One of my new tricks

Ella figured out how to walk behind our toys over the weekend. It's so fun to watch her be so proud of herself. She has really started becoming more and more interested in walking. She walks around the furniture with no problem so I am thinking we might have a walker by her first birthday. For me that is early since Alivia didn't walk till after she was one.

Alivia really likes to help Ella learn new things. She doesn't understand we want her to learn on her own. I think she gets a little jealous when we get so excited for Ella. Alivia will do the same thing Ella did like walk behind a stroller because she wants to get the same response from us. Oh the joys of a big sister. She is the best helper and little lady these days.

more play

Lilly's "SOOOO BIG"
Love when babies concentrate so hard when playing with new toys.

Look at me mom... I love this toy

Sharing and working together.

Fun with friends

The girls had a photo day over the weekend. Ella, Lilly and Claire did a great job. You can definitely tell they are growing up because us moms were chasing kids around and trying to get them to sit still. It's been fun to see them grow before our eyes and thanks to Paul we get to capture it in pictures.

Ella (10 months.), Lilly (10 months.) and Claire (8 months)
Silly Ella!

My big girl who has turned into a kid all of a sudden. When did that happen.

It's amazing how a picture can tell such a story.

My little Valentine

Our new trick. I always joke with the girls by putting my hands on my hips and say their name. Ella now thinks it's funny to copy me when I do it. It's so precious!

Bubble time. The girls just loved the bubbles.

This picture is hilarious because to everyone you see a cute picture of the girls all in a line. Really Jess had puffs or Cheerios and all of them came crawling like a heard of animals. It was pretty funny.

New moves

Alivia has been working on her jumping moves on the trampoline lately. She is getting pretty daring these days, but also clever. These are her pike jumps she has perfected. We also are getting pretty good at a straddle jump.

New play area

The girls love to be in the bathroom with me while I am getting ready. Normally Alivia is on the counter with me watching me put make-up on and Ella is digging in drawers. On this day Alivia thought it would be a good idea to get some books and toys and have a reading session with Ella. Alivia loves to read her book all by herself these days. It's great for me because the stories she comes up with are fantastic. I mean they go with the pictures, but they are pretty out there. Ella doesn't care she just likes being with her big sis.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,

Alivia and Ella

10 months old

Can't even believe my baby is 10 months old already. She is becoming a little lady these days and starting to come into her own. Ella has a BIG personality that is very loud. She loves being silly and following her sister around all over. We love her more and more everyday!

Now that I am 10 months I can:

crawl up stair

give kisses

clap

walk along furniture

point to people's eyes

say "da da", "ni ni"

answers yes as "yeah"

dances or wiggles to music

Does a lot of yelling

and is into EVERYTHING!

My little angelWorking those stairs
Loves to play in Alivia's bed. We tend to do this every night before bedtime.

It keeps us busy

Alivia got a little trampoline for Christmas from her grandma and grandpa Varley. When we are in the basement we usually are on it. Now that Ella has learned to crawl up on it she is normally on it as well. Alivia likes to dress up in her finest when jumping either in costume or a princess dress. This has been a great toy for this long winter that doesn't seem to be ending any time soon.
Alivia will jump on it while I work out too. If you know how our basement is this trampoline is facing the workout room. She likes to jump and say she is working out too. We start them young at the Varley household:)

Ella watching big sister jump
A BIG cheese for mom

Ella and her friends

Lately Ella has gotten in some good friend time with both Lilly and Claire. It's so fun to watch the girls play together now because we do a lot of pointing at each other. We also crawl everywhere fast and somehow end up at the bottom of the stairs every time. These girls are giving us mommies a good workout chasing after them.

Ella and Lilly enjoying some yummy dinner after a day of playing. I know Ella is not in the safest seat, but I promise we were right there all the time.
Ella and Clair saying bye to each other after a long morning of playing. Wow have these girls just grown up fast.

Alivia's day out

Thursday became our Alivia fun day which means we get to go do something fun or her choice at home for an activity. On this Thursday we decided to go to Pump It Up which is a HUGE room full of different slides, jumping obstacle course and so on. When we got there we were so excited and then we got to go into the room. I think we were a little overwhelmed at first so it took us about 20 minutes to figure it all out. Once we did it was so much fun. Even little Ella go in on some of the fun.

Alivia climbing up to the big slide
Jumping in the arena with the boys

Here's Ella playing with the balls that were all over

Oh we also had some fun in the car. You can see her poor chip teeth in this picture too.

Working out way through the obstacle course.

Finally after a few tries we made it down the small slide alone.

Working on our climbing skills which were pretty darn good.

Overall it was a fun day. She even got to pick out a special snack when we left with her quarter. Lucky girl:)

Cooking with Ella

These days at our house we do a lot of pretend playing. Alivia loves to play dress up and sing and dance while Ella has found a new love for the kitchen. I guess Ella just by passed her baby toys and went right for the big kid stuff.
It's been so much fun playing with the girls. Alivia loves that Ella now will interact with her and sort of do what she wants. I have to some times remind Alivia she doesn't understand "come over here" or "what princess do you want to be". Once day Ella this fun will all make sense.

more from weekend

Alivia trying to be one of the adults.
Alivia trying out auntie Courtney and uncle marks new kitty gym.

Was Alivia's favorite place to play and now Ella has figured it out.

My big girl seeing how grandpa's glasses fit.