Behind on the times...

So I have neglected the blog lately. It seems I can only focus on one hobby at a time with two kids. I do enough multi-tasking wtih them and the house, I can't seem to multi-task with my other interests. So instead of blogging or reading lately, I've been knitting.

Happy belated Easter and Passover to everyone or just Happy Spring if you don't celebrate either of those. The Easter Bunny visited our house on Saturday night and Ella woke up to find eggs hidden around the house and a basket of fun toys. She was so cute finding the eggs, she would shake each one to make sure there was something inside and then open it to see what it was. They were filled with fruit snacks, jelly beans, and pez. She also received the Chicken Little DVD and Disney figures. The Easter Bunny thought that was somewhat appropriate to Easter. ;-) So thankfully, we enjoyed watching that movie instead of Nemo 15 times yesterday. Lily also received some fun things in her basket. They both got fuzzy bunny ears to wear and in my dream world I would have loved to get a picture of both of them together with their ears in their Easter dresses. But alas, my dream did not come true. I did get the most adorable picture of Lily with her ears on though.

We had another baby milestone last week. I always sit Lily outside the tub on the floor to watch Ella take a bath. I went into the sink area of our bathroom to get Ella's soap and when I turned around Miss Lily was standing up holding onto the bathtub! I thought that couldn't have just happened! Ella must have pulled her up or something. So I sat her back down and watched her and lo and behold she did it again! At six months! That's like an 8 or 9 month trait! I looked it up and Ella was 9 months old when she first pulled herself up. I told Andrew that I think we have to watch out. Lily is going to be even more of a climber than Ella was. She already can turn around and get herself out of the bouncy seat and then she promptly tries to get back in. Lily had her 6 month check up last Tuesday. She is 17lbs, 12 oz. and 29 1/2 inches long! Ella was 17lbs, 6oz, and 27 3/4 inches at her 6 month checkup.

Ella is pretty much the same as she has been. We are really trying to encourage her to talk more by not responding to her grunting as much. We've had a few more tantrums but I think she is trying to use her words more now.

Two weekends ago, Tom and Pat came out for a visit. We went to Griffith Park together and they enjoyed seeing Ella run around. They were so nice and watched the girls for two nights while Andrew and I went down to the Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad (just north of San Diego). We received a gift certificate to this place and lived it up for a couple days. Andrew played golf, I visited the spa and had a massage and facial. It was so great! The girls weren't far from our minds though. We went shopping and bought Ella a fun new pair of shoes and a new carseat for her so Lily could move out of the infant carrier. She's been too big for it for quite a while now. I think the grandparents had a great time with the girls! Andrew also enjoyed being able to watch the last round of the Masters with his dad. We were all happy to see Phil Mickelson (my Philly boy--he's my favorite golfer) win!

Andrew is preparing for his annual Knox Alumni Carnival of Golf extravaganza which begins this Wednesday in Houston. He'll be gone until Sunday night so it'll be just me and the girls until then.

Update: Oh yeah, I meant to add this when I was first typing this post. My cousin, Michael called us on Easter also. He is in the army and serving in Iraq right now. So it was a great surprise when he called us to wish us a Happy Easter from there! He has been there five months already and seems to be doing pretty well. The earliest he will be home is August so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers for a safe return home and hopefully it will be as soon as August.