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During lunchtime last week I left the kitchen to do something in the office. After a few minutes I heard a loud noise, which I quickly identified as snoring, coming from the kitchen. This is what I saw when I returned:

She's been fighting her morning nap lately. I guess she prefers her highchair to her crib.

The Last Straw

Last weekend when I walked around the corner of our office, I found this:

Aliyah had stolen Theia's cup from the chair and started drinking the water inside.

This is her first work with a straw and she knew just what to do. Theia also knew what to do when she came in and discovered Aliyah drinking her water:

she took it from her and put it back on the chair where it "belonged". One second after Theia grumpily left the room to go potty, Liyah did this

and this.

When Theia returned to find Aliyah with her cup again, she moved it to the kitchen counter where it will be out of Aliyah's reach for at least a few more months. History does have a way of repeating itself.

Oh, Baby

We had a friend visit last week and we got the booster chair out for them to use at lunchtime. Every since then the girls have been enjoying playing baby in the booster chair. Theia sits in the chair and Xandra brings her toys and bottles.

When she's done, Xandra takes her turn. Aliyah, of course, comes around often to investigate what the older sisters are doing.

Playing baby doesn't stop at the booster chair. They like to climb into Aliyah's crib and play baby, too. Actually Xandra will help Theia get in and then she will shut of the light and close the door and tell me that Theia's sleeping. Theia, of course, starts crying when Xandra does this.

Occassionally, they all three get in to be babies together.

What a bunch of silly girls!

Meet the Gang

Our girls share a bed and a room with more than each other. Meet the gang that hangs out in their bed and gets much late night and early morning attention in the form of diapering, cuddling, sleeping, clothes changing, throwing, romping, jumping, hanging from the slats on the top bed, and whatever else our girls can think to do with them in the darkness to avoid sleeping.

A - Doggie purse - Theia loves to put small things inside. She often sleeps with it at naptime.
B - Bunny - a bunny that I got in a care package (long story) while in the Philippines, Xandra has adopted this as her own and usually sleeps with it and Arp at naptime/bedtime.
C - Juicy Banana - the girls and their friend Ava named this one
D - Norbert - a bunny Joe found in a ditch while running one afternoon, he helped Xandra name it several months ago.
E - Pandy bear
F - Amp (Aletheia Miriam Pull) - Theia's most favorite thing in the whole world
G - Oscar - from Joe's childhood - the girls love to hold him and Juicy Banana up and say beeebeee.
H - Moose
I - Santy Bear - from Joe's childhood - he usually doesn't have his hat on - Joe and Xandra love to hide this around the house for the other person to find.
J - Moria - also the name of our real kitty
K - platypus - each of the girls get an animal for their first birthday, this was Theia's
L - Arp (Alexandra Ruth Pull) - Xandra's most favorite bear in the whole world
M - Little Tiny Teddy Bear
N - Ear Dog - Xandra came up with this name all on her own
O - Porcupine
P - Bunny - from Joe's childhood - this is Theia's bunny - Xandra gave it to her to have in her crib when she was just a few months old. She thought they both needed their own bunny.
Q - Nursey - named by friend Ava
R - Hippo Kitty
S - Sleep Sheep - it has a box inside that plays "soothing" sounds for a baby, Joe says sound imitating the hearbeat of a mom sounds like industrial machinery
T - Camel
U - Porcupine - Xandra's animal from her first birthday
V - Bee - the girls have played with this so much that the box inside which used to make a buzzing sound has worn out
W - Bandicoot - Liyah's animal from her first birthday
X - Little Bear
Y - Lamby
Z- Baby Black Bear

Eating Eggstravaganza

After an awesome time of worship at church in which we learned about the Feast of Passover and its significance and connection to Easter, we shared Easter dinner with a house full of friends. In total, there were 26 present: the Lockards (4), the Howdens (3), the Holmes (5), the Amans (5), the Pulls (5), and last, but certainly not least, the Glenns (4).

