Our Easter 2014

We had a great Easter as a family of four.  We started celebrating with Vi's performance in the Palm Parade on Palm Sunday.

Egg Hunt #1 at church.  Lily was super cute in her bunny ears that Mamaw gave her.  She was definitely the cutest bunny I encountered!

Vi's overflowing basket of eggs

mmmm... I love eggs!

The next day, Vi's school celebrated Easter.  It was very exciting because she was also the line leader that day (which is always a highly anticipated day). First stop, Noah's Ark petting zoo.

The pig (aka Pickles) needed a bit more space to roam, so he explored the parking lot.  Ha!

The farmer had baby bunnies that he swaddled for the kids to hold.  This was absolutely adorable.  The kiddie chairs were lined up against the perimeter of the pen, and all of the little girls looked like little mommies with their "babies" as they cuddled the bunnies.

Vi's chocolate bunny

Vi and her girlfriends from school.  She also had an opportunity to gather up more eggs at the school's hunt.

Next, we had to prepare for the Easter Bunny's visit to our house by dyeing eggs.  This year, I decided to bake the eggs instead of boiling them (thanks, Pinterest!) and it worked perfectly with a lot less mess.  Vi did a great job dyeing and glittering the eggs.

Putting out our baskets (there is a carrot in there as "bait" if you look closely).

Happy Easter!  Lily wore Vi's first Easter Dress, and once again I am convinced that they are going to be very similar in their looks.  Here are Vi's pictures on her first Easter for a comparison.

Have you ever ridden to church naked so that you don't wrinkle your dress? Well, Vi has!

Lily and sister with the Easter lilies

Our family

Our final egg hunt with the neighbors.  We hope everyone had a great Easter Holiday.

He is risen, indeed!

Hippity hoppity

Easter bunny sighting at school today!

Seeing Lily in her bunny gear made Mommy flashback to Easter 2009!  Time flies.

Big girl bath time

Lily turned six months old yesterday and hit a few milestones like sleeping in her crib for 11 hours and taking a real bath with sissy.  We have been trying to wean her from sleeping in her swing, so sleeping that long in her own bed was a major win for Mom and Dad.  Vi has been asking for Lily to "float" in the bathtub with her, and once I realized Lily was growing out of her baby tub, I stumbled upon this little portable bathing chair.  It is a perfect size and should last until she is ready to sit in the bathtub alone.  Vi was a great helper; she washed the bottom half of little sis while Mommy washed the face and hair.  She even practiced gently pouring water on her to rinse off the soap.  Lily's favorite person to watch is Vi, so she thoroughly enjoyed getting some extra play time (and Vi's attention) in the tub with sissy.  They are both growing up so fast, but we are enjoying these precious moments more than I could imagine.  We love our sweet girls.

Fitting right in

Daddy has another best friend who is a girl.  And she's super tiny and cute.

I love it when my sister holds me.

Bumbo time!

LOVE to try my first foods.  So far I have eaten corn cereal, rice cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes, apple sauce, and carrots.  I love all of them and eat "food" about twice daily.  I grab the spoon and hold my own bottle, too.  I will also put my hands in my mommy and daddy's food if they are not watching me closely enough (especially ice cream!).

Sisters

Being 4 months is exciting!

I found my toes!

I weigh about 13 pounds and am 24 inches long.  My 4-month vaccinations gave me a really high fever, but I am the sweetest thing even when I am feeling droopy and mommy enjoyed caring for me at home that day.

I can roll around and hold my head up like a champ...crawling is definitely in my near future!

I am also really good at snatching earrings, necklaces, glasses, hair, and about anything else I can get my hands on these days.

Mom's birthday weekend

Step 1: wash and dry strawberries

Did you know that hairdryers are an excellent way to dry strawberries?  Chef Vi knows all the tricks!

Step 2: melt chocolate

Step 3: dip strawberries in chocolate

Step 4: surprise your mommy on her birthday with chocolate-covered strawberries!

All the girls are ready for church on Mommy's birthday weekend

...and the biggest (and best surprisingly) gift of all, a minivan!  We had our reservations, but life really is much easier in this car with two children.  You spend a lot more time in the car that you think!  Vi likes the van because she can stand up inside and do ballet while she (a) either sings to the Frozen soundtrack or (b) watches Barbie and the Pink Shoes on the DVD player.  Lily likes it because she can now look to her left and see her big sister, at whom she stares at the entire time we are in the car and gives little smiles.  We can also invite friends to go places with us now because the third seat allows room for more people and carseats.  Yay!

Another snowy day

Well, we had another big snow!  It didn't last long, but school was closed all week long and about 8-9 inches covered the ground for a couple of days.  This snow was very heavy and wet which was perfect for my little snow angel to play in (oh, and it was much warmer outside than the previous snow which meant no complaining and more playing).

Lily got to enjoy the snow a little bit more this time.

Our "baby" snowman with hair and arms from the ornamental grasses.

Lily loved the snow so much that she just decided to sleep outside - ha!

...and continued to take a very long nap once we moved inside.  I recently read an article about how parents in Nordic countries put their babies down for naps outside in carriages (to give them "fresh" air and habituate them to the climate).  Maybe there is some wisdom in that practice, not sure.