Conference Weekend

This was our first attempt at big-girl pants for Brooke on April 2, 2011.  I figured Hey-it's conference!  We'll be home, it will be a great experiment!  And it was.  For an hour and a half she was dry.  Then she peed...and didn't care or notice really.  Experiment over.  But we did enjoy a pretty quiet Saturday. And I got to enjoy a nice girl's night that night. 

 Sunday morning (April 3) was beautiful and the girls enjoyed some swinging before conference started. 

And for a blissful 12 minutes, they watched and were quiet and enjoyed their snacks.  

Cute, aren't they.  And even though their good behavior was short lived, we had a pretty good conference Sunday.  We had dinner at my parents' house between sessions and enjoyed our time together.  

And from April 4, 2011, here are my little helpers making chocolate pudding for family night treat.  P.S.  If you have some super old chocolate pudding mix from the cannery--it tastes kinda gross.  And stays lumpy and soupy.  Obviously my kids didn't care in the slightest and ate it in mass quantities.  Mmm, delish.

A few more visitors...

*Sidebar--towards the middle of March, Brooke started taking longer morning naps and cutting her afternoon nap short.  If she were the only child, this would probably be ok.  But with Megan having naptime in the afternoon, this meant I was suddenly missing my "me-time" in the afternoon!  NOT ok!  So I started helping her skip her morning nap--it has gone great--but occasionally, she just can't keep her eyes open any longer.  Like this day--March 24.  She fell asleep outside reading books with Megan and me.  She slept like this on the floor in the middle of the family room for an hour.  Sweet little sleeper.

Just a shout out to our adorable new niece, Molly.  This pic is also from March 24.  Can you believe all that hair?  She's beating Brooke--at just 2 1/2 weeks old!

My Dad's brother Kevin, his wife Kelli, and their kids came for a visit at the end of March.  Kevin hadn't been to Houston since I was 6 or 7 years old.  It was so fun to see them and spend a little time with them.
And what did we do?  We swam (see a pattern?)

These are from March 30, 2011.  And that's my belly at 23 3/7 weeks.

Brooke was well-prepared for face fulls of water.

Baba's Visit and a Ladies Lunch Out

My dad's mom that we all call Baba spent a few weeks in Houston (Feb. 26 to Mar. 22).  She was able to overlap with Jamie's family's visit, the birth of my new niece Molly, AND going on spring break with my parents and brother. 
I love to spend time with Baba--she has so much wisdom and love to share.  I love to watch her with her great-grandbabies--she really helps each of them feel special.  She also is the only 80-plus year old I know that owns and uses an i-Pad--she's amazing.

4 Generations on March 19, 2011

While we're on multi-generational bonding, let me tell you something about my dad.  He is a man of many interests.  Some of which I am still just learning about.  Like this--while on vacation in Branson, MO and Nauvoo, IL for spring break, he purchased the hammered dulcimer that he's "always wanted".  Who knew?
The grandkids are big fans :)

On March 21, 2011, my Mom treated me, Baba, my sis-in-law Amy and Amy's mom Bette (in town for the baby) to lunch at this really fun restaurant.  We had such a nice time being together and enjoying a yummy lunch.  Thanks to Mom's neighbor Rishelle, we got to go without the little ones (ok, Molly came--2 week olds are still pretty easy at restaurants).  The restaurant is tucked back in this area of town that I'd never guess it would be in.  It has beautiful gardens filled with azalea bushes and we hit it at the height of the azalea bloom.  There are live peacocks walking around (they kind of freaked me out), little trails and gazebos--it was beautiful!

Our group...

This peacock was blocking our path.  They make this weird crowing sound and have huge claws--I avoided eye contact when I had to go by.

St. Patty's Day

We had a pretty low-key St. Patrick's day. I didn't even make the corned beef and cabbage...but I guess there's always next year!

The extent of our celebrating was to wear green and do a craft with Megan :). I had a matchy-matchy shirt like the girls and we got lots of smiles at my OB appointment that day. Dan worked from home in an effort to protect his office from pink-eye--Brooke came down with it the day before.  

Daddy and his helpers...

You can see Brooke doesn't care about Dad--she only cares about making the most of her minutes in the forbidden study.

Happy screaming little Irish girls...

Megan got to use her glitter glue for the first time--thanks Granny!

She was quite proud of her work.  And you can all be proud of my quality rainbow drawing skills.

Spring!

By the beginning of March spring was here full-time. We got our garden planted the first weekend in March--I call the box on the left "anticipation" and the box on the right "faith". I just hope it goes better than last year (when we got approximately 4 tomatoes and a jalapeno).  This year's plants include tomatoes, red peppers, sugar snap peas, carrots, and cucumbers.  This was the garden on March 10, 2011.

Cute Megan ready to ride to the park (also on March 10)...

I love the capri leggings on the girls--I need to go get them more!

Brave, brave Brooke--I can't convince her that climbing thing isn't a slide--she always gets stuck there!

Megan on the other hand can get up and down like a pro...

Brooke ready for church on March 13...

Brooke and Maddy waiting for snacks (March 14)...

Look at that ringlet ponytail!  I promise I don't help it do that--it just dries that way...

Amazing!

We love the warmth and the bike rides and the dresses and the sunshine!  Hurray for spring!

Rodeo Time!

March in Houston means it's time for one of my favorite Houston traditions!  The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo!  Wahoo!
On March 2, 2011, my parents were kind enough to take all of the adults (including Baba who was visiting) to see the actual rodeo...unfortunately, I took no pictures.  It was a nice mid-week date night though!
Playgroup went the next week on March 9, 2011.  It was a blast.  My girls LOVED seeing all the animals and displays and the little piggy races and being with their friends.  I had as much fun as they did.

Ooh--chickens!

My personal favorite--the baby sheep at the new baby stalls...

Brooke and her best bud, Maddy...

Eating our picnic lunch...

Playing pretend farmer--they got their baskets, planted and watered fake seeds, harvested their crops, and even got to sell them at the farmer's market

My girls and a few of our little friends...

Megan driving the tractor--watch out!

Megan's Black Eye

Just to document--here is our little cutie's shiner 4 days after the injury on March 1, 2011: