Railroad Park

This last Saturday was Justin's company's family BBQ. It was a lot of fun, they had a Scooby Doo bouncy and a facepainter! We were able to ride the train and the carousel and eat lots of yummy food. Lauren was thrilled and you would have thought it was HER party! Funny girl!



This was the day Lauren decided that these bouncey things were actually fun! We could hardly pry her away from it!!!


Getting her face painted. You could tell she really wanted it because she held really still!!! I wish she'd hold this still when I am trying to trim her bangs!


Beautiful butterfly


Had to get a shot of my pretty little Paige in there!


Riding the train - she would have stayed on all day, happily waving to everyone she passed.


Sleepy girl enjoying the carousel. She made friends with her horse really quick and proceeded to instruct him when to go fast and slow. She must be bound for management.

Rice cereal

Ok - my watermark went all funky, so now I am working on a new one. Don't think I have given up... but I didn't want to continue waiting to post!

In the meantime - enjoy these shots of Paige trying out cereal. She liked it well enough, but after one day was constantly having bowel movements! I mean, every half hour to hour. It was waking her up in the middle of the night, which means it was waking ME up in the middle of the night (see, it is really just all about ME!). So, we are going to wait until she is a little more than five months old and try it again.


"Daddy, are you sure this is food?"


"Hmmm... Tastes a little like cardboard. I am not convinced."


"Mommy, mommy! Take pictures of me eating too!!!"


"Well, since everyone is SO happy that I am eating, I guess I will be happy too! But you ALL have it coming later!!!"

;o)

Bathtime photo shoot

OK - I am usually not a paranoid person in regards to the internet. That being said, a friend had her entire MySpace site hacked into and stolen. The site was then reposted on Orkut where the hacker proceeded to pretend to be family and set up "playdates" using her kids. This is apparently pretty common, so I am trying to take precautions to prevent my photos of my kids from being used this way. Hence, the watermark that will appear near the center of all photos from this point out. You can't prevent this from happening, but hopefully this will at least deter the hackers for the time being.

Just a fun day in the tub with the girls!




I don't even remember why she was throwing a fit -- but I would say I see this face at least three times a day!


The first of many baths together.

A day at the garden

Justin had last Thursday off work, so we spent the morning at the Desert Botanical Garden since none of us had ever been. It was a beautiful day, not too hot with a slight breeze. It was great to get some fresh air and do something other than pack or unpack for a change!




Paige seemed to enjoy being outside and was perfectly content to ride in the stroller for the majority of the day.

Lauren didn't really get the point of the tour we started out on. She was less than interested in hearing about all the plants, but was thrilled to spot birds and lizards along the way.

Lauren and Justin hanging out in the Native American hut replica. She was pretty sure these were built just for her and ran circles in them as long as we would let her!

Trying her hand at grinding pods.

The butterfly garden was by far the favorite! They were just everywhere - one even landed on Justin's shirt. It was making Lauren a little crazy that she wasn't supposed to reach out and touch them, but she enjoyed pointing out whenever she saw a new one. It was a treat to watch her face light up while running around the greenhouse structure.

Paige was less than impressed with the butterflies. ;o) I think she was just sad that we were all distracted and not paying attention to her!

Easter

On Easter we took the day off from unpacking and cleaning to just enjoy ourselves. Lauren loves every part of Easter! We have several Easter books and if you ask her what Easter is about she'll say, "God's Son." Love that!

Dying eggs on our kitchen floor. Wouldn't want to risk spilling on rented carpet! LOL

Lauren decided that immediately after dying the eggs they must be eaten. I wanted to get a picture of her with the eggs, but she just got MAD!!! She decided that she'd go ahead and try and eat the egg shell and all. She didn't even bite into it (she knew that wouldn't be smart), but she sure knows how to get her way!

Our family all ready for church!

Lauren's hair was in braids all night, so she had pretty waves on Easter morning.

We did an egg hunt at the Swope's house that evening. Lauren was really excited this year, she even asked where the Easter bunny was and called for him!

Some egg-hunt coaching tips from Daddy (aka the bunny himself).

Lauren and Porter have a great time together! Every week when we see the Swopes, they shriek and laugh and act all crazy! Lauren even calls him her best friend!

Moving, moving, moving...

Well, we did it! We managed to box up everything we own and cram it into an apartment (and a small storage unit... and Annie's backyard)! To my suprise, Lauren really loved the idea of moving. She was very excited about our "new home" and moving into her "special room". There were a few stressful moments when toys were being packed - it seemed she decided to want to play with everything she saw being boxed up. I just put her to work "helping" me fill the box and then she would decide it was all okay. Apparently she also wanted to make sure we took her with us:



So, we have been in the apartment for a week now and there are still boxes to be unpacked. The dog is driving us nuts with her barking at every little noise, and the neighbors are loud - usually during nap time and at 5AM. But, there is a nice pool, gym, and playground. The floorplan is good, three bedroom, two bath, and a den. Our den, which will be a storage room, is currently unorganized chaos. We are getting there, but it takes a lot longer to unpack when you have two small children to take care of! I used to LOVE moving - I saw it as a chance to get all organized and purge all the useless junk we accumulate. With kids, I can now see why most people view moving as one thing and one thing only - stressful. And to think, we are hoping to be moving again in as soon as three months!!! Yikes! In the meantime, we are trying to make this place home without putting too many holes in the wall. ;o)


Paige is officially a finger sucker. Blah. She can often be found with them in her mouth as she gets tired. I almost always hear that dreaded sucking sound from the backseat. She is still not interested in pacifiers - but I just keep on trying. Wishful thinking, I'm sure.

I know we are not supposed to compare our kids...

...but everyone keeps asking me if my girls look alike! In my mind I think, "SURE they do!" Apparently my memory is not as good as I think it is - I took these pictures of Paige today in a dress that Justin bought for Lauren in Mexico. When I pulled up Lauren's pictures in the same dress, I was amazed at how LITTLE they actually look alike! They are both about three months and three weeks in these shots.