Two little girls on Easter

Ivey liked this rattly toy the Easter Bunny brought her. She also liked scooting across the floor to grab eggs. She started scooting forward (rather than backward) the day before at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Ivey can't have candy, so she got musical toys in her basket. That's one of those percussion shaker eggs and a jingle bell toy. What candy Ivey did get (from the grandparents, mostly) I had to "process" for her so she could get it during a nursing session. Super deal!

I love these bunnies. They are from Miyim's organic line. The problem is, dumb old EB made the HUGE mistake of bringing bunnies that are different. Ivey got a Baby Victoria with a dress and Suzi got a big Victoria without a dress. Of course, Suzi wanted Ivey's.

And then Suzi wanted both of them. She took this picture of the bunnies in Daddy's lap. Now I don't think she wants one at all, so I told her if she didn't want to cuddle with Victoria then I would. These bunnies are scrumptious.

We were smart and took pictures with the girls before going into church. I was so proud that we remembered the camera!

Suzi was excited when she saw that the Easter Bunny had left her a big lavender hairbow to match her dress. Okay, I made the bow with the help of our hot glue gun while watching New Moon on Easter Eve. Don't tell Suzi. I'm proud of it because it's the first bow I've made. Store-bought bows are expensive!

On Grandma's sofa after church.

Ready to eat candy.

Want to be sure we get a good one.

Okay, done. You can go change now.

New stroller! (plus my thoughts on more kids)

We (my friend Megan and I) waited. We tagged. We sat outside in line, and fortunately it was sunny and warm. Then we shopped the consignment sale, and here is one of my two favorite finds...

I'd hoped to find an inexpensive umbrella stroller, because the latch on ours broke and it's no longer safe. Instead, I found this one. It's a Joovy Caboose.

Baby sister can ride in front (it also can hold a car seat carrier, but we don't use one),

And big sister can stand on the back.

Or if she prefers, she can sit.

Sometimes she jumps off and runs around looking for rocks!

While we almost always favor baby carriers, sometimes a stroller is nice. I like taking longish walks around the neighborhood with this one. Also, trying on clothes while shopping is pretty impossible while babywearing. This stroller is way lighter and easier to fold/unfold than our old one. Our old one is a jogging stroller and we'll be selling it at the next sale.

The one other reason I'm glad to have this stroller is that I can see it being useful for three kids. No. I'm definitely not pregnant, and I have to admit I am glad. But we do want more kids, and I can envision myself pushing Ivey and Suzi in this stroller and carrying baby #3 in a wrap. Someday, you know? Am I the only mom who fantasizes this way?

Just a step or two down the hall

After talking about it for months, we finally moved Suzi to her own room a few weeks ago. (These pictures are from the end of January, when we first showed her the new setup.) The room was already a playroom, as I organized it during my pregnancy with Ivey. All we had to do was swap the coloring table for her little bed and tack the bookshelf to the wall for safety. Then we put the table in our craft/catch-all room, straightened up a bit, and we were done. She was excited about the move; we wouldn't have done it otherwise. I was perfectly satisfied with having her in our room, because her sleeping habits were fine. She wasn't needy or overly dependent the way some people think children who are parented this way are. It's a myth.

The first experience in her new room was an afternoon nap, but I'm not sure she slept at all. The "nap" ended when she yelled for Daddy. He went up to see what was wrong and she was trying to reach a book that had fallen behind her bed. Jordan said that if she hadn't dropped the book (which she pulled off the bookshelf behind her) she'd have been up there reading in bed. Kind of cute to think about! Jordan used to read in bed when he was supposed to be sleeping, and so his parents wouldn't hear him switch the lamp off he'd unscrew the bulb instead.

The first night, Jordan tried to put Suzi to bed as usual, but it wasn't going well. When I heard her crying I offered to go talk to her. It took an extra bedtime story, another doll ("Rosie," her Raggedy Ann made by Grandma), lots of hugs, and just the right setup of night-lights to appease her. She has a Twilight Turtle, a stuffed turtle that projects stars onto the walls and ceiling, but it has to be really dark to see them. The darkness made her a little nervous, so she told me to put her Betty Butterfly and big tiger up against the bed (to stand guard).

I was a little nervous at first. Now that it's been a few weeks, I am okay with it. Jordan and I are just a step or two down the hall from her. She does call for us a lot more often now, and we do have a more intricate nighttime routine, which includes but is not limited to getting her tissue (in case her nose runs), making a potty run, brushing her teeth, getting the three or four stuffed animals/toys she requests, turning her stars on (the Twilight Turtle), letting her kiss and hug all three of us at least once, and always, always reading "In the Night Kitchen." We must read this book or the evening can't continue. And she has it memorized.

In a couple of years it'll be Ivey moving into that room, but she'll be moving in with her big sister. Suzi's little arms will comfort her when she's afraid of the dark. We'll probably get them a double bed, maybe even bunk beds with a double bed on the bottom once they're old enough. They can cuddle and play and laugh and share clothes and argue and do all the other things I'd imagine sisters do when they share a room.

It's going to be beautiful. It already is beautiful.

Special request

This one's for Theresa, who wanted to see Suzi and Ivey's newborn pics side by side (they're going to be one on top of the other, it's the best I can do with Blogger).

Here is Suzi...

And now Ivey...

Same outfit, same age. Think they look alike? To me, they look totally different. Suzi had a bunch more hair, obviously, and her eyes were darker. My mom said today that Ivey looks like me when I was a baby, which makes me happy. It makes sense because I look like my dad and Ivey looks like my dad, too. Here's a close-up:


Both equally sweet and adorable, but so different! It's great having two beautiful daughters.