Crib Shenanigans

Last Saturday morning, I found Addison holding onto the side of her crib, on her knees, trying to stand up. She's sneaky like that.



So, we spent part of the weekend lowering her crib mattress.

And now we're going to have to drop Jackson's too.



Here are some cute pictures of Jackson while we were adjusting cribs:

Not so sure about being stuck in his sister's pink crib...


Looking like such a big boy, just hanging out and playing in his crib.



J-man playing peek-a-boo. He has such handsome eyes.


And while this picture isn't great, you can see pretty clearly Addison's two top teeth coming in--such a big girl!

Although, sometimes these babies aren't sure what to make of all of those teeth in their mouths...

High Chairs!

This past weekend, we finally made time to put together the babies' high chairs. They have been so ready for them--they loved sitting at the table with us. They look like such a big boy and girl sitting up in their high chairs!

Yummy--sweet potatoes!


Don't mind that Jackson looks like he's wearing suspenders in his chair--that's just the official 5-point harness to keep him safely in place (probably the 3-point across the lap will suffice in the future...).

A top tooth!

I looked over at Jackson this morning--who has decided he is an early riser and has been awake and ready to play between 6 and 6:30 every morning for the past week--and I could have sworn that he was grinding his teeth. But wait--what could he be grinding, he only has teeth on the bottom? But no, Dad stuck his finger in Jackson's mouth and discovered that he has a tooth coming in on the top! Exciting, tooth number 3 (top left front tooth) is officially on it's way in.

UPDATE: The babies had a rough day yesterday, and when I got home guess what we discovered?! Addison has TWO top teeth coming in! No wonder they were having a tough time! Very soon, we are going to have little shark babies with their mouths full of sharp TEETH!

Happy Mother's Day, Part II

So, my first Mother's Day: it's fun being a mom on Mother's Day. I had a wonderful day. But I guess I feel about Mother's Day a little bit like I feel about Valentine's Day--if you need one day of the year to be sure to tell the person you love that indeed, you love them, then that's silly. You should tell them every day! The same with mom--your mom should know that you love and appreciate her all of the time, not one day out of the year. That aside, it is nice to have one day in particular for mom--and it was nice to officially be able to celebrate Mother's Day with Daniel and our two babies.

All of the Satterlees were in town for Kenny's graduation from American University (hooray for Kenny!), so after the babies and I went to church, we all went out for brunch (is it still brunch if it's in the middle of the afternoon?). It was the babies' first time at a nice restaurant, and we weren't sure how it would go--lucky for us, they were very well behaved!

The babies saying hi to everyone when we got to Charlie Palmer's.


My happy, blue-eyed girl (I was on Addison duty, Daniel was in charge of Jackson at the restaurant).

Jackson loved gnawing on the menu...

and on the table.

And by the end of lunch, took a much-needed nap on Grandpa Ken's shoulder.

Lately, Addison loves hanging upside down--and I love to tickle under her chin.

Before all was said and done, Addison needed a nap too.

Jackson enjoying some lunch...

and some kisses from Aunt Kelly.

Mom and her girl (note Addison holding onto my Mother's Day present, a beautiful necklace from Daniel and the babies).


PS Celebrating Mother's Day has made me hope that we were good enough to my mom on Mother's Day. I hope we got her thoughtful presents, and did things to made her life easier. I hope she felt appreciated--because she was. I love you Mom--I'm so lucky to be able to learn from the best!

Happy Mother's Day

What an honor to be your mom, babies. You will always have my heart. Happy Mother's Day--Love, Mom

8 months and mom's first post-baby trip

The babies turned 8 months old yesterday, and as though to commemorate the day, Addison went from up on her hands and knees to sitting on her bum all by herself. It was first thing in the morning, so she was in her crib and must have been feeling daring (and safe just in case of a fall, due to the soft landing of the bumper and the mattress)--she's chugging around when she's up on all fours, so close to crawling, and now she has a new trick to master.

Yesterday morning also marked another first--the start to mom's first overnight work trip. I was such a mess leaving the babies--but there were a number of reasons why this trip wasn't too bad:

1--it was very short. I was only scheduled to be gone for 28 hours (though with some delays in my return, I ended up being gone about 32 hours and missing a second bedtime--boo).
2--lots of people were here to take care of the babies. Besides Mary and Daniel, Nana Candy and Uncle Kenny were around to help, especially through the night (which has solely been mom's territory, so not having mom around will be new and different for everyone).
3--it was to New Orleans. And let's be honest--I'd never been to NOLA, and had always wanted to go!

So, while very sad about leaving my babies (they're only eight months old, they need their mama, right?!--more importantly, their mama needs them!)--it was about the best situation it could have been to get back into the swing of work travel.

It was also good for me to remember how much I love to travel. I love experiencing a new city, trying new food, waking up in a new place and going out for a walk before everything starts bustling. I have mixed feelings about New Orleans, but loved the beignets at Cafe du Monde...






PS One benefit of going away--sleeping through the night felt SO good!!

A trip to Idaho and a baby shower

When our nanny Mary mentioned wanting to walk at BYU's graduation a few months ago, I jumped on the opportunity to have a flying companion headed from DC to Salt Lake City. Conveniently, BYU's graduation fell right before Easter weekend, so I was able to travel to Idaho with the babies for a week, and get to spend Easter with the family.

We had fun playing in our Idaho bumbos




Playing outside (when we could--we had some crazy spring weather while we were home!)



Playing with the fam





And just playing around generally!



In addition, while we were at home, we were able to celebrate my cousin Kimmy, who is about to have a little baby boy.

Aunt Susie getting Addison ready for the day


The Shrader and Katseanes ladies

Susie, Kimmy, and Addison

Susan, Kaye, Kim, and her bump!

Jackson and Great Grandpa Andersen

Jackson loved playing with the boxes and bows from the shower!