Sydney...Is She Really Sitting On Her Own???

Yup, she sure is. We’ve been working on sitting with the girls for some time. Sydney has always been good about sitting on the floor with us supporting us. Kendall would rather be on her back or belly, rolling around. Last night I put Sydney on the floor and got her all situated and she sat there for almost 2 minutes on her own. As you can tell she was sooo excited about it. But I think mommy was even more excited!!!

Now we just need to get her sister there as well!

Dobbelaere Family Reunion

On Sunday July 27, 2008, we headed to Hastings for a Dobbelaere Family Reunion. There was family in town from Michigan, Florida, Tennessee, and around the Twin Cities area. The reunion was held at a local park in Hasting. It was a great place for kids as there was a water park and a large playground. It was fun to see family that we have not seen in some time.

The best part was seeing the joy in Grandpa Dobbelaere’s eyes. As people continued to show up, his eyes filled with tears…tears of happiness.

The day was beautiful and a memory that will stay with us for a very long time!

Just A Pic Of The Girls

My Toy, No My Toy...

I love these 2 pics. The girls have already been battling over toys and we caught them in the act. Kendall was playing with a toy when Sydney made her way over and was trying to steal it. In the end I think Kendall won. I love the second picture of Sydney, the picture says…”what I didn’t do anything.”

She is Already Destroying My Home

That is right, Kendall is already destroying my home. People warned me, they told me "when you have kids your house will get destroyed. You will no longer have nice walls, carpet, furniture, etc." Well it's already happening and the girl doesn't even crawl yet. Kendall's source of transportation is to roll to where ever she wants to get to. Last night she rolled from the middle of the living room towards the wall. She then got up on her hands and knees, rocked a little bit, then dropped back down. Then she rolled again, but this time was stopped by the wall. She had this large toy in her hand and proceeded to bang it against my wall. And when I say bang, I mean hard, it was no little tap. I looked at her and said "Kendall what are you doing, you are going to put a hole in mama's wall." She gave me one of her Kendall smiles, that melts your heart, and proceeded to do it again. That little stinker!!!

More July 4th Pics

Our friend, Tracy Lee, caught some great pictures of the girls while we were camping this past weekend. I had to share some of them with you…ENJOY!!!

Sydney

I guess Syd tried some beer like her sister.

Kendall

How Are The Girls Doing?

The girls are doing amazing. They are more and more active each day and their personalities are shining a bit more each day as well.

Kendall is getting all over the place. No, she is not crawling yet. Instead she either rolls to the place she wants to get to or she pushes herself on her back. It’s the funniest thing ever. Last night Chad and I were eating in the kitchen. Sydney was taking a catnap in her chair and Kendall was on the floor playing. I was watching her roll all over the place. At one point she was very close to the recliner, and I thought she’d get stuck under it. But I didn’t get up, I just waited…knowing she’d yell when she couldn’t move. Instead of yelling, she figured out how to lift her legs when she rolls and went around the chair. Then I saw her push herself back a bit on her back, then she proceeded to roll some more. She rolled all the way from the living room to the stairs, where Chad got up and shut the gate. She then rolled herself down the hall towards her bedroom. At this point, she stopped and yelled out. I guess she got tired and wanted us to bring her back. It took her a while to get there, about 10 minutes, but I couldn’t believe it. She had done this for my mom one day, but not us. It was fun to just sit there and see her figure all this out!

Sydney is not rolling as much as Kendall. She does try to get up on her hands and knees. Especially if she wants something that is out of her reach. We’ve seen her get up on her hands and knees successfully once, so I’m sure any time now she’ll be up on them all the time. She also has started getting so excited about things. I’ll walk by her and just say “Hey Syd” and she’ll get this huge smile and start flapping her arms.

Both girls have figured out how to steal from one another. And it always seems their sister must have the better toy. If Kendall is holding something and Sydney wants it, she’ll keep grabbing at it until she has it. And it goes the other way as well.

They are definitely starting to notice each other more. There are times I’ll see them both on the floor, looking at each other, smiling and talking. I can sit there for hours watching that. It’s hard to believe they are almost 7 months old!

July 4th Camping Trip

WOW, could you ask for a better July 4th holiday weekend??? I don’t think so!!! It was beautiful and the weather was just perfect for camping. The days were sunny and bright and the nights were just the right temp to have a GREAT night sleep. We headed down to Madison Lake for a weekend of fun with the Lee’s. It actually works out perfect to camp with them…we have the pop up and they have the boat.

We did some boating, which was the girl’s first time. They loved it; they liked it so much they fell asleep every time the motor started. Kendall got her first taste of beer. Yup that’s right, daddy decided to give her a lick. He put the can up to her mouth and she licked it a couple times…and then she wanted more. It must be the name; she may take after the Kendall side after all!!!

On Saturday we had a visit from the Levy’s. They had twin boys a week after the girls were born. The 4 babies were lying on a blanket, so I decided to snap a picture of them…too cute.
I hope you all had a great 4th. Let’s hope the weather stays like this for next year. It’s nice to have a long weekend, especially when the weather is this nice!!!

Kendall's first taste of beer

Sydney hanging out in the camper

The girl's with the Levy twins

Kendall and Her Helmet

My mom was watching the girls for us one night, so we could have an adult evening. While doing so, she caught the cutest picture of Kendall and her helmet. As you can tell, she doesn’t seem too bothered by it. The first day was hard, but she also had a pretty bad cold. She doesn’t even seem to notice it anymore. Our biggest struggle is controlling her body temperature. The helmet holds all her heat in, so the poor girl is just hot all the time. I have a feeling we’ll see her in just her diaper a lot this summer.

We did have her first fitting already on July 1st (she’d worn it for 9 days at this point) and the technician was amazed on how much it had already improved. She indicated Kendall must have had a growth spurt as it was huge difference. If Kendall continues down this road, she shouldn’t have to wear it very long at all.