Dying Easter Eggs...

So, Lillian and I got the stomach bug yesterday. We are both feeling a little tired right now, but getting better. Since we didn't have a lot of energy, we decided to dye Easter eggs today. Lillian loves doing this every year! It was something we could do together that was peaceful and fun. Lillian enjoyed the glitter eggs this year although they didn't glitter as much as we hoped. But, that is what you get for a $1.00!

We decided to got outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather for a little while. Since Lydia couldn't enjoy the egg dying, we decided to have our own egg hunt in the backyard. I thought this would help give Lydia the idea of an Easter egg hunt. We have one at our church this weekend and I want her to be prepared! hee hee And we didn't let Lydia dye eggs this year because we knew she would be a handful and not understand to dump the dye all over the place! :) So, outside we went and we had a lot of fun.

Lillian had enough energy to play for a little while and enjoy herself. But, after the egg hunt she had to go lay down for a little while. She had to miss dance tonight in order to save her energy for school. I hope she makes it to school in the morning because she has her school egg hunt and I don't want her to miss out on it! Both girls had a lot of fun and I think Lydia got it! hee hee

So, enjoy Easter weekend. We are have a lot of fun things planned and are looking forward to all of our activities and friends! Love and miss you all! Take care!

Love,
Julie

Lydia Turns 18 Months Old

Lydia just turned 18 months old today. And Miss Lillian turns 5 1/2 years old in 18 days. So, today we headed to Portrait Innovations to have some Easter pictures taken for their 1/2 birthdays.

Lydia did pretty well, but of course, her little diva attitude had to come out in the photo shoot. She didn't want to stand. Her legs were just jelly! She only wanted to sit and sit only in the spot she wanted to sit. Then, she fell in love with this white chair and only wanted to sit in that white chair for the rest of the photo shoot. A couple of tantrums later and I eminded myself that Lillian was the same way with pictures at this age! :)

Of course, the original Diva did great! We were able to get a lot of great photographs and she loves performing for others. Sometimes Lillian starts fake smiling and I have to remind her to relax and not to hold her smile for so long. Lillian has enjoyed photographs and did another photo shoot last weekend for another local directory. She got to wear a cheerleader outfit, gymnast outfit, and dance outfit. We are waiting to see those pictures.

Both girls are doing well. Lydia now has added some new vocabulary and can say hi. She also says something similar to Duck when we play Duck Duck Goose. She loves playing that with Lillian! She is so social and her favorite song now is Party in the U.S.A. by Hannah Montana. I can't tell you how many times I have to listen to that song in the car! And she loves to have the window down in the car and it is magical for her now that she can do it all by herself. She is a free spirit!

Lillian is always changing too and growing up too fast. She is enjoying reading now and has mastered level one and now it is time to move up to level 2. But, she doesn't think she is ready. We are working on her self confidence and getting her to believe in herself. She is amazing and just doesn't know all of her capabilities. She will in time. She is a good big sister and Lydia truly does everything her sister does! Good or bad! :)

So, enjoy the pictures. I will have her weight and length later when I take her to the doctor in a week. We love and miss you!

Love,

Julie

Austin Rodeo and Carnival

Today the girls and I went to the Austin Rodeo and Carnival with our awesome friends Nina, Veronica, Alyssa, Claudia, Nildalis and Jaycee. It was a gorgeous day and the perfect day for the carnival. Lillian was so excited to make it to the carnival and it is her first one of 2010 and Lydia's first carnival ever in her little 17 months of life! :)

I must say all the girls did great and had such a good time. Lydia only got to ride the Ferris wheel with me and they wouldn't allow her on anything else. It was her first carnival ride ever! It is okay to take her a mile up into the sky, but not okay to ride the little ladybugs?! She did enjoy the Ferris wheel, but it was so hard on her at first to see all the big girls riding everything and she could only stand and wave. At first, she broke into tears at every ride, but then she was okay with it. She stood there and smiled and waved at her sister and friends. She loves seeing them happy and having fun. She is a sweet little girl! Of course, the other girls could ride almost everything as long as their stomach could take it! :)

After we finished our lunch and riding all the rides the girls wanted to, then we headed to the petting zoo and pony rides. Lydia loved seeing real cows which are her favorite animal right now. She thought they were amazing and even got to pet one! Then, I took the girls on a pony ride. And this was Lydia's favorite part of the rodeo! She had such fun and kept petting her little pony. Lillian rode Lucy the Pony like a real cow girl! We walked around the petting zoo and then just played in a little farm area.

