Mo Joe & Beyond: September 2011

Sorry such a long wait, apparently I'm terrible at blogging. Here we've got two very cute girls (well one's very cute and the other one's gaining steam) and I'm not even showing them off. Enjoy the pictures. There are 96 of them, so get comfortable.

The girls enjoying lunch at a park. (Apparently Ashley wasn't invited. Just kidding she was there, she just didn't make the cut for the picture. You know that baby acne is a killer.)

Picasso. This picture is proof that you can actually draw on the easel and not the walls.

Sweet baby Ash. Kinda cute, but plenty of room to grow.

Sydney and Rosemary before the party of their lives--Ashley's baptism. The girls thought it was the best day ever. A nearly empty church and no buzzkill priest trying to ruin their good time.

The Holy Family (Oh that name is already taken, sorry.)

The fam with the godparents, oh whoops I'm mean proxies. What up Curtis and Julie in Alaska!

P.S. Julie and Curtis are the real godparents, Pat and Trudy mean absolutely nothing to Ashley's spiritual life.

Nana, Amber, and Papa, the Deacon with the sneak-in baptism.

We snuck into the church and performed a baptism while the priest was out playing Bingo with the nuns. Just kidding, it was all legit, but this story sounds cooler.

It doesn't get much holier than this people.

Very awkward transition picture.

The happy fam at the Bernardo Winery. Booze not pictured, but it was there. Believe me, it was there.

Nine months without booze really makes you wonder if life is even worth living.

The cuz's chillin' on a bench.

Nana and Papa with Ash. Move over Syd, you've been replaced.

Wait a second, I guess you are still loved Syd, though I think you may have to work on Papa.

What, you can't afford a suit for that kid?

Ash absolutely loving her first trip to the beach though she says the beach looks an awful lot like her car seat.

Bedtime Besties! Syd and her cousin Amber.

Dad's created an iPad monster.

Getting cuter.

A tender moment shared between sisters. I got that line from Hallmark.

Syd with her latest birthday present--a pony!!!

Joe's inside that horse costume.

Cousin Cheryl with Ashley

Ash's first bath. What's up with that belly button? Gross.*

*Ashley's belly button has returned to normal size. We were thinking extensive surgery if it had not.

Ooh la la, fancy girl. This picture is not at all cliche right? No other young girls have ever tried on their mom's high heels.

Muggin'. Watch out for this little one.

Silly sister number one.

This pose looks super sexy, but don't worry she's just propping up the iPad.

The girls having a picnic at a lake.

Our sweet ride proved to be a better seat. Down with nature, up with minivans!

Dad feeding his little girl her first bottle.

Buns McGee

"Thanks Uncle Curtis for my gigantic beach ball. You don't even need pants to play with it."

Snoozers.

Ashley's grizzly bear impersonation.

I think we need to buy Sydney more bath toys.

"What elephant? I don't see an elephant."

Rose and Syd petting a sheep, well that's what the zookeeper said, but I'm pretty sure it's a goat.

Aunt Trudy and Uncle Pat trying to win the coolest aunt and uncle award. And they almost had it until Uncle Pat's glasses came out.

Wait a second, where's the iPad?

Syd and Rosie on a choo choo thrill ride. It went upside twice. This was the before picture. The size of Rose's butt caused her to drop out of the second loop.

This kid must really like grizzly bears.

Popsicle Girls--Sydney, Audrey, and Rosemary

Sydney after killing a zebra, oh wait it's just a red popsicle. My bad.

Woohoo! What a good looking crew!

This picture needs no words. Okay maybe one--Awesome!!!

Ballerina Girls--Audrey, Syd, Rose, and Zoey and Abby (Meyer girls)

Cutie girls on a bench.

While Audrey likes to concentrate very hard, Sydney likes to let the fingers fly.

Sydney takes her pool time very seriously.

Cousin Sarah and the sweet angel baby.

Ash in her little space shuttle, more like space shut-it machine, like cool it kid we get it, you're crying.

Sydney placed that caterpillar very strategically.

The ham with her mandarin oranges.

Mom's first (and last) attempt at grocery shopping with two kids. (Let's just say I walked out of the store with Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms.)

P.S. Two seconds after this picture was taken Sydney got out of the car and ran across the store yelling "Balloons, balloons."

If only we lived in China, Sydney could be competing in the 2012 London olympics.

Almost super cute, but is that baby acne I spot?

The 80s super queen helped herself to some yogurt. While Joe and I were sitting on the couch, sydney opened the fridge, picked out a yogurt, removed the foil top, got a spoon from the drawer, and casually walked into the living room with it.

Panning for gold. That's right kid, time for you to start pulling your weight around here.

All right, this one's a winner.

Ash and Roxy during one of Sydney's hamster torture sessions.

The little artist. What, they all can't be funny.

"Let's be clear here, I can crush you at any moment kid."

Matching outfits, so cute!

Rosie--the pointer--Frost

Sydney placed this flower all my herself.

Syd having the time of her life during a train ride. She doesn't react until the ride is over and then throws a tantrum and refuses to get off the most awesome ride she's ever been on.

Syd and her candle caterpillar.

Joe was late coming home from work and I thought the best parenting move would be to give the kid chocolate ice cream and walk away. Surprisingly it proved to be a failure as Sydney herself was the cleanest thing in the kitchen. Ice cream was all over the chair, table, floor, and walls. That'll teach Joe to ever be late again.*

*It didn't teach Joe anything because I had to clean everything up all my myself.

Big stretch.

"Ewww dad, that's gross." (Implied toot by Joe.)

Sydney showing her disproval of the visit to the brewery.

Silly sister number one is at it again!

Syd, and her neighbor friends Lena and Caylin

Sydney played a practical joke on Charlotte.

Give it up people, she's cute.

Sydney passed out after an afternoon of reading about puppies.

Baking a cake from scratch, the box counts as scratch right?

Sampling the cake mix, Syd approves!

Notice Charlotte's tail accessary, done by Syd.

Sprinkles are just tiny pieces of candy that when consumed in large quantities actually taste like candy. Well that's the theory Sydney's working with.

There are actually dozens of cupcakes pictured here, I know the hair can be quite distracting.

"Ooh, now that feels nice."

Doc Syd checking on her patient.

Syd and her buds.

Cousin Rosemary sucked on every Ashley pacifier she could find.

The Movie Star

Syd would have preferred a panda sister.

iPad girl in her party pants.

Total knockout. I'm glad I don't see any black eyes or I'd be questioning dad's method of putting Ashley to sleep.

I think this is the 5th picture involving an iPad. Are we bad parents or awesome parents!?

Syd eating a pb&j with a fork. The peanut butter half was quickly discarded and the jelly was scooped into the mouth with the fork. The carrots were untouched. So Sydney had a nice healthy lunch of jelly.

Syd's first swim lesson. The toys were a hit, but we're not playing $20 a lesson for you to play with toys kid. Get in the water and start kicking those legs.