The McPherson Chronicles

Yes, Christmas is coming. Don't remind me. I have so much to do and feel like there's not going to be enough time. For now, we're excited for Thanksgiving and experiencing the Christmas season with the girls. So many people have asked me about gift suggestions for the girls so here's a few things I can think of right now. If I think of anything later, I'll be sure to move the post back up to the top with updates. Remember, less is more, especially with babies. *9 and 12 months clothes and pajamas * bath time toys *cute winter hats (Daddy's request) *toys and book for 9 mos.+ (balls, stacking things, push/pull, lights and musical toys) *a toy bucket or basket- the little basket we have now is getting full and something slightly larger would be nice (we don't have space for a whole toy chest or anything though) Update! I updated our old Babies R Us registry with some ideas of items that would help now that the girls are older. These are not exact items, but...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family and food. With nearly 80 degree weather, the girls were able to wear their cute little dresses and shoes (thank you Sarah & Natalia!) The girls are mesmerized by Great-Grandma's "earmuffs" and if all else fails, they can always be entertained by watching her use them. Both girls love to throw their hands, toys or blankets above their heads and get you to say Hooray! Here's Lulu entertaining her Daddy. And here are some fun family shots. First is 6 of my Grandma's 7 children and then Grandma with 7 of her 10 granddaughters. That's right, no grandsons! We're a proud bunch of girls. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and so nice to hang out with all my family. We definitely don't get together often enough. Love to all!

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you have a wonderful day filled with the 3 F's- family, food and football. Even more important don't miss the Dog Show! We're thankful for our beautiful daughters and all our loving, supportive family and friends. This has truly been the most wonderful year of our lives so far. We're so blessed! Pictures to come next week. Enjoy!

Our first ride in the swings

If you haven't met Marshall, our Bassador, you're missing out. He has the cutest little basset hound feet and long body with the labrador face and personality. We love him. Unfortunately, one day, he went to doggie day care (Grandpa & Miama's house) and got fleas. Since we don't have a yard, he had to spend the rest of the summer on vacation, until flea season was over. Marshall is living like a VIP over there- all he can eat buffets, room service, freedom to come and go as he pleases, even his own swing! He's become one spoiled dog, and we couldn't be more grateful! Hopefully, soon Marshmallow will be able to come back home and enjoy our house, his toys, and the girls. . For now, Lucy has taken a liking to our statue stand-in dog, Charlie. She scoots her way over to him, knocks him into her lap and then pats him. It's quite cute, though she knows as soon as I hear the thud she is about to get in trouble. I immediately get this look ...

Since we're using this blog as a supplement to the girls' baby books (which really need to be updated), we better document how we manage to squeeze in everything for 2 babies on a typical day. I'll use yesterday, Tuesday, as an example of a "typical" day (who am I kidding, there is no such thing). Morning 6am Girls awake- change diapers, clothes and sometimes bedding, depending on how the night went 6:30 Nurse/playtime while we get ready for work 7am Sweaters/sock on, buckled into car seats, loaded into stroller along with milk, lunch, pump, purse, paci's, blankies 7:30 Drop off girls with Mom- unload milk, 2 car seats, set up the stroller with regular seats, unbuckle girls and remove sweaters, put on bibs, switch cars Daytime ** this is an ideal schedule, I don't think any day has actually gone like this yet 8am Cereal & fruit- playtime 9am Naps then playtime 11am Bottles then playtime 1pm Naps then playtime 3pm Bottles then ...

I'm very excited about my early Christmas shopping for the girls. So far I've gotten 2 things. First, the LeapFrog Learn N Groove Musical Table ($19 delivered to WalMart!) Has all kinds of fun little gadgets and sounds in both English and Spanish. The legs come off so they can play with it on the ground until they can stand on their own. Second, this Playskool Step Start Walk N Ride ($12 at Target!) It says 9 mos.+ but seems like the girls will definitely need to be pretty good standers before they can really get going with this. It stands up at first for pushing around and then once they've mastered that, we can lower it to make a car. I only got one, hopefully, we can begin teaching sharing early and avoid major meltdowns. I can picture them both trying to ride on it at the same time already...ay yi yi. It's so much fun to look at all the baby toys! There is a ton of good stuff out there. Luckily, it doesn't take much to entertain them though. They enjoy...

Hanging out with Mama Enjoying all our toys Trying out new seats Reading with Daddy Loving sister playtime!