Exercise

Allie loves to exercise. She's been exercising since January 1 and she hasn't given up yet. That means that she has stuck with her goal 85% longer than the average American with the same goal. I'm proud of her. She actually does some pretty intense exercises. Laura has taught her a few ab exercises (yes, even though she's seven months pregnant) and Allie loves them. Allie already has a six-pack, but she says she's setting a good example for her dad - that's me. She has some pretty amazing hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. We attribute much of her coordination to ORFF Music for Children. How many two-year-olds do you know that can correctly alternate striking a 1" key with a mallet in rhythm?

At the end she says, "I will destroy you with my muscles!"

Just look at the ball.

What has football done to my princesses?

That is a smile on Emily's face. She's laughing for joy. Just two seconds ago she was standing up getting ready to walk. However, she was on the one yard line and the defense was quick to tackle her. She lost a yard, but she's still happy. Allie loves to tackle dogpile style.

Some might cringe at the thought that Allie and Haley roll all over Emily, but Emily doesn't cringe. After they let her up she lays back down on the ground and screams for more. She laughs before they ever reach her. Alan had better watch out. This group of girls doesn't take any gruff from anyone. Believe me, I know, I live with them every day and Allie has been known to point the finger at me and threaten to give me a powpow if I don't act appropriately.

See, there's nothing to worry about, Superwoman is in charge. She makes sure that no one gets hurt.

This is Haley tackling Emily. Her form is great, though her head needs to be in Emily's chest.

This is their audition for Hwy. 75 wrestling PopPop. Can you forward this to the right people?

I feel sorry for the bully that chooses to pick on Alan. When he gets beatup by a group of Helms girls he may rethink his target.

Emily's First Steps

We were unable to catch such a momentous occasion on camera with the other two chicas, but this time we got it. Emily was about eight days shy of 17 months when she decided to walk. However, after sleeping on it she decided that walking was not for her. Oh well, at least you get to see her first steps.

After walking three steps she got the hang of it.

Below is all she walked afterwards. She has spent time in the jumparoo strengthening her legs. Actually, she's just deceiving us all and she really can walk, she just gets more attention if she crawls. She looks like a monkey when she scrambles across the floor. They say an Alligator can run faster than 20 mph, well so can Emily. So, we can move to Florida if we're accepted to school there.

Indecent Exposure

I don't think Allie is very much like me. She certainly looks like Brent and she's a morning person like Brent. She also likes to rough house like Brent. She's very comfortable being herself and feels right at home wherever she goes. Like last week in the fast food restaurant...I look through the windows to watch the girls on the indoor playground and there's Allie in her green shirt and green panties. I'm sure she was worried about ruining her tights on the plastic slide, but it would've been better had she left her skirt and tights with her shoes rather than on the play mats.

By the way, I did make her get dressed, but ten minutes later she had undressed again! Allie's definitely not the prude I am.

Baseball in the Snow

Laura and I were in Deseret Industries (a Mormon thrift store) when I found some baseball gloves for $2.00 each. Allie's glove was new and Haley's had already been broken in. I also bought one for Laura as she likes baseball too. The helmets were $.50 each. What a steal. It was a cold day on Saturday, but the girls wanted to go play baseball at the park. We couldn't find a bat at DI, but we will soon. I took the girls and we learned how to catch grounders. They both throw very well. I am impressed. Allie is already begging to go play again. It's 28 degrees outside today and she can usually handle about 15 minutes before she needs to come it. Haley is a sissy when it comes to cold, 3 minutes and she's crying and screaming for help. I vote her most likely to live somewhere near the equator.

Happy B-day PopPop

Happy B-day PopPop. Wish we were there!

Emily Speaks

What did Emily say? You heard it right. She says it all the time. Her repertoire is not very extensive, however, it consists of essential words and phrases - "Roll Tide" being one of those.