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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

twice as nice

I don't think I ever expected holidays to be twice as nice once a second little girl joined our family. Granted,  Cecilia was with us last year as we celebrated Christmas and Easter, but now that she is older, walking and talking...everything is just that much better.


Easter was especially fun with the girls this year. It was the first year that Cece could actually participate in egg hunts, and she quickly became obsessed. Luckily we were able to participate in multiple egg hunts on Easter day. We kicked things off with our church service. I couldn't get over how sweet my girls looked in their Easter dresses. Strangely, Cece did not get the memo that there are usually quite a few photos taken on this day, because she was NOT in the mood to "smile pretty". That is pretty common these days. Although I can easily get Olivia to smile for the camera, the odds of getting them both to look at the camera and smile are pretty slim lately.


After church it was time to dig into the Easter baskets. The girls didn't waste any time tearing into their goodies. Buying little trinkets for Olivia is a piece of cake right now. Cecilia, on the other hand is tough. Finding things that she will enjoy that will fit into a small Elmo basket is a bit challenging. I think I succeeded though. I grabbed a shot of the girls holding their favorite treasures from their Easter baskets. Cece's was her little stuffed Cookie Monster and Sesame Street figurines and Olivia's was her CD of songs from her favorite Disney shows. Seeing their little faces light up is all I need to know that I helped to make it a memorable Easter for them.





Each year we share Easter dinner with our dear friends, The Forte's. I have known them since I was a child and they have been inviting us to share the holiday with them for at least 6 years now. They treat our girls like their own grand kids, and make the holiday so special for them. Each year, right after dinner we head outside for the annual Easter egg hunt. This year Cece could hunt for her own eggs. Olivia needed no assistance finding her eggs, but Cece needed some guidance. With a little help from her big sis Cece found her hidden eggs in no time.






The girls had Easter baskets waiting for them as they came inside from their very successful egg hunt. If you are keeping track, this is basket number two for the day. Can we say blessed?



With two Easter baskets each, and one very successful egg hunt under their little belts, you would think that was enough to call it a day, but no...there was still more fun to be had! After our big Easter dinner we stopped at my Mom's on the way home for one last egg hunt, and of course more Easter baskets! Watching both of my girls enjoy their day full of searching for eggs and opening their treasures made for one joyful Easter. Like I said...holidays are twice as nice with two girls.


Earlier in March my Aunt Sue came for a visit. She left the beautiful California weather to come spend a week with her Great Nieces. We surprised Olivia by not telling her about the visit. My Mom took Olivia to the airport and told her they were just picking up a friend. She was completely shocked to see her Aunt Sue Sue walk off the plane, and completely thrilled! It was a fun week. Olivia hardly left Sue's side the entire week and Cece quickly grew attached to her as well. It's always sad to say good-bye to Aunt Sue Sue after a visit, but in a few short months the girls will get to spend more time with her when we make a visit to California. This will be Cece's first trip to California and Olivia's, ummmmm...I have lost track, but I want to say 7th!



The girls are both very busy with their daily activities right now. Olivia is close to wrapping up her final year in the primary classroom at her Montessori school. There are big changes coming her way next year as she moves into the lower elementary room. Her school work will be a much bigger focus in her daily routine. I can tell she is beginning to anticipate the changes that are on the horizon. One reassuring factor in this transition is that she will be moving up with many of her friends. That should help to make the move much easier for her. She has made some very special friends this year and had some pretty amazing experiences. Seeing this school year come to an end will be hard for all of us.




We are in the beginning stages of potty training at our house right now. It started off with a bang! We had lots of successes at first. I was even thinking I might be able to stop buying diapers much sooner than I anticipated.


Silly me...seems I jumped the gun on that one. After about 3 weeks of going on the potty on a pretty regular basis things came to an abrupt halt. Lady Cecilia proceeded to take a 2 1/2 hiatus from using the potty. Her dry spell ended this past weekend, but she still isn't using the potty on a regular basis quite yet. Hard to say when this girl will decide she is done with diapers, but something tells me that she is going to do it on her own time frame...not mine! Does this look like a girl that is going to do as I say?


On top of showing a slight interest in the potty Cece is changing in so many other ways. She communicates so well with us and is not the least bit shy when telling us what she wants or needs. I hear her use new words daily. She is similar to her sister in that way. Although she is not communicating as well as Olivia was at this age, her vocabulary is still very strong. She continues to be a massive show-off, a comedian and one very loving little girl!


The weather around here is warming up...slowly, but surely. We have been able to get outside on occasion, which makes the girls very happy. Olivia is working to learn to ride her bike. This task is proving to be more difficult than any of us ever imagined. I know my girl can do it, it just may take awhile. Cecilia has been taking on all sorts of new tasks lately. Last year at this time we were waiting for this firecracker to take her first steps. Now we are chasing her as she runs down the sidewalk as we play outside. She is a curious girl and that means all eyes must be on her at all times. I can tell already this Spring/Summer is going to be a blast with this little one. She just loves being, "ow-side". 



I am looking forward to the many adventures we are sure to have this summer. I will try to be better about blogging more than once every two months. It's funny how shuffling two little girls here, there and everywhere leaves me with very little free time to do things like blog. Somehow, I still manage to find time to talk about my amazing girls!