Getting Married

Shilah loves to wear this dressup wedding costume, while pretending to marry Serena. Their newest thing is to "put on pretty dresses" and twirl around.

The wedding vehicle:

Kids Say the Cutest Things: It's been pretty cold recently and we woke up to frost a few days ago. I told Shanti that we'd need to warm up the cars since there was frost on the windshields, and Shilah's eyes lit up. She said, "There's frosting on the cars?!? I'm gonna eat it up!"

Barn Dance & Update

On Saturday we went to a barn dance in Conifer to raise money for a potential rec center in our town. Shilah & Serena had so much fun! It was great time hanging out with members of the community.

After a long evening of barn dancing...

Shilah had her 5 year checkup and she jumped 2 curves on the growth chart! She is 76th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. Serena has been doing a good job with potty training and wears underpants around the house. Growing up fast!

Another Fun Visit

My parents left today to go back to Buffalo. It was a great visit! Lots of meals out, babysitting, playing, & new toys.

On Friday the girls had a sleepover at Uncle Keith's with Aunt Lauren & my parents too.

Here's Grandpa Rick playing catch with Shilah. Can't wait to visit Buffalo this summer!

Singing to Shilah

Here's a short video of us singing happy birthday to Shilah at the party. It's cute when Shilah asks Serena to help her blow out the candles :-)

Shilah's Party

Shilah had her birthday party at my Jazzercise studio. We kept it small and invited a few of her friends and family. Here she is wearing the cool fairy costume that Gabe & Andrea got for her!

Uncle Keith & Aunt Lauren came too!

The kids waited patiently for the pizza to arrive:

The kids (and Gabe) had a great time running around with all the balls, and chasing balloons.

Even Lily took part in the action:

Shilah has been reading the Disney Fairy chapter book series, so she requested a fairy cake. I used fairy stickers & toothpicks to create that theme. Shilah & Serena helped me make this chocolate avocado cake with chocolate tofu frosting. Yum!

Shilah's 5th Birthday!

It's hard to believe Shilah turned 5 years old yesterday!
Shilah got this beautiful ballerina outfit from Aunt Anica-- thank you!
The best present was having Grandma Sho Sho and Grandpa Rick come into town. Thank you for the loads of presents!

I made Shilah's favorite dinner: vegetarian sloppy joe, corn, and ice cream for dessert. Happy birthday, Princess Shilah!

Lily's Birthday Party!

On Sunday we went to Lily's first birthday party and saw Gabe & Andrea's beautiful new hardwood floors!
Yummy birthday cake:

Serena's potty training plumber's crack:

Posing with the Pets

Serena has been working on being more gentle with our pets. She has also been working on potty training! We've discovered if she goes "commando" she will run to the potty and go on her own (underpants are a different story). It's a start!

Another Ode to Cosmo

Puppy dog eyes:
Cosmo in the midst of stuffed animals again:
Caught with his nose in the bowl:

Happy Easter!

Yesterday Shilah & Serena dyed Easter eggs (they had fun posing with the eggs as well).
This morning they had a great time trying to find all the hidden eggs in the house. They ate the fillings for breakfast: bunny grahams, crackers, pretzels, & carob chips!


Matching spring dresses...

The things daddy has to do for his two darling daughters...

We had a great time at our friend Deb's annual Easter brunch!
Deb's sister Laura & her son Zach:
Shilah & Serena with Deb's daughters, Maggie & Alex. There's something so cute about little girls in pretty dresses!

Serena giving Cousin Lily a kiss:
We had such a great time with our friends & their kids. Here are all the kids after the Easter egg hunt:
The Shanti Pless family:
The Gabe Pless family:
We also brought Cosmo along and he had a great time running around with Deb's dog Bella. Serena spent the afternoon running around with a ball in her hand laughing as Bella chased her!
And the obligatory picture of Cosmo with bunny ears on. Here is Cosmo thinking, "Why do they do this to me every Easter?"