The McPherson Chronicles

On Thursday it worked out that we both had the day off and could finally take the girls to The Zoo . We timed it to the girls could take their morning naps in the car on the drive out there and come home around the time of their afternoon naps. It worked out perfectly so the girls were rested and ready to go once we arrived. It was drizzly and overcast when we arrived but once we got inside and started walking around the weather was perfect. It stopped drizzling almost immediately and then warmed up a bit and it was perfect for being outside for most of the day. The first animal the girls really saw was, of course, a dog-dog. There as a woman walking next to us with a service dog and you would think the girls had died and gone to heaven. They were so excited that we drove all the way to the zoo to check out a dog-dog. After we lost the dog lady, the girls were more fascinated with all the school children than looking at the flamingos, otters or turtles. And yes, a lot of these school c...

A few things we've caught ourselves saying or thinking in the last year or so. Why didn't we... start stocking up on diapers after college? put diapers on our wedding registry? buy a bigger house? move the plant after they knocked it over the first time? (still didn't move it after they knocked it over the 2 nd and 3rd times) buy a Noah's ark set that came with 2 lions instead of just one? truly appreciate sleeping in before? hold off on teaching Olivia where her nose is? (she has gotten better about sticking her finger in it constantly) pay more attention to the words in kid's songs and nursery rhymes? remember to bring the camera? or remember to charge the camera? get a picture/video of that? write that down? realize they can reach ________ now? (fill in the blank with any number of items) befriend a dairy farmer or purchase a cow? (we go through a gallon of milk in 3 days)

The girls have been in rare form lately. They've gone full force into this twin talk everyone tells us about. We have no clue what they are saying to each other but apparently they do. Even grunts and squeals seem to have understood meanings. It's pretty funny to wonder what they're talking about. And yes, they "talk" nonstop. Boy, are we in for it! This morning I even caught Olivia reprimanding Lucy. Lucy picked up one of the fake pieces of mail from their mailbox and threw it across the room (in Olivia's general direction). Olivia stopped what she was doing, stood right in front of her and yelled something. Then she went right back to what she was doing and Lucy didn't touch the piece of mail again. Hilarious! As for real words, dog-dog is still their most frequently used word and they've just added the words sister and bubbles. They understand so much of what we say to them now though so I'm sure we'll start getting a lot more words and les...

We were finally able to get in a photoshoot of the girls as big one year olds. We met my coworker and good friend Catherine , and her sister Crystal , in Laguna Beach on Sunday. Unfortunately the weather was terrible and we were unprepared for it being as chilly as it was. We made the most of it though and had a lot of fun watching the girls go nuts for all the dog-dogs. They even got to experience sand for the first time! Not fans. We'll work on it though. We know they'll love it as much as the rest of the family does soon enough. Here is a sneak peek at some of Catherine's photos. You can see more here . Catherine & Crystal, thank you so much! We had so much fun and you always manage to capture the girls' individual personalities. Someday we will get to hang out a bit longer when it's not nap time, feeding time or bedtime when we're finished. You are both amazing photographers!

Olivia, where's your... Dance Party! Dog-Dog Movie- the girls are obsessed with this singing/dancing children's movie at Grandma's house that begins with a dog-dog. This is how excited they get everytime the movie is about to be turned on.

I don't know what exactly it is about this picture. It makes me laugh and cringe all at the same time. It screams teenage Lucy to me. I think it vaguely reminds me of a screaming Justin Bieber teenage fan I saw on tv the other day. Oh my. So much to look forward to!