to ear as she takes a couple steps. Sometimes when she stands she claps for herself. Over the last few days she has become really steady and is now almost solely walking. She really mastered it quickly and really didn't fall much. I kind of miss the hand over hand, quick crawler in the house but walking is a fun stage too.

I teach a gymboree like class at our church for pre-preschoolers on Fridays which has been very successful. I credit this class with a lot of Megan's recent development including the recognition of her first body part, her head, and repeating the words bubbles and ball. Whenever we sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes she arches her back in attention, opens her eyes in focus, brings her hands to her head, and says, " Heeeaaadd."

She has also started to clap, stomp her feet, and shout hooray, during If you're happy and you know it. Megan proudly says E-I, E-I when we sing Old McDonald, twists and jumps appropriately in our opening song, and gets so excited to pop the bubbles and play parachute. You can really tell she is very aware of what is going on around her and boy is she spunky! She is very social with other people and shouts "Hi!" whenever we go places. She has a lot of spirit and seems to constantly be "getting into things." She blows raspberries, clicks her tongue, howls like an Indian with her mouth and hand, and does this crazy little shaking of her head no. Her aunt KK started calling her a little gremlin for her mischievous streak and that has progressed to the nickname of Gizmo.

She still has the prettiest blue eyes and a pretty thick head of hair that is starting to curl at the ends. It's really fun to see Meg's personality develop. She is very very happy, smiley, and giggles all the time. Megan has A LOT of spunk and certainly makes herself known through the house. She throws herself backwards on the floor, thrashes her legs to be tickled, and squeals until we do. Her laugh is adorable. She gives great kisses and shouts Awww after she gives them, and she is still so snuggly.

As you can see it's a fun time in the Davies house, and we have some video of Megan below. My favorite is how on her birthday we all sang to her and she looked around in amazement that all the attention was on her. She enjoys being in the spotlight. We love you our little one-year-old Megan and writing about you just brings a huge smile to my face!

CLICK HERE for Video of Megan at 1 year!

Barbara J. Oszakiewski

2011-01-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

March 23rd 1961 - January 5th 2011

After a 4 year long battle with ALS my beloved aunt Barbie passed away last week. While it is a blessing that she is free from this disease and the troubles of this world, it is very sad that a light so bright was extinguished so early. We had a memorial service on Sunday and my sister, Katie, delivered a fantastic eulogy which I have linked below. We were also able to put together a video slide show with one of Aunt Barbie's favorite songs, Bocelli's Time To Say Goodbye which you can view below. Barbie was a wonderful person who we all miss very much.

CLICK HERE for Barbie's Eulogy delivered by my sister Katie

Untitled from Elizabeth Davies on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas and New Year's at the Davies house! This season was extra special as it was Megan's first Christmas, and the first that Kate was really into. We had everyone dressed Christmas Eve in their finest and hosted my family for presents, Italian beef, and mostaccholi.

It is a little hard to get a good picture of the four of us these days. I post the picture below just to show how difficult it can be to get a picture of an almost three year old who is not cooperating. I don't think she quite understands the lengths a Mom goes to in coordinating outfits and getting everyone dressed.
Kate was so excited for Santa and asked for a Mickey Mouse Fishing Pole and the Twins Babies, which Santa of course delivered. In the morning when we came down the stairs, we showed Kate the cookies where gone and she said with shock, "Oh no, Swiper!" We explained to her that it was indeed Santa who ate our cookies and she calmed down. Our little "elf" Megan was happy to tear open presents as well Christmas morning.

We also had the fun of "giving" Megan the toy train for Christmas.

She loved it!

Her sister enjoyed it again too!

Our Christmas Day outfits for the girls. I had an entire closest this year of Christmas clothes for the girls (seriously our guest room)!

We even had two sets of matching pajamas!Some of the big present hits this year:

One of Kate's favorite present was a little computer where she practices writing her letters. She does a great A and H and is now very close on writing her name.

Megan's favorite was a Dora book that has its own little MP3 player. She yells "Doh-Dah" anytime she sees it.Kate got her "twins" babies!

And after all the oodles of toys were opened what did the kids play with most of the night? The cans in the pantry!!!

We had a great week of relaxing and then welcomed in 2011 with style!

We spent it with our friends the Martins and had a great kid-filled New Year.

And since I've been just a little busy in the days that led up to the holidays, and had some computer problems that limited my blogging this month, below is what our wonderful days were filled with.

Our church had a kid's pagent and Kate was a little too interested in the baby Jesus!

Kate had a Christmas party at Pre-school that Mommy and Daddy got to attend.

Kate was very excited to show us the circle at school where she reads. I love this picture because it is a good shot of her pigtails.

She was also very excited to pose with her teachers Miss Donna and Miss Julie.

Uncle Ben taught Kate the art of dunking cookies.

We took many many pictures in our outfits in front of the Christmas tree, the one below is my favorite.
We took so many Kate insisted on taking pictures of her babies in front of the tree, cute one and little one in that order below!

And an extra special bonus, our little Megan started walking on her own, the Friday before Christmas! She was exactly the same age as Kate was to the day for taking her first steps. I will post more adorable pictures of her unassisted walking soon.

As you can see we had a great fun-filled Holiday!

Jacob Brzezinski Has Arrived!

2010-12-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

After 25 hours in the hospital and 3+ hours of pushing our nephew

Jacob Casimir Brzezinski

was born at 9:37pm December 28th!

Katie, Ben, and the little guy are doing great.

Actually, little is not the right word for our nephew, because as it turns out Baby Jake isn't such a little guy. Katie started showing really early in the pregnancy, Katie's belly was measuring big, Ben's family had big babies, I had pretty big babies, and so we all pretty much suspected that the baby in KK's belly was on the big side.

When Jake finally pushed his way out to everyone's amazement,
he was 10 lbs 9 oz and 22 1/2 inches long!

The doctor could barely believe it, and made the nurses retake his weight three times. Everyone that sees Katie says she deserves a medal, which is absolutely the case. She was a champion.
Little Jake is adorable with a football player size chest and football player size legs. Brian claims that yesterday was a great day for the Bears as they clinched a first round bye in the playoffs and their future all-pro free safety was born.

Whatever Jake turns out to be when he grows up, he is LOVED already by two of the greatest people in the world, Katie and Ben. You just can't wipe the smiles from the faces of these two enamored parents. What a lucky little baby!

CLICK HERE for the Professional Pictures of Jacob!!!

The password is 1228jacobbrzezinski

Too Cute For School

2010-12-11T06:21:00.001-08:00

We just received Kate's pre-school pictures in her cubby at school, and they adorably scream school pictures. Kate has been too cute lately. She loves pretending to be Miss Julie her teacher. She reads us books facing out and mimics everything her teacher says. Like:

"Scoot back a little."

"Nuh, ah Megan. Don't touch Miss Julie's stuff." (referring to herself as Miss Julie in the 3rd person.)

"Oops I missed a page."

If we get up too soon she says, "No, not yet, I not call you name yet."

She tells Megan, "Meggie, if you're a good listener, you'll get a sticker."

It is all an adorable window into her life as a two year old preschooler.

At home Kate has been equally as cute. I think it is safe to say we have officially passed any degree of the terrible twos and dare I say my little girl is becoming a rational member of the family. She is such a good listener and turning out to be a really really good kid. She loves and shares with her sister, and warms our hearts every day. Kate has two babies she has named Little One and Cute One and needs to take all around the house. At night she very carefully tucks them into the baby crib she insists goes right next to her bed. She makes sure that both her and her babies' blankets are spread out all the way. Kate is proving to be a little particular.

