Can you tell me how to get...?

How to get to AMITY'S STREET?
When Amity woke up from her nap (a very long Benadryl-induced nap), she came into the dining room to see her party and gave some sweet hugs to her Sesame Street friends.

The table was prepared with placemats and stickers.

The balloons were a favorite thanks to GG!

Grover and Elmo were ready to par-tay!

Even Baby Vivien got dressed up for the occasion...

and received a kiss from Big Sister. Friends arrived and received hugs.

Cousins came.

Yummy pizza was consumed.

And then...(drum roll)...the cake was brought out! Famous "Aunt Gecky Cake" as Amity calls it.

Even though Baby Vivien didn't get any cake, she got to enjoy some snuggles with GG.

The cake was as yummy as it was cute!

And so were the cake-eaters!

Then we headed outside for bubbles...in honor of Ernie!

There was swinging as well.

And more bubbles.

All for a very cute two-year old! Happy, happy times Miss Amity! You are blessed to have such sweet cousins and friends to celebrate with you!

Resurrection Weekend

Our Easter Weekend has been a sweet one spent with family. We have been busy and had lots of fun but unfortunately I didn't capture all of the fun with my camera!

Dennis attended our church's Maundy Thursday service at the arboretum and I stayed home with the girls since we had all been having runny noses and I had strep throat. On Friday morning, I ran errands while Dennis stayed home with the girls and awaited the arrival of Lolly, PopPop, and Nanna. They came in from Plainview that afternoon and we had a yummy Italian birthday dinner for Lolly at Alfonso's.

On Saturday morning, the girls and Eli hung out at the Connells to dye Easter eggs and play outside. The boys went to play raquetball but the game was short-lived when Dylan cracked his two front teeth with his raquet. After spending some time calling dentists that might be working on the Saturday of a holiday weekend, we got back to the business of dyeing eggs. Aunt Becky is always crafty (in the good sense of the word)!

It was a beautiful day to spend outside, especially when you are wearing the cute outfit that Lolly made for you...until you accidentally step in dog poop. Oops!

After naps, we had dinner at our house and then had an Easter egg hunt in our front yard. The girls hunted on one half of the yard and Eli had the other half to himself where the guys had really made it difficult.

Unlike Eli and Eiley, Amity had only ever hunted empty eggs before. Such a deprived child! She didn't even realize that she should look inside them and was all about filling up her basket and then sharing with Nanna. This weekend, she started using the phrase "I go show ___." Since Nanna stayed with us, she said "I go show Nanna," a whole lot!

Of the four pictures that I took, I didn't get one with them all looking at the camera! There was just too much to be excited about!

On Easter Sunday morning, we piled into the Pilot with Nanna and the girls and headed to Lakepointe to go to church with the Connells. I sat in the very back and was able to capture a shot of each of my cuties.

I am already looking forward to celebrating Easter next year as Amity is getting more and more interested in her Bible stories at night. We pray that Easter will be much more than eggs and good food and pretty dresses but that her heart (and ours) will see the Gospel and know its Truth. Happy Resurrection Day! He is RISEN! He is RISEN INDEED!

Sisters At Play

Now that Vivien is starting to be more alert and awake for awhile after she eats, we are having fun "playing" with her, especially Amity. Vivien seems to like it too! We love her smiles!

A little tummy time on her super-soft monkey. I think this picture shows that they still do have a lot of the same features, especially their little noses. I don't know where those cute noses came from!

Amity is finally starting to learn to "pose" for pictures!

Vivien loves this mobile just as much as Amity did. She will happily watch it and coo and kick her legs for at least twenty minutes. Amity loves to join her for a snuggle.
One morning a couple of weeks ago, I was feeding Vivien early in the morning and Amity woke up earlier than usual. I went in and got her and sat at the desk chair with both in my lap. Apparently, I said something about my "two girls". Now, Amity likes to say "Mommy's two girls" whenever she is hanging out with her sister!

TWO Cute

This little girl is almost TWO! Typical of an almost two-year-old, her current favorite phrase is "all-by-self". Of course, this phrase is often quickly followed by "HELP!" and then, just as we arrive to help, we hear another "all-by-self"! From putting on her shoes to climbing the stairs to pretty much anything, she is definitely experimenting with independence.

Puzzles are still a favorite. The peg ones are too easy but the regular jigsaw ones are too hard. This seems to be typical of so many things right now but it IS fun watching her try to be more grown-up. Of course, we LOVE when she realizes she is still a little girl and needs our help and HUGS!

This little tape player with dual microphones cost me $4 at the Just Between Friends sale. It has already gotten its money's worth in the past week. Amity picked it up off the fireplace and started carrying it around with her on her tractor. It reminded me of how I used to rig up a tape player behind the banana seat of my bike and ride around the sidewalks in our front yard, pretending I was driving. I am so glad my daughter is going to be as cool as I was! :)

Snug as a bug in a...

Amity and Vivien received some sweet hand-me-downs Friday night from the Newsomes. Amity discovered them laying in the chair and asked to put on the ladybug costume. It was pretty snug but she liked it. We then decided to let her practice a little egg hunting in preparation for Easter weekend. Dennis hid the eggs around the living room and dining room and Amity gradually got the idea that she was supposed to find the eggs and put them in her basket.

Little Sister's toys provide good places for hiding eggs! Next year, Little Sister will be competition!

Very proud of the eggs she found! Little does she know that the real egg hunt will have eggs that actually have something in them!

Cute Cousins at the Park

Cousin Eiley came to spend the morning with us today. I took the two big girls to the park and left Vivien with her Daddy while he worked on his dissertation. (Go Daddy!)

Eiley and Amity could not be more different people at the playground. Eiley is all about the adventure and Amity is Little Miss Cautious. While Amity went up and down the stairs (her primary playground routine), Eiley enjoyed some time in the swing.

Hopefully, this is the only time you'll ever see these girls behind bars!

After watching these two at the park, I concluded that there are two types of people in this world: the kind that like to fall and those that do everything their power to prevent it. Eiley likesto fall down! And she does it very gracefully! One of her favorite things to do was run up the slide, fall, and slide back down. Amity just stared at her like she was crazy. She would definitely belong to the other category! I wonder what type of person Vivien will be!

They may not be as alike as two peas in a pod but we pray they will be good friends for a lifetime!

Vivien is 2 months old!

Sweet little Vivien turned 2 months old yesterday!

Her well-baby visit stats:

Weight: 11.8 pounds (77%)

Length: 23.5" (93%)

Head: 16 1/4 (95%)

She smiled big for Dr. Moore and performed really well for the entire exam with a few tears during the shots. Her sister, on the other hand, was very concerned. It was hard to tell if she was truly concerned for Vivien or more worried that the attention was about to be turned to her. Half-way through the exam, Amity signed and said "All done! Vivien...all done!"

At home, Vivien continues to be a good sleeper, sleeping regularly from 10:30 pm-6:30 am. She is taking 6-7 bottles a day with 3-4 ounces each time. She still likes her pacifier, especially when going down for a nap or at night but she is getting very close to finding her thumb.

She loves her bathtime!

All of her tummy time (a.k.a. "sleeping!") seems to have made her neck and arms very strong!

A peek into life with Miss Vivi!