Easter & the doggone cutest kids ever!

You may or may not know this story, but on our first date Richard took me to our favorite Mexican restaurant and then to Boondocks to play miniature golf. While we were playing, these teenage girls kept giggling to each other and then turning to look at us. Well, since it was our first date, I was a little worried I had something on my face, on my butt, etc. I'm like "What are they laughing at???" Finally one turns around and she says, "I am so sorry, we were just talking about how cute you guys are! You are seriously going to have THE cutest kids!!!" (Yes, just like that, she was a teenager after all.) It was a pretty embarassing revelation for a first date, but darn if that girl wasn't right! Just look at these kids, it's ridiculous! If we can raise them to be as smart and sweet as they are cute, we'll be a success as parents!We had a very nice Easter weekend with Grandma Juanita and Cam. Jillian was so excited her Grandma was coming she just about burst at the seams waiting for her to arrive! Mom & Dad got to go out for lunch together, and as with all good lunch dates, ended it with a quick stop at the grocery store, ha ha! It always happens... :) We ate our Easter dinner Saturday and then took them to church on Sunday and it was a miracle Jillian did not fall apart when they left!
Jillian is doing great and loving being outside and going to some playdates again. She was really getting bored being stuck inside with mom and Paul due to the cold weather and monitors for a while there! We had a mom's group Easter egg hunt this week (belated due to weather) and this weekend we went to a friend's birthday party at the fire station - the kids played games, ate cake and even got to ride in the truck while setting off the sirens!!! Jilly really wants to play with girl friends now so that they can dress up and go to the ball! Once of Jillian's big accomplishments recently was actually learning (and having the discipline) to pedal her tricycle. Dad practices with her and she is now doing great, aside from those uphills where she may require a push! She is just the sweetest girl ever. The other day she told me "I love you too..." then looked back and said, "I will always love you..." She also spends at least 2 hours a day "reading" her books that she has memorized or makes up her own story to go with the pictures, and let me tell you, she is very creative!

Paul is also doing great and as you can see smiling and showing more personality everyday. He is finally awake enough that he just starting to be on a schedule and getting a 7 o'clock bedtime. It is definitely making things a little bit tougher for now, but he is not at all the NICU baby that we brought home that didn't like to be held more than 10 minutes. He wants to be held ALL the time and bonus points for napping on your chest! I have already gotten more use out of the baby bjorn than I did in total with Jilly and might be looking for another carrier as he gets older if this continues - the other afternoon he howled if I didn't hold him and I ended up holding or wearing him for over 4 HOURS!!! We think he is just making up for lost time when he was all alone all day up at the hospital so it's difficult to get too mad at him for it - plus, the smiles that come out of that boy in the morning, sigh! That is when he most resembles Jillian as a baby. He has taken to breastfeeding and didn't have a bottle for the past two weeks either, which was a great success since he was on bottles at the NICU and it is often really difficult for NICU babies to transition because of the inhospitable environment the NICU and the staff there provides. However, I was getting worried because I would still like him to take a bottle sometimes so that I don't lose my freedom like I did with Jillian. Much to my delight he easily took one from dad today and hopefully will be taking a few more so we can free up some freezer space!

Here are some more pics from the weekend:

(including a squinty family pic - the FIRST of all FOUR of us!)