"Saturday Daddurday" , as Rose has affectionally named it, was a fun day. Mommy and Rose got up and went to a huge community garage sale at our church. Pearl and Daddy stayed home and caught up on some extra sleep. (and sleep they did until 11:00). Pearl never sleeps like that for me, must have been the quiet house and the fact that I had fed her at 4 AM and at 7 AM. Rose and I had fun at the garage sale and found so many great outside toys that I had been wanting to get for the girls including a swing, sandbox and slide. Our most exciting buy of the day had to be the Mega Blocks Princess castle. I almost didn't buy it but then I went back and got it. It was so cute I couldn't resist, with two little princesses I am sure we will get plenty of use out of it. It is so nice that we have the space and the yard for these fun toys.

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.

We went to my parents house in Mass. for Easter. We had Pearl baptized by my Dad on Easter. Rose had a great time playing with her cousins. The girls and I stayed the rest of the week in Mass and took my Gram got to meet Pearl. (Mike took the train to New York to work with his boss for the day and then home to Philly that evening so I could keep the car for the week.) Mike painted the living room while we were away, I will post pics soon, the color is called "clam chowda". My mom rode home with me to help with the girls on the drive and then stayed a few days. The day after my parents left our friends Debra and Jeff from Nashville came for a visit this weekend. (more info. and pics on their visit next post.) To all of my friends that have called or emailed in the past two weeks I am sorry I haven't gotten back to you but as you can tell we have been a little busy. I promise I will call you back or reply to your emails in the next several days.

A few days ago after putting both girls to bed I brought the trash out the back door and went to go in the front door only to realize I had locked myself out of the house and Mike was out of town. I had my cell phone with me so I called 911 and within five minutes 3 cop cars and several nosey neighbors were here. After banging a stick on Rose's window in hopes of waking her up (she slept through it, to bad she wasn't sleeping as soundly tonight when the pizza delivery guy knocked and she woke to share my dinner) We conteplated breaking the window in one of the doors, instead we got ladder from a neighbor. The only window that was unlocked was a second story bathroom window. One of the cops offered to climb in but my house was just not clean enough for that... so that meant I would climb the ladder myself. It turned out climbing the ladder was scary but not nearly as bad diving headfirst through the bathroom window, while my postpartum bum was hanging outside with a large audience. (sorry no pics.) This was a very unconventional way to get to know my new neighbors, who will very soon be getting a spare key.

MIke took a few days off of work to catch up on the many house projects we had planned on having done sooner. With a new baby and a new job we have both been too busy to paint much. We spent most of our time removing wallpaper from one wall. On Sunday after church we went to Linvilla Orchard for a hayride to "Bunnyland". We expected it to be a little more exciting for the price but Rose seemed to enjoy it, Pearl fell asleep. Rose was a little frightened of the Easter Bunny. The Orchard http://www.linvilla.com/ is actually a really neat place. they grow just about every type of fruit that you can in this climate and you can pick them your self in season. They also have a huge general store where baked goods, a petting zoo, and a big playground. The real treat of the day (besides the hot cross buns) was getting to watch a baby duck hatch. I was amazed to witness this miracle and glad that Rose was able to experience this.

Pearl is growing and now weighs 16 1/2 lbs. She got her first tooth last week, is sitting by herself and loves grabbing anything she should not have. Rose calls her swiper (after a character on Dora) and is constantly telling her "NO SWIPING SWIPER" Anytime I am about to tell Rose to be gentle with Pearl (like when she is laying on top of her) I look at Pearl and realize she is laughing at Rose and is obviously not getting hurt. It is so great to watch them pay together. The other day Rose said "I'm so glad I have a sister."