Easter Weekend

Hello Friends!  I need to apologize for being a little absent over the last few days.  Not only have I had family in town, but I've been kind of a sickie as well.  Nothing too terrible, but enough so that all I really wanted to do was sit on the couch and let my kids watch "How to Train Your Dragon" for the 17th time.  I'm still a little bit down for the count, but I wanted to get these pictures up to show you guys what kind of Easter we had this year.

We kicked things off on Saturday with an Easter egg hunt.  I really wanted to take my kids to a hunt this year because I figured they were both old enough to get it.  Last year, Natalie understood what was going on, but Daniel just sort of wandered around and Dave put some eggs in his basket.

The only problem was that Dave had to work a Saturday shift last weekend (he's required to work a Sat. every 4 to 5 weeks), so if I wanted to get those kids to the hunt, it was up to me.  Super Mom.

I had no idea how super I needed to be until I got there, though.  I was expecting a largish hunt with a couple of bounce houses, some face painting, and maybe 100 kids at the most.  As soon as I arrived and saw police directing traffic, I knew I was dealing with a different kind of animal.  There were hundreds of kids there.  Easily.  And even more adults.  And blaringly loud music being pumped out of speakers at the center of everything.  I soon wished I had leashes on my kids.  Not even kidding.

But I didn't.  And we were there.  And Natalie, at least, was so excited.  So, out of the car we went, and bravely marched toward the chaos.

It wasn't that bad.  There were times that I panicked a little bit because I lost sight of one of them; then a kid would run in another direction, and there they'd be.  Then there was the complete meltdown that Daniel had because I took his basket away.  Sounds like a terrible mom, I know, but I took his basket because he was just staring into it and shaking his eggs instead of paying attention and walking with Natalie and me.  He was falling behind, and no amount of pleading with him to keep up worked.  That boy is a daydreamer.  No idea what's going on around him sometimes.  So, we sat on a curb for about 10 minutes while he got the tantrum out of his system, and then moved on (basket in my hand).  I know the kids had fun.  I also know that I will not attempt this event by myself again.  Next year Dave must come with me.

Anyway, enough talking.  How about some pictures?  The first thing they saw when we walked into the event was a large playground.  Since this is one of their more favorite activities, we spent a considerable amount of time here.

I love the expression on Natalie's face, here.

So hard to get a still shot of this kid.

We didn't get too far up the rock wall.  She's asking for my help in this picture, but this particular wall was pretty high.

Then we wandered over to the egg hunt.  They had several hunts going on, divided by ages, so we were in the 3 and under group.  Needless to say, the only hunting they did was to scan to ground to find eggs sitting on the grass.  Each kid was allowed to find 10 eggs.  I think they had a lot of fun during this part.

The Easter egg love affair began mid hunt.  Daniel was almost too enamored with his first couple of eggs to hunt around for any more.

A kind volunteer offered to take a picture of all of us, which was nice.  Sometimes I feel like there will be no record of what I looked like during these years because I'm always the one behind the camera.

And taking a break.  This was right before I said to myself, "Enough!  We're heading to the car."  I wanted Natalie to get her face painted because she was excited about that, too, but I could tell that Daniel really would not be able to handle much more.

Easter morning was fun, too.  In fact, the whole day was pretty nice.  We went to church in the morning and then Dave and his brother grilled out and we had a yummy Easter dinner of grilled pork, grilled corn, and mashed potatoes.  Maybe not the most traditional dinner, but it was delicious.  And it was an easy, laid back day.

Anyway, I took a few shots of the kids coming out to their Easter baskets.

First, the scene.  This was the cleanest the playroom was all weekend.

Natalie's reaction...

Daniel's reaction...

You can't give a kid their Easter basket and then not let them eat anything.  Natalie and Daniel both consumed waaay more candy last weekend than normal.  But, I figure, that's part of being a kid.  Sometimes you get to eat a little more candy.

I wonder what she's looking at here?

Mouthful of jelly beans.

Dave's mom sent them both bunny ears.  Daniel wore his around the house for awhile and said, "hop, hop, hop," to himself, almost as if that was the sound that hopping made.  They actually fit his head a little better than Natalie's.  I think that boy is going to be bigger than his older sister before long.

How was your Easter?  Did you have any stressful Easter egg hunt stories that you'd like to share?

Thanks for reading!
Sarah

Baby Daniel Isn't a Baby Anymore

Birthdays are kind of a whirlwind around here.  Natalie comes first with a birthday in February.  Then it's my turn on March 21.  And two years ago, Daniel made his entrance into the world on March 24.

On Saturday, we celebrated that entrance.  This year, I had big visions for large birthday parties for each of the kiddos, but it didn't really work out for Natalie and so we just gave her a very special day instead.  And we all kind of liked it.  I guess that's our style -- to roll with something smaller and more laid back.  So we decided to do the exact same thing for Daniel.  

We tried to wake him up in the same way as Natalie.  You can check out how that went on her birthday here.  But Daniel wanted none of it.  He greeted the terrible twos in a terribly appropriate way, I'm afraid.  He was in a bad mood from the get-go.  We went in all excited with a birthday sign and he kicked it.  Then we brought Natalie in with his good morning birthday present and he threw it on the ground.  Then we told him to come out of the bedroom when he felt ready to wake up and left the room, leaving the door open.  He cried.  Sigh.  I didn't take pictures of all this, but now I kind of wish that I had.  

A few minutes later I went back in, and tried again, and miraculously, he was ready.  So out we came.  First, we gave him his good morning cupcake:

And his good morning present.  Dave specifically bought him a net and wanted to give that him first so that he could take him fishing for minnows later in the day.  They did this about mid morning, but unfortunately didn't bring the camera, so we don't have any pictures of it :( .  But I heard that it was a huge success, and it must have been, because Daniel has been pretending to catch fish with his net ever since.

I made him a little sign to greet him at "breakfast."  Well, it was kind of breakfast.  We did give him some fruit to go along with his cupcake.

Like father, like son. :)

We decorated the hallway with streamers before waking the kiddos, but they immediately got to work destroying them.  And that was okay.

My mom with Daniel holding his new Simba.

My mother, my sister, and I worked very hard to make the birthday cake.  My sister made the cake, my mom made the cream cheese frosting, and I decorated.... I know, it leaves something to be desired.  I won't go into the cake decorating business anytime soon.  

But Daniel liked it just the same, I think.

And a series of birthday sign pictures.  I was just going to share one, but I really like the whole series, so here it goes:

My sister and brother-in-law bought Daniel a real cowboy hat.  That boy is going to end up with more hats than I have.

My parents bought him a guitar shaped like a dog, which instantly became a favorite:

Dave and I bought him a cowboy gun and holster set, and Daniel immediately got to work trying to put those guns in his pockets.

After dinner, we had cake.  My dad and step mother brought over a cake for me, too, so we had two birthday cakes and two sets of candles to blow out:

Mesmerized by the fire...

I love that boy!

Happy Birthday, Daniel!  We love you so much!!!

Thanks for reading!

Sarah

Dude, Where's My Car?

Well, we've done it.  We have, or I have, made the jump from post-college life to married with (almost) three young children even more official.

Yes, folks, we've purchased a minivan.

I never thought I'd do it.  I was against it from the beginning.  Dave teased me when we first got pregnant with Natalie.  He said we were starting on a road that would eventually lead to this.  I tossed my head and said, "Never."

But now I'm eating my words.  The simple fact is that minivans are incredibly practical.  That's why they're so popular.  And with three rows of seats...and three carseats to contend with...they were really one of the few options open to us.  We probably could have found an SUV that has some sort of third row seating, but then, what about car trips?  We also have an awful lot of stuff to pack.  So...minivan, here we come.

Here's what I've left behind:

Oh, Corolla, how I will miss you.  The car trips.  The concerts.  The music festivals.  Thanks for always taking me there.

And, because I'm a mom, here's the old black car with the kiddos:

And, now, are you ready for this?  Am I ready for this?

There she is, in all her mom-ish glory.

She's really kind of sporty looking.  Is that allowed?  Am I allowed to use the word "sporty" in the same sentence as "minivan"?  Whatever, I'm owning it.  And yes, the shape of this van is what sold me.  I liked it better than the Odyssey or the Sienna.  Plus, it was thousands (and I mean that literally) cheaper.

After driving this baby around for nearly two weeks, I've decided that I really like it.  I can't argue with the fact that it's easier to haul around toddlers.  Plus, it drives just like a car, so it doesn't even seem that much bigger than my (sniff, sniff) Corolla.  And, there's a ton of room.

We bought this used.  It was kind of cool the way it worked out.  We found the van on auto trader, and once we contacted the family, everyone agreed to just trade cars.  We gave them the Corolla and some cash (from our tax refund) and they gave us the minivan, so no car payment.  Kind of cool.  We had our mechanic check it out beforehand and it's in really good shape.  

All in all, I'm pleased.  I'm much happier with this transition than I thought I would be, so that's a plus.  I almost can't wait to need a stroller again so that I can see how easy it's going to be to put it in the back (it was a nightmare -- and I mean nightmare -- wrangling a double stroller into the trunk of a little Corolla).

Thanks for reading!
Sarah

My Sweet Valentine

So, yesterday, Valentine's Day, I didn't expect us to do a whole lot.  Dave was on late shift at work, which meant that he wouldn't get off until 8:00 that evening.  My mom, who has been staying with us for part of the week, offered to watch the kiddos (or stay home with them) after we put them to bed (bedtime is at 8:00) so that we could go out for coffee and dessert, and that is what we planned to do (and did do -- which was pretty nice, too).

Dave left early for work, about 45 minutes early.  This didn't cause any alarms to go off, though, because on late shift days, he's often anxious to get in a little early to get started.  So I was very surprised when he walked back in the front door half an hour later and told me to come out on the front porch so that I could see my present.  Yay!   I love surprises!

Here is what I found:

An orange tree!  I am so excited!  We talked about getting an orange tree a few weeks ago to plant in the side of our yard (the sunniest spot) but hadn't gotten one yet.    

Nat Nat keeps coming out on the porch and checking it for oranges; she doesn't quite understand that it's going to take at least a couple of years before we start to get them.  She reminds me of Toad from the Frog and Toad stories.  In the story where Frog gives him some seeds, Toad wants them to grow immediately, so he shouts at them and then decides he's scaring them.  Then he takes a different approach and starts to read to them and keep them company at night.  Anyway.... I love the Frog and Toad stories.  And I love my valentine.  :)

And, for fun, a little but of randomness:

Watching the TV after bath time is serious business around our house.  It's their only TV time during the day, and it's very important to them.  Note the cowboy hat.  And Nat Nat's sunglasses.

Natalie put this puzzle together the other day (with a little bit of help) and she was so proud... and so was I.

Daniel wanted a picture with the puzzle, too.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love her smile.

So, that's been our life that last few days.  What's been going on with you guys!

Thanks for reading!
Sarah

Whoa, Baby

So.  Pregnancy.  I am currently in the very middle of my third and final (we think) pregnancy.  I say, "we think," because the last two were totally unplanned.  This one was the first one that we tried for, and I use the word "tried" very loosely.  Basically, we went off birth control and were pregnant 6 days later. 

This has been a difficult pregnancy.  I'm a little high risk anyway because I have epilepsy, so I have to go to my neurologist a couple of times during the pregnancy as well as my ob.  But this time around, I've had the added complication of a low lying placenta (thankfully, that problem has corrected itself), a partially detached placenta (that problem will not go away -- and may get worse) and a marginal insertion of the umbilical cord -- also something we'll be dealing with until the little guy comes.  I'm just coming off of a month and a half of bedrest, and I'll need to be carefully monitored for the rest of the pregnancy to make sure the baby is growing well.  It's not terribly fun.  

BUT.  It could totally be worse.  Right now, the baby is doing perfectly -- growing well and moving all over the place.  And I'm able to resume normal activities for now.  I've heard so many horror stories about months and months of bedrest that I really can't complain.  Plus, my family and my church have both jumped in to help -- it's been so incredible to experience the outpouring of love from everyone.          

So, this is what I look like right now.  Last Saturday we went down to the beach (again, it's so uncharacteristically warm down here) and took some photos.  I am 21 weeks along (a little over five months), but I've always started showing early, and with each baby I seem to get bigger and bigger.  

Here's all of me ;)

And, to get a little artsy on ya.

We couldn't go down to the beach without taking some pictures of the kiddos, so here you go:

Still sporting the cowboy hat.  I really like profile shots.

I just loved the lighting in these next two.

Thanks for reading!
Sarah