Water Babies

Last week, I got to meet up with my friend Claire at her neighborhood pool. Claire has a son, Tyler, that is just a few weeks younger than our girls. Plus, Claire's sister and her daughter were also there. It was N & K's first time at a public pool, and they just loved it! I was worried how it would be having both girls by myself at a real pool, but it was just fine and Claire and her sister helped me out too! It was a bright, sunny day and the water was a bit cool, but the girls didn't seem to mind much. Natalie loved Tyler's float, and bounced around the baby pool, just as happy as she could be. Kennedy is more laid back, and liked kicking her legs and grabbing for the water toys. We had such a fantastic time and I am thankful it went so smoothly. Then we went back to Claire's house, where she put in a pizza and made a yummy salad and homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert - yum! We can't wait to go back :o)

The kiddos playing after their naps

(Tyler must love the camera, he was looking AND smiling in all our pictures! My girls were hard to get looking or even smiling, but oh well. They really did have fun!!!)
Well, as least Natalie is smiling in this one!


Playgroup

Our best attempt at a group shot

Me holding Ken and Nat in the float

We took a couple, in hopes of getting a good shot!

Kennedy hanging out in her turtle float

Natalie catching some rays in the bumbo seat

Kennedy floating around

Here is video of Natalie in the float

Dedication

Well, this post is a little late, but hey - I'm a busy momma! Better late than never, that's my new motto 8-) Anyway, Joel & I had the girls dedication on June 14, in front of family and friends. It was a very special day, and we wanted to publicly announce that our sweet miracles belong to the Lord. This was something we knew before we even met Natalie or Kennedy... Joel & I knew they already belonged to the Lord and were His. We are so thankful that He has allowed us to take care of them for a little while.

We were so happy that many people special and close to us could attend - my parents and sister, my godparents, my two god sisters and their families, my dear friend Brooke, Joel's parents, his sister and her family, his great aunt & uncle, and close family friends Shane, Hillary, and his two children. Plus our new friend Mrs. Lynn, who comes and cleans my house every once in a while and also loves our girls! It was a truly great day and we all gathered together at Sportsman's Lodge to celebrate afterward. I wish, wish, wish I had gotten more pictures of our family or the girls in their dresses (hand-made by Mimi, with their names stitched inside the hem) Which is kind of why I had delayed writing this post because I had hoped to get more pictures of N & K in their beautiful gowns! Oh well. And thanks to Geta who took lots of pictures during the dedication ceremony.

Mrs Lynn holding Natalie, who fell asleep just like this!

Austin Ridderhoff holding Natalie, Brooke Palmer holding Kennedy, and the three Ridderhoff girls!

My god sister Elisabeth holding a sleeping Kennedy (love her face and those lips!)

Our little family

In front of the congregation at New Hope Community Church

Grandad talking to us

Mimi's got a new pool!!!

Joel's mom bought a baby pool for all her granddaughters to splash around in. We've gone over a few times to play and the girls seem to like the swimming pool! True to their personalities, Natalie splashes and kicks non-stop, while Kennedy sits back and tries to grab at the squirt toys. But they seemed to love it and it's something fun for us to do! Here are a few pictures of the girls playing in the pool and going down the slide!

Nat & Ken are 7 months old!!!

Here we are... our sweet little girls are seven months old! Joel & I were just talking about how it one way, seven months doesn't seem like a whole lot of time and in other ways, they have developed and grown so much in seven months. Wow. We were reflecting on their delivery day, when we first brought them home and they slept together in the changing table of the pack 'n' play, how we had them swaddled so tightly, when they first smiled, when they rolled over, etc. Now they are doing SO much, it's amazing.

Kennedy still loves her jumperoo and can spend a lot of time, just happily playing and bouncing in it. She sits up great and likes to play with blocks and the baby computer. She is a content baby, and has a sweet demeanor. She likes all food and will make a noise to let you know she wants more. She is a snuggle bug and also loves books. She is starting to notice strangers more and a few have made her cry, just by speaking to her (sensitive little thing) Kennedy has one bottom tooth and is cutting another one right next to it. She also sticks out her little tongue when she is happy. Her nicknames are Ken, Kenny, and Kenny-roo.

