A Quick (I Know! Atypical!) Update

When we were in my hometown a few weeks ago, Rob and I took the girls out to the Rose Garden in a local park. We have a lot of happy memories there and the girls are enjoying making dramatic sniffing sounds every time they see a flower, whether in real life or in a book, so it seemed like the sort of place where they would have a good time. E was more amenable to the picture taking that day, so I've included a few more of her here; being busy climbing up and down stairs without parental support is difficult work and L could not be bothered to sit still for long periods of time required for photography.
I still have pictures I've been meaning to post from their second birthday party, so let's hope I'm able to get those up before they turn three.

This is a sweet picture of E hugging L. Sometimes they are kind to each other like this. Which makes up for the time they are rolling around the living room floor attempting to bite on another like crazed wolverines. They must have learned that from Rob. But in our family, love DOES mean having to say you're sorry and give hugs when you have injured someone else, whether on purpose or accidentally:

L or (Lah-When as she is sometimes called) is in the blue and E (or Elh-We)is in the melon.

Mother's Day Number Three

My very first Mother's Day as a mom, the girls were three and half weeks old. At some point during the day, Rob looked at me and said "I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to get you a Mother's Day present from the girls and I." And I said, " I'm tired of your lame excuses lately for not getting me gifts and I demand you go out right now and purchase me something." No, actually, that's a total lie. Because, you know, neither of us had slept for more than three hours at a stretch and I wasn't what you might call the picture of emotional stability just then. I probably considered it a present that he had taken time to go hang around the mall when I needed him at home. What I really said was, "Not having to leave church an hour early to come home to cry is all the gift I needed." (My love language is not so much gifts-although pleased don't misunderstand, I do in fact like receiving gifts- I just don't tend to get my feelings hurt if you don't get me one. So feel free to do so). And you know, I meant it. During the three Mother's Days that we were waiting for the girls, the day was almost unbearable for me (and consequently, I'm sure it was no barrel of laughs for poor Robert). I have been so elated to get to be a part of the holiday and not have to try and avoid it for these past three years. I still find myself tearing up when I'm in the middle of something and not expecting it when one of the girls calls me "Mama" . I am incredibly blessed to be their Mommy and not a day has yet gone by that I have not been grateful.
We spent the weekend in my hometown and had EARLY lunch (in the sense of beating the 11:00 rush) at what E called "Wed Lop-sper," which is my grandmother's favorite restaurant. Afterwards, we headed over to the pond near my grandmother's apartment to feed the ducks. Despite having eaten what for a 27 to 30ish pound person has got to be an extremely large meal, sharing our bread with the ducks without having a bite of it ourselves proved harder than you would imagine. Part of what was enjoyable for me was the way they would yell "thwo toast" (throw toast) as they tossed the bread out onto the water.

Here they are eyeing the ducks and geese (I'm the one in the green skirt):

L getting excited about the ducks and having a quick snack:



E thinking about sharing her bread, but then thinking better of it: