January/February 2012

Well, your dear old dad has gone and done it again. I've done a pretty good job of ignoring your letter for the past 2 1/2 months. Here we are, halfway through March and I haven't written a thing about what the two of you have been up to since the beginning of the year. BAD Daddy! I'll go sit in the corner now.

So...10 weeks ago, we started a new year. And a couple of weeks into that new year, something really special happened: your father turned 40 and Your Aunt Sarah, Uncle Britton, and cousin Sabrina came to visit us!

It was so nice to have them all here, and the two of you loved playing with Sabrina. The weather cooperated for the most part, and we were able to take all of you to the zoo. We really need to get you all together more often. Emily, you haven't stopped talking about "baby?" since they left, and we finally having you saying "Bweena."

Something else really fun that happened was that you both got to go on a real train. Two of them, in fact! The Amtrak anniversary train was in town, so we went down the the train station to check it out. What we didn't know that they they have a steam engine they're in the process of restoring down there, too, so you both got to take a look at that, too! Even though we didn't actually go for a ride on the trains, both of you had a great time, and especially Emily, since you've been so into Thomas the Tank Engine lately.

In February, Rachel, you and I went to a hockey game with one of your friends. It was the first time either of us had been to a hockey game in San Antonio. You were more concerned about whether you were going to get ice cream than you were with the game. Probably more exciting than the game was the drive home. We drove through a really big thunderstorm with huge hail falling on the car. Thankfully, I wasn't driving.

We also went to the Rodeo again this year. For the first time, Rachel, you made it through the whole thing. Emily, you did not, but you were a trooper. We went on some of the rides before we went in to see the rodeo, and we managed to pick a great night to go because it was only 1 ticket per ride the whole time.

Something else exciting that happened in February was that Rachel got accepted into the Gifted and Talented program at school! We always knew that you were very smart, and now we have the test results to prove it. I'm sure that this will only add to the sass we've been seeing lately with you being Miss Know-it-all. But I hope not.

Speaking of sass, Emily, you've become quite the little pistol. It looks like you left the most terrible part of the terrible twos for the last half of your second year. It seems like every decision has been a fight with you over the past month, with us having to find new ways every week to get you to do what we want you to do. I hope that this eases up a little bit as we slide into summer because there have been a few times over the past weeks that I've been ready to put you on Ebay.

Despite all of that, we are still amazed at how quickly you both are growing up. We can't wait to see what the next months will bring, as we get closer and closer to both of you being in school come August.

We love you both very much.

Love,
Daddy 

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Building a Garden

Our back yard has a pretty good slope to it, which means that anytime it rains, any dirt that isn't packed down gets washed away. That's why we haven't attempted to make a little garden at this house yet. But I had a gift card from Home Depot (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and a hair up my butt to give the girls something to do this summer, so I decided we'd build a garden.

It was a lot bigger project than I planned, but I want it to stay put for a while so I took the time to actually plan (imagine that!)

It's been a couple of weeks in the making, but I think we're finally ready to plant.

With some assistance from my little helpers, we moved a yard of dirt into the 8' x 4' x 2' raised bed (it's only 12" up on the shallow side).

Now we just need to plant some seeds and watch them grow!

To celebrate, we went and got ice cream!

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A comfortable spot for reading

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What does not kill you make you stronger...

Mom: "Emily, don't eat that crayon!"
Rachel: "Nana, it's ok...it's non-toxic."

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Pack leader

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This is how it starts...

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What in the world have I gotten myself into?

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I think she needs more numbers

Rachel, Mom, and Dad were playing a game and Mom made her and Dad pick a number between 1 and 10 to see who would go first. When she played with me, after they left, she said, "Let's do it like Nana does. Daddy, pick a number between 9 and 7." Then she groaned when I guessed that it was 8.

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She loves to read...

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December 2011

Dear girls,

Santa Claus has come and gone, and we're going screaming into the new year, literally. The two of you are at the age where you antagonize each other (and us) and I don't think there's been a single day during this break where at least one of you wasn't crying about something.

And that makes me sound like a mean and angry father, which I'm not. There have been a lot of great things that happened this month, and the two of you also continue to surprise us with everything you know and do, including how well you get along (sometimes).

