See you in September

I cannot believe it's almost the middle of September. Where has the time gone?

We celebrated Anja's 4th birthday in August. She did a lot of growing in that month. She outgrew her shoes, some of her clothes, and decided it was time to swim. She told me all summer, "When I turn 4 I'll swim. I won't be afraid to get my head wet when I turn 4." The day after her birthday she got in the pool and swam without assistance! She did the same thing with potty training. She refused and refused until one day she decided, "I want underpants today, Mommy" and never had an accident after that. She is one funny character. She's proven to me that she can do anything she puts her mind to...and perfectly!

For her birthday party we had a "Madeline" theme from the famous children's book. Mom helped me form the perfect costume. Anja was so excited about every detail. She wanted a pinata, "pin the hat on madeline" and "pass the parcel". We also had a treasure hunt. She had the time of her life and I think the other kids did too.

Emma is unfortunately struggling with the terrible twos. She whines almost all day long. She was such an easy and sweet baby, so it breaks my heart that she is climbing on everything, smacking her sister, and refusing to do anything I ask her to do. She insists on doing everything herself which creates frustration for everyone. If we want to go out somewhere we have to leave 15-20 minutes early just to allow for her antics. I cannot wait until she gets over it! I really appreciate the moments when she is extremely cute and happy :-)

Either way, they are my beautiful little angels. Enjoy the pictures (I'll post them in the next few hours :-)