Trip to Canada and NY: The week in review

I've sat down to write this blog a few times but kept getting sidetacked with Cyber Monday sales, creating Christmas cards, and uploading pictures to Snapfish.  

Last week we took a LONG roadtrip to Canada and then to Rochester, NY to see family for Thanksgiving.  Kenny's grandmother lives about 2 1/2 hours from Niagara Falls.  We hadn't seen her in a few years and we really wanted her to meet the girls.  On the way, we decided to drive halfway and stayed overnight in a motel.  The babies did great in their pack-n-plays, even if they did keep sitting up and peeking out to see us!  We made it to Canada on Saturday and then stayed til Monday morning.  

Rachel LOVED Great-Grandma D.'s sliding glass door.  Look at those handprints!

On Monday we drove to Rochester to see Kenny's family.  Tuesday was my mom's 60th birthday.  My sister and I surprised her with a memory book filled with notes from her friends. On Wednesday, we visited my grandparents and they got to meet Jenna and Rachel for the first time.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures that day. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving.  Sandra and Steve came for Thanksgiving lunch and then we exchanged Christmas presents (and birthday presents for Jenna and Rachel). After lunch, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins came to Mom and Dad's house for dessert.  I was impressed with how well the girls did while they were meeting SO many new people!

 On Friday, we had Thanksgiving dinner with Kenny's family.  The babies loved mashed potatoes,stuffing, green beans, and little bits of turkey. 

Rachel loves mashed potatoes

Look at the mashed potato beard!

 Here are a few other pictures from our trip:

Rachel checking out the stairs...

Jenna was helping Grandma organize her coupons

Grandpa and Rachel 

We couldn't get both babies to look and smile.

 11 month pictures!  Boy, it's getting harder and harder to get a monthly picture.  Rachel kept playing with the bear, throwing it off the couch then trying to go after it. 

So, I tried to get a picture of her sitting on the floor.  

Jenna sat still for just a second so I got this picture!

Phew!  It was a busy and week but we had so much fun seeing our family.  

Photo Shoot

I'll post another blog later about Thanksgiving and our trip but I wanted to post some pictures from our Fall Photo Shoot.  We went to the Serenity Garden in Waynesboro on a chilly afternoon.  The girls did great!  Thank you Erika Lassen!  We love the photos!

A little of this, a little of that

Happy November (14 days late)!  The past 2 weeks have been filled with new milestones for each of the girls.  I feel incredibly blessed and lucky that I'm able to be home and see the changes each day.  Rachel is now puling up on everything.  She'll even walk along the couch.  Jenna has started pulling up but often looks for someone to stand her up.  Jenna was late crawling but now really moves.  She is able to get to sitting from her belly.  Finally, a milestone she got to before Rachel! Ha!  

Rachel's my little climber.

Smiles from the kitchen

They are both understanding more words too and I love seeing their eyes light up when they hear something they understand.  Jenna has started to say "ki-ki" when we saying "kitty, kitty".  She is also using the sign for "more" when she's eating.  Sometimes it sounds like Rachel is saying "dis" when I say, "what's this?"  We like to say to her, "What's a snake say, sssss," and she says "Sssss."  They definitely have favorite books but especially like the books that have pictures of cats.  
The girls LOVE bath time.  They love splashing the water and banging the toys against the tub.  It's so much easier to give them a bath together instead of using the baby bathtub and bathing one at a time.  They seem to have fun splashing each other too!

 When Aunt Sandra and Uncle Steve came to visit, they brought these outfits for Jenna and Rachel.  I think they look so cute! 

Jenna's waving to Aunt Sandra!

A little "wrinkly-nosed" smile!

Last week, we installed new car seats so it was time to put away the infant seats.  Before we put them away, I took a picture of the girls sitting in them to compare to the first time they sat in the seats.  Wow!  This really shows how much they've changed and have grown!

Rachel on the left, Jenna on the right