First Easter

The girls' first Easter started out a bit exasperating as it took us probably three hours to get ready and actually make it to church. We got up at 7 am and I started feeding the babies and making preparations. Both girls got a bath, and then squirmed so much it was almost impossible to get them dressed. Despite our early start, I had to send Chris to church to take care of the library while I stayed behind to finish getting the girls ready. Once their dresses were on, both of them seemed to think they were in straight jackets and couldn't move. Which made them less than pleased. Rose was inconsolable, so I finally put her in her crib while I did Lili's hair. Then she fell asleep. I wasn't going to wake her up once she was sleeping so soundly, so it was nearly 10:30 and I was nearly in tears before we actually made it to church! They turned out looking pretty darling, so we took them to the grandparents' house after church to take some pictures by the pretty flowers. After photos, Lili and Rose both tackled their Easter baskets at home. They each ate an entire chocolate bunny. We also attended my family's Easter egg hunt and had tons of fun. The girls got to hunt some eggs set aside especially for them by Nona. 

We got some really pretty pictures (see below) though most of the candid ones look like this: Lili crying and Rose eating sticks. 

Easter baskets

Lili looks very pleased with herself here.

That chocolate really sets off your blue eyes Rose!

Egg hunting

Hands full of babies

The girls get funner and busier every day! They are constantly getting into everything. If it seems like something should be safe from baby tampering, it's not! They want to explore everything, touch everything, and put everything in their little mouths. Recent noteworthy achievements include Lili learning to unroll the toilet paper and Rose learning to flush the toilet. Rose also enjoys taking advantage of every possible opportunity to play in the toilet water ("GAH! NO! That is not for babies!"). Needless to say, its not easy to get things done around here. The other day I was trying to finish some reports for work when Lili started to put the end of a computer cord in her mouth. Given that she already gummed up my phone charger to the point that it only works intermittently, I felt that responsible parenting demanded that I take it away from her. In the meantime, Rose put a different electronic gadget entirely in her mouth. "What's that in your mouth? AH! That is definitely not for babies!" While fishing the gadget out of Rose's mouth, Lili reinserted the computer cord in her mouth (even as I write this, each baby has the end of an ethernet cord in their mouth. No joke. I will try to take a picture). After taking away everyone's respective electronic items, both girls were very unhappy and Rose started making her favorite ear-splitting scream. I put her on my lap in hopes that we could just manage until I got the reports done. I was typing away when Lili crawled over and pulled the lever on my chair, causing Rose and I to sink to the floor. This happened two or three more times before we finally got the reports done. I think "twin time" for completing a task takes about four times as long as standard time. Good thing we love every second of it! 

 Baby Rose "helps" daddy fix the dishwasher.

 The girls love going in their room and tearing everything apart.

 Rose with Grandpa Beck

Lili and Rose cruise around in style.

Rose feels strangely at home among the chickens.

Lili is unsure about being on her own in the great outdoors. 

 Lili loves to find secret hiding places. Boxes are her favorite.

Goodbye Cinder

Two weeks ago today we lost our dearest Cinder puppy. We are going to miss her always and there will never be another dog like her. She was beautiful, sweet, and well behaved, but also had a free and wild spirit. She loved her family, but knew she was supposed to be running free through the fields She was our only brown eyed baby and God sent her to us to help us through some of our hardest times. I know we will see her again some day. 

Cinder had a special bowing ritual she did with her most special people. This is very sweet to me.

This is the first time I saw baby Cinder. She wasn't old enough to take home, so I had to wait another week for her

Cinder comes home!

Beautiful girl!

 

She loves her babies.