Happy Easter!

I took the girls to see the Easter Bunny on Friday and Sofia was so excited to see him and gave him a hug as soon as we arrived. It was cute to see the girls with the Easter Bunny and Sofia had to go back near the front of the line to wave goodbye to him when we left. It's funny how much she loves costumed characters!

We celebrated a lovely Easter on Sunday. We spent the morning at Meeting and returned home with Scott, Brenda, Crystal, Oliver, Brandon G, Sarah and Andrea to enjoy an Easter lunch together. We tried to make it as easy as possible so we didn't return home and have to cook forever before we could eat, so we ended up cooking a lot on Saturday and picked up a Honey Baked Ham. We made glazed carrots, a leek and goat cheese quiche, rosemary rolls, and a big strawberry salad. We also made a carrot cake from scratch and I had no idea that it would take so long to make, but it was worth it.

After lunch, the three kids had an Easter egg hunt which had to be held inside since it was pouring rain outside. We sent the kids into Olivia's room while Scott and CK hid the eggs and then let them go find them all (we hope). Actually, few of the eggs held candy, so even if we find a few eggs later on that will be fine. Sofia ran around and filled her basked with eggs pretty quickly then said "I think I have enough" and sat down and started going through her goodies, even though there were other eggs to be found and the boys were still searching.

Following all the dishes and farewells , the girls got their Easter baskets. Sofia has wanted Bash and Dash, two trains that are friends of Thomas Train, and I told her that maybe she'd get it for Easter. She did along with some little toys and chocolate eggs with white chocolate chicks inside. Olivia's basket included two adorable dresses - one from her Grandparents and the other from her Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Jay. Also, there were a few toys passed down from Sofia that Olivia hasn't seen yet. It was a great Easter.


After her Easter celebration at school on wednesday


Happy Easter.


Visiting the Easter Bunny on Friday!


The girls in their matching dresses on Easter morning....Olivia isn't quite awake yet.


Sweet girls!





Lunch is served! Honey Baked Ham, glazed carrots, homemade rosemary rolls, goat cheese and leek quiche, strawberry salad followed by homemade carrot cake.


The kid's table - Sofia, Brandon G, and Oliver


The adult table - at dessert time.


Ready for the Easter egg hunt....inside due to weather.


One egg found!


Going through her eggs and seeing her Easter egg treats.


An Easter family photo


The Easter Bunny has arrived!


Sofia's basket


Olivia's basket


Sofia goes through her basket....


Dash and Bash - Sofia has hoped she would get these two trains for weeks!


Olivia checks out her basket....filled with goodies from her Grandparents and her Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Jay as well as some of Sofia's toys she hasn't yet seen.


She fell in love with this rattle, which was also one of Sofia's favorites.

Dying Easter Eggs

On Thursday afternoon Sofia's best friend from school, Maggie and her younger sister, Lily came over to dye Easter eggs. I love the tradition of dying Easter eggs and was surprised that Sofia didn't really remember doing it last year, since she has such a great memory of just about everything. I hard boiled three dozen eggs and we invited Maggie and Lily to dye eggs together. I made three different types of dyes, one for each of the girls: pastel, vibrant and traditional (basically a difference of vinegar amounts). We had an absolutely perfect day to be outside and the girls had such a fun time coloring each egg, although Sofia went through her allotment pretty quickly. Similar to last year, she enjoyed dropping each egg into every one of the six colors briefly before taking it out and moving on to the next egg. Her hands were a mess by the end! The girls had a great time coloring eggs and before long they were all in the pool swimming in the not-quite-warm-enough water. Crazy girls!

All set to get started.


Maggie and Sofia wore princess crowns to dye their eggs.


Sofia hard at work....


Putting each egg into every color.


Olivia and me....Olivia is wearing her new "FIrst Easter" shirt from her Grandma and Grandpa.


Maggie and Sofia showing off their hands...


Ick!


Finishing up....


The finished eggs.

The Bluebonnets

On Tuesday I took the girls and my new camera to the bluebonnet fields near our house. CK bought me a new camera as an early Mother's Day gift and I'm completely loving it - to the point that I've been taking a lot of pictures of everything, but especially the girls. It's so fun and I'm excited to take a lot more photos with it! So, I really wanted to get photos of the girls in the bluebonnets, but unfortunately I didn't chose the best day or didn't go at the right time. It was a little too bright out so the girls, and especially Sofia, squinted during the photos. So I'm thinking of trying to go back again another time to get some photos where they aren't squinting. Anyway, it was fun to get the girls dressed in somewhat matching dresses - Sofia's from her Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Jay for her 4th birthday and Olivia's I bought a few weeks ago. They looked really cute together and the field of bluebonnets was spectacular! It was fun and maybe we'll get the chance to get back out there for another attempt.

Sofia showing Olivia the bluebonnets


Two happy girls


The field of bluebonnets - I think the photo doesn't even do it justice either!


