school picture

It has been a while since my last post as i am still adjusting to our new ' back to school " schedule . With everybody back in school things are a bit hectic at the house . Lillian started kindergarten and really enjoys school . According to her teacher she is a good student and well accepted by her classmates . She has also made great progress walking and only uses her walker outside during recess.

Anna-lena also loves to go to school and to my surprise takes a nap at school everyday without any problems . Her teachers describe her as very curious and social .

Back to school ...

Anna-lena doing one of her favorite activity , which is to play with water and sand - i am sure glad we surpassed the days were she actually ate sand ...

The girls love washing their babies - it keeps them busy for a good 30 min . !

We have been spending a lot of time outside in our backyard getting a good dose of natural vitamin D . The girls love to swim in the little kiddie -pool .

They can be so sweet with each other ! But watch out when their tempers explode ( yes they both have a strong temper ) ...

Anna-lena has been practising to go under water - i love these two pictures of her . She looks so peacefully and relaxed .

Lillian is doing great with her walking . She walks up to 100 steps without falling ...

unfortunately last Sunday she fell and hurt her leg( x-ray does not show any fractures) . She was non-weight bearing for 4 days and started walking again on day 5 . The rods must be doing their job of stabilizing the bone . She went 2 years and one months without any injuries .

Anna-Lena is growing up way to fast ,too. She started preschool august 17 th . Every morning she cannot wait to go to school ... The other day she told me that they are learning " not to eat their boogers" -well what can i say - i was not aware they are teaching theses kind of things in school now a days :-)

My baby has all grown up ! She started kindergarten on august 10th and loves it ! She uses her walker in school until she is strong enough to walk safely . The kids are great with her and she has already made a few friends . She has no aide in the class room , but has one for outside time and recess . Homework is an interesting subject ! She is such a perfectionist and wants to do a great job coloring . As a matter a fact , the eraser has become one of her good friends - and if i let her she will erase a letter up to 10 times to make sure it looks perfect .

Meeting the Wiggles

We had some excitement , because the girls got to see the Wiggles in concert twice and then also got to meet them in person !!

Tuesday we saw them in Sacramento and had front row seating - The girls just danced right in front of the stage . Anna-Lena loved Wags the dog ! And Lillian loves Murry . He is the red Wiggle and got of the stage and got down next to her and even announced her name to the audience .The show was great and Dad 's favorite song was sung ( Big red car ) . The next day we got meet and greet passes and tickets for another show ( thanks to the great efforts of Bill) . It was awesome - the Wiggles were so nice and talked to the girls - they even remembered them from the show the night before . Well it was 2 long days filled with lots of fun for the girls but i think Mommy and Daddy are "Wiggled out " for a while or at least till next year ! I think Bill is still recovering from this adventure ...

Cast is finally off !!!

Lillian standing 7 weeks post-op . Her legs are still very weak , but she is making a little progress every day . Lillian and Dr. Schiffman ( pediatric ortho ) . He is a wonderful doctor how has done both of Lillian's surgeries . Both surgeries went extremely well with no blood loss or other complications . He also stated that Lillian has amazingly strong bones .

Even the bravest little girls have to shed a tear once in a while . She was so worried about them removing the tape on her incisions .

After a long 7 weeks and 2 days ( it felt like an eternity ) Lillian got her cast off . She was very nervous and was talking non stop in the waiting room . The cast saw did not bother her at all , but the sight of the incisions kind of freaked her out a little bit. The surgeon checked her legs and said that they looked great - you can tell how proud he is of his accomplishment - nice straight legs . And she has grown a bit too ... now we just hope she can get back to walking soon.

The last 2 weeks

I realized that i have not updated the blog recently -you see i am still learning and trying to figure this blogging out . I just noticed that i uploaded the pictures in the wrong order ...well at least things won't get boring :-)
We went camping over the weekend with a big group of friends . The campground was in the middle of the Santa Cruz mountains . It was nature pure -and of course i forgot the mosquito repellent .We all had a great time , but nothing beats a nice soft bed and a hot shower . ( We slept on thin foam mattress - and by the morning Bill and I got reminded of our "old" age ) The Kids evidently slept great ! Lillian was walking all over and probably has half of the forest in her cast - fortunately it is coming off in 3 days !!

Anna-Lena the tree hugger !

We went to the Santa Cruz Board Walk and Beach -and she was longing to go into the ocean yet was only able to play in the sand at a safe distance .

Anna-lena just got up from her nap and was relaxing calmly next to Stitch . Usually he never stays close by her because she tends to smother him with her love .

This girl definitely loves the ocean - she got right in , tasted the water and after 10 min was completely soaked . She had sand everywhere...

Lillian fell asleep with a death-grip on her new camera - i tried to move her , but she went right back to the same position. I am starting to collect pictures of my children's odd sleeping positions.

Lillian just amazes me how strong she is ...

Anna-lena is my little wild girl - she loves to sing , dance and simply to act crazy.

To beat the summer heat and to prevent boredom we planted some nice flowers by the side of the house , but as you can see the girls had way more fun playing in the mud .

The girls have been such great little helpers ... infact , they made this salad all by them self .

This is the color Lillian picked for her room ( Lavendar ) and it is a little lighter in real life . This photo was taken before i finished their room , so please excuse the mess on the floor . I am so happy to finally have finished both girls' room . Now comes the big challenge : our room !!!

Anna-lena had a rough time deciding between bright orange and pink and i am sure glad we ended up with pink!!! The color kind of reminds me of strawberry milkshake ...

I realized that i have not posted a lot of pictures of our new house . We love it but unfortunaltly have also come to know what it means to be home owners ! Well, we discovered a leak under the master beathroom sink last week and after a run around with the insurance company it is finally getting fixed tomorrow ! Unfortunatly this is only the tip of the iceberg - behind the leak the drywall is molded and in need to be replaced . So the drywall saga is not finished yet ...

and then the window broke ... The gardener accidently broke Lillian's window ...So as you can tell we had a pretty exciting week ! Lillian is pretty miserable in her cast and keeps us up a good part of the night compalining of itching in her cast . She has 16 days to go ... Anna-lena is being a big helper lately and constantly talks about 'her big brother" - her imagination is really blooming...

Lillian's new legs

Here are the before and after pictures . Isn't it amazing ...