Pretty much everything she says or does right now is overwhelmingly adorable. Some of the extra cute things she has said lately at home;

"This is my Pal Meggie and we're animal rescuers."
"Oh, This is Perfect (puhfect)."
"That sounds like a great idea!"
"You're the best in the whole giant world."

and my favorite, one I'm sure I'll hear repeatedly over the years especially as she enters her teen years;

"Mommy, you're my best friend."

She has begun to negotiate with us a little and the other night as Brian was leaving her room she said, "But, but, but Daddy, I can't snuggle myself." Needless to say she won that negotiation.

One night she had a bad dream, Brian went in to comfort her, and she told him, "Swiper swiped the refrigerator." Brian assured her that he got it back and it was downstairs and she asked him," You got it back, and all the pieces." So what does a two-year old dream of? Obviously being in a Dora episode.

At pre-school Brian is out and about as Pastor and it has been interesting watching how Kate handles that. She seems to recognize Brian's different roles already. The other day Brian peeked into their classroom for something and Kate said, "Daddy, Brian (Bwian), I mean Pastor Brian (Bwian)."

Kate is very polite and says please and thank you almost every time. If we for some reason forget to acknowledge this politeness she says quite indignantly, "I said, thank you." Prompting us to respond our usual, "You're welcome."

Another other too cute thing she does is confuse a couple close sounding nouns.

She replaces:

elbow - elmo
fork - pork
bagel - bengal
hood- hook
elevator - elli-gator

She is also super into Christmas, Baby Jesus, Santa, Frosty, lights, and everything Holiday. She is starting to connect the dots as yesterday she said, "Mommy, I shared with Meggie. Santa will be so happy."

Generally everything our girls do is incredibly cute, and it is fun to take a minute, in the few extra I can find, to write them down for a future trip down memory lane.

So Much To Be Thankful For

2010-11-30T20:02:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how thankful we are for these two sweet little girls. I am convinced they are the cutest kids in the whole world, and am so thankful for them and many other things this Thanksgiving.

There are a few things I'm especially thankful for this holiday

I'm thankful for how sweet my girls are with each other, I am thankful for Megan's belly laugh, I am thankful for how Kate tells us we are the best in the whole world, I'm thankful for how well behaved Kate is becoming, I'm thankful for how well they sleep, I'm thankful I didn't have to drive for the holiday, I'm thankful for the fun we have together, I'm thankful for the best four grandparents in the world, I'm thankful for a wonderful husband to share it all with, I'm thankful for their health, and most of all I'm thankful I get to be their Mom.

Pictures from the Day

By the way can you tell they are sisters?

Kate Thanksgiving Day 2008

Megan Thanksgiving Day 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hockey Fun

2010-11-17T13:26:00.000-08:00

We've signed Kate up for All-Star Sports Camp at the Park District. Basically the kids run around for half an hour with a somewhat focused sports day. So far we've had basketball which Kate loved. She actually had an impressive shot for a two-year old complete with follow-through, which she most certainly didn't inherit from either of her shooting challenged parents. Her favorite part of hockey was probably playing What Time is it Mr. Fox?

Megan loves the mornings as well, smiling and shouting at people from her snugli.Hockey was a big hit, but not as big of a hit as our adorable girls were in their matching tracksuits!

Apple Picking

2010-11-11T13:17:00.000-08:00

The weather in October has been fabulous and Brian, the girls, and I made it apple picking just before Halloween. We were a little late for the earlier than usual apple crop, but it was perfect. Kate loved searching for the apples and was so excited when she found one...

She insisted on pulling them from the trees...

And when she succeeded she exclaimed, "Look I've found a Golden Apple!"

She was too cute and was very careful to protect our finds...

We had a wonderful time at Apple Holler picking pumpkins, riding the train, playing in the maze, and just being together in the beautiful fall weather.

Megan's 9 Month Pictures

2010-11-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

I had all the intention of getting Megan's 9 month pictures done, picking the best pose, buying the $9.95 special, and walking out. Megan and the photographer however had other plans, and I had no restraint. They are precious pictures that I will always treasure, and I'm so happy they turned out so well. I don't know what else I was expecting from our beautiful, joyous, smiley, spunky, little Megan.

Halloween Fun

2010-11-01T20:11:00.001-07:00

Brian and I decided to celebrate the first Halloween in our new home with a Halloween party,and it was so much fun! Between all of our guests, we had 11 kids 5 and under, and if you combine all their energy and excitement with an inflated sugar high, the result is our best Halloween ever!

Kate, as you might have guessed from earlier blog posts, was Cinderella, and she loved every minute of it! Unfortunately, Cinderella never wore gym shoes, so Kate wouldn't either. So picture with me a two year girl trying to keep up with her friends, all while wearing Cinderella heels! Thankfully, after a few houses she finally relented and switched to the gym shoes. Kate also enjoyed greeting all the folks with "Trick or treat!", as well as "Have a good night!" as she walked away. What a sweet Cinderella!

Megan as always loved all the action and giggled at everyone's costumes. She is the happiest 9 month old ever and Halloween night was no exception.Here our some pics below to give you a flavor of our Halloween "season". Kate had a parade at preschool and our town has a Halloween fest that was very sweet. Hope your Halloween was as fun as ours!

Second Child

2010-10-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

There are many ways we can tell that this is our second go around at being parents. We are much more laid back with Megan as you can see from the pictures below...

And I didn't even insist on Organic Frosting!

Megan 9 Months

2010-10-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

Our little Megan is now 9 months and couldn't be any cuter. She is very interactive, happy, responsive, and spunky. She has a cute little ahh- ahh social laugh and a deep full bellied fun laugh. She claps, plays peek-a-boo, blows raspberries, and says Mama. We've given up baby food in favor of self-feeding, and she cut her bottom two teeth just after 7 months. After army crawling and dragging herself around our house for about two months, she has just decided that the traditional form of crawling will do. Quickly after traditional crawling Megan has begun to pull herself to a standing position. 9 months is my favorite baby age and I just love everything that follows from here. Meggie brings a smile to our faces all the time. She makes sure her presence in known in the house and loves anything her sister does. Now that Megan is mobile she and Kate have had to "work some thing out". We are coming to realize that Meg is not a push-over, which is good for a second sister. Megan also seems to have a real love for music. We're not quite sure where she got that from but she gets very excited, claps, and squeals along to her favorite songs. She is very joyous and we are so thankful for all the joy she brings into our lives.

Summer Wrap-Up

2010-10-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here is my post celebrating all that is summer!

I think one of the most amazing accomplishments of this summer was that Kate officially learned to swim. Our little two-year old must have been a mermaid in another life, because she took to the water like she was born with gills. We went 2-3 times a week to the Tot Swim at the Grayslake pool and pretty soon the lifeguards started referring to her as Miss Adventurous. While all the other under 5 kids played in the shallow end, Kate spent her time mouth high in water, diving, paddling, and jumping in over her head. It was a little stressful supervising at the beginning of the summer, which is why I was so thrilled when she finally figured the whole swimming thing out.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Swimming!

The weather has turned a bit cooler, the leaves are starting to change, and I have emptied my car and diaper bag of all things summer, so I think I can begrudgingly say that my favorite season is over. I think its a hold over of emotions from teaching that are the main contributors to my dreading the end of summer, but I am not one that looks forward to the beauty of fall, simply because it means the glorious days of summer have passed. However, this year I can take solace in that my girls and I squeezed every last ounce out of the summer. And what a beautiful summer it was! We had tons of fun visiting the sprinkler parks, swimming in the pools, spending afternoons at the lakehouse, stopping at Tastee-Freeze, enjoying family parties, taking day trips to Lake Geneva, and partaking in almost daily walks.

