Wow, those girls are busy!

150 diaper changes

30 sessions feeding an unwilling toddler

60 sessions (probably more) feeding an over-eager infant

15 baths

60 bedtime books

6 therapy sessions (Sam's, not mine...)

1 annual "well child check" (which spawned 2 new radiology studies and 1 new specialist)

1 surgeon check up

1 trip to Dallas

2 music classes

2 gym classes

Selection of a pre-school for the fall

Sort of starting to sound like the 12 days of Christmas, in May. 

Anyway, it's been busy, but the girls are doing well.  Ally occasionally rolls onto her tummy in bed and gets stuck, which is probably a good developmental thing.  She's holding her head and upper body up quite well, as you can see here...

Samantha continues to expand her linguistic mastery.  Her current favorite car-time game is to shout back and forth different kinds of cheese.  "Cottage Cheese!"  "Stinky Cheese!" "Fancy Cheese!".  She started it.

We drove to and from Palmer, TX for a visit to Farmor and Poppa G last week, just me and the girls.  I was looking for help while Carl was out of town.  I'm not sure packing everyone up and making the drive was really a smart move for a woman looking to reduce her stress level, but I was also excited for the Sam to see the calves.  I think she was more excited by the pool, however, and Ally got to take her first dip as well.

Sam was getting a sunburn on her head and declined a hat, so rather than make her come in, Farmor held this umbrella over the girls for about 45 minutes.  I have warned them not to expect this treatment at the local pool.

It was really nice to have Farmor and Poppa G to take care of us for a couple of days.  I especially appreciated the luxury of hot meals and someone to hold the baby while I ate them. As an added bonus, we got to see Auntie Caroline and Uncle Barry before we left.  It was wonderful to see all of you!

The trip up was a piece of cake.  The girls slept, I caught up on some long-overdue phone calls, and all was well.  I extrapolated from this, and anticipated an equally peaceful return trip on Saturday night.  No such luck.  For the first little while, Samantha and I enjoyed the cheese game and I was struggling to thing of new cheeses Sam might be able to pronounce.  30 minutes out, Ally started to shriek.  Ally has the kind of high-pitched, screaming cry that makes you think you should get her to a doctor right away.  Nothing is really wrong, except maybe a damp diaper or feeling a bit peckish.  That's just Ally.  In the car, it seems to have a peculiar piercing quality.  Anyway, I did want to keep the peace, so I pulled over and tried feeding her.  She was so mad she wouldn't nurse or take a bottle.  I tried changing her.  No help.  I can only guess that perhaps she was car sick.  Anyway, I had to strap her screaming, wriggling little body back in the car seat and keep going, or break down and get a hotel room.  I had too much pride to give up, but that might have been the wiser path.  Poor Sam sits right next to Ally, and she took it like a champ for about 45 minutes before I heard her start to sniffle.  Then, whimper.  And then, she was in full cry and giving Ally a run for her money.  By the time we got home, Sam was so fed up with it all that she actually announced that she was "all done" with her companion blue moose.   I'm not doing that by myself again until they're at least 4 and 6.

As you can see, we were all happy to reconvene back at the house on Sunday, just in time for Mothers' Day.  Ahh.  Happiness is having Daddy back home again.