Oh, the happiness.

 What is it about little girls that just makes my heart so full and woozy? I adore them. They're just so amazing. What's amazing about our girls is that as I watch them grow and do the little things that make them so unique, I fall deeper and deeper in love with Andrew, who is my partner in this wonderful journey. When Molly does something crazy, we trip over each other trying to grab the camera. When Lucy says something that touches our hearts, we know that together we're responsible for this deep and introspective little mind. When Claire yawns and smiles in her sleep, we're so aware of just how quickly she'll be running around and stirring up trouble. During the day one of them will do something and it takes all of my restraint not to pick up the phone to tell Andrew another funny story.

 We love having children together because each one is a little mystery, and each one brings us closer to God and to each other. No, Claire wasn't a boy. No, I still don't have my tiny little Andrew. But I do have another little girl who will be so in love with her Daddy for so many of the same reasons I am. It's hard to raise girls in a world that is so against true feminity and so damaging to the souls we're responsible for. A woman's worth is immeasurable and I was so fortunate to snag a man who values everything that I am. I know we're being given these girls beccause Andrew is a man who understands women so well, and can communicate the tiny things they need to hear and see. If anyone should be turning out strong women, it's him. With Andrew at the helm, they'll never doubt their goodness or worth, and that's something you don't often see.

Now onto the funnies. Here is a picture of Mo and Claire just as Lucy said, "Hey Molls, (her nickname for Molly) can I have the baby now?" Molly happily replied, "Okay!" and tossed the baby over her lap to Lucy. You can see her about to push the baby off her lap. Poor Claire is going to have to live a very defensive life.

Lucy and Claire. Lucy's love for Claire would just leave you speechless. She's such a sweet little mama to her sister. She'll sit for ages and jiggle her gently, smiling the most peaceful smile. She just loves her sister so much, and Claire is always at peace in Lucy's arms. I know they'll have a very special bond as they grow.

These are seriously my favorite baby pictures. I love cross-eyed newborns. Can't help myself.

Andrew, Poppers and Lucy put this together during my Mother's Day nap.  I love it so much! My particular favorite stick is the Stars and Stripes stick. Who does that?!?! I'm married to a creative genius, and a patriot to boot.

 My big girl on her birthday! We met up with Charlotte and the girls for some Chik-fil-a on Monday night and then we came home for a "chocolate cake with pink frosting." She's just such a little lady now! If we can manage the next four years as deftly as the past 4, I'm confident that we'll be well on our way to an amazing young lady. Lucy's birthday party is a week from today. We're having a Pinkalicious bash! I'm a sucker and put in an order for a bouncy house rental this morning, so it looks like everything is in full swing for a fantastic day. Mom and the boys will be here, too, so Lucy is just out of her mind excited about the big day!

Sweet Claire - looks like another poor soul got her Daddy's hairline. At least I'll be dead by the time they all start complaining about their thinning hair.

Clearly, I couldn't caption this photo if I tried. Lucy and Molly are major party animals at night, and it usually takes about 2 hours for them to settle down and pass out. This was a night of particular excitement. When Andrew found her like this around 11, he came running for me and couldn't even finish his sentence without crying. As you can see, she keeps things light around here.

 We're all pretty bummed that Andrew's paternity leave is up after this weekend. Sob. We've had a blast with him for the past 2 weeks and if Mimi weren't coming on Tuesday, next week would be incredibly sad around here. Andrew has been a HUGE help around here and while I'm ready to feel 100% and get back in the swing of things, it's been so great having so much time with him. The girls are going to have quite an adjustment when all of our visitors finally die down. We still have a pretty big list of people coming in and out through the summer, and with all of the airline tickets we have to buy now, we prefer to fly people out for long weekends and so on instead. We'd prefer to have lots of visitors and buy airline tickets for them than to have tiny visits on our packed trips home. Having one or two people for an entire week or a long weekend is preferable for us because we can really bond and have fun with that one person.  So we have a few more rounds of visitors through the summer and we're hoping to snag a few for the fall, too. Our next big trip will be Christmas in MD, which will be a big old party. I think Claire and I will make a trip to MD in August sometime for a weekend, just to say hello and introduce her around.

So, this is the final picture. How cute is our little Molly-Poppers? This is a picture of Molly and one of our scary tulips. As you can see, it was almost big enough to take her down completely. Agriculture these days...