I do in many ways enjoy the fall. The slower pace is comforting. There are plenty of projects to keep us busy, and this year I have lots of great memories of my two cuties, the warmth of the sun on our skin, water splashing around us, and the thoughts of the fun next year will bring.

Two Year Old Soccer

2010-09-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

We recently signed Kate up for Two Year Old Soccer at the local Park District.

It is very cute. Kate very much enjoys chasing balls and other two year-olds around the gym for a half an hour Saturday mornings, which is pretty much the extent of two year old soccer. We see it as a great start to her youth sports "athletic" career.

See, it's not all princesses, tea parties, and dress-up at the Davies house!

Meggie, the cutest cheerleader!

It's tough work being an all-star.

You Want to Play Princess With Me, Mom?

2010-09-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

For Kate's 2nd Birthday my Mom and I put together a collection of dress-up clothes for Kate. She has just really started to get into them. Just about everyday when she wakes up from her nap she asks me, "You want to Play Princess With (wif) Me, Mom?" I love it and usually can't help but indulge.Kate loves it when we put outfits on Megan too. Sometimes Kate gets creative and tells me Meggie is the one who wants to play princess. It's so cute, I can't resist. The other day I was getting Megan in her room and Kate appeared at the door pink ballerina tutu in hand and said, "Meggie, look what I got for you. It's sparkly!" Kate declared Meggie, "So sparkly and so beautiful." Life with my two girls constantly makes me smile, just like looking at these pictures of my two little princesses.

By the way, the high heels are another must in the whole ensemble. She loves to clip-clop around in them all over the house!

Congratulations Mike and Stefanie!

2010-09-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

Michael and Stefanie are now engaged. Yeah!

We are so excited for both of them and can't wait for the wedding.

We know that wherever it is, it will be an awesome day.

Love you guys!

Kate's 1st Day of Preschool

2010-09-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today was Kate's first day at Gloryland Preschool. Kate loved getting her backpack ready for the big day, we talked about it for weeks, and it turned out to be a big success! Kate was very social at school, introducing herself to the other kids, and when it came time for us to leave her there she just said, "Bye Mom. Bye Dad. See you Later." That was it. I guess its good she feels so comfortable away from us, and I really didn't expect anything different. Kate will be going for two hours Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and I think it is a great fit for both Kate and Mommy! I have only one question. How did my little girl get so big?

What We Did on our Summer Vacation Part II New York

2010-08-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

In early August Brian, the girls, and I headed to Albany to visit with Brian's family. We as always had a wonderful time. It is so special to see the cousins interact, have some family catch up time, and get to enjoy the pool. Kate loved the pool and literally was in the water one evening from 3pm to 9pm, leaving only to go to the potty and eat dinner. While there we got to see the Libutti's new house (which is beautiful), go up to Lake Placid for the day, and visit Hoffman's playland. Another great part of the trip back East, was getting to see some of Brian's high school friends, their wonderful wives, and adorable kids. On one hand it is sad that our time with all our great NY family and friends is limited, but on another we certainly make the most of our visits and have a fabulous time together. It is something we have and will look forward to every year. There are so many pictures from this trip that make me smile that I've got a bunch below and put the rest in an album for viewing below. Until next time...

CLICK HERE for all of our New York Vacation Pictures!

Pool Time

Lake Placid

Hoffman's

Great Friends

The Littlest Cousins

What We Did on our Summer Vacation Part I The Dells

2010-08-17T12:55:00.001-07:00

It has been a wonderful and fun-filled summer for the Davies four. Things have settled down a bit, and I thought I'd catch up on blogging with a series of summer posts. In Mid-July we took our annual family vacation to Wisconsin Dells with my parents, my siblings, and Brian's parents. We stayed at the Wilderness on the Lake and enjoyed the pools, visiting, and our favorite restaurants. It's very fun to take the girls to the places we went as kids, and so nice to have the time with everyone. It is one of my favorite weeks of the whole year!

CLICK HERE for Wisconsin Dells Vacation Pictures 2010!

6 Months and 2 1/2 Year Pictures

2010-07-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

We went to get the girls' professional pictures taken again. The nice thing about having the girls 2 years apart is their picture milestones line-up nicely. I love the photographer we use and love to have these great keepsakes.

Exciting News!

2010-07-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

Katie and Ben are having a baby!

They are due December 24th and we couldn't be happier. To top it all off they just put in a contract and had their offer accepted on a beautiful house in Grayslake! We are so excited to have Katie, Ben, and Baby B so close, and for all of our friends who are also due around Christmas. It seems to be a mini baby boom for us.

Megan at 6 Months

2010-07-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE for all of Megan's Pictures at 6 Months!
CLICK HERE for Video of Megan from 3-6 Months!

Our dear little Megan is now 6 months old, and I think as you can see from the pics above proving to be one of the smiliest babies ever. Meg or Meggie as we sometimes call her is generally very content, very smiley, very happy, and very joyful. She has a great squeal and is quite the babbler. For being the second sister she makes sure her presence is well known. Megan is a good sleeper and a great roller. She is pretty much mobile via consecutive rolls, and is quite cunning at scooting to her sister's toys. One of Megan's favorite toys at the moment are her own adorable toes and feet. Sitting is something we've just about mastered at 6 months, and I think crawling won't be far off. Kate LOVES Megan and asks to hold her on the couch every morning. Kate always says, "Come here, Come here little Megs. Come here for Kate." Kate kisses her, sometimes licks her, and declares, "Oh, so cute. Such a cute baby. She likes me!"

Megan has a great belly laugh and uses it all the time when she is playing with her sister. Megan's hair is getting a little lighter, but still has a brownish tint. Her eyes appear as though they are going to stay their gorgeous blue, and her rolls are just delicious. We've introduced solid foods and have found Meg to be a little discriminating in her tastes. The more flavorful, the better. She absolutely detested the plain rice cereal and much more prefers the oatmeal pear cinnamon blend. She is a smart cookie! I can't believe its been half of a year already, but its been quite the half of a year. We are so thankful for you little Megan, for the fact that you are such a good baby, and for all you bring to our family.

Pictures That Make Me Smile

2010-07-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

There are way too many great pics of the girls for me to even keep up on blogging. We are too busy making wonderful memories to officially document them, but that is certainly a blessing. We are having tons of fun together and enjoying the beautiful weather. Kate is our adventurous, talkative, waterbug and Megan is a rolling, babbling, smiling sweetheart. I'm sure during our Midwest winter I'll be able to blog a little better, but the pictures can capture quite a bit.

Father's Day

2010-06-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day Brian, from your three favorite girls! We love you so much and are so thankful that you are our Daddy. No one in the world could be more fun, more patient, or more loving to us than you. Thanks for all the outings, all the laughs, all the care, all the late night assistance, and especially sharing in all the smiles. Your girls and I all love you so much and celebrate you always! And to our Pa and Pop-Pop... You are simply both the best! We are the luckiest family ever. Happy Father's Day to our guys!

The Little Dipper Fun and Friends

2010-06-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Fearlessness, we are finding, is one of Kate's many attributes. For a little two year old she is very adventurous. We took her to Great America last week and she rode the famous three story wooden roller coaster, The Little Dipper, and loved it.
I was a little nervous it might be two much for her, but when it was done she looked at me and said, "Mommy, One more time!"

Megan also enjoyed the day's adventures from the Snugli with Aunt KKs help.
The rest of the park especially the kiddie areas were a success.

It was great to see that they salvaged some of the famous Kiddieland rides.

We also had a great visit from our Michigan friends the Starks. It was so wonderful to see them and catch up.

And what kind of post of mine would this be, if it didn't feature a matching outfit picture of the girls.

