Happy Easter '12 Everyone!

Can you believe that I'm finally so close to being up to date?  I'm super happy about it because now the events are just so crazy and close to each other!  I can finally start posting about things in the week that they happen after this one!  Yeah, go me!

So this is the post about our fantastic Easter this year.  We had so much fun.  The Easter Bunny and I went a bit overboard this year.  Apparently Chris' spending habits have begun to rub off on me a bit.  Only in reference to the kids have those habits really shone though so I think I'm okay, to a point.


Anyway, this year Easter was a lot of fun.  The Saturday before we, of course, participated in our ward's primary Easter  Breakfast, Devotional and Egg Hunt.  It was nice to have us all together as a family. 

The kids loved the breakfast!  Doughnuts, muffins, juice and fruit.  What more could a kid want?  Evie ate so fast I didn't even get her picture at the table!

When we finally got outside after the devotional, our kids did a great job.  Daddy took over Ally's first egg hunt.  We were so excited since she'd learned to walk in time for this activity.

 she resorted to crawling when she realized all the stuff to pick up was low

Joe did such a great job.  We limited the kids to a certain number since, as you can see, the eggs were all laid out on the ground for the littler hunters.

I was so excited for Lizzy for this.  She did such a good job...

 ...once she figured out the point of the activity.

 Then, we couldn't stop her!

 Evie is always so cute!  She does a great job!

We had so much fun together.  I love my family.  Look at how cute they all are and we have one more on the way!

Then my sweet husband took the camera for me so I could get acknowledged that I was there too!  I'm so glad too, because these are some of my favorite pictures in a while.  

 I so enjoyed these pix.  My kids and their posing smiles crack me up.  Lizzy's smiles are so silly and Joe always looks like he's in pain.  They are seriously happy with all that sugar.  They got into the eggs as soon as their little hands could figure them out.  Evie helped them, of course.  So good to have a big sister sometimes!

 The next day, Sunday, we had a visit from our very generous Easter Bunny.  He and I get along so well.  Each child had their own baskets with such personalized fun things.  The Easter Bunny and I agreed that my kids are too little for lots of candy so the baskets were filled with a couple candies and lots of little toys or activities tailored to each child's likes.  It was so fun to see them get these.

 Evie's basket - new headbands!

 Joe's basket - car stickers and bubbles!

 Lizzy's basket - new hair clip and Dora book!

 Little Ally's basket - new sippy and bendy bunny!

Easter Bunny was also very kind and gave mom the game Chutes and Ladders to play with her kids.  And daddy got his favorite candy, the Cadbury mini eggs.

And then they dug in!

 And then we went to church.  I love getting my kids all dressed up like this.  Joseph was extremely excited to wear his new outfit and his first real tie, while Evie and the girls loved their "princess" dresses.  Aren't they all so gorgeous?  I thought they were.  Eventually they stopped looking so 'perfect', you know, like after sitting in the pew at church for the first five minutes, but they looked amazing for a little bit!

So for you picture lovers, I hope you're satisfied.  And for you who actually read my blog and look at the pix, we had such a great time and I loved the chance to spoil my kids.

Alexandra: My Growing Girl

I can't believe I am writing this post.  It seems like just a few months ago and my sweet Ally - who I totally adore - was born.  She was so cute.  I can't say little because after three small kids, Ally at 9lbs was just not small to me.  


Anyway, I'm super happy to write this post since it shows how far my "little" girl has come in just a short time.  The month of April was a great time for Alexandra.  Besides celebrating her second Easter, which was way more fun for her this year, she also had her first dentist appt, she finally began walking (yeah!), and then began to feed herself with a spoon!  It was a great month for her.

Evie is such a good big sister - 

got Ally all settled before I even signed in

Ally's first dentist appointment seemed to be going well for a little bit.  Unfortunately, the dentist saw the other three kids first for the check ups so by the time we got to Ally she was tired and cranky.  I think the next appt will be more successful.  She did get a good thumbs up though!

you can even see several of the many teeth she has

I am really happy to show everyone now that Ally is totally walking.  In February, right after her 1st birthday, Ally took her first steps.  She totally surprised her daddy and me since it came out of nowhere.  Then of course, I was all excited for a while, but she decided it was a one time deal for a long while.  Then all of a sudden the walking became a regular occurrence.  Who knew?  Isn't it great?

I think I am super excited about the walking for a couple reasons: one, I like the fact that she is a bit more self-portable and a bit more independent and two, I'm really happy it happened before we left Sumter.


I am also excited for Ally to begin feeding herself all on her own.  When the new baby comes I'm going to be a bit more occupied that I won't be able to help her eat.  Chris does a lot anyway, but I help often enough that I think the loss of my help won't be noticed as much.

 wow, that's some crazy hair

 she was very proud of herself, as were we!

Ally is certainly becoming more of a toddler and less of an infant.  I miss that part a bit, but I am so proud of her wonderful progress.  Loves for my newest TODDLER!

Ahhh, the South

Every year we live down here in South Carolina the weather takes me by surprise.  You'd think after three years I'd be on board, but no.  The girl from Spokane Valley, WA  still can't quite get with the program.

What I mean is that the spring and fall are a bit, well, crazy.  My washer is always very unique at this point because I have those great fleecy jammies sitting in with the swimsuits and beach towels.  Why you ask?  Because at night it can dip to 40 degrees and then the next afternoon be in the 80's.  I know it sounds really odd, but after three years it seems to be a regular thing for Sumter, SC.

So due to the wacky weather my kids all have seasonal allergies which make them and me miserable, but they also get to do really fun things like swim in the pool in March.  That's what these pix are.  Here in Sumter, March 30th was greeted with blue skies, scorching sunshine, and super happy little children playing in the water.  That's just the way it is down here.  We kind of just roll with it at this point, though the recent cold snap sent us back to allergy meds for a week or so.  Sheesh!

 this was Ally's first time in her wading pool - 

eventually she got it - and loved it