Emily, in the past month, your speech went from barely understandable to WOW! There have been times over the past couple of weeks where I did a double take because the words that you spoke came out of your mouth so clearly that I had to check to see that it was you who had actually spoken them. You've gone from your toddler abbreviations of words, like "Pahk" for Sparky to actually saying two syllables, "Pah-chee." We were laughing when you started doing this because it seemed like everything you said sounded like "butt cheeks" which you've been saying for a while now, thanks to your mother and sister. You have monkeys on your pajamas: "Mah-chee" Your blanket has become a blankie: "bahn-chee." You get the point.

Rachel, you were focused like a laser on Christmas. You were doing everything you could to make sure that Santa knew that you wanted an iPod this year for Christmas. You wrote a letter, drew a picture, and you made sure to tell Santa when we went to visit him.

Secondary only to Christmas and the iPod was staying up to ring in the new year. It seemed like you'd asked at least once a day, every day, for the past two weeks if you could stay up until midnight. You have an acute understanding now that there is something special about that transition from 11:59 PM to 12:00 AM on the last day of the year.

On Christmas morning, both of you actually slept in. But once you got up, it was on. Santa had left a few things unwrapped, and once Nana and Grandpa got here, we started with the unwrapping. Both of you had quite a pile, and Rachel, you tore into your things like a wild woman. The very first thing you opened was your new phone. Except it's doesn't work like a phone. Santa left you a note saying that he'd run out of iPods this year, but that you could still play games and take pictures with this phone just like you can on an iPod. You didn't seem to mind at all, and you really enjoyed playing with it.

Emily, you opened about three things and decided you were done. You wanted to play with the things you'd already opened and didn't want to both with the rest of it. When you finally did get everything open, you had racked up three new train toys, since you'd really grown to love watching Thomas and Friends over the past month or so. In fact, every time you come out to the living room in the morning you ask us for "Choo-choo train," meaning that you want to watch Thomas.

When New Year's Eve rolled around, we had a small party with just the four of us and Nana and Grandpa. They left around 9, but Rachel, you continued to play games on the Wii right up until midnight. I was really surprised that you lasted the entire night, but you still had energy left when it hit. You even got to learn a little bit about time zones becuase we watched it change to 2012 in New York and hour before it was 2012 here.

Overall, 2011 was a really great year for both of you. As wel roll into 2012, there are going to be lots of changes for both of you. We can't wait to see how you handle them because we love to watch you both learn and grow.

Your Mommy and I love you both very much.

Love,
Daddy 

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That's why the field is so slippery

We are watching the Cowboys-Eagles game and there's a big helmet to helmet hit on a punt. The ref throws his flag and Rachel says, "Ooooh, he threw a banana on the field!"

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I think she missed a step in the process

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Merry

Finally got the tree up and decorated...

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Happy Birthday Dad!

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November 2011

Dear girls,

Your grandparents are here! You were both so excited to see them...even more excited than your mother and I, I think. This has been a month chocked full of new things for both of you, so let's get started.

Emily, you have started learning how to play games on mobile devices. I never thought that a couple of years would make the difference in how you learned to use a computer, but it's amazing. Rachel, you learned how to use a computer by manipulating a mouse, and Emily, you've learned by touching a screen. Every computing device you come in contact with, the first thing you do is try to touch the screen.

That's probably because we have more touch screen devices in the house than anything else. Between our two phones, an iPod touch, and an iPad, you have plenty of things to learn on. And you're learning very quickly. You started by insisting that you turn off the iPod in the morning, so I showed you how to touch the pause button on the screen - the lines, or "yines" as you say it, so every morning when you wake up you ask me to get you out of bed so you can turn it off. You've also started asking for certain games by name - "Ahnie Bord (Angry Birds)? Oopah why (Super Why)?" I can't even begin to imagine when computing is going to look like 5 years from now, and how you'll both adapt to it.

You've been talking up a storm lately, strining together 4, 5, even 6 words to make sentences that we are getting better and better at understanding. You're also starting to use your manners saying, please, thank you, and excuse me (the latter was the hardest to get you to start doing), usually on your own, but sometimes we still have to gently remind you.

Rachel, we discovered this month that you really like math, and you're really good at it! You flew right through the easy addition and started right into double digit addition, multiple number addition, and subtraction. Just last week, we started talking about multiplication. You've been brining us your writing board and asking us to write math problems for you so much that we decided to buy you some math workbooks, and we even got you the first grade level ones! I hope that this love of math continues throughout your life, because it can really take you places if you do well with it.

