Easter

Rain, rain go away...please! The garden is flooded and being eaten alive by birds! They are out of control, plucking away my tiny seedlings and noisily dragging them into our grill to build a nest.

Easter was great! Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus with my family couldn't have been better. Lilly got some sweet Easter goodies, too.

Our little bean has grown so much this past month. We love watching her squirm around on the floor, playing with her feet. She giggles at random things, like bouncing to the Bonanza theme and when I say "sticky sticky sticky" in a high pitch voice as I clean off her cereal-caked hands.

I'm not obsessed about the royal wedding, but I'm actually really excited about it. It's kind of a big deal. I can't wait to watch some of the details about the cake and dress tonight on TV. Princess Lillian is excited too...

28

Happy Birthday to me. I am 28! This was probably one of the best birthdays ever. Matt got me 100 baby roses!! They are so beautiful! He also got me what I've been really wanting for a while now...a baby food maker! Now I can make baby food from the veggies in our garden! Thanks to my cousin for supplying a generous amount of plants that he started from seeds.

Birthday cupcakes, thanks Melissa!

The best birthday present was waking up next to my wonderful husband and hearing our sweet girl babbling and waiting for me to come get her.

She's doing great with her food! 5 bibs just isn't enough, I ran out after 2 days and started using dish towels!

We got another tree! A Japanese Maple!! They are so beautiful but I never thought we would have one because they're expensive. But Sam's had them for $100! It's gorgeous!

Lil and I met some friends at the park yesterday. It was a great kiddy park and we will for sure be going back soon. We were informed when we got there by a concerned mommy that a man had been sitting in his car staring at her kids for quite some time. So...Monica calls the police to report him and they send two very nice officers to investigate. They come to the park and holler, "Who's Monica?, what do you have against Tom Hanks?"

The creepy man was a cardboard cutout of Tom Hanks. Yeah. We felt really cool. At least we tried to protect our little ones!!

Owen enjoying the big boy swing!!

Our cup runneth over

Big progress this past week. Lilly is officially swaddle-free! She has been addicted to her swaddle and could not go to sleep without it, but she was quickly outgrowing the Miracle Blanket and we had to do something! She was so sleepy from her shots that the transition was pretty easy.

At least we don't have to wean her from a bottle or paci too!

Sippy cup is out. Cup is in. She loves the cup. Laps it up like a little puppy. Most of it spills all over her but at least she's trying to drink it. We also started "solids" this week, giving her a little bit of rice cereal. She really likes it! It's so fun and very messy.

Matt got a tree planted in the back yard. We love adding greenery to our home. It will be fun to watch the trees grow over the years.

Experimenting with bows.

We are loving discussing Crazy Love by Francis Chan with our friends. It is challenging us to think about our lives and what we need to do differently to show that God is #1. A little overwhelming at times but it's a great book!

Windsday

Lilly's 4 month check up was yesterday. She weighs 15lbs and is 25 and 1/4 inches tall! What a big girl! She was brave for her shots again. Just a little sleepy and pitiful today. But it's cute because she's extra snuggly! :)

We're thinking she's ready for solid foods. At dinner lately she's been staring me down, watching each bite that I bring to my mouth. She gets very frustrated about it and drools.

Still no luck on taking the bottle. Out of desperation I gave her the sippy cup. She really likes to chew on it but I'm not sure she understands that she's supposed to drink the milk that's coming out of it. This is the most progress we've had though so I'm going to keep working on it!

It was a windy weekend but so beautiful!! Matt dug two holes for some trees that we're about to buy. After Lil went down for a nap Sunday afternoon I took the baby monitor and a lawn chair to the driveway and sat in the sunshine! It was like being on a cruise!! Baby sleeping, the wind in my hair, me lounging in the chairs watching a hot guy working in the yard ;) I thought the only thing that would make it better would be a Shirley Temple. And oh yes, we had a jar of cherries that I'm pretty sure expired in 2008, but it made an awesome cruise drink! We're definitely going to be spending more time in the driveway this summer.

We're so thankful for our life. We love our new roles as Provider and Stay-at-home Mommy! It's so neat to look back and see how God brought Matt to his job. We're so blessed. It's hard work but he does a great job and his hard work is acknowledged and rewarded. I have no regrets about the choice we made for me to stay at home right now. It's hard work too, but I love it!