Eric and Jill

 LaNea's best friend out here is Brayden.  He lives just down the street from us so we often get together. They play really well together which makes it so nice to get together.
 A couple weeks ago the Relief Society had a 5K/10K walk/run.  Claudia and I did the 5K walk.  It was a lot of fun to wake up early with the girls and go walking.  I think it was pretty fun for the kids too as Claudia took LaNea and Brayden and I got Zoe and Audrey. (These two are also adorable together. They smile and touch each other's faces).
 We obviously had LaNea's birthday too.  Since most the photos are over Facebook, I'm only adding my two favorite here.  LaNea had such an amazing birthday. The party was set up perfectly and she had just the right amount of friends to make it special but not too much.
 She loved dressing up pretty and has since not been found without least one necklace and bracelet on. Not to mention that she doesn't often let me get out of the house without one draped around my neck as well.
 Way excited that my little chef now has a complete ensemble to wear as she helps me cook and play. :)
 And not that I could possibly forget ZOE!  SHe's getting so big.  SHe loves to explore and is constantly finding new things that I didn't think about previously.  She is also a lover of necklaces and will wake up from her naps and head to the necklace pile to put one on.  Didn't realize she was able to do this till she did the first time.  And I had been thinking it was all LaNea.

We are having troubles with remember the letters "d", "e", "j", and "k".  Most others she has down even if she won't say them every time.  Eric and I are both very proud of her though!

I LOVE being a mom.  I love spending time with my girls and watching them grow. HOWEVER, every now and then, a day comes along that can be a little overwhelming.  Today was definitely one of those days.
It started this morning with Zoe waking up at 4:30am.  I had just enough time to change her diaper and get her bottle ready before I heard a loud thud and LaNea's sweet cry.  Poor thing fell out of her bed and woke her up enough that she wasn't quite able to go back to sleep. So we got ready for the day.
We headed to the park for Park Days at 10am.  Of course, most other mom's don't feel the need to be punctual so the next mom showed up 10:30am leaving me a full half hour of running around with LaNea with Zoe strapped on my shoulders.  We stayed at the park till about 12:15pm.  Headed home for lunch and had just enough time  to quickly study for the driver's test.
Then with Zoe once again strapped over my shoulders and LaNea's hand in mine, walked next door to the DMV.  Fortunately we did have an appointment so it only took five minutes for us to get back with our worker.  We left our home at 1:45pm and were caught at the DMV till 3:45pm.  The whole time LaNea and I were stuck on our feet.  LaNea was such a trooper and tried really hard to be patient and good.  Though a few around us didn't think she was doing too well. (Can you believe people actually had the nerve to "ssh" her and not even the workers!)  By the time we left, I had my new Driver's License on the way but still have a lot of work in order to get our two cars registered.
Oh, just since it deserves to be mentioned. Zoe also leaked out of her diaper during our lunch time.  Changed her diaper and thought I had it all cleaned up.  Didn't notice the poo on my shirt until were waiting in line at the DMV. :)
Getting home, I still have laundry to do, dishes to wash, toys to put away and two very tired children to keep happy till bedtime.
My feet are killing me, my brain stopped working the minute I finished the driver's test and dinner was more than a little bland; but all in all, I sure love being a mom even if it does include a few very long, very stressful days.

 These were the pictures that we had from Zoe's blessing.

 LaNea is already missing her cousins. Thank goodness for technology that allows us to see them still.

 We've also been enjoying the warm weather around here.  Spring in Texas is a great time with beautiful weather and the wild flowers that grow make the everything smell wonderful.
 Zoe has also officially become a thumb sucker.  LaNea didn't do this until way later.  I'll admit that I'm disappointed but at least I know what's in store and I can just enjoy her ability to self soothe now. :)
 LaNea is still in love with her "little sister".  She loves to be the one in charge and hates when I let her cry.  She has started getting a little jealous over how much I hold Zoe but its still nothing I can really complain about.
 Zoe is also getting bigger, obviously. She had her 2 month check this week.  She's now weighing 14.2 lbs. and is 25 inches long.  LaNea was barely 9 lbs at 2 months.  I think they are going to be far more different than I had thought.  Zoe has rolled over a few times and will wiggle her way to toys.  She actually enjoys tummy time which is great for me.  For the last week she has also been sleeping through the night!!! (She didn't make it the day of her shots but other than that!)  She's been eating her last meal around 9 and waking up around 7am!  I can definitely work with this.
 LaNea also had a great time at her friend Gabriella's birthday party.  It was held at Chuck E Cheese's.  Most of the kids were terrified of Chuck E including LaNea.  She was actually pretty nervous throughout most the party until they brought out a princess cake topped with a castle and all the princess figurines. She also did wonderful at eating the cake.  Go Figure!
 For general conference weekend, we went down to Houston to watch it with Britt and Brett.  LaNea and Ashlyn had so much fun running around together.  First thing LaNea asked when she woke up Sunday morning was if Ashlyn was awake.  I told her No.  She smiles and says "I have an idea...let's wake Ashlyn up!"  Funny kid, doesn't' work like that.
Zoe also had a lot of fun.  I think she loved having someone else stuck on their tummy too.  She was so excited when Mason made his way over to her.
 And Mason seemed pretty happy about it too.  He only  head nudges those he loves so Zoe should feel pretty special.  After this he even gave her a kiss.  I couldn't even get one of those from him!! He'll be such a cute big cousin!
 This is how I found LaNea taking her nap a few days ago.  She was in trouble and supposed to be in her bed.  Somehow my punishments don't always work the way I think they should.
 Yesterday, I was putting away laundry when LaNea comes running in to tell me that Zoe went potty.  Knowing this couldn't be good I run out to find that LaNea, being the wonderful big sister that she is, wanted to change Zoe's diaper on her own.  Zoe managed to go just a couple minutes too late for my sake.  Who can get mad over something like this though.  Maybe next time I'll be a little more strict and Yes I'm pretty sure there will be a next time.  

This is my favorite picture of LaNea and Ashlyn. Love that becoming such great friends.

While Eric was up interviewing in Wyoming, LaNea talked me into letting her have a movie night, complete with popcorn and treats.

With my mom here, we tried going again to Music Makers on Friday. Its a weekly activity put on by the wards here. Its only an hour long but was so full of fun activities. It started with singing songs with puppets.
And we were able to get a great family photo of us. I haven't downloaded photoshop on my laptop yet so it isn't perfect but we all were looking at the camera which with smiles! Not bad for our first family shot right!