I took a quick trip to the grocery store yesterday afternoon and left Chris home alone with both girls.  When I left, Sydney was napping and Sara Beth was playing in her playroom.  Apparently that didn't last long.  Sydney woke up crying as soon as I left and Chris couldn't get her to calm down.  He noticed after a while he hadn't heard or seen Sara Beth in a while.  So he walks to her room, and her door is locked.  This is never a good sign.  She closes and locks her door when she knows she is doing something she shouldn't.  She unlocked and opened her door and this is what Chris finds...

Yes, that is a purple permanent marker!  Chris called me saying I must get home immediately.  Luckily I was already in the car coming home.  When I walked in the door, Sydney was still screaming and Sara Beth was now crying, and rubbing her purple fingers in her eyes.  Poor Chris!  I think this made him a little more ready to go back to work today!

Yes, it *mostly* came out after a lot of scrubbing in the bathtub.  And yes, we are very thankful she didn't get marker on the walls or carpet.  But, yes, she did get in trouble, hopefully enough to never do this again!

Can you believe it has already been one month since Sydney was born?  Time sure does fly when you're having fun!  Having Sydney around has definitely taken some getting used to, for all of us.  We have had to come up with new routines throughout the day.  Sara Beth has had to get used to sharing everyone's attention, which has been the hardest part for all of us.  But she is doing great with Sydney!  She genuinely loves her sister and I can't wait to watch them become best friends.

Sydney is still sleeping a lot -- both during the day and luckily at night too.  She is just now starting to smile and it is so much fun to watch her personality grow!

And here is that precious, adorable, beautiful smile I was talking about!

Look how much Sydney looks like Sara Beth at one month...

Animal Kingdom

We decided to go down to Animal Kingdom today, while Chris is still on "paternity leave" from work.  This was the one park neither of us had ever been to.  It is very different from the other parks in Disney World, but we really liked it.  I loved all the animals they have there, and they are so close to you!  It was a really a fun experience being that close to them.
Today was our first big outing as a family of four.  And it was a lot different than our previous family-of-three-outings!  Between stopping throughout the day to feed an infant (looking for the perfect bench in the shade at the same time Sydney was hungry proved to be difficult) and a demanding almost-3-year-old (who was a bit more high-maintenance than normal due to a late bed time last night and an early wake up call this morning, plus no nap), we learned that you just can't be in a hurry!  We got to the park later than we wanted; then it took twice as long to get everyone and everything out of the car, into the (new, double!) stroller, and make our way into the park.  But we were able to do everything in the park we wanted to do.  And we learned that we all must have a bit more (okay, a lot more) patience now that there are four of us!

Waiting for train

 On the train

Waiting for the Lion King show to begin

We all loved the show!

We were so excited Sara Beth didn't run kicking and screaming from the characters this time.  She had to be held, but she gave them hugs, kisses, and posed for pictures!

I got to ride some rides with Sara Beth this time (last time we were at Disney I was pregnant with Sydney)

Chris being silly, and Sara Beth joining in on the fun

The best part of Animal Kingdom is the Safari ride.  You ride on a jeep through the safari and get up close and personal with all the animals.  The ride was too rough for Sydney, so Chris rode with Sara Beth in the morning, and then Sara Beth and I rode it again before we left.  Here are the pictures I took of the safari ride.

The "centerpiece" of Animal Kingdom is the Tree of Life.  There are so many animals carved into the side of it.  I loved walking around looking the tree. 

All in all we had a great day and we can't wait to go back!

My friend Heather came over a few weeks ago and took these newborn pictures of Sydney.  Didn't she do a great job?!

Thanks for the beautiful pictures, Heather!