The day was beautiful and we were able to enjoy playing and eating outdoors.

After our meal, but before dessert, the kids enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt. This was a first for our girls and they both liked it. We had some older kids for Easter, too, and the dads hid their eggs in really hard to find places like roofs, trees, and shirt sleeves.

Faith & Jillian Holmes help Xandra locate an egg.

Aliyah watched from the swing.

I'm confident Theia's favorite part of Easter was eating the candy inside the eggs. She liked it so much that throughout the rest of the day she would take the eggs from her basket, open them, and eat as much candy from inside as she could before getting caught.

After the Egg hunt came dessert. We had an awesome spread provided by many of the ladies.

The kids LOVED the jelly bean cupcakes.

It was truly a beautiful day in every way. Xandra thought so too. The first thing she said when she woke up Monday morning was, "Is it still Easter day?"

Baskets & Bunnies

Easter morning dawned sunny and beautiful. We woke the girls up and brought them in to the living room and tried our best to explain Easter Baskets. We mostly got blank stares. Even after we went in the living room to get the baskets and see what was inside, they weren't even sure if they should touch them or take them off the couch. After some coaxing they began to tear into their Easter baskets.

There was a book and matching dresses from Grandma Mary. Bubbles, a game, new shoes, and some very popular window clings.

Despite being utterly clueless about the festivities, Aliyah was quite happy to watch.

Eggcellent Rolls

Last Saturday we made lots of preparations for Easter Sunday. As a part of our preparation and celebration, we colored eggs and attempted to make Resurrection Rolls.

The girls, even Aliyah, helped put the eggs in the pot to boil. We only cracked one egg! After the eggs were boiled and cooled, the girls helped decorate and color them. Unfortunately, we were so busy coloring the eggs we forgot to snap photos, but you can see the finished products in the picture below.

When the eggs were complete, we made our resurrection rolls. The rolls consist of crescent rolls, marshmallows, cinnamon, sugar, and butter. The epitome of health food, right?

The roll construction went something like this: one girl dipped the marshmallow in the butter, one rolled it in the cinnamon and sugar, both attempted to eat as much cinnamon and sugar as they could get away with, and I wrapped the final cinnamony marshmallow in the crescent roll.

Once the rolls were all complete, we put them in the fridge for the night. In the morning, the plan was to bake them for breakfast. As the rolls bake, the marshmallow melts and then the inside of the roll is empty, just like Jesus' tomb. A perfect object lesson for Easter morning, if, and only if, you properly seal the crescent rolls around the marshmallows. If you don't properly seal the rolls, you get this:

a version of resurrection rolls that your husband will deem heretical. I would just like to point out that the rolls WERE empty, just not in the intended manner. I would also like to say that they still tasted good and we still talked about Jesus resurrection!

It's a good thing the girls are still little, they won't remember these mistakes, that is unless someone writes stories about them, takes pictures, and posts them on a blog.

Cherry Blossoms at Dusk

Last Friday evening the girls and I ventured to downtown DC to meet Joe after work. We had a picnic with Chris, a friend from our Clerkship days, and then ventured over to see the blossoming cherry trees on the Tidal Basin.

Our picnic took place on the grounds surrounding the Washington Monument.

The girls enjoyed the wide open spaces to run and play.

After our picnic, we enjoyed the Cherry Blossoms at dusk.

The girls really enjoyed watching the ducks on the Tidal Basin and the airplanes soaring just above us on their way to Reagan National Airport.

Unfortunately, dusk is not an ideal time to take beautiful pictures of blossoming cherry trees.

Despite a late start wherin I forgot bread for sandwiches, Joe's running shoes, and my wallet in the car, a disgusting visit to the porta potties, a forgotten jacket for Xandra (Despite all of my forgotten items, we had two bags and a small cooler for the evening. There was no room for all those forgotten things, anyway.), and a looooong ride home with three tired girls, it was a fun family night.