Cousins!

Jack, Haylee and Avery stopped by on Friday for some playtime. 

I think these kids like each other.

Sleepy Girl

Shannon has been teasing me with longer nights of sleep. Twice this weekend she slept through the entire night! It took Mitch 11 months to get there. I'm not claiming victory yet, obviously, but hope springs eternal!

Little of This, Little of That

We are in the midst of a crazy season of our lives right now, but have some fun photos to share nonetheless.

She Eats!

The time has come to introduce Shannon to more solid food than her current liquid diet includes. So, rice cereal made its appearance and was met with contentment, and lots of drool.

Mitch was eager to help feed his sister and as he did so, prompted her to "Say 'ah', Sannon". She was pretty obliging.

She's sleeping now, with a full tummy. Perhaps it will be a good night!

Happy Easter!

It's Easter and we're celebrating the Resurrection . . . with colored eggs!

This was Mitch's first year dying eggs and he was a big fan. The coloring process was done in the buff - his favorite way to be. In fact, the other day he told me, "Sometimes I just like to be naked." Fair enough.

Shannon kept an eye on us from her new favorite vantage point. Someone needed to be our quality check manager and she fit the bill exactly!

Mitch armed himself with both his and Shannon's baskets and then headed out to see what the bunny hid.

The bunny came last year, but just placed the eggs in the grass. This year the bunny decided that Mitch is getting more clever so the eggs were partially hidden. He located all of them!

What joy is this? There are some eggs filled with candy?!?!? That's some bunny!

The hunt is complete and this is one happy boy!

At last we were dressed and ready for church.

Happy Easter!

5 Months Old!

Shannon's getting bigger! She loves to chew on anything, especially paper and her mother's hair. Tonight she showed an interest in dental hygiene as she commandeered Mitchell's toothbrush for some slobber time with Grama Allstot. Her hair is growing a bit more, and she still dishes out smiles in mass quantity. She's a dear!

Today was a banner day for our children at daycare. When I arrived to pick them up, Mitch was on the naughty chair covered in pink spots. His friend raced up to me, shouting, "Mitchell's in trouble!" Sure enough. During his nap, he had decided not to sleep and instead to paint. He got pink, purple, yellow, blue and green NAIL POLISH and began a masterpiece on some paper. Then he expanded his canvas to include the desk, the computer chair, a t-shirt, the door and the (formerly) white carpet. He also included his t-shirt, jeans, and arms. When asked why she didn't hear him being so naughty in the bedroom, our poor sitter replied that Shannon had been crying for nearly the entire day. She slept only 15 minutes. OH MY WORD. Suffice to say, we are hoping and praying that our kids won't be banished and that we can salvage the carpet. Oh this generational revenge . . .

Arizona!

We spent several days over spring break in Scottsdale, AZ with Bryan's aunt and family. It was lovely! The weather was warm, the company was wonderful, and we had a really nice time.

Bryan and Mitch swam in the pool several afternoons. The Arizonans declared it to be "freezing," but 85+ outdoor temperatures seem pretty nice to folks from the PNW!

Shannon and her Great Aunt Dianne watching poolside.

Part of spring in AZ is spring training! We went to an Angels-Royals game and enjoyed some major home run hitting from our seats in the outfield. This was MBJ's first major league game! Bryan also took in a Dodgers-DBacks game on his own.

We spent one morning at the zoo, which was lots of fun. Uncle Bob and Mitch enjoyed some time together and both managed not to get caged with the other wild animals!

Shannon snoozed through much of her zoo experience. I took great pains to keep both kids from getting sunburned and managed to avoid it. Huzzah!

Mitch and Dad checking out the cheetah. While Mitch certainly enjoyed the zoo, he was equally enthralled with the pigeons as he was with wild cats.

The cacti were very entertaining to Mitch. He spoke to them, pointed to them from the car, and touched them whenever possible. It was funny to watch him approach carefully (or pellmell!) and then touch the green part between spikes.

Shannon and Toby got acquainted. We got to spend good time with Toby and his mom, Joy, on several occasions.

Alecia was great with the kids and Mitch enjoyed playing with her. Here she showed him the ins and outs of Arcadia Park.

Hope and Grace were excellent hostesses! We enjoyed playing at their house and visiting with their folks, too. All in all, a wonderful trip to the sunny southwest!