v-day

valentine's day was so fun this year... yet exhausting at the same time.

its my own fault though!

for some reason i thought it would be a good idea to make eggs benedict, sugar cookies, snickers pie, and penne and shrimp with an herbed cream sauce all in the same day. whew! i'm exhausted just talking about it! but all in all it was a very fun day!

i even managed to squeeze in a little impromptu photo shoot with the girls. i couldn't get a single picture where they were both smiling at the same time, but some of them were still pretty cute.

so here's some photos from our valentine's day 2011...

flowers from austin!

cookies before and then after...

--PHOTOSHOOT--

seriously?!?

ok! i have to confess that i am an avid lover of all things "The Bachelor." and if you aren't watching the bachelor this season, then you might want to go ahead and hop over to someone else's blog because you will probably care less about this post.

but if you DO watch it, then hold on tight because i've got something AMAZING to show you. my sister-in-law brittany showed this to me and i about died.

now i'm sure you know all about psycho michelle and probably want to smack her right up side the head just as much as i do... right? well it dawned on me the other night, while watching her go off on one of her dramatic rants, that nobody is actually THIS crazy. she has to be acting this way because she has an ulterior motive. and here it is people...

did you spot her?

michelle MONEY? i mean, if they had told us on the first night of the bachelor that her name was michelle money and that she was an actress, i would have known right away that this girl was t.r.o.u.b.l.e.

i can't wait till brad votes this phony off.

a little trip

we decided to take a last minute trip to MD this past weekend.

before moving to MN, we lived there for a year and a half. and what a wonderful and eventful year and a half it was. we left when the girls were only 3 weeks old (talk about a crazy time in our lives) and it was so great to be able to go "home". we loved being able to hang out with austin's family and reminisce about some fun memories.

we forgot our camera but i was able to snap a couple photos with my phone, so please forgive the mediocre quality.

austin and reese on the plane

whenever we fly people always ask us if this is the girls' first time on a plane. we just politely smile and say no. little do they know that these girls fly ALL the time. they're great little travelers.

ella loving the fact that she has her own seat

reese and austin watching "the jimmer show" aka the BYU basketball game. she succumbed to the hype!

i just want to squeeze her... really hard! is that bad?

reese is trying so hard to crawl. she's SO close. she can get up on all fours but hasn't quite got the hang of it yet.

grandma margaret with the girls. buddies!

i'm so glad we took this mini vacation. even though the weather in MD was cold, it was still better than the negative degree weather we've been experiencing here lately. i hope we get to go back again soon!

another first

we took the gang to noodles and company on saturday. love that place. especially the amazing rice krispie treats. anyways... reese was getting a little fussy in her car seat so i decided to try out a high chair. and voila... she loved it!

yay reese!

it was so cute to see her loving being a big girl. she did great. i loved the "oh so cute" baby stage but its fun to see the girls finally beginning to comprehend their surroundings and grow up a little.

excited to see what's in store next!

to high chair or not to high chair

ok! i've come across a little dilemma. i guess i always assumed when i had kids that they would need a high chair. but as i look at the small space we call home, i can't imagine squeezing TWO high chairs around our little IKEA table. not to mention where to store them when they are not being used. so the alternative that i've been investigating are these hook on chairs.

people seem to really like them in all the reviews i have been reading. plus, a lot of them fold down to a pretty small size and only weigh 2 or 3 lbs. if we wanted we could take them with us to restaurants, friends' houses, or even on trips.

i think they just might work. am i crazy? that's where you guys come in! do you think this is the way to go? and if so, can you suggest any brands? or do you think its a bad idea and have another alternative you think i should consider. or should i just stick with high chairs?

whew!

i'd really love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

these moments

i don't really have much to say today, but i still wanted to post some new pics of the girls. one of the reasons why i wanted to start a blog was to motivate myself to take more pictures of them. its so easy to let the days pass by and not take a single picture. i want to be able to remember everyday moments like these...

and these...

and of course these...

have i mentioned how much i like these little girls?

6 months old

the girls turned 6 months jan. 7th! its so hard to believe that they have been a part of our lives for half of a year now. i know its cliche but it honestly feels like just yesterday we were finding out i was pregnant.

they are the sweetest little girls and its so fun to see a special relationship beginning to form between them. i love them more than life itself and feel so blessed to be their mother. here are just a few things i love about each of them!

reese ann archibald

she is the most determined and strong willed baby i have ever known. the teenage years are gonna be rough with this one.

i love that she inherited my dimples. i actually only have one, but this little cutie has one on each side. so cute!

she's my little peanut. she's so much littler than her sister, which makes her so much fun to snuggle with.

our baby pictures look almost identical. its so fun to see myself in her.

ella mae archibald

she's my little chunk. i love her thunder thighs. she has the chubbiest cheeks that i squeeze every chance i get.

every time she laughs, she gets the hiccups. poor thing! but it sure doesn't stop us from making her laugh all the time.

her hair is insane. i mean INSANE. i don't know what to do with it. it's a cross between a comb over and a mullet. it's pretty hilarious!

she looks just like her daddy, which makes me smile.