Happy Easter!

Just a few days late…

We had a nice Easter this year. It started, dark and early, with Lex coming into my room at 6am to tell me “I guess the Easter bunny doesn’t come until after the sun comes up.” I wasn’t sure how much he would remember from last year, but I guess he was expecting the bunny. When we went downstairs he found that the bunny had left little baskets on the table instead of beside the bed (guess he didn’t remember that from last year!) They got a few pieces of candy, a few Berenstain Bears books, and some stickers. They were happy and by 6:30 they were asking if we could go outside and hunt for Easter eggs. We had told them the night before that if the weather was nice we could do it outside. They were excited! I held them off until Alan woke up and the sun rose, and around 9am I snuck outside to hide some eggs. The kids came out and had a great time finding them. Then Alan hid them again while we went over to the neighbor’s house to see if Parrish wanted to come find Easter eggs too. The three kids together found them all, then the kids hid them for the grownups to find. Mostly the boys hid them and Eve followed behind collecting them :) Lex kept taking them out of her basket to hide, but I don’t think he realized she was collecting them, so the process went on for awile! Then we all played outside in the sunny weather until lunchtime.

With minimal protest I got the kids inside for lunch and naps (for all of us!) After naps we headed to the playground to use up some energy before dinner at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. As we drove to the playground I was thinking of kids putting on their Easter clothes for dinner at their grandparents house. My kids were securely fastened in the car in their grubby clothes from the morning. Sigh. We played hard at the playground for awhile then I washed them up and changed them into the spare clothes I had brought along, just in case. Not exactly Sunday best (Lex’s pants had a hole in the knee!) but not dirty and sandy and grubby. It’s a start, right? So we went to dinner. When we got there we found that Grandma and Katie had hidden plastic Easter eggs throughout the house. The kids had a great time finding them all and opening them to discover little candy treats and coins and toys. Then they planted themselves in Grandma’s chair to inhale their candy! A little chocolate and a lot of laughing (Eve and Aunt Katie together are very silly!) was a bad combination for Lex and he threw up (chocolately yuckiness!) all over! We rushed him to the bathroom, cleaned him up and the chair, and put him back in his grubby playground clothes. Then he was happy and raring to go again. In fact, he said “I’m just going to have one more piece of candy.” Umm….. no! Then we had dinner. Yummy lasagna and salad and ham that I’m sure was also yummy. Part way through dinner Eve sat straight up and said her back hurt. Before anyone could respond she threw up all over the table! More chocolatey yuckiness! I rushed her to the bathtub too and the sweet girl looked at me with big eyes and said, “I’m sorry mommy. I didn’t mean to throw up on the table.”

After that we finished dinner (someone cleaned the table up and everything was spotless by the time I returned) and laid low for awhile. The kids both felt fine right away, so I’m sure it was just too much candy and excitement. When I got them in bed at 9:30pm they both were asking for snacks (they didn’t really eat any dinner!) so I gave them milk and carrots while we read stories. They both ate happily. I LOVE when they eat carrots happily.

So that was our day. By the time I got to bed it felt like a very long day! Then back to school and routine on Monday. I’m actually ready for some consistent routine. We’ve been pretty far off schedule, and pretty hepped up on sugar, for awhile now and I’m looking forward to some boringness.

Some pictures…
Easter pictures

One more quote from Lex. “I’m just going to hug this carrot shaped bag of jelly beans,” says Lex as we were driving home from Grandma’s. I told him he could hold them, but not eat them.

9 weeks, again

Here we are at nine weeks again. We were here two weeks ago, before the ultrasound tech decided baby was really only seven weeks. Oh well. Baby is still doing a good job of striping me of all energy and making me feel constantly nauseous. Just baby’s little way of making sure I don’t forget :) I’ll tell ya though, I don’t know how people handle this first trimester stuff with a houseful of kids. I’ve had roughly the same symptoms with each pregnancy, but they seem so different. When I was pregnant with Lex I was self-employed and was able to rest when I needed to and take care of myself. With Eve, Lex was still young and we were busy with the new house and changing jobs, but he still napped twice a day and we didn’t have any firm schedules. Now with preschool and swimming and playdates and two active kids, I can barely make it through the day… even though I nap with them every day! By lunch time and bedtime I am a very cranky mommy. I hope the kids don’t remember these days well :) I tell them often that it takes a lot of energy to raise two kids and even more energy to grow a baby inside and I’m just pretty low on energy. They are sweet and seem to understand, but I still feel bad for being so tired! We had a playdate today with five kids (my two plus three others) and by the time everyone left at 5pm I was whipped! Sigh. How do people do this with their fourth and fifth pregnancies?!?

Will update soon…

I have a list of thoughts to post here… written on a piece of paper. I was going to update tonight, ’cause I know it’s been awhile, but instead I spent my evening back and forth to a school board meeting (hotly debated, cutting school funding, poor kids!) and shopping for dad’s 60th! birthday present ;) It will be a day late, Dad, but worth it!

I will post about our exciting Easter celebrations and Lex’s love note to me and an adventure the kids took with Alan today… later. For now, here are a few pics to amuse you.

Egg on the table

Easter egg hunt

Crazy Eve

My idea of a good morning

My idea of a good day starts with a shot-free trip to the doctor’s office.

Eve went in for her 3yr well child check up. She’s 36lbs and 38″, which makes her 90% for weight and 75% for height. The doctor said she was just perfect! I said, of course! :) I had prepped her for the whole exam and we were pleasantly surprised that there are no vaccinations at the 3yr checkup. I really should know the vaccine schedule by now, but alas, I don’t.

Eve at the doctor

Eve being silly at the doctor visit

Then continues at the playground on a warm, sunny day.

No school today (parent/teacher conference day) so we went to our nearby elementary school for some serious playing. This is where Lex will be going to kindergarten. We all love the playground!

At the playground

Making Xs at the playground

Down the slide

Down the slide!

Includes my son saying, “Mom, can I share your apple?” Ok, that really MADE my day!! The three of us shared an apple while they ran around and played.

Lex eats an apple

Yes, he really ate it!

Eve eats an apple

She did too. (On another note, time to dig out the sun hats!)

Then the morning ends with happy kids leaving the playground, eating a nice lunch, and taking easy naps. You can’t beat that for a good morning! Now I have to do some cleaning and hopefully we’ll be meeting some friends at another playground this afternoon. Happy April!!!

Getting the mail

Lex has been getting the mail for me for awhile now and recently Eve started asking to help him. They walk out together and Lex explains the safety rules to her, every single time! She patiently listens and they then happily get the mail together.