Here are a few more pics from my trip to Mass. at Easter and when our friends Debra and Jeff visitied. Pearl turned six months a few weeks ago. She is becoming a busy little girl. She loves to sit up by herself and now gets form her stomach to sitting, so even if I try to give her tummy time she ends up in the sitting position. She will reach for and scooch to any toy she wants and then sits up to play with it. She is not crawling yet but she has the deetermination to do get things so it may not be far off. When Rose was a baby I was looking forwad to her learning to crawl and actually tried to teach her, this time I am not so interested in getting her moving around the house any faster then she chooses to do on her own. She has actually also learned to pull herself up but not on the furniture, usually on our arms or pant legs or toys or laundry baskets (which is a little dangerous as they tip:) She is our "chunka-chunka" as Rose calls her, weighing in at 17 1/2 pounds and 27" long (90% for her age) I guess she will be tall like her daddy.

Rose loves to play with other kids and is happy that we have found a new church to settle in with many girls her age or a little older. I have included some pics. of her playing with my cousin Shania (3 years old). They had so much fun playing tag (aka running around the house screaming in high pitch little girl voices). Rose is still very interested in anything "Princessy". She is already planning a Princess birthday party for herself and Pearl, even though it is still six months away. Rose is such a non-stop chatterbox. She has an excellent vocabulary and is now "inventing" her own words. It is funny as I try to figure out what word she is trying to pronounce and then realize that it is not even a real word anyway. The other day she was saying where is Daddest? I finally figured out she was asking for Mike.

I enjoy watching the girls become playmates and friends a little bit more each day. Rose anticipates Pearl learning to walk and talk and is helping me teach her sign language. Rose must be a good teacher because Pearl is starting to pick up a few signs already. It is so much fun watching them play and interact. Rose wakes up every morning looking for her "Chunka Chunka Baybay" and when Pearl sees her big sister she SQUEALS with delight!

We miss you all and wish you were closer to share in our lives. Hugs Rachel for Mike and the girls.