Sofia in the bluebonnets


Olivia touching her very first bluebonnet


I love the look of excitement on Olivia's face - so sweet!


Sofia found a ladybug just before we headed home and had a fun time letting it walk from hand to hand.

Olivia at 7 Months

Our little one is 7 months old and has packed on a few pounds since last month. She is now 17.4 lbs and still 26 inches long. She still wears most of her 6 month clothes, but we've started putting her in her 9 month pjs, even though they are too big. She has made a nice little habit of waking up twice in the night to eat, which is likely prompted by her teeth that are coming in. Her second bottom tooth started to come up about two weeks ago and is still working it's way up. There isn't any sign of her top teeth but I think they are coming soon. I plan to stop the night feedings though, since she doesn't need it and she's started spacing them closer together.

She's started "talking" more now and says something that sounds just like "yeah" as well as "Da Da Da" and other combined sounds but still no "Ma Ma Ma" despite my best efforts. We also work with her on "Pa Pa Pa" and she's said that a time or two. She also just started laughing which is the most adorable sound ever! She hadn't ever really laughed before, even though she smiles easily. However, in the past week that has all changed. Sofia can make her laugh by acting like a clown and making silly faces in front of Olivia. She also laughs when she's on the changing table and I pretend like I'm going to eat her belly and make silly noises as I come down on her tummy. She has the cutest laugh! She really is just a fun little girl.

Olivia is also very interested in touching/holding anything she can get her hands on and putting things in her mouth. I love giving her something new and watching her study it and flip it over in her hands to try and figure it out...then it goes in her mouth. She also just started sitting in a highchair when we go out to meals and seems to love her new independence and ability to explore. She's a little hit or miss sitting in a shopping cart, but that depends on how tired she is.

She still doesn't seem to have any problem going to someone new and I leave her at the gym's child center at least three times a week without any protest from her. She's happy to smile at anyone who engages her and although she prefers me and will look at me the whole time, she will go to someone new without a fuss. On the weekends, when CK is home she will sit with him but will watch me the entire time. She has this great way of making little grunting noise to get my attention too - it's very cute (and effective).

We are having a lot of fun with our girls, that's for sure!

Our big girl!


Look at those two teeth!











This is an outfit of Sofia's that was one of my absolute favorites. Not sure why really, but it's just cute and I love that it shows her chubby little legs. So cute!

Olivia Eating and Talking

Our girl just can't decide whether she wants to eat or talk! She has just started really "talking" in the past week and I love hearing her little voice and the sounds she comes up with. When she eats, she absolutely lunges for her food and has enjoyed everything that we've served her. It's been fun to try new foods with her and give her some different tastes. Anyway, here is a little clip of her talking and eating. At one point she starts chewing on her Bumbo chair which she tries to do since it must feel good for her two teeth that are now poking their way through.

Visiting the Dallas Zoo

One thing that keeps stopping me in my tracks every time I think of it is that Sofia will be in school starting this fall!! I just can't believe how quickly the time has gone by and as much as I've enjoyed having her in Spanish Schoolhouse twice a week, I also love spending time with her and doing fun things together. So, I have been thinking of all the things that I think we should do around the area before she starts school. We are lucky to have three days a week that we can do things when other kids are in school so we miss the crowds.

So, on Thursday we loaded up and headed to Dallas to meet Papa at his office and have lunch together. From there, the girls and I drove to the Dallas Zoo for a few hours of fun. Dallas has the absolute best zoo and we've only been a few times. They have a wonderful "Kings of the Savannah" area that has great enclosures with zebra, elephants, lions and giraffes. At the giraffe enclosure you can buy lettuce to feed the giraffes which is really interesting It's really a great zoo. Unfortunately the last time Sofia and I were there, it was very hot and we ended up leaving early since she didn't feel well. As soon as we got home she ended up getting sick to her stomach. It has been a while since then and so we were ready to really enjoy the zoo this time.

First we headed to the kid's zoo where Sofia had a ball playing in the little river and on the various sculptures and kid's toys. She also rode a horse and visited all the barnyard animals. From there we headed over to the Savannah area to see the African animals and feed the giraffes. We visited the one area that Sofia really wanted to go to again...the elephant sculptures which she somehow remembers from our previous visit. After climbing around on the elephants for awhile, we took the monorail around the perimeter of the zoo to see all the other animals that aren't visible from the rest of the zoo. It's a really great experience. Since it was getting late, we headed for the final visit to the merry-go-round before heading home.

With Papa at his office


Arriving at the zoo and figuring out where we want to go


Watching the geese, flamingos and ducks get fed


"How does this thing work?" Olivia wonders.


Playing in the river.


Sofia the turtle


Looking at the koi....just like "at Mimi's house"


Nap time


Horse riding


Climbing on the elephant statues....arguably Sofia's favorite





Giraffes


Lettuce - yum!


Looking for some animals...


On the monorail


Happy girl


Riding the merry-go-round