If you are wondering we have probably about 20 matching outfits for the girls, and I am in love with each and every one. One section of Megan's closet is dedicated solely to matching outfits. We generally wear them to church on Sundays and special outings. Considering there are 52 weeks in the year, I might have to do some more shopping!

More Memorial Day Pictures

2010-06-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

I missed these pictures when I was looking at my Memorial Day pics, and since the dresses were such a hit I figured I'd share the one of both girls.

I also have another of Meg, and a picture of my Parents' Lake from the weekend below.

I just love the one above of both girls because it just really captures their personalities.

I can't believe I almost deleted it!

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-06-01T09:49:00.001-07:00

div>

We've had a fabulous few days here in Chicago filled with lots of sunshine, lake swimming, pool swimming, and one of the best parts a day of swimming and golfing at the Grand Geneva. Now all we have to do is recuperate from our weekend of fun.

Lake Fun

2010-05-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

With the warmer weather the last few days the girls and I have been taking full advantage of the lake! Kate absolutely loves the lake. She has quite the imagination and can play for hours on the beach, and I mean hours. I think she was in the water for about 8 hours on Sunday. She plays with the sand, the water, the toys, and pretty much has a blast. My parents have a small wooded area on the side of their house which Kate has named the Hundred Acre Woods. She goes in to look for "woozles". She and her sister are just so cute. Megan also likes the lake and enjoys her excer-saucer in the sand. She kicks and smiles as long as her feet are touching. Once she has kicked the sand away she gets sad and we have to put it back for her. It is wonderful for me to watch the girls enjoy the lake sooo much.

Gammy and Pop Pop

2010-05-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

Gammy and Pop Pop just came for a fabulous visist! The girls got to spend so much quality time with their NY grandparents. Kate was especially sad to see them go and was asking for them this morning. It is such fun to have a retired Pop Pop and now hopefully they can come for even more visits. We also get tons of work done when they're here and really appreciate the help. We edged and mulched all of our beds this week and can now enjoy our beautiful backyard. Thanks for the wonderful time! All of us are looking forward to your next trip out.

Milestones

2010-05-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

This picture above is my favorite yet of the two girls as they are wearing outfits that were mine and my sister's! How neat that I now have two little girls, two years apart, that can look that cute in those pink rompers.

We've had a lot of big milestones as of late in the Davies house.

The one I'm most excited about is that Kate is potty-trained!

We've been guiding her towards this goal the last few months. Prior to about four weeks ago any time she would pee even just a little, she would strip off her clothes and diaper, run to the bathroom, put her potty seat on the toilet, climb up, sit down, pretend to pee, wipe (really throwing way too much paper into the toilet), flush, wash hands, and declare she went potty. Not quite, she had a lot of steps down but was missing one really important one. We knew she was close. Then about four weeks ago she was walking around without a diaper, which she tended to do whenever I was nursing Megan. A little pee started trickling out and I told her to put it in the potty, fully expecting an entire accident on the floor as has happened before. This time she ran to the bathroom and actually went. Later that night we got a lot more pee and even a #2 and it has been pretty much smooth sailing from there. We have a little more work to do at night time and when we are out for a long period of time, but considering I haven't changed a poopy diaper in about four weeks I would declare her potty trained. The other day Kate even informed me that if I went potty I would get a special treat. I asked her what kind and she proudly declared, "Ice Cream!"

Other excitement in our household is that our little Megan has begun rolling over!

She has made it from tummy to back and is very close to going from back to tummy. Megan has found her voice and "talks" to us all regularly. She has picked out a favorite snuggly pink bear blanket toy and loves to touch it, eat it, and rub it against her face. Whenever Kate takes it from her, Megan gives the saddest little cry. Meg is becoming a very interactive and somewhat mobile member of the family much to our delight.

On Saturday we purchased a new van, a huge milestone for us. We bought a 2010 silver Toyota Sienna Minivan. To say that Brian and I are not car people is an understatement, but we might be getting there. Our new van is beautiful. With this latest purchased we skipped an entire decade in car ownership. Previously our "newest" vehicle was a 1997 minivan. We can see that cars have come along way in the last 10 years or so and are enjoying among other amenities a working CD player. When we used it for the first time Kate looked around in amazement! Our new van is slightly used with 2,000 miles, so we got a great deal, and we realized just before we purchased it there was a DVD player, automatic sliding doors, blue tooth, and MP3 input. Its quite the step up for us, but bottom line we are happy to have a dependable car that can safely drive around our little angels.

Professional Pictures of Our Girls

2010-04-30T05:36:00.001-07:00

I took the girls yesterday to get Kate's 2 Year Pictures and Megan's 3 Months. They came out beautiful, better than I ever expected.

In the picture above Kate was saying, "Nice to meet you, Megan."

Our Gerber Baby

Our photographer was wonderful and both girls were really very cooperative which produced plenty of good options. I had a really, really hard time narrowing down what to buy, and it is really, really hard narrowing down 175 pictures, making decisions on poses, and choosing quantities with two adorable little girls to take care of. I realized twenty minutes into the decision making the real "problem" was having so many great pictures of our little angels, and it is a great "problem" to have.

Megan at 3 Months

2010-04-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

Megan is a little past three months and absolutely thriving! What is there to say about Megan but that she is a GREAT baby. She is super smiley, super cuddly, never fussy, and a great sleeper. She is spoiling us for sure. I'm glad she's my second baby because it make it easier to take care of two, any child after her would have seemed like a terror, and she would have falsely had us thinking we were the most competent parents on the planet. She is sooooo content and sooo sweet, we absolutely love her, especially Kate. Kate adorably refers to her as her little baby sister and deems her sooo cute. Megan recognizes Kate and loves it when she plays with her. Megan has started consistently sleeping through the night. We sometimes have to wake her in the morning to feed and get the day started. It is awesome for Brian and I. Megan very good at holding up her head steady, and practically rolling over. She loves sitting upright and has really taken to her Bumpo Seat. With the warmer weather we have been going on lots of walks and like her older sister Meg loves the Snugli. She gets so excited as we put her in it and coos and laughs. We are really getting settled in and Megan is settling in with us!

CLICK HERE for Pictures of Megan's Month 3!

Megan Lynne Baptized in Christ Part II

2010-04-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

Megan's Baptism weekend was just so much fun. Not only did we get to celebrate Meg's special day we also had a great visit with family. Cheryl, Dan, Michaela, and Alec stayed with us. Linda, Wa, Brian's cousin Eric, and aunt Kathy stayed with my Mom and Dad. We had a weekend of walks, parks, coloring Easter eggs, food, more food, and fun visiting. It was a weekend you just want to bottle for later. Luckily, we have a lot of pictures to remember it by and I have organized some of them below. I took over 100 and Cheryl took like 300, hers are especially good and many are in our slide show of pics from the weekend. We still smile thinking about it. It was just wonderful to have both our families together.CLICK HERE for the rest of Megan's Baptism Weekend Pics!

CLICK HERE for Pictures from the Weekend!

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Coloring Easter Eggs!

CLICK HERE for the rest of Megan's Baptism Pics!

Megan Lynne Baptized in Christ

2010-04-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

On Palm Sunday we were able to celebrate Megan's Baptism. It was a fantastic day and fantastic weekend as we were able to share it with both our families! Brian's family made it from New York, met Megan, saw our set up in Grayslake, and honored the special day with us. We were also blessed to have Brian's sister Cheryl, and brother-in-law Dan serve as God Parents. There were so many great memories and pictures from the weekend, I didn't know where to start. I'll start with the most important part, the actual Baptism, and follow up in the next few days with other great memories. It was a day and weekend we will never forget!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T19:06:00.001-07:00

Our Smiley Meg's First Easter

Kate loved what she called her princess gloves.

Megan's First Easter Bonnet!

