A happy little Easter

Dear Maya and Emi,

Happy Easter! Emi, you and mommy were sick a lot of this past week, but luckily we were both pretty much recovered enough to enjoy this holiday weekend. Here's what we all have been up to in a nutshell:

• Coloring eggs! (Maya only)

• Hay ride/egg hunt! (Again, Maya only)

• Easter gifts were super simple this year because we really don't need more stuff in our house. Emi, you got these apple sauce pouches and a cute little watermelon stuffed cube. Maya, you got a Frozen crown and hand soap, and these shoes that made you cry for an hour when mommy didn't buy them for you a few weeks ago! There were stampers, stickers, and fruit snacks hidden in the plastic eggs. It may have all been low key, but you two still ate it up!

Daddy had to go do a little work, so mommy got you two all dolled up in your Easter dresses and tried to grab a few photos outside after lunch. Then we piled into the car with daddy and Uncle Matt and headed to your great-grandparents' house to see them. It was a really nice afternoon.

Well, mommy needs some serious sleep. Love you both!

Two kinds of green

Dear Maya and Emi,

It's been a bit of a rough week around here. Maya, you started coughing last Sunday and on Monday morning had a fever to go along with it. You stayed home from school for three days mostly because of the fever, but you weren't altogether miserable--just bored. It was a long three days!

I couldn't get a good picture balancing Emi and my phone on the way to the bus,
but you looked very sweet in your green outfit, Maya!

Thursday you finally were able to go back to school for St. Patrick's Day! You wore lots of green and came home with stories of how a leprechaun dyed your classroom's toilet water green! Emi, you and I went for a little walk at a meditation garden to enjoy the nice weather while Maya was at school.

Yesterday you had a dental cleaning, Maya. It went very well--a good behavior, a good report, and we were out the door within about 15 minutes! Then last night we all had pizza and a delicious cake by Uncle Matt to celebrate Aunt Rhi's birthday. As always, you picked out three gifts from the dollar store, Maya. This time it was a pair of flashing rings, a set of color-changing rubber creature toys, and a bottle of bubbles. Sounds like you were shopping for yourself, too, no? ;)

Well, now it seems that mommy (and maybe you, Emi) have caught this cold so it's bedtime. Love you both!
P.S. Here's your school picture from last week, Maya. Aww!

Post-trip progress report

Dear Maya and Emi,

Have we really been back from Japan for 2 weeks already? Much of it has been a bit of a jet-lagged blur. Emi, only the last couple of nights you've stopped crying out at random times. Maya, you got over the jet lag pretty quickly and got right back on your school schedule, thank goodness!

Pretty much as soon as we got back from Japan your great-grandma had hip surgery. Grandma and Papa Stan came up and stayed with us a few days for that so that was nice. By last weekend when we took you two to visit, Nanny was looking great and getting around like a champ!

Why do you love playing with your sister's (clean) underwear so much?!?

Other than that we've been trying to get errands checked off of our to-do list before both mommy and daddy's work seasons really pick up. And you two have been chugging along, making amazing progress seemingly everyday. Here's a list of some of your recent skills:

Emi

• Dancing (you're really good! you change up your moves often and really get down!)
• Talking (new words and phrases pretty much every day! your latest one is "Come on!")
• Weaning (we stopped nursing and you took in stride--better than mommy!)

Maya

• Writing your full name (your last name is long so kudos to you!)
• Saying the pledge of allegiance (I suppose this isn't new but we only just heard it!)
• Posing for pictures (your second school picture day this is what you wore--so cute!)

Well, the school bus is almost here so mommy has to run. Love you both!