By this point, we were working on four hours at the rodeo and carnival and all the girls were getting tired especially the little babies who missed their nap. So, we went back to Nina's house for about an hour. The girls played outside the whole time and jumped on the trampoline, went on the swings and slide. They even had ice cream!

Poor Lydia started getting clumsy from exhaustion at this point in the day! :) We were only there for 45 minutes and Lydia fell on the concrete patio and has a red mark on her forehead, fell off the picnic table and busted her lower lip, went down the slide too fast and bumped the back of her head and then had her fingers pinched in a doorway. And do you want to know what Nina's little 6 year old daughter had to tell me about the slide? Veronica said, "Julie, I don't think that was such a good idea!" She is so cute! Then, Lydia spilled water all over her and rode the hour home in a diaper! What kind of mom am I today? hee hee And to top it off, both girls are sun burned!

It was a great day with friends! And Lydia even said another word today- Hi. So stinking cute! Our spring break is coming to an end and I will miss it! We will be back to normal on Monday, but what a great week this has been! Love and miss you all!

Love,

Julie

Truck Day!

So, what do my kiddos want to do on Saint Patrick's Day? Go to Truck Day! They are both so girlie girlie and I was shocked Lillian really wanted to go today. I asked her several times! And Lydia is so girlie too...she already plays dress up in my heels and wears my lipgloss! But, we went with our friends Jessica, Jack and Lily.

It is just a bunch of different trucks set up in a parking lot and you are able to go inside, pretend to drive and honk some horns. There were dump trucks, bulldozers, sewer trucks, buses, TV van and more. And Lillian's favorite? The Blood Mobile! Really? hee hee Lydia loved the moving vans because on the back of the vans there were platforms set up to load and unload things. Lydia loved walking up and down and one time thought it was a slide!

I can't believe how much fun everyone had and they didn't want to leave after and hour and a half! Lydia was still pointing at the trucks when we were leaving this morning! What a fun morning and off to the park after naptime. The day is ending so quickly! Love you all!


Love,

Julie

Pot of Gold???

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Yes, we are wearing our green today so no one will get pinched! hee hee

We started our little holiday off yesterday with a cute idea from my friend Nina. She is the best when it comes to ideas to get the kids excited about the small holidays! :) So, we made some shamrocks and taped them to the window. This will tell the Leprechaun that we are searching for the pot of gold. We made a trap for him and tried to lead him into the trap with gold coins (Chuck E Cheese coins). I told Lillian he wouldn't come until after midnight because we have to wait until it is officially the 17th of March.

We got up this morning and the first thing Lillian wanted to do was check the trap. Did it work? Almost! We found a note from the Leprechaun and he said, "Fast Fast Fast As You Can, You Can't Catch Me I Am The Leprechaun Man! Good Luck Next Year!" And we found a piece of green fabric that must have torn off of his clothes when he escaped our trap!! That tricky little man! He even left green candy for the girls and you know Lydia was excited about the candy! :) She even had one piece before breakfast!

Lillian was thrilled and was a little disappointed not to have found the Leprechaun. She wanted to hold him and keep him forever! :) I told her the little guy was fast and we will have to try again! The look on her face is priceless!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day and thanks Nina for the memories! Love you all!

Love,

Julie

Bridge

Party

Building a Bridge...

Okay, so Little Lydia wants to be so much like her big sister. She is too cute! She already plays dress up in mommy's shoes and Lillian's shoes, loves to wear make up and I can not put lip gloss on without her needing some too and she thinks she goes to Lillian's school and dance class. She is a hot mess these days!

Lydia loves to be with Lillian and she loves to take Lillian for walks around the house. When I am trying desperately to get Lillian ready for school, Little Miss will just grab Lillian and take her for a walk. Lillian will have to get away and come running back to me to get ready for school. Plus, she loves to act like Lillian...if we are playing on the bed and Lillian pretends to fall down, then Lydia will do the same thing.

Lydia even loves Hannah Montana like Lillian. And her favorite songs are Party in the U.S.A. and Best of Both Worlds. She always smiles and dances when we listen to them. It is a joy to watch them dance together and have such a good time.

But, her latest thing is the bridge. Lillian learned how to do her bridge and now Lydia thinks she can do one too. She even does it on demand and has shown Lillian's gymnastics teacher. She showed off yesterday for Nina, Ronnie and the girls. Nina loved it and asked her to do it over and over again. She truly is a hot mess! So, enjoy the clip and get some laughs. It is funny being the second child and watching them try to grow up so fast. And sorry about the diaper...we were home from church, had lunch and were just playing around the house. Lydia loves to be naked! We love you all!

Love,

Julie