Happy 22 Month Birthday Kaylee & Alyssa!

Dear Kaylee and Alyssa,

Happy 22 Month Birthday To You! It is hard to believe how quickly you are growing up and each month that passes reminds us that you are not our little babies anymore. We have found that each new month brings it's own unique adventures and challenges and so many moments that we don't ever want to forget. I started writing you both monthly letters since you were born and it is fun to look back and what you were doing each month and how your Daddy and I were adjusting to being parents. They are letters that I could read over and over and they never fail to make me laugh and cry, mostly both at the same time. My hope is that you will enjoy reading them one day as well and maybe you will even do the same when you have children. It is a great way to remember moments, capture memories, and relive one of the best times in our life.

This last month with you two has been no different. It has been full of so many new and exciting milestones but also brought on a new share of challenges and adjustments. If I had to label this month I would call it the "month of contrasts". The main reason for that I can honestly say it has been simultaneously the most challenging yet rewarding month thus far. Challenging because you have endless energy from the time you wake up till the time you go to sleep (oh, what I wouldn't do for an ounce of that energy!) and there isn't a single thing you won't explore. But it has also been so exciting and fun because you are constantly amazing us with something new - a new word, gesture, skill, or personality trait. The list goes on and on. I am finding that I have never been more eager to come and pick you up in the afternoons, to see your little faces light up and to hear you scream "Mama, Mama." It truly makes my day. Life with you two is crazy at times, and I will admit that sometimes I want to pull my hair out, but it is the kind of crazy that I can't imagine living without. It is the kind of crazy that I felt like I waited forever for and at the end of the day, we wouldn't have it any other way.

As for the contrasts, the list continues to grow. You can be so shy hiding behind my leg one second and then outgoing and social the next. You will put on a pretty pink dress and paint your nails inside and then run and splash in mud puddles outside. You can hug and kiss each other for hours and then push and hit each other like crazy. You can be totally angry with each other one second and then run to comfort each other the next. I find this to be true in almost every area and so it is a guessing game to see what will happen next. This makes life with you even more of an adventure! The most interesting contrast at your age is that you have an ongoing struggle of wanting to be independent but also needing/wanting our help. You want to try to do everything yourself at this age from putting on your shoes to climbing into your own car seats and we try to give you the opportunity whenever we can. You sometimes have to remind us pretty loudly, "I do it", just to give us a reminder that you are not our little babies anymore but we do our best to remember. :-) You try things on your own and sometimes it is a success while other times you run over frustrated and wanting help. We are always there when you come running over for our help when it isn't going quite right on your own. I love this give and take because it gives me a tiny glimpse of what life will be like for us through the years as your parents. It will be a constant balancing act with us trying to give you the space you need to experience life and with you trying to find your place in the world but also needing the safety net of your family. There will be plenty of ups and downs along the way but always remember that we will be right here waiting anytime you come running.

Love,

Mama

As for what our "busy bees" are up to lately...

Alyssa

Alyssa is my "snuggle bunny". She loves to cuddle up with you while holding on to her "Gigi" (blanket), "Bo-Bo" (pacifier) and stuffed RJ the raccoon. She has a favorite blanket that she can't live without and it is often dirty from her trailing it along behind her as she runs around. And, boy is she a runner! I think Alyssa runs almost everywhere she goes. Sometimes she even runs laps around our kitchen island. HaHa. She is very sweet and compassionate and is usually the one who is more likely to share or try to see what is wrong with her sister when she is upset. She has recently gotten very into picking out her own clothes and loves her summer dresses. Her new favorite color is pink (which is funny because she was the baby we always dressed in purple) and likes to wear pink clothes and to paint her nails pink as well. She is learning words very quickly and often strings two or more words together to make sentences as well as counts to five. She loves to sing and dance and her favorite thing to do is to grab my hands and dance, hop, and sing "Ring Around The Rosies." She is always asking to go "Side, Side" and loves to play outside. She gets very dirty by playing in the dirt and mulch (she thinks she is weeding like Grandma) and loves to play in her Barbie Jeep. Her new skill is climbing and she can climb on the tables or stools before you even realize she is gone. She loves to smile and her laugh is contagious but she can also be a bit of a drama queen when she is upset. She hates to get hurt and will carry on about a "boo-boo" for days on end. And, if she gets her feelings hurt then everyone surely knows it! I have to admit that she takes after Mommy in that regard. :-)

