Happy Easter!

We had a great day celebrating Easter with Aunt Kim. After church and a nap, we had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, dyed eggs, and ate a delicious meal! Thanks for the beautiful dress Aunt Linnie!

Spring Break

We enjoyed our Spring Break at the beach again with the Murrays. This year was a bit different than last year when the girls were less mobile and talkative. Willow LOVED seeing Cadence for breakfast, lunch, and dinner AND all of the playtime in between! We enjoyed morning outings to a petting farm, the aquarium, and the boardwalk followed by post-nap trips to the beach to play in the sand. Despite both girls suffering from "mine"-itis, they played together very well and laughed a lot, especially while chasing each other around the couches in the living room while pushing their strollers. It was a great week!

For a few years I've been taking pictures of beaches I've been to with the location and year written in the sand. Now Willow gets to "star" in those photos!

Daddy's version of "Sandbridge"

Possible "timeout" idea?!? Oh wait, she looks too happy...

Like last year, the water was REALLY cold. I think Willow touched the water once the whole week.

Willow enjoyed looking at the fish at the aquarium.

(seal)

Willow LOVED the chairs that Jason dug out of the sand for the girls.

You can see that Willow liked the sand "ok"

Quite the "divas" in their matching sunglasses! 90% of the time Willow wore hers upside-down. Watch out - it may be the new trend!

Checking out the animals at the petting farm. Willow wasn't so crazy about the "petting" part but seemed to enjoy looking at the animals.

Despite our efforts, Willow was NOT interested in the pony ride like Cadence.

They had a very fun playground at the farm, though!

Practicing for a future ride-along with Grandpa!

We enjoyed walking along some trails in a nature preserve. We saw two snakes (yikes!), two turtles, and a bird.

Stroller Derby!

Egg Hunt

Willow's experience at the Easter Egg Hunt last year was drastically different than this year! We read a couple books about Easter eggs so Willow would know her "job" during the hunt. She was joined by her friends Emily, Cadence, and Mckenzie who all enjoyed the beautiful spring weather!

This was the best of multiple attempts to get a group picture. Emily was happier in her mommy's arms at the time.

Willow and Cadence practiced their sharing. Willow put all of her eggs in Cadence's basket, then Cadence put all of the eggs in Willow's basket.

Happy 2nd Birthday Emily!

Willow had a good time at Emily's 2nd birthday party. It's hard to believe it's already been a year since her last birthday! Willow has been in to singing the happy birthday song, so we practiced on the drive over, though she didn't sing a peep at the actual party.

Willow's first time trying the "big kid" swing all by herself!

Emily had lots of "helpers" in opening her gifts. Thankfully Willow did ok in realizing they were for Emily, not her!!

I found an Elmo book that plays music to give to Emily as a gift. I'd been hiding it in the backseat of the car so Willow wouldn't see it and fall in love. Unfortunately one day when she was climbing into her carseat, she did look in the back and see it. She kept saying "Elmo book! Elmo book!" I did my best to explain that Emily was having a birthday and we were giving it to her. Every time we got in the car after that, she'd say "Elmo book?" to which I would again explain that it was for Emily. She seemed to understand when we would talk about it and she would say "Elmo book. Party. Happy" She even watched me wrap it to solidify that it was for Emily's birthday. At the party she did a great job of handing it to Emily and watched intently as she opened it...

Everyone liked it for 5 seconds before the next gift was brought out =) I'm sure Emily will enjoy it, and it looks like I'll be making another trip to the store to buy one for Willow's birthday.

Happy 2nd birthday Emily!!

Dr. Willow

Willow was a champ at her follow-up appointment for her pneumonia. Our doctor had two students with her and Willow let all three of them listen to her lungs and look in her ears without squirming or complaining! The hospital had a stethoscope in each room so when we left, the nurse mentioned that we could take it with us for her to play with, which was a great idea! Willow picked up her clipboard this afternoon and I asked if she was going to work. She smiled and I asked if she was a teacher. She hesitated (smart girl!) then I asked if she was a doctor, to which she smiled and said, "yah." Soon after we had to get her stethoscope and check up on her babies!

"This may be better if you lay down..."

Checking out daddy

Checking out Willow!

22nd month

We're thankful to be back home from the hospital and happy to be reflecting back on March, Willow's 22nd month:

- Willow is saying more and more words these days. I think she really enjoys being able to communicate more with us! (We're mighty thankful, too!) She's happy to be the conductor of people/things around her often saying "Daddy work" or "Alli eat" or "Nim come" (aka "Kim") or "Mommy sit."

-She has a few phrases that she'll say (not as clear): Have a good day! Are you okay? Be right back! Where'd it go? The other day she said "Where'd it go, shoe?" wondering where her other shoe was.

- She's started singing along to songs with us which is VERY fun! She mostly sings the last word of each line but it's nice to be singing duet instead of solo lately.

- As signs of spring have appeared, Willow's shown signs of recognizing colors. When we'd drive she'd say "yellow" every time we passed a forsythia bush. She's also pretty accurate with white, black, and purple.

- That little brain of hers is making connections all the time. She has a musical toy that plays a few songs. When it started playing the song "The Ants Go Marching" she remembered her book of the same title upstairs and quickly climbed her way upstairs, went straight to the spot on the bookshelf where it's kept, then came back downstairs to show everyone. Another time we were sitting outside in the grass and noticed a couple birds in a tree. After talking about how the bird might be building a nest to lay eggs I reminded her of when we'd read "Are You My Mother?" the night before. Without prompting, she quickly got up, came inside, went up to her room to her bookshelf and we read the story again.

It's hard to believe our little girl is about to be 2!!!!

2nd trip to the ER

No April Fool's joke here! We're hanging out in the hospital with Willow who has pneumonia in both lungs, pink eye, and a double-ear infection. The poor thing has been a trooper through it all and is already showing signs of improvement. She has to be off oxygen for 24 hours before we can leave, so it may be a couple days of R&R in the hospital. Please keep her in your prayers!