Some Highlights from April and May

We've had a great time with the girls the last few weeks. Here are some highlights:

1. Lachlyn rolled over for the first time. She isn't quite 3 months old yet, so her rolling over came as a surprise to us. Lachlyn is also starting to like to put weight on her legs and to be held in a standing position. Here is a shot of her earlier today standing upright by herself, just leaning against the couch. We don't try to encourage this, but she just seems to like it.

2. Carina was in a musical play in kindergarten. The musical was "The Little Red Hen," and Carina was the Steal-eyed Fox. She had a few speaking parts and sang along with her class on all the songs. Carina acted a little shy during her performance -- her voice was a little quite and she was standing turned at an angle away from most of the people in the room -- but she managed to say all her lines right and everything went smoothly. Here is a picture of the class after the performance.

3. Carina is a on a "treats time-out" right now. She stole a few bites of her little sister's ice cream (and wasn't completely truthful about it when questioned about it and other crimes later), so her punishment is that she doesn't get any treats for 10 days. Well, on Saturday morning we were planning to go to the farmers market. The girls had been to the market last week and had been ogling the stand selling fresh doughnuts. Natalie did something good before we left for the market, and Laura told Natalie that she could have some doughnuts at the market as a reward. Carina overheard this and must have come up with a plan because she called Natalie into her room to talk. A minute later, Natalie comes out of her room and tells Laura: "I don't want to eat the doughnuts all by myself. I want to share them with my best friend." Then she turned around and yelled down the hall: "Okay, Carina, I said it!"

4. I caught Carina in the midst of a classic six year old moment this afternoon. I walked into the office to grab a tissue, not realizing anyone was in the office, and suddenly Carina pops her head out from under the desk and says, in a panicked voice: "I wanted to be alone in here!" I decided that this comment and her location merited further investigation, so I asked what she was doing and peeked under the desk and saw this:

She was using a butter knife to shave a large piece of sidewalk chalk into chalk powder, which she was then putting into plastic bags. I'm not quite sure why she was doing it, but she said it had something to do with an experiment she was planning. I let her proceed with her work, outside.

5. And, for good measure, here are a few more cute shots of Lachlyn. She looks pretty good with her underpants on her head...

Easter

We've had a great Easter so far today. The girls woke up at 7:00am, delighted to find a trail of candy leading down the stairs. They were so focused on the trail of candy that they didn't notice we'd moved all of the living room furniture into the dining area and moved the dining table into the living room (and they had to walk through the middle of it). We are cooking for 16 people -- by far the biggest group we've had over for dinner, and we had to shuffle everything around so that everyone will fit.

Here are some cute shots from this morning.

Lachlyn's Blessing

Lachlyn had her baby blessing last week. Here she is in the dress Laura made for her:


The blessing was a sweet, spirit filled experience. It was great having my parents in town for the week. Natalie especially enjoyed having her grandparents here and must have talked my mom into reading her 100 story books over the week.

Natalie's Birthday

Natalie turned 3 years old on March 10. After overcoming some initial shyness at having a crowd of family circling around her to watch her open her presents, she had a great time.

Carina's letters

Carina spontaneously decided to write letters to several of her friends from school the other day.

Here is the whole collection. Note in particular the one that is second from the bottom on the right. Houston, we have a problem...

Playtime with Lachlyn

Carina and Natalie are really starting to enjoy having Lachlyn around. Here are a few cute photos:

Like three peas in a pod...

Settling down again

We are settling down into life with three children. Lachlyn is doing great and up to about 9.5 pounds. Here are some pictures:

It has been fun spending the last four weeks at home with the girls. Here are a few funny moments from the last few weeks:

1. Somehow Carina and Natalie discovered Scooby Doo and have been asking to watch it everyday. The other day I heard Natalie responding to an instruction by Carina: "No way Scooby-Doo!"

2. A few days ago Laura heard Natalie desperately calling for help from the bathroom. She found Natalie stuck in the toilet with her arms and legs and head in the air and the rest of her body folded up and stuck below the seat. Natalie is completely potty trained now, but she usually uses a small seat adapter. This time she forgot to put it on and fell in.

3. A few days ago, Natalie came up to me and touched my cheeks, which I hadn't shaved in about a week. She told me: "Hmmmm, I like your fur."

4. I walked in on Carina and Natalie playing a game in the family room. Carina told us they were "playing orphanage." Wow... sounds like fun.

5. Natalie to Laura: "Mom, my eyebrows hurt." I offered her some "medicine" (a.k.a. a Cadbury mini egg) and she said it made her feel much better. Not surprisingly, when she realized that the medicine was chocolate, she let us know only moments later that her other eyebrow suddenly hurt too.

6. Natalie is very excited for her third birthday, which is coming up on March 10. She equates springtime with her birthday, so when Laura mentioned the other day that it looked like spring had arrived because the crocuses were blooming and the daffodils and tulips were coming up, Natalie excitedly said "Springtime!?! It's March 10? It's my birthday?!!!"