Happy Easter Day

For the past two weeks, Olivia has asked me every single day if it's "Easter Day" :)   And before naps, she says... "Happy Easter Day"

She may have been a little more excited than Mason ;) about the holiday.

However, I believe both kids had a lovely Easter.  It started with a trail of eggs to their Easter basket.  Olivia ran by the eggs to get to her basket, Mason stopped and picked up each egg as he walked.

The kids loved their baskets.  Olivia kept saying, "The Easter bunny knew I wanted a hula-hoop even though I forgot to tell him."  

Later that morning we went to the Johnson's for a feast and more egg hunts.  The bigger kids hid and then helped the younger kids find the eggs.  Sweetness.

Afterwards it was time to test the water.

 

Eh - the pool was a little chilly.  The hot tub....

Easter Perfect!

Typical Egg Stuff

Hey guys...want to color eggs???

Huumm...let's act egg-cited ;)

Foto Friday

Date Night...kind-of.

More like a work dinner...but there was good food with excellent wine...
and HIM ;)  

Easter Egg Hunt

The kids had Easter egg hunts at school.  

My little lady has watched "Sofia the First" a little too much.  She's perfecting her picture taking etiquette ;) 

I remember last year, Olivia went outside and stood still while other kids ran to get eggs.  She even gave other kids her eggs.  So, this year, I did a little prep work and discussed how to properly participate in an egg hunt.  

You walk...but very quickly.  You find eggs.  You put them in your basket.  You keep moving :)

Mason did an egg-cellent job.  He did not stop moving the whole time and gathered a whole bagful of eggs.

Olivia just loves the process.  She takes her time, examines the eggs, shakes them to make sure they are filled, requests a water break, takes mulch out of her shoes, attempts to take off her cardigan, adjusts her bonnet  etc....  

The Last Time

Lots of baby stuff going on.  From January-July I'll be sending out 10 baby gifts.  I'm back in the  infant area again looking at all the cute stuff AND LOVING IT.  

I'm not pregnant, nor plan to be.  Our family is wonderfully complete.  However, when reminiscing the sweet moments and the tough parts of having little little infants, and browsing through all the tiny outfits and insane amount of gear, I remember 2 and 4 years ago...and smile.

On the flip-side of buying little baby stuff for other people, we are letting go of our "baby" items.  Although I tease the kids and call them my babies, they aren't.  I have a toddler and a little girl.   Over the past couple of months, our home has lost some of the gear associated with babies.  

**Downstairs, we removed the electrical outlet covers.

**The crib was given to Mike and Chris.  We are thrilled that their baby boy will also get to use the wood edges as a teether.   Here are the first and last pictures I have of the kiddos sleeping in the crib.

Looking great in its new home :) 

**The white glider I purchased two years ago for $25 was sold for $30.  I searched for pictures of me with the kiddos rocking...but there are very few :-/ Then again, those were the intimate moments...

**The gate that caged protected little bodies, was removed...and now there is a gaping hole at the top of the stairs.  I have almost no pictures of the gate in action...

**And then I went into Mason's closet and pulled out the human capsule.  It's the only object in the whole process that has brought tears to my eyes.  I can't seem to tuck it away.  It's sat in our office for two months and instead of moving it to the attic with a collection of other baby items "to save", it's now in my closet.
I look at it every day.  

Loving every.single.picture of them.

There is a article floating around "The Last Time".
"I will have no idea that it will be the last time."

The Park

He has a car.

 She has a barbie.

Yellow Silky

This is her yellow silky.  Aunt Erin purchased it while I was pregnant, before we knew boy or girl.  

And now, it's definitely HER blanket.  

Her comfort.

Her sleep.

Her warmth.

Her calm.

If it's dirty, she's concerned...wants it cleaned and dried and back in bed before the next nap.  She takes care of her blanket and folds it...

Probably one of her favorite things is to snuggle up completely under it...silky side out.  Recently she just told me that it's getting harder to cover herself.

But not impossible.

update:

found this picture, it's from September 2011

Motorcycle-Man

This little man looooves things that move.   He may have been up late the night before and was a little tired...

For lunch, we went out to eat and this is how he looked.  

For.The.Whole.Meal.

His obsession.

Then & Now

March 2011

27 months and 7 months

March 2013

(4 years and 2.5 years)

location:  dinosaur park down by the water

Foto Friday

She is such a good Mommy to her baby.

My Running Partner

Olivia and I have a new routine that is suuuuuper fun.

She rides her bike and carries our water in her basket.

I run and sometimes have a hand on her back to help up a few our our "hills".

For our first time, it was rather chilly, so we were bundled up.

Longest distance so far? 

3 miles

We talk almost the whole time.  Take a couple of water breaks.  Sometimes we find a park to explore and rest our legs. 

 Impressive Endurance Olivia!

Isa

They call me Isa.   

It started with Reagan saying and Logan copied her.  

It sounds SOOOO much better than "Aunt Andrea". 

LOVE

really missing these faces

especially hers...

A Viral Vacation

I'm not going to go into details...it's just disgusting...here are the numbers.

**We've had family in the house for 17 days.

**All 9 people in this house got sick with a stomach bug.

**It has lasted 12 days (and counting) each person has had their own day with multiple recovery days...

**4 people also had respiratory issues also....probably due to intense pollen

**4 of my 5 guests went to the doctor.

**I did over 50 loads of laundry.

**Unknown number of containers of soap, purell, lysol, wet ones, etc 

**We've used at least 7 containers of baby wipes.

**My parent's trip was extended by 2 days because of the illness

**My sister's trip was extended by 4 days because of the illness

**Erin and I both just a week with sickies before this trip.

My sister, through this all, has been amazing.  She's been on her own (hubby had to work) for 14 days. Her kiddos have been out of their routine and comfort of home for a long time.  Then they get sick. She's managed to take care of her babies on very little sleep because let's remember, that sick kiddos don't sleep.  Oh wait, two sick kiddos definitely don't allow Mommy much sleep.  On top of that, she was also sick...

What's impressive, is that this sick Mommy, still manages to put on hoops and look good!

In 20 years, we'll look back on this time and we'll remember.  We'll laugh and then gag....and then tilt back a big glass of wine, eat some chocolate, and pray we won't need a thermometer tonight.

 I wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else.
 Not that neither of us wanted to do it at all.
But at least it was with you, even though it was insane and my trash can is forever contaminated... things are always better with you around.

**she's on a plane now, headed home.  how is it possible after this viral vacation that i didn't want her to go and she didn't want to leave???**

It's 8am...

...and we're at the park.

Where are you?

A Tea Party

complete with mulch and cute feet.

The Girls

My mom mentioned a couple of times, watching Reagan and Olivia playing is like watching Erin and I playing in our younger days.

mom - what's our ages in this pic???

Yup - I can see that ;)

Treasuring these moments and looking forward to many more.

Foto Friday

Four Little Birds

something about little ones eating together tugs my heartstrings...

Our Afternoon Fun

the kids have spent hours playing in this make-shift water table

New TX Residents

Yes, that's a GONE sign in the front lawn of my parents NEW house in Texas!!!!!

Their house is absolutely beautiful and we are excited for them. 

Thrilled that our kiddos will have both sets of Grandparents in TX to grow up with :) :)

The Stop Sign

i believe, this is one of the first times they've stopped moving.

Retail Therapy

A Concert in the Park

We did it.  

By ourselves. 

There was pizza, packets, and wine.

And the kids danced the night away.

Foto Friday