Kaylee

Kaylee is my "fire-ball." She can have emotional extremes with the best of them. Her smile can light up a whole room when she is happy but make her mad and you can see the storm cloud pass over her face and "LOOK OUT!" HaHa. She is the one who is a little more likely to not want to share and will get upset with her sister pretty quickly but she gets better with that through time. She will watch out for Alyssa and make sure she is all set with her pacifier and blankie before going about her business. She loves to be carried by everyone and to show off for everyone around her. Her favorite things to do are to sing and dance, play outside in the dirt and water, and to watch Dora the Explorer. She can say "Oh Man" just like Swiper. :-) She loves to wear dresses, was the first to want painted nails, and to wear mommy's make-up (pretend that is), and loves to carry her baby dolls around. She is very talkative and will repeat almost anything you say and can put short sentences together. She can also count to five and sing some of the ABC song. She is a very active explorer and will get into nearly everything in sight. Everything is an adventure with Kaylee... just like her daddy!

These are just a few of the things the girls are up to these days. They surely keep us busy and always wondering what will come next. :-) We had a great weekend playing outside in the water and eating "pops" (Popsicles).

Trying to splash Mommy

Run, Alyssa, Run

We also had a chance to visit my friend Christy and her three adorable children - Natalie (3), Daniel (2), and Eve (8 months). Yes, that is right...they have 3 children under the age of 3! I believe life is probably even more of a zoo at their house than it is at ours! HaHa. They live in North Carolina and we have not seen them in almost 2 years. It was a lot of fun to catch up and to let the kids get to know each other. Kaylee fell in love with the baby and gave her plenty of hugs and kisses. Hopefully we will get to see them again very soon.

Kaylee playing with Eve

I suppose that is about it for now. I will be in Dallas, TX all this week for a conference so I won't be posting until next weekend.

Have a great week!

Balloon Fun

Balloons ("Loons") are a favorite at our house right now.

They provide hours upon hours of entertainment!

Unfortunately, cousin "Bendy" has taught the girls how to pop the balloons so we have to watch very closely. Their favorite technique is to take a flying leap onto the balloons. :-) Our new favorite restaurant to eat out with girls is Red Robin. We can give each of them a balloon and they are pretty much set for the whole meal!

Bath Time Fun!

The girls are into anything related to Elmo these days especially at bath time. K&A have always loved taking a bath but that has only increased since we discovered Elmo Bath Foam and Elmo Tub Colors. They will each chose a color from the tub color tablets - there is blue, yellow, and red. - and throw them in the tub. They love to mix the colors up to create "cool" new colors.

Kaylee playing in the "blue" bathwater

As for the foam, they make grape and cherry foam and the girls just LOVE it. They scream "Foam, Foam" and let me know which color they want. They will rub it all over, put it in each others hair, and clap their hands so foam sprays all over. I think I end up with more foam on me than they do but it makes bath time lots of fun.

Alyssa getting ready to spray foam everywhere!

The only place I have found the foam so far is ToysRUs so we make a special trip there every once in a while to stock up. Definetly check it out if you have little ones. :-)

Father's Day Weekend

Wow! It has been over a week since our first post. Where does the time go?

We had a very busy and fun long weekend (minus the coughs, runny noses, and doctors visit). I took off on Friday to spend the day with the girls and we had a great day over at Grandaddy's house playing in the pool and running around outside. This was our first time at the pool this summer and the girls were very excited to put on their new swimsuits and their new power swimr's. Kaylee was my brave girl and jumped right into the pool to "swim" and splash with Mommy. Alyssa, on the other hand, was much more hesitant and preferred to watch us from the comfort of the lounge chair. She eventually wandered over and slowly eased into the pool and we all had fun floating around and splashing for about an hour. I was not able to take many pictures of the girls in the pool because Kaylee decided to splash water on my camera (luckily it had dried out by the next day) but I did get some pictures of them playing outside or "side" as they call it.