Kate getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt!

The only picture I managed to get of both girls with matching Easter outfits.

Our trip to the petting zoo Lamb's Farm after Church!Kate Loved Feeding the Animals especially the Chickens!

The Cutest Bunny Ever!
As you can see we had quite the fun filled day and we had a fun filled past weekend with Megan's Baptism, which I will blog about later this week. It was magical. We are still recovering from all the wonderful action and today was simply a wonderful, enjoyable day for our family. I can't tell you how special it is to have both our beautiful girls in our life. In our unbiased opinion, Kate is the cutest 2 year old ever and Megan is the sweetest baby! We couldn't be more blessed.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated St. Patty's Day from my little Irish cuties!

Things are going well this week in the Davies household as warmer weather has rolled in. The hint of spring and summer have been wonderful, and we have spent as much time outside as possible at parks, walking around our neighborhood, on my parent's deck, and playing in the sand at the lake. Megan slept through the night Wednesday, making it all the way until 7:30. That coupled with the warmer weather, made me feel like I could conquer the world. (Most nights Meg wakes around 5 and goes back which is also very nice.) The girls are so cute, so fun, and I can already tell this is going to be a great summer. I truly feel like I am living the best time of my life - right now, and it is a great feeling.

Kate the Super Sleuth

2010-03-15T05:26:00.000-07:00

Kate loves the show My Friends Tigger and Pooh on Disney. It is a very cute show and I guess Kate thinks she too is a Super Sleuth. She found this magnifying glass in her toy chest and has been walking around all week "looking for clues" and declaring her toys in trouble and in need of rescue. Her imagination has been so entertaining.

It is amazing to us how much Kate picks up on and understands. When I do things with Megan she loves to imitate. After I'm done changing Megan, Kate takes her baby doll and does the same on the changing table. Kate now insists on feeding her baby complete with boppy pillow.

One of the many many adorable things Kate does lately is take swigs of her juice and announce them, "Ahhhh, De-wicious." It is the sweetest sound and we caught it on tape below.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate saying De-wicious!

Megan at 2 Months and Videos

2010-03-07T16:46:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday Megan will be two months old! It is so fun to watch her become more interactive. She continues to be a sweet, cuddly, alert, and a well natured baby. She is holding her head up, looks for her sister, and loves to hear her Daddy's voice. She generally sleeps well at night and according to her parents is absolutely beautiful. We can't tell if she'll keep her dark hair or be blonde like Kate, but her eyes appear to be her Daddy's beautiful blue. It is hard to be certain as of yet, but certainly she resembles her sister quite a bit.

CLICK HERE for Megan's 2 Month Pictures!

In honor of Megan turning 2 months here are some precious videos of our little girl. The first one is of her smiling which she has been doing quite a bit the last two weeks. The doctor said at her last visit that it was too early for real smiles, and at this point they would be accidental. I don't think there is anything accidental about the smiles below.

CLICK HERE for Video of Megan Smiling!

The others are from Megan's first few days. One is dedicated to her first interactions with Kate. As you can tell below at firs Kate didn't know what to do with her, but now kisses her 50 times a day, covers her with a blanket, shares her toys, and loves her so much. Our computer speakers were not hooked up, so I couldn't edit the videos until recently, thus the delay in sharing. I think getting things adjusted in our new home has been more complicated than getting adjusted to the addition of Megan. She has seamlessly entered our little family!

CLICK HERE for Video of Megan at the Hospital!

CLICK HERE for Video of Megan Meeting Kate!

Our Future Olympian

2010-02-28T07:39:00.001-08:00

We've gotten to do a lot of neat activities with Kate lately and realized that many of them are in the spirit of the Olympics. For her 2nd birthday my brother and sister and their significant others bought Brian, Kate, and myself tickets to Disney on Ice. They were in the front row and Kate loved the action. She oohed, ahhed, and clapped for the Princesses and the Mickey characters. Surprisingly, she made it through the whole thing. I don't know if it was a better present for Kate or for us, and it could possibly foster an ice skating future for our little one. Another fun activity we've enjoyed is sledding on the incline by my parents' house. Kate is an adventurous little girl and as you can see from the video below enjoys a little speed which leads us to believe we just might have a future Olympian on our hands!

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Sledding!

Perhaps Kate will be a summer Olympian...We recently joined the Y and started Perch swim lessons with Kate. It is possibly the cutest half hour of my life. My cheeks are sore from smiling when we are done. Kate loves them, listens to the teacher, and is picking up some good skills. It is a blast.

Megan 6 Weeks

2010-02-21T20:43:00.001-08:00

Megan's Birth Announcement Picture

Kate sharing her beloved doggies with Megan

Megan loves tubby time

Our little Meg has turned 6 weeks already! She is doing great and starting to coo while smiling. She is alert more, holding her head up, responsive to voices, and loves, loves, loves cuddling. You can tell in the pictures she is certainly filling out. She was 11 lbs 8 oz at her one month appointment. We are certainly busy here with our two girls and couldn't be happier. Here are Megan's 6 week pictures below.

CLICK HERE for Megan's 6 week pictures!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

Does it get any cuter? Not according to Brian and I. Our two valentine's are doing great and Kate especially loved the matching shirts and bows. Kate has been really affectionate lately especially with Megan kissing her all the time and then declaring, "Awww So Cute!" The shirts read Daddy Loves Me. Brian was thrilled with them and his cookie cake. The girls actually gave me a Valentine present today. Megan slept all the way until 5 in the morning going right back after, and Kate slept until 8:30. It was wonderful! Happy Valentine's Day from our little sweethearts.

Megan's One Month Old

2010-02-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

Megan is officially one month old today! Our cute little angel is sleeping well, eating well, and starting to fill out her 3 month sleepers. We have started to make a few outings and have realized that Kate is harder to take out at this stage of the game than Megan. Megan's hair remains dark, her eyes a very light blue, and her skin a little darker like mine. Of course we think she is gorgeous like her sister but we're not the least bit bias. Meg gave me her first open eyes non-gas related smile as I was blowing her kisses, and it just melted my heart. Our first month has gone so well and we all love the addition of Megan to our family. Kate is becoming especially fond of her sister. She gives her kisses, calls her Mee-gan, soothes her in the car by chanting, "Megan, Megan, we love you!", and as you can see in the video below is a wonderful big sister. What a wonderful month with our little Megan Lynne.

CLICK HERE for Megan's 1 Month Pictures!

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate and Megan!

The weather outside is frightful...

2010-02-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

But our life is so delightful...As long as I've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. As a stay at home Mom, I've come to enjoy winter a little more than when I was working and had to commute in it. Brian and I have noticed now that we live in Lake County, we get a good amount of snow (more than any other place we've lived including MN), and I love it. I love to look out and see the puffy clouds falling as we are cozy inside, and I love how a fresh snowfall looks on our otherwise dreary winter landscape. In our sub there is a lake and a pond where our park district maintains ice skating rinks on which many hockey games are played. It is all so picturesque. Kate is also starting to appreciate snow. We got a few inches of snow the other day, and quite a bit more a few weeks ago. Brian and Kate made it outside for some great fun! Here are pics from their outing.

Megan Week Three

2010-02-01T20:23:00.001-08:00

Well Megan has been with us for three weeks now and is proving to be a very good baby. She is a good sleeper at night, smiley and cuddly during the day, and largely content! Her umbilical cord stopped oozing and she had her first official bath at the beginning of the week. Kate picked up a little cold and unfortunately Megan caught a slight version of it, but thankfully never got bad and is now pretty much over it. Thank goodness for breastfeeding. Megan also got her first bottle of pumped milk, and Mommy got to go out for the afternoon on Saturday. Kate loves her sister and tries to give her kisses all the time. Kate refers to her as Baby A-Megan. I can't imagine what I did with just one and I can't imagine my life with out both little girls. Below are Megan's pictures from the week.

