The girls and I made some new friends last month - woot woot! It was getting a tad dire here in the Shephard household! Chandra, Ella and Nolan have been meeting us at the base track where Chandra and I are working off those baby pounds! We load the kids up in our double Bobs and then run a few laps around the track stopping at certain points to punish ourselves with push-ups, squats, lunges and tri-cep dips...you know, all the good stuff.

There isn't better motivation than having a friend who expects you to meet her to get your butt in gear, which is EXACTLY the motivation I need.

Afterward we reward the kids with a picnic and the playground. Evelyn absolutely LOVES the slide and has discovered the thrill of going down head first!

"That was awesome."

"Let's do it again!"

What a little stud.

Ella loves the slide too!

Typically while I'm running around the track (and wondering how much longer I have before my heart flies right out of my chest) I think of any other place I would rather be and usually it's right here...I imagine this is what heaven looks like.

Little man Nolan looks pretty comfortable in his ride too.

This particular day there happened to be a puppy at the park. To say the girls were thrilled would be an understatement.

I think this puppy liked the girls too - at least how they tasted anyway.

Poppie and GaGa came for a short weekend visit and boy did we have fun! Evelyn and Aurelia had lots of special time with their grandparents and Jason and I were able to sleep in...every morning...for 5 straight days. It was glorious.

We didn't do too great of a job taking pictures - we were too busy relaxing and enjoying their company - but here are a few shots from last week.

GaGa and her littlest outlaw.

Poppie read Evelyn SO MANY of the SAME books while he was here. She definitely has her favorites. Let's just say Poppie pretty much had 5 solid books memorized by the time he left.

Evelyn LOVES her GaGa - can't get enough of those hugs...

...and kisses.

One last picture of Poppie and Evelyn...and a shout out to Auntie Katie for one giving her this fantastic little book! She absolutely ADORES it.

We've been outside more and more lately - despite the fluctuation of temperatures...one day it's a perfect, glorious, most unbelievable 70 degrees and the next we have a high of 45 degrees...but that doesn't keep us housebound. We load up on hats, gloves and lots of blankets...inevitably this leads to a few naps in the stroller.

A little closer...

And now for their individual close-ups...

Sweet Miss Evelyn

Darling Baby Aurelia

After I so rudely woke them up from their slumber it was off to the commissary for much needed essentials - such as Diet Pepsi, honey nut cheerios and string cheese. Evelyn was feeling like pure sweet sass (I understand that - sometimes Mommy gets that way too) and decided her future was so bright she had to wear shades...in the commissary...the entire time we were there.

Oh - and look who can give pucker kisses now! Don't you just want to eat those lips!?!?

Deeeeelish!

Where has the time gone?!?! Has it really been 6 months since we brought Aurelia home from the hospital? Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday...and other days - those days we realize how sleep deprived we are and how much we resemble your typical zombie - it feels like it's been 6 months. :)

Aurelia is really into her older sister - and Evelyn LOVES to entertain her. It's so fun to watch the two of them interact - giggling, belly laughing and sharing their jibberish stories. Moments like those make me wonder how we could ever stop having kids. What a joy...what gifts.

Happy 6 month birthday my sweet little golden rose.

Evelyn LOVES her bookies. She's constantly curled up in a chair reading one - sometimes to herself and other times to whoever would like to listen - Aurelia, Minnie Mouse...Truman.

Jason snapped a few of these pictures before she noticed he had the camera out.

She was pretty into this one.

Yeah...she knows she's cute. Stinker.

We've been going out on a bunch of walks lately - I find that even if the girls stay in the stroller it wears them out a bit and that is ALWAYS good for Mommy.

Even out in the fresh air Evelyn likes to bring a book to peruse.

She was hard pressed to put it down and pose for a picture.

Aurelia was pretty much open to anything as long as it didn't involve her moving or taking her pacifier out.

Daddy came home early this particular day and was able to join us - handsome little devil.

Evelyn loves holding Aurelia and one of her favorite ways to do this is by holding her on her chest. She'll lay on her back and start hitting her chest with one hand and pointing to Aurelia with her other hand all the while saying, "Peeze. Peeze. Peeze."

Kisses!

It's pretty adorable.

Our friends, Jennifer and Gary, are expecting their first child in less than three weeks - so exciting! They're having a boy!

They decided to decorate his nursery in black, white and lime green with modern designs so I made a baby blanket and some burp cloths to match their theme.

Turned out pretty cute - don't ya think?

So this is a pretty old news story but I actually found the time to sit down and blog about it this afternoon. What's really sad is that I started this post a month ago.

Here we go...

Evelyn was THRILLED with all that white stuff that came down from the sky - she couldn't get enough of it! First thing in the morning and every chance she got she'd slap her hat on and start pulling on the door handle - so we took her out there quite a bit - even in pajamas.

First we let her feel the snow fall from the sky...

Next a little taste...

Oh the joy!

I think Evelyn is convinced that we need to move someplace where it snows EVERY winter...now all we have to do is work on her Floridian father!

It snowed nonstop ALL day - and it wasn't tiny, little insignificant flakes - they were HUGE, fluffy, fantastic flakes that STUCK to the ground. It was pretty incredible.

A shot of the front of the house.

And a shot of the backyard.

Meanwhile...back inside the house Aurelia was showing off her 4 month old skills.

She can sit up...

...and STAND up! I know - she's a rock star.

Her favorite place to hang out is in her jumperoo where she's free to squeal, jump and make these adorable faces.

"Oh no Mommy...it's snowing outside and we're starting to get a little cabin fever. What ever shall we do?"

Have no fear my love. Mommy has a plan - a tu-tu plan.

Nothing like a little dress up to make everyone happy!

Poor Sissy needs a tu-tu of her own.

You won't have to wait long Princess.

I mean really - how can I deny anything to her when she looks at me like this?

Our friend/neighbor/photographer extraordinaire, Sammie, took some artistic shots of the awesomeness outside and I got a waiver to share some with you.

The next day the sun came out but it was still cold enough that the snow wasn't melting - so we ran outside to play!

We went out in the backyard and Daddy even found a sled...well...I guess a more accurate statement would be to say Daddy made a sled for Evelyn.

Now don't judge - we were desperate.

Yes - that's right - we used a bath tub and bungee cord. Evelyn thought it was pretty fantastic.

Aren't they cute?

Close-up of my baby.

She thought it was hysterical that the snow could be formed into tasty, thirst-quenching balls and triangles.

She could have stayed outside forever.

Truman was outside too and having a blast catching snowballs.

Handsome boy.

One last shot of the backyard all pristine and white. I miss that snow. I miss it a lot.

Later that night Sammie took this picture of the sun setting - just gorgeous!

Hey you - with the camera - what do you say to one more picture???

CHEESE!!!

Love you all! Bye for now!