On Saturday, we ventured out to My Gym to attend our weekly "Waddlers" Class. This was our second time attending the class and Tony and I love it. They have a wide range of equipment and activities for the little ones to explore as well as fun songs and games. The girls really like certain aspects of the class so far (especially the big ball pit) but they are unsure about other aspects. They are a little confused about why they need to sit down for circle time when there are so many other fun things to play with and they really are not doing great with them taking away the swings and balls to bring out other activities. Okay, to be honest saying that they don't "do well" is an understatement. They are throwing major temper tantrums - throwing themselves on the floor, crying, kicking, etc. All the fun stuff. This is sooo embarrasing for Tony and I but we have heard from other parents that it is just an adjustment period as they get used to the structure and routine of the class. We are sure hoping that next weeks class goes a lot smoother. Mommy is enough of a drama queen so we really don't need two more. I don't think Daddy could handle it. HaHa. :-)

On Sunday, we celebrated two very important things. The first was Father's Day. The girls loved giving Daddy the cards that they signed themselves. They even drew pretty pictures for him on the inside of their cards. The funny part was that they let Daddy see the cards but then they took them back and carried them around. Kaylee was especially attached to her card because it had a picture of a bumble bee (her new favorite word when she sees any bugs). It was a great family day full of hugs and kisses for a wonderful husband and father. And most importantly, Tony spent the day doing what he loves best... being a Daddy to his baby girls.

I tried to take one picture of Daddy holding his girls but this was the result:

So, instead I will share my all-time favorite picture of Tony and Alyssa (thanks Auntie Brea!)


And, last but not least, we celebrated my nephew Brendon's (or as the girls call him "Bendy's") sixth birthday. He had a pirate theme party and that was a big hit with all the kids. They went on a treasure hunt, pinned the eye patch on the pirate, and walked the plank. The girls were able to walk the plank while holding our hands but then decided to jump in the baby pool and splash around. It is hard for me to believe that my "first baby" is six already. He is a wonderful little boy and we are enjoying every second of watching him grow up. We love you Brendon!!

So, that was pretty much our whole weekend (or the fun parts at least). Monday was full of coughs, runny noses, and fevers and Tuesday would have been a nice extra day off if we didn't have to make a trip to the pediatrician. Luckily, both girls are almost back to normal and we are already counting down to the next weekend! Here is Kaylee saying

"CHEESE!"

Let the Adventure Begin!

Welcome to the Robles Family Blog. We have decided to start a blog to keep our family and friends updated on our family's recent adventures and to share pictures of Kaylee and Alyssa as they grow. Granted, our life isn't terribly exciting besides trying to keep up with two extremely busy toddlers but even sharing pictures should make the grandparents and other family/friends happy. We will try to post updates on a somewhat regular basis, along with the latest pictures of our little princesses. We hope you'll visit us from time to time and leave us a comment if you drop by.

To kick off the site, here are a couple pictures of the girls taken over the weekend. We were playing in their room on Saturday and they decided that they wanted to play dress up. They chose their dresses and necklaces and even better, they actually let me do their hair -GASP! I figured it was the perfect opportunity for a photo shoot so I did the only thing I knew would keep them still for more than 2 seconds... and bribed them with candy. This time chewy nerds did the trick (hence the orange candy all over their mouths). I asked them if they could smile for Mommy's camera and they ran over and sat on their toy box and started posing. It is amazing how far they will go for a few pieces of candy but hey, whatever works! So, here are a couple of the pictures from our photo shoot. Kaylee is on the left and Alyssa is on the right. Aren't they sweet?

Showing off their pretty summer dresses and necklaces

Giving each other "besos"