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Molly's friend, Owen, had his birthday party at Pump It Up. Here's the birthday boy having some fun.

Owen and Ethan enjoyed wrestling amongst the balls.

Molly's favorite part was this inflatable mountain.

You had to run up the mountain with this velcro tag and see how high you could stick the tag on before sliding back down.

Ethan joined Molly in the fun.

After all the bouncing and running, everyone sang to Owen as he sat in his giant birthday chair.

Molly got a bunch of stickers as party favors, and they were perfect for Aunt Caroline's face!

The main event, Leah's baptism, arrived Sunday morning.

Molly assisted in pouring the water.

Leah did great! No tears, and she even gave some good smiles and clapped for everyone.

Grampa and G'Mom finished the baptism with some bell playing.

We were grateful that so much of our family could be with us for this special day.

Mom and baby.

A close up of the pretty girl!

Leah with Grams, the dress maker. The dress was made for Aunt Caroline's baptism.

And if you missed it, you can watch the video of Leah's baptism here.

While trying to explain to Molly why we were having a party at Grams' house, she asked if it was a birthday party. I told her that it was America's birthday, and she then asked, "But who's America?"

Before heading over, we posed for a picture. Molly made sure that Leah was smiling.

Leah's doing a wonderful job modeling her new pillowcase dress. She's already learning to look just a little taller by standing on her tip-toes!

Some of Aunt Caroline's friends came to the party and played flashlight dance with Molly. Molly thought it was lots of fun, and didn't want to stop. This picture doesn't do it justice, though, so if you haven't already, make sure you check out the video.

I made red, white and blue chocolate dipped strawberries for the celebration. Molly liked them so much she even ate the stem! Guess we're doing a good job of convincing her that leafy vegetables are good.

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon at the pool celebrating Allison's 3rd birthday. Molly has been asking for weeks to go swimming with Allison, so it was nice of her to oblige and have her party at the pool!

The girls spent most of the party jumping at the side of the pool.

Run away! Don't let the water get you, nevermind that you are in a pool!

Sometimes peer pressure can be a wonderful thing. After one friend jumped into the pool, Molly decided to try. This was the one and only time she jumped in!

And this was the best shot of Molly with the birthday girl (who does not like pose for pictures!).

We went to Highlands, NC to visit Grammy (Chad's paternal grandmother) for her 80th birthday. Molly was very excited to get to see Grammy's house, though she was confused when we arrived and she discovered we actually weren't staying in her house but rather in a rented house nearby (there are a lot of us, now).

Leah was enamored with Will (and Stephen Colbert) throughout the trip. I'm not sure which one she's interested in here.

We had a bunch of family over to the house Saturday to celebrate. At times, Leah was of course the center of attention.

There were so many people there, Caroline and I decided to make more room by squishing Molly.

Molly was responsible for the card on our gift to Grammy.

And Grammy thought the bag I made for her was a great surprise.

The house was pretty cool much of the time, which meant blankets were in frequent use. Unfortunately, though, we had a blanket thief occasionally stealing them.

It was so nice out we decided to have dinner on the back porch one night. Yes, that's the dining room table and chairs.

Monday, we went out to lunch at Wild Thyme to celebrate Grammy's birthday again on her actual birthday. They brought Grammy a big piece of caramel cake for her birthday, but she didn't want dessert. So, Molly ate almost the entire piece for her.

Leah didn't get any cake, so she seemed a bit bored.

Though she perked up when we pulled out a toy phone for her.

The drive down and back both went really well. We only had to stop 5 times each way and managed to make the trip in 11.5 hours both times. To maximize efficiency, we packed a lunch and ate at a rest area in both directions. Here's Leah hanging out at the rest area.

Molly preferred to run around during her brief break from the car.

Molly's friend Sadie had her 3rd birthday party at AIRmania. Molly and Jillian had fun jumping together.

Molly was skeptical at first, but quickly realized that sliding was a lot of fun too!

Is it possible to get a group picture of twelve toddlers in a bounce castle? Not really, but here's our best try.

Happy birthday Sadie!

May 13th was National Apple Pie Day. So, what better way to celebrate than to have a playdate to honor the day. We began with a reading of Dr. Seuss's Ten Apples Up on Top.

We then made adorable yarn apples.

And topped off our celebrating by eating mini apple pies.

Leah was actually awake to play with the other younger siblings. This picture had to be captured very quickly since they didn't stay put very long!

Chad took Molly with him to buy a Mother's Day gift for me. I was shocked at how well she did at not spoiling the surprise. Chad had to keep reminding her, "Sssh, it's a surprise," when she said things like, "Daddy hided your present in his car." I eventually learned that he took her to the "computer store" and she played a Dora game on the kid computers, which made me even more impressed that she didn't spoil the surprise of where they went!

Molly painted cards for her grandmothers. She was so excited to give one to Grams and was again reminded, "Sssh, it's a surprise."

I made mint chocolate soufflés for our Mother's Day lunch. I was surprised at how well they turn out for my first attempt, and they were even on the healthier side since it was a Cooking Light recipe!

Molly celebrated one of her best friend's 3rd birthday at Olenka School of Music. Here is the playgroup drum line.

The kids marched around the room in thier own music parade,

drummed some more,

and played with a parachute.

Happy 3rd birthday, Keira!

Molly clearly enjoyed the cake. This was after eating the top half of a cupcake too!

This was our first Easter with 2 kids. Molly, experienced with Easter mornings, jumped right into her Easter basket and the candy within (I believe she's eating jellybeans here). Leah joined in too, enjoying her own Easter egg (no candy included).

We, of course, had to count the eggs.

Leah got a new book in her Easter basket, and was obviously very excited.

Leah's eggs were filled with different things and sealed, so they became shakers. When she became bored with chewing on them, Leah decided she'd try to get in shape for when she can crawl. Here she is doing push-ups. :)

After church, we headed over to Grams and Pop's house, where more Easter baskets and good food awaited. Leah enjoyed hanging out with her Aunt Caroline.

Molly knew fun was in store when hanging out with her aunts. Aunt EA obliged with some high-flying jumping.

We had strawberry shortcake for dessert, which Molly liked a lot. Of course, the stawberries were completely unnecessary to her, as she was fine eating straight Cool Whip.

Here's the family, plus our cousin Jacob who joined us for Easter lunch.