Easter

Easter arrived with beautiful weather and a very excited Cassidy.  We also had Carmen here for a visit and Cass put her right to work decorating eggs.

 With the help of Craig's List and a secrete Easter Bunny mission, the Easter Bunny delivered a great outside toy (well, it will be this summer) that all 3 girls can use. 

"Alli" got put right to use!

 Sawyer (pictured) and Rylee both got into hunting eggs, but had to stop after finding each egg to get to the goodies inside.  This was the beginning of 2 sets of eggs, one for Cassidy and one for the twins.  Cassidy was a good sport and made sure she only found the "big-girl" eggs and was happy to "help" the twins find theirs.

 My beautiful girls in their Easter dresses before church.  Cassidy coordinated all outfits and did a great job!  Rylee has the flowers and Sawyer the stripes

 After church and a quick nap, we woke up Chad and headed north for the big family gathering.  With Mount Baker as the beautiful backdrop, it was a gorgeous day and lots of fun.

 The cousins...Caden, Lindsey,Sawyer, Cassidy, Rylee, Alexa and Brady

 Let the games begin!  Cass getting a lift from Alexa and maybe a little spot from Uncle Matt

 Rylee

 Sawyer

 The girls

 This was the best picture I got of my 3 girls once the twins figured out there were goodies in these eggs too!

 Grandma Kit and Lisa said that the candy was going in a bowl, but I seriously have my doubts since there was no crying and my girls are VERY focused.....hmmmmm

 I think this is Rylee but honestly I don't know...it's just too cute not to share and they both have the same teeth to show off!

We also got to celebrate Caden's birthday and Sawyer got her first taste of whip cream out of a can...I think she is a fan!

It was a beautiful day.  We are so blessed with a wonderful family and a great group of cousins...yay!



18 Months!

 18 months, whew!  The girls have been working hard growing and building their fine motor skills.  We still don't have a lot of language, but boy do they understand a lot!

They still love their hats and playing dress up, not to mention pulling every thing out during room time

and they are doing better at loving each other too...so nice compared to the hitting, especially for Rylee (who is in the pink shirt)

And as usual, the motor skills are quite advanced...oh, and see those pink boots on Sawyer?  Those are her favorites and we don't go anywhere without them and usually a hat too!

Sawyer loved Cassidy's new rain boots and was determined to wear them, even if she couldn't bend at the knee

Dinner entertainment is a given...here they are pretending "nigh-nigh", I just thought it was amazing they usually go to the same side

Cassidy loves being the fashion coordinator for the twins and I thought Rylee's outfit was especially good this day!  Oh, and Cass may have told me to take a picture :)

We finally bit the bullet and switched the girls into their forward facing car seats.  That means that we can no longer contain them during "quick stops" which means there is no such thing as a quick stop any more!  But I do have to say, I love that view into the back seat!

Sawyer

Another loving moment (and Cassidy's fashion sense for a tea party we were invited to)

My Girls!  I love this picture because it truly captures the difference between the two.  Right now, Sawyer (in purple) is my more introverted, thoughtful, observer (unless there is a physical challenge).  Rylee definitely is my extrovert, loves being the center of attention and making sure she is.  She is also much more "opinionated" about how and when she is going to do things and tends to be more physical when she is upset, definitely a "bring it on" attitude. 

Finally, their stats

Rylee weight 27 lbs. (80th%) and height is 33" (80th%)

Sawyer weight 25.8lbs. (70th%) and height is 32.5" (75th%)

 

We are doing great!  Now we are supposed to work more on our language.  I asked the doctor if he could "slow down" their motor skills and he just laughed...it was worth asking!

February Fun

February was busy, as usual, around here without really doing much! 

After 2 years, Chad found his perfect boat, but if you ask her, Cassidy will say it's for her.  After a long trip down and back, Chad got the "new" Woolridge into the shop...at an angle!