You also started riding the bus to school this past week. It always amazes me how independent you are. You had been begging us for a long time to ride the bus, and now that your grandparents are here, we have someone that can meet you at the bus stop in the afternoon. We decided to give it a trial run coming home one day this week, but you liked it so much that you asked if you could ride the bus to school the next day. So the last half of this week, you rode the bus to school. That actually works out pretty well for mommy since she doesn't have to take you and because the ride to school is easy. There is only one place to get off. We'll see about you riding the bus home every once in a while in the coming weeks.

You both are really enjoying having Nana and "Wompa," as Emily calls him, around. Emily, you're finally old enough to really remember and have fun with them both. You were starting to come into that a little bit last year, but this year, you're really making memories. You and Rachel helped Nana make pies for Thanksgiving dinner, and you've been playing Wii almost every time you go over to visit.

We're really looking forward to Christmas and watching you both open your presents. We haven't gotten a tree up yet, but Emily, you're already fascinated with all of the lights that are up in the neighborhood. Rachel, you've already started on your list of what you want for Christmas, too. One of the first things on your list - an iPod. I don't know if Santa will be able to bring you one of those, but we'll see.

We love you both very much, and as always, we can't wait to see what the next month brings for the two of you.

Love,
Daddy 

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October 2011

Dear girls,

Fall is here. Halloween is over. Your grandparents arrive in a couple of week. Let me repeat that...your grandparents arrive in a couple of weeks! We've had another adventurous month, and your father actually got out his real camera and took a bunch of pictures of you this month.

Emily, I think we know what you're going to be when you grow up. You're bound to be a lobbyist. This past month, you started lobbying to stay up later. You start you lobbying even before we think about bed time, usually right around the end of dinner. We'll be having a perfectly lovely conversation, or getting you to finish up your food, and you'll turn and look at us with frowning eyes and say, "No night night." You'll repeat it over and over again until you get some kind of response out of us, or some reassurance that it's not even close to bedtime yet.

Your speech has really improved a lot over the past month, and we can pretty much understand everything you're telling us. We still have to use context clues every once in a while, but most of the time, you're pretty clear. At least to us. We'll see how clear you actually are when your grandparents arrive. I have a feeling we're in for a couple of months of translating for you until they brush up on their toddler speak.

Rachel, you've been doing really well at school. You got your report card and it was all great news! Your mother and I had a conference with your teacher this past month and she had nothing but good things to say about you. We're very happy that you've adjusted to school so well. Not that we ever had any doubts.

You are also getting along really well with your dance class. Every time I take you, I watch in the window as your teacher shows you what she wants you to do, then watch as you concentrate to get as close to what the teacher was doing as you possibly can. You try really hard and you're doing a great job.

We've been spending a lot of time outside over the past month, since the weather has finally cooled down a little bit. It's nice to not worry about sweating so much while we're outside, but we have had to use an awful lot of bug spray.

Emily, you finally got your very own hearing aide this past month. You've been using a loaner for almost a year and a half now, and we finally got around to buying your own. You also had another hearing test this month, and you seem to be doing really well. Of course, your hearing aide wasn't turned on for the first half of the test (my fault), but you still did really well.

Rachel, you've been working very hard at reading, writing, and spelling, and now you're starting to blow us away with your mad math skillz. I was worried at the beginning of the year that you'd be bored in school, but you've done a great job and it looks like you're learning a lot. We're very proud of you.

This past weekend, I took the two of you to the air show at Randolph AFB. I always enjoy going to these things, and I was so thrilled that the two of you had such a good time, too. Emily, you were so excited to see all of the airplanes, and it was amazing to you that every time you turned around there was another airplane to be seen. Rachel, you did a great job walking around because I know that it was a LOT of walking. You didn't complain at all, even when your sister got to be carried and you still had to walk. I can't wait to take you guys again next year.

Finally, you both did a great job trick-or-treating, and I'm so happy that Emily decided to go door to door also. Of course, getting free candy is a strong incentive. Rachel, you had a little bit of trouble with tripping over your horse legs, but you did a great job, espeically considering that we walked a lot farther than we ever have doing tricking or treaing before. I hope you both had a great time doing it.

As always, we can't wait to see what the next month will bring. We love you very much.

Love,
Daddy.

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