Vance!

So, since my last post, I had a baby!

Vance Mills Richardson
6 lbs. 6 oz., 19" long

Introducing: Phoebe

It's been incredibly difficult to get a picture of Phoebe because she usually appears on camera to be a black blob. Phoebe is a 10 week old Cockapoo and Abbi Kate absolutely adores her. I think the only time they're separated at all is at night. Oh, and my son of few words, Liam, calls her "Pee-bee", which is the cutest thing ever.

Would You Like Some Mud With That?

After lunch, we went back outside. After, of course, we changed out of our nice outfits. Abbi Kate and Liam helped Papa and Daddy with the fence. They also made quite a few mud-holes to play in.

As you can see, Liam is dressed in his Star Wars shirt, a diaper and sandles. Abbi Kate is in an outfit picked out entirely on her own- a St. Patrick's t-shirt and yellow gingham shorts.

They're both napping right now, but suffice it to say we had to have a mid-day bath. Who knew mud could be so much fun?

Attack of the Matching Outfits...

As per our yearly torturous tradition, the kiddos were dressed in matching outfits today. In fact, Liam looks proper and sweet. But don't be fooled. When it was time to come back inside for lunch, he literally took a handful of my hair in protest.

Easter Baskets.

Every year I try not to go overboard, but I've found that much harder now that there are two kiddos to buy for. You would think it would be easier, since in theory you'd be sticking to a budget, but the tricky part lies in making sure that each basket or stocking, etc.. looks equal to the other. And there goes the budget!

With that in mind, I still think I did well this year...

It should be noted that Liam's favorite thing in the world right now is to kick a ball in the back yard. He has even tried to kick a baseball he found out there (presumably belonging to the little boy next door.) Abbi Kate, on the other hand, is always easy to buy for- she loves to read and all things "girly"...

Busy, Busy.

It's been an exhausting couple of days- and even that's putting it lightly. Shawn and his dad have been hard at work putting up a new fence in the back yard. The posts were set yesterday and the sun came out to dry the concrete. Today they've been hard at work putting up the boards and it's really coming together.

Meanwhile, Nana and I have been busy keeping the kids busy and we've managed to end every day just as exhausted as the boys. I'm not sure why since every day hasn't been too out of the ordinary for a typical day with the kiddos, but without fail Shawn and I have gone to sleep right after tucking Abbi Kate and Liam in at night. Abbi Kate hasn't even been using her usual 20 excuses to come downstairs and delay the inevitable bed time, so the kids have been just as exhausted.

And what have we done?

Well, Friday was spent running errands. On Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at a Presbyterian church a few blocks away. Liam found a ton of eggs, while Abbi Kate (not nearly as aggressive) collected her fair share. The SWEETEST thing was that she brought an egg with a sticker to the egg hunt with her for the sole purpose of gifting to someone. Needless to say, everyone there was talking about the sweet little girl that brought a gift for someone else. Liam may be my little hooligan, but Abbi Kate is my sweet little girl with the big heart.

Here she is presenting her gift to one of the egg-hunt organizers at the church.

I'll save the other pictures for the next post, but here are some more from Saturday!

Hello Sunshine.

Well, we finally got haircuts this past week. And by "we", I mean Abbi Kate and Liam. I have to scan the picture of them sitting in their chairs disguised as firetrucks and taxis. Liam was unimpressed, by the way.

Apart from that, we've spent the week trying to enjoy as much of the beautiful weather as possible.

Before:

After:

I also didn't realize it until getting her hair cut that she has apparently been cutting her hair when doing craft projects with her scissors. awesome.