Cassidy found that it's just as much fun to dress Blackberry as it is to dress her sisters, maybe even more since BB doesn't put up too much of a fight (although I'm pretty sure she's thinkin' it wasn't so bad being homeless) 

Dressed up or not these two have become great friends

We have also gotten some breaks in the weather and takin' advantage of being outside.  Thank goodness that fresh air helps offset the fact that between the two, we have 8 teeth coming in (the big front 4 across the top for both, ugh)

Grandma got to come for a week for Cassidy's birthday and we took full advantage!

Cassidy is back in gymnastics and loving it, esecially the super long trampoline

The twins like playing "where's Cassidy" which is great, becuase it can be a bit of a challenge keeping them entertained for the hour, but thankfully we have friend Kate and her baby Jolee for backup!

I had to include this picture.  Cassidy got invited to a Birthday tea party and did a great job getting her sisters ready (Rylee in red, Sawyer with the green)

Chad and I got new fancy phones and Cassidy loves getting her picture taken, I have to admit, it's pretty handy and I get some great shots, like this one, of my girls.

February is also the annual "Daddy Daughter dance".  Cassidy finally got to wear that red dress Uncle Bryce got her for Christmas and got to go to the dance with her wonderful date.  They were so stinkin' cute!

Then it was my turn...and I got her muddy!  Cassidy got to go on her first official trail ride, despite the rain.  She and Ziggy did great, even went up a steep hill where she let out a little scream becuase she thought she was going to roll off the back.  But she didn't and rode her right up and is ready to go again

We had our trusty outriders for her first ride, Laura and Cari joined in the adventure

And the monkeys?  Well, they have been pretty busy too!  Sawyer is convinced she can not go anywhere without a hat, this seems to be one of her 2 favs.  And yes, she will pitch a fit if asked to leave it off.  And they throughly enjoy room time, finding anything and everything that can be pulled out.  But, they can hang out in there for a good half hour, enough time for me to prep dinner or do a quick vacuum, as long as there in enough drawers to empty!





 There are some sweet quiet moments too, they just don't last too long!

 



5? No Way!

There is no way that my sweet baby girl is 5 years old.  It's just not possible.  5 means that she is going to be starting school and that our precious snuggle time is going to be even less and I'm sorry, but I'm not willing to let that happen just yet, so even though the calendar says so, I'm not convinced she's really 5.....Oh, but wait, the problem with that is she tells me she's 5 and when I say prove it...well, she does.  She can count to 100, write her name, knows all her colors, shapes, letters and address, not to mention how to get to most places around here.  More impressively, she is the sweetest, funniest, most responsible and caring little girl I know.  I wish I had more words to describe her, but they don't do her justice and all I can say is she is amazing and such a wonderful blessing to our family.
 

For this amazing girl, of course we had a few parties.  Starting off up north with a combined birthday party for her, Alexa and Lindsay.  It was a great day with the twins smack dab in the middle of it all "helping" and lots of fun.  Did I mention Cassidy is the fashion coordinator for the girls?  Good thing, because I'm pretty sure I'm a lost cause.  Cassidy chose red for Rylee and purple for Sawyer (including the boots).

Papa Jerry made each a beautiful shelf for all their special things...Cassidy already has her spot picked out

And, she got her official "big girl bike" from Grandma.  She is super excited to get out on the trial and make me run!



Next came all her friends to party down.  We had a great time and lots of giggles.

Lots of good books and lots of sparkly art projects....perfect for Cassidy!

On her actual birthday, Cassidy chose to have lasagna for dinner and of course helped make it

The birthday girl with her presents, balloons and flowers of choice, tulips.

Grandma Margie had been able to spend the week with us and was right in the middle of the action, along with Auntie Jess via Skype

Then we got to surprise our girl with her Cinderella cake...I know, I said no princess stuff, but I also said no pink and you all know how well that worked!  I guess I just love to see that little girl smile

Happy Birthday sweet amazing Cassidy.  WE LOVE YOU!