Hip Hop

I hope everyone had a nice Easter! We had a really great day and Lily had a blast. It was pretty much just another day as far as Annie was concerned. Both girls got baskets full of good stuff. Annie's was full of pacifiers, socks, mesh feeders and some shoes. Lily got crayons, sandals and loads of candy. We had an easter egg hunt at the neighbors' house, then at our house and one more at Uncle Joe and Aunt Pam's house. At the last one, each kid got one orange egg with a dollar bill inside. When Lily pulled hers out Paul asked her what it was. Her reply - "Trash." I guess that means that I should take her piggy bank money to Las Vegas so that I can throw it away for her. Pictures...

Beautiful Baby

Picture Update

I haven't been posting much lately because life has been a little crazy. Paul finished his doctoral exams on April 16th. Since then he has looked up, rubbed his eyes and realized all of the things that he could be doing. Boy has a hard time sitting still!

The girls are doing well and growing all the time. Lily gets more verbal each day, and while I don't always like the things that come out of her mouth, it is great to see her growing and learning. Annie is getting bigger by the minute. I get a little sad whenever she outgrows something because I know that no one will wear those cute little clothes that were so much fun to pick out. Paul wanted to move the cradle out of our bedroom - which no one sleeps in - but I'm not quite ready to let it go yet.

As for me - school ends in about 7 weeks, so it's time to just buckle down and get through the rest of the year. Here are a couple of pictures of the sweet baby girls!

Look what I drew!

Lily was blown away by the flowers at the Dallas Arboretum

Something tells me I need a haircut...

Sisters!

The perfect little smile to brighten your day

Hospital stay

Once we left the hospital after Annie was born, I didn't expect to be staying there again quite so soon. This past week Ms. Annie was admitted to the hospital with RSV - a respiratory virus that is particularly dangerous for infants. Lily was sick last week, and apparently shared it with her sister. Toddlers, kids and adults experience the virus as a bad cold, but poor Annie got slammed. She was put on oxygen and given regular nebulizer treatments until her oxygen levels were high enough to go home. A lot of kids around Denver are getting this, and many are getting really sick. I feel fortunate that we only had to spend two nights at the hospital.

It was a bit strange to take a few days off of work after only having been back for 5 days. These kids seem to have a way of getting in the way of all sorts of plans. Bother. Annie is sleeping peacefully in her swing right now. The upright position helps her clear her airway when she gets an especially rough coughing jag. Lily had a hard time while I was away with Annie, but she handled it fine for a two year old. She was very happy when we got home, and couldn't wait to see her sister. She's a sweetie. No pictures to put up, but I just wanted to report on what has been going on!

Twinsies

As I have been looking at new pictures of Annie and going back through old pictures of Lily, I am amazed at how much they look alike. They aren't carbon copies of either one of us, but they seem to be of each other. I remember as a student in catholic school, there were often families with lots of kids. It was always interesting to me how all the kids in one family could look so similar, but not really like either parent; like the genes just always game together in the same way. Here are the two babies that we have put together in the Cribari house. Pretty crazy...

Lily

Annie

Lily

Annie

Cute pictures of the girls

With these two little girls, we are going to spend a fortune in clothes, shoes, silly jewelry and photo processing. Here are a couple of very cute shots from the past week.

Checking in

Recent radio silence is indicative of the way things are going here in the Cribari household. We are busy, tired and just making it through! Annie and Lily are doing really well, and everyone seems to be adjusting to the new family unit. Lily has become my shadow, and wants to either play with me, color with me or sit on my lap ALL THE TIME. It's very hard to turn down her little face saying "Mommy, stay here!" when I try to get up and go do something else. Annie is thriving and doing what a newborn is supposed to do. She is eating well, and sleeping in mostly 3 hour segments. She is definitely a snuggler and likes to be held as much as possible. Lily likes to hold her while she's watching Dora.

Paul and I are hanging in there. Paul is busy with teaching, studying for his doctoral qualifying exams and the general chaos of having a new baby in the house. I've been recovering from way too many complications with this pregnancy, and starting to feel better. Annie isn't super cooperative when it comes to the camera, but here are some pictures from the past few weeks.

Sisters!

Lily's budding fashion sense emerges

All smiles!

Who me?

Annie can't take her eyes off of whatever is in Nick Jr.