Boxers & Babies: Happy & Sad Weekend....

Happy 6th Anniversary Matt...I love you. I have completely and thoroughly enjoyed ALL of our annivesaries so far, some more than others....this one in particular, rates among one of my favorites. Last year, we spent our anniversary at the NICU in Children's Hospital...well, after we went out for a nice dinner, but still, we had to spend the day trapped in that building with our children. THIS year...we were able to actually do something! For our anniversary, we went out to the Cardinal's game (they won) and had a darned good time. When we got home, we went out to dinner with our girls! WE took them to what I am hoping will be the first of MANY successful dinners at a Mexican restaurant! :) I love Mexican food...almost as much as I love Mexico! :) The girls, seemed to really like the Mexican food as well!

Now that I am done with the Happy portion of the weekend, lets talk about why this past weekend was a sad weekend. My grandma died, well, actually she died on June 8th, but this past weekend was her Memorial service. Do you realize that I no longer have any living biological grandparents? This makes me particularly sad. :( It makes me sad that my grandma or any of my grandparents for that matter never were able to meet Sydney and Olivia, which breaks my heart. For the weekend, my entire family came in, which was nice, even though it was for a rather sad reason. It was so fun to introduce the girls to my brothers and for my Dad and Stepmom to spend time with both us and the girls. The girls love their GrandDude and Grandma Carol! The last time our entire family was together was 6 years ago for our wedding. Damn was that a great time! We are excited however, that we will soon all be getting together when Uncle Sean marries Aunt Kelsey (who sadly couldn't make it this weekend). :(

The girls with GrandDude and Grandma Carol before they left on Sunday....

The girls with Uncle Kent!

The girls with Uncle Sean!

The girls with Uncle Sean, Uncle Kent, & Uncle Todd...everyone is all decked out in their Cardinals gear...the boys stayed an extra day so that they (being the good LOYAL Cardinals fans they are), could attend another home game in Bush Stadium. We are happy to announce that ALL 3 of them can return to STL and start attending home games again...the Cardinals WON AND no one was injured (unlike previous games they have attended)!

I love this picture b/c of the look on Todd's face! :)

Out to dinner for our Anniversary...on the patio at Chevy's.

Olivia checking out her puffs or maybe it was the tortilla!

Sydney....we had a hard time convincing her NOT to eat the table...ick...I did steralize it, but I don't think that was good enough...it definately creeped me out!

On Thursday, July 16th...the same day everyone in the family arrived in STL, the girls had their 1 year appointment. Olivia weighs in at 16.3 pounds and 26.75 inches. Sydney weighs in at 16.7 pounds and 25.5 inches. Not bad for girls who were born weighing in at 2.8 and 2.75 pounds! The girls also recieved their MMR shots and chicken pox shot, which they were NOT too happy about....apparently MMR HURTS...as I write this, we are in the midst of a reaction...Olivia's had a low grade fever for the last 2 days. :( Poor girl...she's whiny and clingy. Anyways, after their appointment, we came home and this is them playing before dinner...Uncle Mike came over and made Matt and I dinner....so nice of him. Even more scary is the amount of vegetables in the dinner he made! To think years ago he would have FREAKED if we'd mentioned him consuming some of those vegetables!

Playing at the other side of baby jail....we currently have a laundry basket blocking the exit from our 'living room' to keep the girls contained!

Sydney.....

Olivia....

Everyone arrived very LATE in the evening...so the next morning all the Uncles and of course GrandDude and Grandma Carol wanted to see the girls!

Today is the actual day of Grandma's Memorial service out at Jefferson Barracks....before we left, Carol said, put the girls down so that I can take a picture of them....so I did....she must have forgotten what it was like to have mobile kids...no longer do you get the cute sweet pics we've previously had of them sitting STILL and TOGETHER!

Here's the pic I took!

At the Memorial....

The minister took this family pic of us before the memorial.....

After the service we came home for about an hour before dinner....during this time the girls took a NAP....a nice one too....which is why they are not featured in the following picture!

Olivia and I after her nap!

Sydney after her nap.....

The whole family went to dinner at Bill Gianinos (by our house).....it was cold, so the girls are weraing their Cardina's jackets....and hats! :)

Olivia eating her pasta!

Sydney eating her pasta.....

After dinner we came home and hung out on the patio...well, some of us did....Sydney took ANOTHER nap (all the attention wore her out), and Olivia played inside with GrandDude and Uncle Mike...

GrandDude and Uncle Mike....

Daddy and Olivia....

Sydney....

Sydney and Uncle Todd....

Saturday morning, bright and early the girls got up to play with Uncle Todd...well, first they cuddled with Uncle Sean, but we don't have any decent pics of that! :)

Olivia...

Uncle Todd (who for the first time in his ENTIRE life did not complain about getting his picture taken), quickly realized how very important our Sesame Street Table is to us....fortunately the girls were willing to share with him! :)

On Saturday the fam went out to visit some old STL friends for t he day, while the girls 'recovered' from all the recent excitement! I had a pedicure scheduled and went to a massage therapy appointment for my fabulous back....when I came back, I sent Matt out shopping and the girls and I got a nice 5 mile walk in!

Here we are before our walk...

Olivia's excited about getting her picture taken!

Sydney giving Daddy the look while he takes her picture!

When everyone came back, we bar-b-qued a nd hung on the back patio....then Uncle Jason and Aunt Gretchen came over and hung out while we drank it up! :)

Mommy, the girls, and GrandDude!

The girls with Uncle Todd, GrandDude and Grandma Carol!

Olivia...trying on Uncle Todd's Hat!

Acute pic of Sydney & Uncle Todd...it's sooooooooooooo cute seeing them in those hats b/c they are so big!

The following are some pictures from the week before this post was written!

Olivia on her car, playing around during the Dog Days of SUmmer with Mommy and Sydney!

Not to be left out...Sydney wanted a picture of herself...actually I think she wanted the camera!!!!

Playing around before dinner and WAYYYYYYY before the "water bottle incident" as it has now become known!

So, Daddy left his water bottle on the floor and Olivia found it and was playing with it....it was empty thankfully (we save these for Sugar...she loves to play with them in the backyard)....all of a sudden she started bopping Sydney on the Head...she thought it was HILARIOUS...so did we...thus the next series of pictures....

Sydney was NOT thrilled after the 4th or 5th BOP.....

Olivia...laughing like a loon...I'm pretty sure Matt and I were too (the IRONY in this situation is that usually Sydney 'beats' and I mean this lightly...up on Olivia.