CLICK HERE for Megan's Week Three Pictures!

Princess Kate the Chatterbox

2010-01-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

Our little two year old has been quite chatty lately and what she says is so adorable. Here are some of the adorable little things Kate has been saying.

The other day in the car she was babbling about a tower, a frog, and a castle and then declared, "Mommy, I Princess Kate! Find Kate Castle, Find Castle Kate!" Later that day she was lining up all of her princess figurines (fig-ines as she calls them), and cutely sat next to them in line because clearly she was the 7th princess. She still walks around the house saying, "I Princess Kate."

At her party the kids found it fun to run from one end of the house to the other. They would line up and take off. Kate would adorably yell, "Come on Kids, Follow Me." She would shout this every time they ran regardless of where she was in the pack, though mostly she was in the front. When her cousin Tommy lagged behind Kate quickly pulled him back to the crowd shouting, "Tommy, Where are you? There you are. Come On Tommy."

Since Brian works so close to home he makes it home for lunch and started taking Kate for a "run" when the weather permits so she can have some much needed energy release. Brian walks and Kate runs this little loop around our sub. One day she tripped and fell into a snow bank. Brian picked her up, brushed her off, and she cutely said, "Thanks Daddy, its slippery." She fell again shortly after and said, "Oh, no! Not again."

Whenever we are in the car and go down a hill that Kate notices she shouts,"Weee." When we return to flat land she says, "Oh no! All done Weee."

The other day she saw a picture of herself on the computer and said, "That's Kate. I so cute."

And perhaps my favorite, Kate ran to me to be picked up. When I did she said, "I so happy. I missed you Mommy." Such joy!

Another thing our two year old knows is how to work her portable DVD player. She knows how to put in the DVDs, change them, turn the player on, and what buttons to push to perform different operations. She is such a sponge soaking up everything, and she actually picks up a lot from the TV we let her see. She now sometimes chooses to count in Spanish, only up to five, thanks to Dora and Diego. As you can see from the picture above she is very serious about her player. I call this face her Brian face because he has the same expression when concentrating. We are having so much fun everyday with our little Kate! (Though, she is starting to not seem quite as little.) She is such a fun kid and truly good at heart.

Megan's 2nd Week

2010-01-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

One of Megan's Precious Smiles

We've made it through week two and Megan is continuing to do great. Her jaundice levels are good, we didn't need the billy blanket, and are through with the many pediatrician appointments and blood tests. One of the remedies for jaundice is to get sunlight, but with a January baby in the Midwest that can be tough. Brian and I spent several hours these past two weeks "chasing the sun" extending ourselves in uncomfortable positions to try and get Megan some of the very little sun light we did have. I even positioned the van in the drive, blasted the heat in the car, and took Megan outside with me to get some of this rare sunlight. Thankfully, we are done with the jaundice!

Megan continues to be a very good baby. I know she is young, but we are cautiously optimistic about her disposition and sleeping. She is a very alert newborn, up for 7-8 hours a day, a good napper at other times, and a good night time sleeper. She eats twice a night and goes right back in her crib. We can even lay her down a little awake and she just nods off. That is very unlike her older sister. Megan is a good eater and was already up to 9lbs 7oz on Thursday. She is just about out of newborn clothes and really never fit in newborn hats. Megan has long fingers, feet, and toes. She seems very tall and we generally can't believe she was in my stomach two weeks ago.

Megan smiles quite a bit while sleeping and is incredibly cuddly. I love to feel her dark hair as she snuggles on my shoulder. At week two, I kind of look forward to getting out of bed to snuggle and feed her. But that is admittedly week two. Megan looks A LOT like Kate did, but I think a little more like me than Brian. Maybe it's the dark hair. She is really doing very well, and so are we with managing both of our precious angels. We hope you enjoy our pictures from the week below.

CLICK HERE for all of Megan's Week Two Pictures!

Happy 2nd Birthday Kate

2010-01-16T18:54:00.001-08:00

Our first little angel is two! We had a low key day Saturday, relaxing and playing, and even had a little cake to celebrate. Kate was very wary of the candles and not so sure of her Mom and Dad's singing. Sunday we had Kate's favorite Lou's Pizza and Nana made a princess cake to celebrate with a few family members. Kate had a blast playing with Ashlinn and Tommy and really enjoyed her birthday celebration!

Capturing all that is Kate in a blog post is difficult. She brings such joy and zest to life. She is sweet, loving, cuddly, bright, active, friendly, and strong willed. She is totally two and her new favorite word is me. Kate is independent and very chatty. She speaks in adorable full sentences, counts to 20, knows her ABC's, recognizes colors, points out different letters and numbers, sleeps well at night, and gives awesome kisses and hugs. She was indifferent to her new little sister, Megan, at first, but is paying more attention to her every day. Today she told me, "Shh, Mommy Baby Crying." And tried to share her precious stacking boxes with Meg. Kate now loves giving Megan very gentle and sweet pats and kisses.

We have some pics from yesterday and I have some pictures of Kate that I haven't shared as of late and think this is the perfect opportunity. Sometimes I think the pictures capture what words cannot. Some are our almost Christmas pics, some of Kate playing, and some of Kate and Meg in their matching sleepers. Hopefully, Kate will find her sibling the best present we could have given her. I know Brian and I both feel that way about our own wonderful siblings.

Megan Lynne's First Week

2010-01-14T17:53:00.001-08:00

Meg is almost one week old! We are home and doing well. Megan has had no more episodes of respiratory issues and the pediatrician assures us that there won't be any issues related to the episodes in the future. He said there are normal abnormalities as babies transition from in utero to out in the first 72 hours and that is what Megan was experiencing. She got great observation and one-on-one care while in the hospital and I was actually able to get a little rest. Now that we're home we're still doing well. Megan is having some jaundice issues now that we've brought her home, but we are working through it with little medical intervention and hope by Saturday to be in the clear.

Meg is a calm child, eats well, and sleeps fairly well for a newborn. She is generally very content and very smiley. We know they are not specifically at us, but she smiled seven times the first day she was home. Megan is an especially cuddly child and snuggles right in to the crook of your neck. Brian and I absolutely love having a new baby in the house again and are both so happy to have this precious beautiful little girl as our own. It's only been a few days and we have had lots of help from family, but we are thus far managing well with two. Kate and Meg conveniently nap at the same time each afternoon. Kate is really starting to notice Meg and is very gentle and sweet with her. Kate will pat Megan's head, give kisses, and always let's us know if she is crying. It is so sweet to hear Kate say Baby Megan, and even sweeter to see our two angels interact with each other. I've compiled some pictures from Meg's first week below. Included in the pictures is one of me after my water broke at lunch last Friday, and Brian and I enjoying our celebratory dinner at Lake Forest Hospital.

CLICK HERE for pictures from Megan Lynne's First Week!

Megan Update

2010-01-11T08:23:00.000-08:00

All in the Davies family are doing well. Megan had a relapse in her respitory issue early Sunday morning, but for the last 24 hours has not had a repeat episode. Most importantly, she is alert, looks great, and is eating and pooping and peeing (you know you're a parent when . . .) The doctors and nurses feel it is just part of the transition from in utero to in the world.

Beth is recovering wonderfully, and is headed home today, and it looks like Megan will join us as well. Yeah!

For now, we wanted to share her hosptial newborn pictures. Just head to http://www.bellababyphotography.com/, click 'view photos', and enter this password- 20100109megandavies.

Thanks for continued love and prayers!

