Let's Match

Ethan's new favorite apparel item is wearing things that match his little sister.  It all started with the big brother--little sister shirts that some friends gave us.

Then Ethan realized that they both had snowman jammies.  

And this weekend, he wanted Alaina to wear her Illinois shirt too!

They make a cute pair.

Lucky spot?

Since we replanted our front yard, Jason has decided that I am in charge of the weeding.
Certainly this is not my favorite task (clearly not Jason's either)...so I don't get around to doing it too often.  But today was a nice day, so I took advantage of Alaina's afternoon nap to get some weeding done.
Check out my find:

Yep, a four-leaf clover.  And a pretty big one at that.   Now, about a month ago, I found another 4-leafed clover in the same area, though much smaller...and today there was also another small  slightly misshapen one too.  I am pretty sure it is clover (and not another plant), as they have been surrounded by the three-leaf varieties.
I decided to Wikipedia four-leaf clovers, and this is what I found out:

"The four-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the common, three-leaved clover. According to tradition, such leaves bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally. In addition, each leaf is believed to represent something: the first is for faith, the second is for hope, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck.^[1]

It has been estimated that there are approximately 10,000 three-leaf clovers for every four-leaf clover....It is debated whether the fourth leaflet is caused genetically or environmentally"

So, perhaps I am lucky..or perhaps there is some strange substance in the soil causing my normal clover weeds to mutate, as I certainly haven't pulled 30,000 three leaf clovers from our garden.

I think I will go with the first option...these days, I will take all the luck I can get!

3 Months Old Today

And I spent half of the day at work---even though I am still on maternity leave I had to go in to interview a fellowship candidate.  It was good to see everyone, but sure missed Alaina while I was there--It will be hard to go back full time.  Thanks to Gary and Eileen for taking good care of her while I was gone, especially since she is not too fond of the bottle yet!

Meanwhile, she is making great strides in her development.....her favorite activity is her playmat, she spends

lots of times batting at the hanging animals and laughing.  She also still loves the swing and her mobile.  And she is getting much better at tummy time, lifting her head to 90 degrees sometimes.

Sleep is getting better, she is down to one feeding in the middle of the night from two, and naps are a bit more regular.  Still struggling with night wake-ups when the pacifier falls out though--ugh--I want to wean her off of that soon!

Leapin' Lizards

I got quite a fright a few days ago when I walked out of our backdoor and nearly stepped on a lizard.  

Well after a bit of further investigation, it appears as though we have two, living under our back step.  They like to sun themselves on the stoop in the afternoons.  So for now, I am getting used to our new co-dwellers even though I certainly have never been fond of reptiles.  But this couple seems harmless enough, and perhaps even eat insects (which we have no shortage of in our yard)!  Maybe I will have to think of names.  

Spring Celebrations

We've been busy since coming back home.  Monday, our first day back was the first night of Passover.   We headed to Sonoma for a Seder   The kids were still a bit jet-lagged, so somewhat tired and cranky, but did their best.

This weekend, we celebrated Easter.  Ethan and I dyed Easter eggs on Friday and went to a local Easter egg hunt on Saturday.  I temporarily lost Ethan at the hunt--it was in a forest, and really crowded--and was really starting to panic when I found him!  Whew!  

On Sunday morning Ethan was able to find his Easter basket after a bit of hunting.  Luckily the Easter bunny didn't bring too much candy, but did give him a plastic swimming pool for the summer!