Social Butterflies

Hallelujah, I have found my digital camera! I feel much better because our couch had eaten it, so really, one can hardly blame that on me. Here is Zach Shipman doing an impression of our hungry couch:
Zach was also the cause of one of our many recent social outings. He turned one on Oct. 10th, so we headed to Prescott, WI to help him and his family celebrate. That's Claire in the top picture with our friend Hannah, who was also there. Hannah is awesome with babies, and you can tell Claire is having a blast with her. Isn't Zach an adorable 1-year-old?We also went to my sister-in-law Stephanie's house to visit with her, her husband Andy, and daughter Alex (below) for a family barbecue. Rich and Gwen also joined in on the fun. Alex loved running around the yard and playing with balloons. Hanging out with Alex always gets me excited for when the girls are a bit older and can play more.
The beginning of November has included an annual event for Ryan and I for the past 9 years - The CTV Auction! We headed to Eau Claire to volunteer in the phone room for another fun and exciting auction event. Rich and Gwen watched the girls, and brought them to CTV to meet everyone, which was a lot of fun. We can't walk away from the auction without buying something, and this year it was this huge stuffed bear. Seriously, it's huge!

This past Tuesday, Nov. 18th, the girls and I went to Target to visit Ryan at work. We've been a few times now, but everyone was amazed by how big the girls are getting. I was pleasantly surprised that the girls stayed happy and smiling the whole time. Nice job, ladies!

Even with all this running around, we made sure to fulfill our civic duty on Nov. 4th. The girls came with me for their very first presidential election (Ryan headed to the polls after work but we went during the day for fear that it would be uber-busy in the evening). Because of this early exposure to the excitement of politics, I'm certain we now have a future President in our mists. Who will it be - Claire or Abby? Only time will tell. . .

I'm sure the socializing will continue as we head into the Holiday Season. Stay tuned for more updates from Life at the Lamberts!

A Bear, A Duck, and Girls on the Move

Sorry for the very long lapse since my last post! Things have been a bit hectic around here, plus I seem to have lost my camera again (!) so I'm a bit lacking in pictures. But I do have some cute Halloween ones courtesy of Aunt Jill. (Yea for Aunt Jill!)

My sister Jill, niece Lily, my parents, Ryan, the girls and I headed over to Grandma and Aunt Pat's house on the afternoon of Halloween to show off our costumes: Abby Duck, Lily Ladybug and Claire Bear. We had a nice little photo shoot, and Abby got so excited she kept almost falling off the couch.

I started thinking that maybe we should wear costumes every day if they're this happy about it. It was adorable! Then, Ryan and I said good-bye to our girls as we headed out for a date while they headed off to spend the night with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Maggie. The rest of the group (minus Grandma and Pat) went to Jill's neighborhood in Robbinsdale to trick or treat (minus the tricks and the treats) and meet some of Jill's fun neighbors. All in all, a pretty eventful first Halloween!!
BREAKING NEWS: Forget about the Presidential Election, this is what you really want to know! Last night, the girls started crawling!! They were playing in the room next to the kitchen when I saw Abby moving forward out of the corner of my eye. I had to do a double take to make sure she was actually crawling, and she was! Not wanting to be outdone, Claire did a tiny bit of crawling soon after. I got some video on my cell, but it's not very good. I will try to find the camera and take some better video so I can post it for you all to see. I know all babies do it, but I was so excited and proud! It's great that they're crawling but after watching my sister and girl-on-the-move Lily, I'm not looking forward to everything they're going to get into. Stay tuned!

Grandma and Grandpa Lambert Visit

And Grandma Sharon taught us an exciting new thing!

Lately. . .(Part Two)

Claire has been prone to random fits of hysterical laughter (and drooling - oh, the drool! Maybe Abby has been shaking her head at her crazy sister). Watch this video close and you'll even see a sister kiss - feel the love!

Lately. . . (Part One)

Abby has started shaking her head. Is she saying no? Is she dancing? Does she like being dizzy? Who knows, but it's pretty darn cute!

Pictures Galore

So I finally figured out how to get the pictures from my cell phone onto the computer - hooray! Bring on the pics!

From September 2008
Claire was super happy to play with Zach Shipman when we went to visit Sean, Kari and Zach in Prescott on September 4th. I mean, who wouldn't fall in love with this adorable guy?


From September 2008

Things have been calming down for me on the work front, which means I actually get to enjoy my new work schedule of only going into the office two days a week (Tuesdays and Fridays, if you're curious). I'm loving spending my days off with the girls. They seem to get cuter and more fun every day!
From September 2008
One of the games we like to play is Peek-a-boo. I throw a burp rag over their heads and yell "Peek a boo!" at them when they pull it off. Yes, sounds thrilling, I know, but they love it! Here I caught a pic of them right when they pulled the rags. Just look at the excitement on their faces!

From September 2008
Here we are playing in the kitchen with some of our favorite toys, Alphabet Pal and Octopus. Claire also got to try on my sunglasses. I think I may have a future diva on my hands. . .
From September 2008

On those days when I do actually have to go earn my paycheck, the girls get to play with Grandma Gwen (who drives all the way in from Eau Claire, WI to hang out with her grandgirls - what a saint!) or Grandpa Mike. I love how much time they get to spend with their grandparents (and not paying for daycare ain't too bad, either).
From September 2008

Here are the pics of the girls giving each other "kisses." As you can tell, Claire's not too sure what to think about all this affection, but I think it's darn cute!

From September 2008

And here's proof of "30 Things" #1 - My sister and I went to get haircuts together on September 5th. I like mine a lot, but I'll keep you in suspence a while longer until I actually take a picture of myself (maybe when the girls turn 18). And my sister's new haircut is awesome! Here she is, post haircut, looking fabulous!
From September 2008

From September 2008

Even though we've been busy, I want the girls know the importance of beauty sleep. So no matter how busy we may get, I make sure to work in plenty of time for napping into our schedule to keep us all (especially me!) happy. Oh, what a rough life!

Has It Been Three Weeks Already?

Okay, sorry! I suck at blog life. I blame my cell phone. Ever since I got my NEW cell phone that actually has a CAMERA on it, I've stopped taking pictures with my ACTUAL camera and have only been using my cell phone camera. FURTHERLY unfortunate, I don't know how to get the pics off my cell phone camera and onto the computer. BUT I am learning, so for the two or three of you out there that actually read this blog, hold on! More pics are a-comin'!!

To entertain you until then, I am using LOTS of CAPS, the key phrase "a-comin'," AND I will tell you why I spent most of this past weekend in tears.

#1 - I was reading "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. Every time - EVERY TIME - I read a chapter from the mom's point of view, I was reduced to a sniffling mess. Hey, you try putting yourself in the perspective of a mom whose daughter is dying of cancer while your two PERFECTLY HEALTHY baby girls are napping in the next room and just try to stop the flood from a-comin'.

#2 - Just when I thought there was absolutely nothing better than the girls attacking me with kisses and snuggles, this weekend they went and did it on each other. Now, I'm not always entirely sure if they're trying to KISS their sister or BITE her, but I'm pretty sure it was kissing and it was gosh-darn adorable. The fun just keeps a-comin' with these two! And I got it on [cell phone] camera, so with any luck, the pictures will be a-comin' shortly, too. Until then, feel free to check out the blogs of people who actually know what they're doing, like my sister!

Oh, and here's a video of Claire splashing in the tub. [If you have dogs nearby, watch out. My high-pitched voice may cause them to spin wildly in circles.]