Meg's First Day

2010-01-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

She's not yet 24 hours old, yet she already feels like a part of our family. Megan had some slight respiratory issues, but they resolved quickly and she is doing wonderful. Our new little addition looks A LOT like her older sister, just with a thicker and darker (almost black) head of hair. She seems a bit calmer than Kate, but perhaps she's just taking cues from her now more seasoned parents! Kate came for a visit tonight, and doesn't quite know what to make of all this, especially Mommy being gone. But we can already tell she is going to be a wonderful older sister and best friend. Thanks for all the comments and prayers, this is such a great time of life and it's wonderful to share it with such awesome people near and far.

It's a Girl!!!

2010-01-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

Today, at 12:30 am, Megan Lynne Davies arrived! She is a beautiful, healthy 9 pounds 2 ounces and 21 inches long. Beth had a great delivery, I think she would say easier than last time. She is already planning matching outfits for the foresable future for her two girls. Hopefully we'll post some pictures tomorrow. Thanks for the love and prayers everyone!

The Labor Coach has arrived

2010-01-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

Time for another guest blogger- Brian here.
So I got a text from Beth at 1:10 that "all was good". Next thing you know, it's 1:47, and I get a call- "time to come home, my water broke".
I then trucked east on I-94, making it from Madison, WI to Lake Forest Hospital in good time.
It's just shy of 5:30 central time here, and Beth is doing well. We'll post when we have news to share!

Here we go!!!

2010-01-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

Guest Blogger Cheryl Libutti is bringing you the exciting news that Beth's water has broken!!

Baby Davies is on the way!

Brian left this morning for a conference in Madison, WI so he is right now winging his way home. He should be at the hospital in the next hour and a half.

Beth called me from the ride into the hospital and her dad is with her. She is feeling good, not uncomfortable, and sounded excited and happy for this adventure to start!

Check back soon for details!

PS- In an exciting coincidence, Brian's and my cousin Kristin gave birth to a baby girl today. It's a great day for our family!

Happy 2010

2010-01-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

Quite the year and quite the holiday season has come to a close. We obviously had a great year with all our very exciting changes and we had a great holiday season as well. It started with Brian's birthday party and continued to Christmas Eve which started with a wonderful service at Lord of Glory and a dinner of Sirelli's beef and mostaccoli at our house which we enjoyed with the Bundalos, Brzezinskis, and Tomaszeks.

Christmas Day Gammy and Pop Pop arrived for a visit. They seemed to thread the inclement weather of the week on both the Albany and Chicago end and had no delays. We are so thankful for that and hope that makes them even more willing to come back soon. We tackled our basement and some little projects. I was able to rest quite a bit while they were here as they were a tremendous help. On the Sunday they were here we hosted our family group for Lou Malnati's Pizza and a Bunco party.

By Sunday Kate had the whole concept of presents down and anything with wrapping paper she considered fair game. She did great as usual and everyone got her so many wonderful thoughtful things. We had a great time at all our holiday functions.

CLICK HERE to view all our CHRISTMAS 2009 PICS!

New Year's Eve was both low key and interesting. We had Carson's ribs with Katie, and Ben, and my Mom and Dad. We did not have a New Year's Baby though we were close! I had been experiencing contractions on and off all week. During the day yesterday they got so bad when I was standing they knocked the wind out of me and I couldn't walk. They subsided when I rested, but I pretty much had to lay around as much as possible while still caring for Kate. Around dinner time they started at a pretty regular pattern and persisted even when resting. Anytime I stood they were severe. I talked to the Dr. and he told me to go in and get checked out. They put me on monitors and it turns out I was having moderate contractions every 3-5 minutes. They were certainly glad I came in. The only problem was the contractions didn't seem to be inducing labor. The doctor didn't quite know what to do with me. He said I was probably in early labor and if I was closer to my due date they would have me walk around and try to get things going. If I had been earlier in the pregnancy they would have given me medicine to stop the labor. We were in a gray area, but it would probably be best to try and keep the baby in utero a little longer. He was going to admit me overnight, give me an IV, and some medication to help me sleep and weigh things in the morning. I really felt I could rest better at home and didn't want to spend New Year's Eve or Day in the hospital. So I was sent home a little before midnight on bed rest. My contractions are still moderate when resting more severe when standing. It is now the waiting game for either the contractions to worsen, the contractions to subside, official labor to start, my water to break, or my Monday appointment. Until then we are a having a very restful New Year. I am enjoying the first few low key days I've had in a long while and saving up on sleep I know I'll need for taking care of this newborn. Things have been eventful as of late, but I know the year ahead will probably be even more so and look to what 2010 will bring.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T17:13:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from the Davies. We have loved getting everyone's Christmas cards and hearing how all of our friends are doing. We are doing really well this Christmas and enjoying not having to travel anywhere. We are settling in and finally feeling ready for the baby to come, which is a good thing because it could be anyday. At my appointment on Monday my Dr. told me things were progressing and to make sure my bags were packed. That night we got everything together. I've had contractions on and off this week so who knows. My due date is Jan 16th so I could go longer. In the meantime, we are really enjoying our first Christmas in our house. The fireplace, stockings, and tree set the scene and the laughter of family and joy of Kate and her cousin Tommy fill the house. A great Christmas!

Surprise!

2009-12-20T15:38:00.000-08:00

Brian's birthday is January 6th and he is turning 30. Brian's birthday often doesn't get its due because it's just after Christmas. I was nervous that this year would be especially so with our new bundle of joy arriving, and I didn't want to let this special occasion slip by. So with my Mom and sister's help, I planned a little surprise party at our house. With just moving in, Christmas upcoming, and being very pregnant it was a little ambitious, but so worth it! For cover Brian thought we were having an open house holiday party. I asked him to take Kate out to dinner and Chuck E Cheese so I could have two year old free party prep time. When he returned with Kate all the guests had already arrived, and we successfully executed the surprise. I think it took him half an hour to process that the party was actually for him. We made italian subs, dips, and desserts, and for a little extra fun and surprise, I rented a craps, blackjack, and poker tables with dealers. (Thanks Jason Gottschalk for the idea.) When our guests arrived they got players cards for $500 in chips. At 8 the tables opened and the guests started gaming. At the end of the night the guests "cashed in" their chips for raffle tickets. My Mom put together five beautiful wine, coffee, chocolate, baking, and man themed prize baskets that we raffled off. We made Brian a spice cake and he got some wonderfully thoughtful presents, including a new driver from Kate and myself. It was great night, and what I hope was a memorable Birthday for my wonderful husband who I appreciate so much!

CLICK HERE for Video of Brian's Party!

December Update

2009-12-13T18:27:00.001-08:00

We have been just a little bit busy the last few weeks. With moving into a new house, preparing for Christmas, taking care of Kate, being 36 weeks pregnant, and Brian being in the middle of Advent its been a bit overwhelming. We are actually doing really well. We are out of boxes besides the basement and even have a tree up. It feels great to be in our house and we really love it. Kate loves her house and her room and sleeping great. We even managed to do something Christmas spirited on Saturday and went to the park district breakfast with Santa. Kate was very wary of Santa, but did good. Her favorite things were the games and getting to try a sprinkle covered donut.
Kate has changed so much in the last few weeks. She is chatting up a storm, counts to 20, and is singing complete songs. We can do our entire abcs, twinkle twinkle, itsy bitsy spider, row row your boat, and her repertoire keeps expanding. Some of her baby talk is disappearing which I'm kind of sad about. She used to say "Come on Daddy, tick Kate." Now she says "Come on Daddy tickle me." A slight change, but still very cute though. Kate has learned how to jump and shouts it as she leaps around the house. She exclaims, "reach, reach" when she wants something we have put above her grasp. We still limit TV but when she wants to watch something she says, "Mote, Mote, Ere are you?" (Remote, Remote, Where are You) and looks around the living room. When we find it she says, "Gotch You." or "Dere you are." She insists on saying."Bye, see you later (yater)," to everything as we leave a room. That includes all 8 of her Disney princesses before bed. My favorite is Snow White (Stow Whi). Somewhere amidst this crazy month our little baby has grown up on us. She is truly a toddler and just in time, because I'm not sure how many more weeks until we have another little baby in our house.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T10:59:00.000-08:00

We had an awesome Thanksgiving this year and only had to drive 5 miles to enjoy it! It was fun to get dressed in our own house and sleep in our own beds after, but the best part is always getting to enjoy the company of family. As you can see we had a great day!

