I haven't written too much about what the kids are up to these days. They've been doing really cute things. Madison absolutely loves it when you jump out at her and scare her. Her whole body flinches and then she squeals with laughter, runs away laughing, then comes back for more. I say "BOO" when she comes around the corner, then "I'm gonna get you" as she's running away. We do it for so long and I laugh so hard I usually end up having an asthma attack. Today baby Max came over for a visit. The kids have some matching outfits, so we attempted a photo shoot. At one point we had all three of them on the couch in their bear suits (Max's was a hand-me-down from Jackson). Max was in the middle and Maddie and Jackson were on either side of him. They wouldn't stop looking at each other and laughing! It was such a crack-up. Also today, while Max slept on my chest (AHHHHH) M and J were playing peek-a-boo around a door frame and laughing hysterically. Madison quite literally doesn't stop walking all day long. She is constantly on the move, clutching a toy or binky in one or both hands and sometimes also in her mouth. Jackson still has no teeth. He really isn't interested in walking or even standing unsupported. Eating has gotten a lot better. They are both willing to eat just about anything I put in front of them. Just today I started putting more than one piece of food on their tray and they did okay. Before, they would put all of it in their mouths, so I had to dole it out in individual bites. One day last week they both decided they were going to use sippy cups for their intended purpose rather than as chew toys. Just like that, they started sucking. Now they love to drink milk out of their sippy cups. Some of our staples at mealtime are eggs, rye bread/toast, plain yogurt, zucchini pancakes (frozen and they LOVE them), black beans, grilled cheese, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, carrots, and sweet potato (although they both boycotted that today). I'm trying to work in whole wheat pasta, but so far they haven't been a fan. I'll keep working.

I'm finally entering a photo contest at the Twinkies. Please take the time to go over and vote for Jackson (click on the word Twinkies to go to her blog and vote). I finally figured out where I want to store the rest of my photos that I don't post here. I was having issues finding a place that didn't have limits or fees (I'm very cheap). Then I realized that I can just use my professional proofing site that I already have. It turns out it's much faster to upload to because it doesn't store the huge original files. So if you're looking for pictures of Madison and Jackson in folders by month, click here and bookmark it. You don't need to log in, just click "continue." I'm working on some other albums for friends and family. At 8 p.m. we turned off all the lights and lit candles around the house. It was bathtime for the kids, so I brought candles and a flashlight into the bathroom and they had a nice candlelit bath. It's 10:45 now and we haven't bothered to turn the lights back on. We may even make a habit of this—if nothing else, it will help our electric bill.

My grandmother came out from western Mass to visit for Easter. On Monday I picked her up at my parents' house, we took the kids to the park, and then had lunch; afterward she came back to our house. It was cold so we didn't stay long at the park. This wasn't their first time in swings, but it was the first time they really enjoyed it. They were laughing out loud—Jackson kept looking at Maddie and laughing. There was another baby on the swing next to Maddie, and she couldn't take her eyes off him. I dragged Grandma around with us again on Tuesday.

We went to lunch again, ran some errands, and visited my friend Melanie, who had her first baby two weeks ago. I got to hold the baby, and she fell asleep on my chest until we had to leave. That left poor Melanie—recovering from a c-section and sleep deprived—to look after my two little terrors who were trying to get into everything. They weren't that bad, but she did have to keep an eye on them for me. Alice is a very sweet, cute baby, but she's been giving her mom and dad a hard time and cries a lot. Our second Easter was quite a bit easier than the first. We started off in Gloucester as usual, with Jackson catching a 20-minute nap on the way (none for Maddie). They were both pretty clingy when we first got there, but after an hour or so they were running all over. Jackson crawled around the living room playing with toys, and Maddie continuously walked back and forth from the kitchen to the living room to grab a bite of someone's cookie. I brought Maddie outside with me while the older kids hunted for eggs; some of them were nice enough to give her one. We were there for four hours without naps for either child, then we headed to my aunt's house in Salem. They both snoozed for about 30 minutes in the car. As soon as we arrived they started tearing the place apart looking for things to get into. There were birthday presents to open and Easter baskets from Grandma. We visited for about an hour and a half, then headed home. We live only about a seven-minute drive from my aunt's house, but the entire way home Maddie was grunting or squealing and Chris kept imitating her.