First Down!

1 down and 7 to go! Months that is. Patrick has been gone for a month today, 4.5 weeks. On one hand the time has flown by and it feels like he just left this week, but on the other hand it feels like it's been monthS since we last saw him. I guess that's the way everything feels these days though. We are doing pretty well other than some pregnancy aches and pains that come and go. The girls are just growing so fast and they are beginning to repeat so many things I say to them. It's pretty funny when I say "Oh man!" and I hear them both saying it over and over back to me!
Patrick recently had a port stop in Rota, Spain and he was able to Skype me and the girls one morning and it was wonderful to get to see his face and hear his voice! The girls went nuts over it! They kept pointing at the screen and saying Daddy and then they would start to dance in their high chairs because they kept playing loud upbeat music in the background of where he was. He got a kick out of the whole thing, just getting to see them interact with him was a great thing! I hope we get to do some more of those over the next months to come. Patrick also had a stop in Albania recently where it was more work than play:

Patrick working hard digging a trench for an orphanage in Albania during a port stop.

Other highlights: My good friend Lauren (Massey) Cook came to visit us a couple of weeks ago for a quick weekend trip and it was so nice to have some company for a couple of days. She was such a help while she was here, she just picked the girls up and would help feed them meals and get them in their high chairs and played with them...great visit with a great friend :) Here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

27 Weeks pregnant with Micah

28 Weeks pregnant with Micah

Sweet twin moment: Charlotte giving Hannah Kate a hug :)

I just love the girls in overalls! And they LOVE to put their hands in their roomy pockets! HK (L) & Char (R)

They stand around with their hands in their pockets a lot when they are wearing these roomy overalls and I think it makes them look like they are so much older than 20 months. HK (L) & Char (R)
The rest of these are just random pics I took from my phone:

Too funny! We went to BB&B one day before Patrick left and he wanted to try to carry HK around in the carrier because she screams if she has to sit in the front of the cart. Doesn't she look thrilled ;)

Daddy and his girls. HK (L) & Char (R)

The have begun wrestling with each other lately and here they are cracking up laughing! Char  (L) & HK (R)

Hannah Kate on Easter morning coming home from church.

Charlotte on Easter morning on the way home from church.

My oh so sweet husband sent me my favorite flowers for Easter!

Charlotte trying to feed HK her snack...such a mini-mommy ;)

Charlotte shaking it off after falling down in her bedroom. This is a HUGE deal because she gets upset and cries EVERY time she has a little fall or bump and wants me to kiss her new and old boo-boos before she'll go play again. But not this evening!

Hannah Kate playing peek-a-boo in the curtains...One of the girls favorite things to do!

Charlotte making daddy proud by brushing her teeth! Disclaimer: I don't let them brush their own teeth, but they do get to chew on their toothbrushes after I finish doing it for them. 

Hannah Kate brushing her teeth.

The girls LOVE to play and jump on the couch in the bonus room. HK (L) & Char (R)

Hannah Kate's new do in the bathtub :)