Out and About in Chicago

2009-11-21T18:38:00.000-08:00

While the boys were away, Kate, Nana, and I certainly had fun in Chicago! We have actually had a lot of fun around here the last few weeks. One of our favorite stops was Lincoln Park Zoo.

Kate loved the monkeys, piggies, and cows the best. She was a such a great age to take to the zoo as she had such cute amazement. Kate also loves the park. We go there just about everyday the weather cooperates. The "up-down" or see-saw is her favorite. Kate is not afraid of anything at the park. While other kids seem cautious on the equipment, Kate runs back and forth with her Mommy chasing. Another favorite stop we have is Independence Grove. The Grove is a beautiful forest preserve with walking trails and a park. The fall scenery has been beautiful. This is a place we will surely enjoy as the weather gets even better in the spring and summer. Another place we will enjoy very much is our new house! We got the keys on Thursday, our stuff arrived Friday, and we were unpacking all day today. The house is beautiful and we can't wait to get settled in. It is all very exciting, but very busy, like most of our life as of late.

The Blog has been hijacked!

2009-11-13T22:32:00.000-08:00

Beth, I finally got the password to the Blog!!! We have been having a great time in San Francisco with Brian and your Dad. Yesterday we went to the Bears game..... We were on the field with the Bears prior to the game!! Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the Bears that the game started, and before we knew it, the game was over and the Bears lost 10-6. Hey, at least your Dad and Brian saw history, its the first time that a Bears QB threw (while I forgot the exact stat) but a lot of interceptions in one season! Anyways, we kept the boys happy with some spicy chicken wings after the game and even watched "Tailgate Warriors" Buffalo vs Chicago! I hate to admit it, but the Bears won the tailgate (The Fix was in!!!) This morning we played golf on the Ocean Course at Half Moon Bay. We have lots of pictures that we are going to post. Brian and I went up to our old stomping grounds (you know what I'm talking about) RACOON! We had a great time, even though the Davies-Bundalo team won 1-up. Obviously you are letting Brian play way to much golf, he shot a 43 on the front 9!!! Well, thanks for letting the boys travel, we can't wait to visit Lake Geneva, we were planning the trip over dinner. Addison says hello. Wish that you were here!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-11-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was my 29th Birthday, and it was a great week of celebration. There is something comforting about knowing I still have an entire year to be in my twenties. As you can see from the picture, I am progressing along in pregnancy and am now 31 weeks. All is going smoothly and I can't believe I have single digit weeks left! Maybe all the changes in our life have made this pregnancy go faster or maybe its just chasing around our adorable almost 2 year old.

For a special birthday treat Brian arranged an overnight for himself and I in Downtown Chicago. We stayed at Hotel 71 on the corner of Michigan Ave and Wacker Dr. The location was fabulous, and the views spectacular. It was great to spend time together. We had gorgeous weather and walked the city Friday from Millennium Park, to the Magnificent Mile, and to Navy Pier. For dinner Brian went out of his way to get us a table at Frontera Grill, Rick Bayless's Mexican Restaurant. He is from one of our favorite shows, Top Chef and it is next to impossible to get a table. The food was outstanding! When we walked in for our 7 o'clock reservation they were on a four hour walk-in wait. On Saturday Morning my pregnant self was a little walked out and we took an architectual boat tour of the city. All the planning that Brian did was just wonderful and made for a wonderful birthday getaway.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T13:28:00.001-08:00

The week of Halloween is over, but certainly enjoyed by the Davies bunch. Kate had two costumes a warmer weather Tinkerbell costume. "T-Bell" is now her favorite treat to watch on TV. She even got a new T-Bell DVD to watch with Pa Halloween night. She was Tink around the house this week and for the Halloween Event on Tuesday in Central Park Grayslake. Kate and Katie Politzki made it out for some Halloween Fun that included painting "pun-kins" and feeding "ah-mils". Saturday we went to the Grayslake Family Fun Fest for trick or treating and rides, and at night to the Martins from Church for Trick-or-Treating. Then Brian and I headed to Mike's apartment for an adult Halloween Celebration. It was a lot of fun. It's hard to think of costumes when you are 7 1/2 months pregnant so I went as an oven and Brian as the baker. It was a great week of fun!

Fun, Games, and Chit Chat

2009-10-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we've made it four weeks living at my parents' house and nobody has been voted out yet.... Really things are going very well and we're having a great time.

Kate loves all the extra attention and calls for her Nanny and Pa whenever we return home. We are about 20 days from moving into our own home and I think her and I will miss the company. We've been keeping ourselves busy with park time, library time, and visiting all our friends in the area. Kate is getting more independent in play and more girly. Her new thing is plastic jewelry. I really don't wear much jewelry so I'm not sure where this affinity comes from, but it certainly occupies some time. Thank you very much to Gammy and Pop Pop for this great new collection.

With the colder weather setting in, we have been looking for more activities especially at night. One particularly rainy evening we took Kate to Chuck 'E Cheese. I'm not sure who had more fun Kate or Brian. Brian taught her to play the horse racing game and he himself enjoyed a few of the sports games. I guess it truly is a place for a kid to be a kid, or a kid at heart in Brian's case.

One of the neatest things as of late has been Kate's exploding language. She pretty much repeats anything we say and it is very fun to have little conversations with her. It always surprises us what she recognizes and comes up with. You can hear a little of her chatting in the link below though the truly spontaneous lines are the cutest.
CLICK Here for Video of Kate "Reading" Her Books!

Sunday Night in Chicago

2009-10-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

We have two new Chicago Bears fans in the area! I don't know who's cuter? We've had a busy week traveling to Wisconsin and D.C. , but it is so great to be back in Chicago. We had a great pot roast dinner, went for a beautiful fall walk, caught a few fish, and are know enjoying the Bears Sunday night football game with the company of Nana, Pa, Aunt KK and Uh-Beh (Uncle Ben). KK is teaching Kate to shout, "Go, Go, Bears!" as I type. It's a great Sunday! Brian is having fun sporting his new Cutler jersey. The board of elders at Lord of Glory gave it to him at the beginning of the service last week to help his allegiance along. It is a very nice jersey and he loves sporting it.

On Friday and Saturday Brian, Kate, and I traveled to D.C. for Brian's grandfather's memorial service. Brian's grandfather Roy Sr. passed away at the age of 94 a few weeks ago. Losing someone is always sad but Roy Sr. certainly led a full life. It was a nice service that honored his memory and celebrated his rich life. Brian was able to preach and we were able to visit with many relatives, which was certainly a positive of the weekend. Though Kate was tough to keep occupied on the flight, it was really nice to have the opportunity to be there. Unfortunately, I dropped the ball on the picture front and do not have any of our D.C. family. The only pictures I have are below of Kate playing with two straw hats after the church service.

Kate is certainly making her desires known. She insisted that I wear a hat as well.

"Hat Kate, hat Mommy!"she told me.

It's fun how silly your kids can make you, and how rewarding their smile of accomplishment can be.