Natalie is a girl on the go! She isn't quite crawling yet, but does scoot backwards, and is never in the same place I left her. She plays with one thing for five minutes, then is ready to move on to the next. And she lets you know she is ready! Natalie likes going for walks and being thrown up into the air. She is such a daredevil and fearless. (Kennedy on the other hand, is going to be the rule-follower, I can tell) Natalie will chew on everything and especially likes to chew on ice cubes inside those little baby net things. She gets mad if she drops it or if the ice has melted too much. She also has found that she can SQUEAL very high pitched and loud, happy or mad. I hope that doesn't last too long, as our ears are hurting. She is a such a stinker! Natalie has two bottom teeth and knows how to use them for sure! :-) Her nicknames are Nat, Nat-bug, and Stinker bug.
Both girls are lots and lots of fun and doing new things all the time. They have liked all the foods they have tried so far, including pears, bananas, peas, carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes. They eat a fruit in the morning, and then a veggie and lunch and one at dinner. They are great eaters. At our last Dr's appointment, Natalie weighed 16 lbs 2 oz and Kennedy weighed 17 lbs 7 oz. They are doing perfectly - well, except for sleeping. Ahhh, yes - nighttime. The hardest time of day! I thought for sure we would be waaaay past the getting up in the middle of the night thing by 7 months, but seems like we are still dealing with it. It's not both of them, but they trade off, so either way, Mommy is getting up with somebody at 3 a.m. It's been very, very frustrating for me and it's hard to let one cry, for fear she will wake the other one up! That's the challenge with two babies! They go back and forth, whether they sleep long or don't. I think some of it is teething. But some of my friends have had babies sleeping 10 or 12 hours since they were three months old (please don't tell me if you are one of those!!!) so I really thought I would be getting a restful 7 or 8 hours as well. So I have been quite exhausted lately, and we are trying to figure out how to best handle the situation. Anyway, I won't focus on that anymore. Natalie and Kennedy are precious little girls and Joel & I enjoy being their parents so very much!!! We thank God daily for the gift that they are and love watching them learn, play, and grow.
Well, here are a few recent pics and some video for your entertainment!!!

Kennedy hanging out in the exersaucer (so glad they don't get tired of their toys!) :o)
Nat-bug asleep with that sweet bottom in the air


Natalie riding on Papa's shoulders

Kennedy asleep in her car seat - she always holds on to the sides!

Beautiful Ken asleep after our walk

K playing in the cool exersaucer at Mimi's house

Joel propped Ken up like this on a pillow and we thought it was hilarious!

Natalie playing on the computer

Joel is the best daddy and loves to make the girls smile and laugh (which he is very creative about!!!) As a parent, you all know you do silly, borderline ridiculous things to get your child to smile. So one of ours is "Wildcat" and doing claws out at the girls going "Rrrrr." For whatever reason, they think it is funny.





Kennedy in her jumperoo!





Okay, so we discovered that if Natalie was sitting down in her crib, she could pull herself up to standing on the rails! We just had to get a video, so people would believe us. She does topple over at the end, but don't worry, Natalie was not harmed in the filming of this video :)

Maggie Valley, Part 2

Attempts at getting a family picture with the lovely view behind us

This is right before K spit up in daddy's hair (he he he)

But what a cute picture! I know Joel would say it was worth it :o)

Kennedy loves her daddy

Natalie loves to play with anything that makes a "crunchy" sound, so she found this

bag of stuffing on the counter while hanging out in the kitchen and went to town

Smiling Kennedy

She is cutting a bottom tooth!

The gorgeous view from the front porch

Shhh, Ken is sleeping

Papa and Kennedy

I love it when the girls "talk" to each other :o)

"Hey Kennedy, guess what?!?!"

"I know, isn't that so exciting?!?!"

Vacation to Maggie Valley (part 1)

Well, we almost didn't make it to North Carolina... the day before we were supposed to leave, Joel got very sick and it seemed almost impossible to make the 4 1/2 hour trip with him feeling so awful. But he toughed it out, and the girls did great on their first road trip, and we arrived around 8 o'clock Wednesday night. We stayed at a cabin owned by friends of my parents, and it is sooo nice! Awesome view, comfortable king-sized bed, large soaking tub, perfect 75 degree weather every day... all around wonderful. Unfortunately, Joel was still sick most of our time there, which was a bummer. I hated that he felt so bad - we had been looking forward to this vacation for a while. But inspite of that, we had a really good time with my parents and sister. It was also nice to have the extra helping hands with the girls. The only thing that could have made it better was if Joel was 100% feeling good.
We just relaxed, ate my mom's yummy cooking, played card games, sat out on the great deck enjoying the view, napped, took long baths, snacked on junk food, watched movies, read, played with Natalie & Kennedy, and overall relaxed and took it easy.
We took lots and lots of pictures, so that is why I am calling this Part One... so more pictures to come, but here are some from our four days in Maggie Valley, North Carolina ~

Mommy & Nat Bug

Sooooo BIG!

Aunt Emily & Kennedy


Me & my hubby on the swing

Our little fam

Peek-A-Boo

The girls looking thru the window at a log cabin playhouse

There were these bear footrests, and we thought it'd be cute to get the girls on them,

but of course they couldn't sit on them without support, so we hopped on. Kind of silly, but hey, it looks cute!

LOVE this picture of my Ken!!!

Check out those stunning blue eyes

Nat blowing bubbles

Also check out her gorgeous blue eyes!

Natalie just hanging out in the jumperoo

Papa showing Kennedy how to play Liverpool Rummy

Natalie just playing... such a cutie pie!

Sisters having fun together

I like this one...

Natalie is a happy baby, just really hard to get to smile in pictures... so you get the stare

On our way up to NC, we stopped at Cracker Barrel

Mommy and her girls

One night in the big soaking tub, we decided that the girls needed to take a bath, so Emily & I put on our clothes and hopped in the tub with the girls, who had a blast splashing and playing in the water. It was their first bath in a real tub, and I think they liked it! Enjoy the video :o)