Easter 2012

I know it's already May, but I wanted to make sure to share our photos from Easter of the kids. Our little community does an Easter Egg Hunt every year so we headed out the weekend before Easter to let the kids run around and have fun. Here they are waiting for each of their age groups to go.

While the kids ran around scooping up eggs, this little one snoozed next to me.

Here is Miss M's loot. She was thrilled to bits to get to run around and pick up all of the different colored eggs.

After her successful run it was time to watch big brother take a turn.

N doing the big hunt. He was hilarious. He told me before he went out that his plan was to get all of the yellow eggs. I let him know it was fine to just go and get any egg he found to put in his basket. He said okay.

Guess what he did? Too funny that boy. He even bypassed all of the additional goodies they had thrown out there like bubbles and buckets with shovels, etc. Nothing like a man with a plan. He did mention to me how he picked up two orange eggs too.

The proud duo. I think we're at that stage where she won't look at the camera...

My three little bunnies.

The kids couldn't wait to bust open their eggs on our kitchen floor to see what treasures were inside. Lucas and I were laughing at the fact that because N had only grabbed yellow eggs, he was stuck with them all having the same thing inside of them. It didn't seem to bother him one bit though.

Sisters.

We had a great Easter morning with the kids. We opted not to do an egg hunt Easter weekend since the kids had already done one the weekend prior. I actually liked having it separated as I felt like it allowed us to really focus on celebrating that Christ has risen! I did opt to do baskets for the kids which included our tradition of books. I also threw in a crayon/marker box that each of the kids could use.

I included one little chocolate bunny in each of their baskets. It was the first thing M got into when she saw her basket at 7a.m. It was unwrapped before I knew she was over at the table.

N digging into his basket and discovering his new crayon twist ups.

I had read about an idea last year called Resurrection Rolls. I loved the symbolism of it and that it allowed the kids to get a better grasp of what it means for the tomb to have been empty and for Jesus to have risen from the dead.

N really loved that the roll was hollow when we opened it up. We'll definitely do this again next year. And it was a great morning treat that tasted similar to a cinnamon roll.

And to top off the weekend, our traditional Easter family photo. I have no idea why I wore a top that puffs out the front when you lean over, when I no longer want to look pregnant...

"Mommy, I wuv my big girl bed!"

We had quite a bit of rain last week and the week before so we had to start getting creative about being indoors.

So, we had the kids running around quite a bit. Lucas says M looks like she has a choir robe on in this dress for church. Sort of. But it's a cute, smocked, choir robe!

We also did a little indoor fishing.

About two weeks ago we moved M out of the crib and into her big girl bed. We hadn't needed the crib just yet so we had let her stay in it a little longer than we did her brother so we could save to buy the twin mattresses. I'm hoping to get two cute antique bed frames for the two girls to share in a couple of years. But for right now, she and her brother are bunk buddies, and they love it!

My little miss was over the moon with her big girl bed. She tells me every night how much she loves it.

And would you believe she hasn't gotten up once after we've put her to sleep?! Success.

We also gave the brother some new airplane sheets I had found on ebay. He was in heaven.

And because she is too cute to not include in a post.

She is my smiliest, cuddliest baby.

Lots to catch up on.

Looks like I'm down to posting once a month huh? As I was looking through my photos I realized I have yet to share our Valentine's Day or the kids first snow day here in Oklahoma.

Being a mom to three has definitely kept me on my toes.

In February we had our first and only snow day here this winter. We woke the kids up shortly after we had put them to bed to watch it fall.

And here was sweet A enjoying the snow inside.

My snow angels.

Lucas left for a work trip on Valentine's Day (ugh) so I sent a card I made and his favorite candy with his suitcase.

Knowing I would be playing it single-parent style for a few days I made sure to have plenty of activities planned. First off was making heart-shaped pancakes.

Valentine's Day loot. I decided to pack a gift bag with activities for us to do together throughout the week.

I also included a box of confetti cupcake mix for the kids to make.

My kids are crazy about having little notebooks to jot all of their scribbles down in. I figured they could decorate the outside to make it their own.

N used ALL of his stickers and put them throughout his book, while M just picked a few.

My sweet baby girl on Valentine's Day.

Letting the kids mix the ingredients for play dough was a huge hit.

I think the blue and pink were the favorites of the day.

More to come...

The photo dump

Well, I'd like to claim having a third child as why I've been absent from the ol' blog. While Annabelle has been a huge blessing in our lives and we love her to pieces, she has been pretty fussy the last couple of weeks leaving me unable to do much but hold her all day long. She went to the doctor this morning so we're hoping her mood will start to improve and she won't act like she's in pain any more.

Because of my absence, I'm left with a whole bunch of photos that have yet to be shared. So here comes the photo dump.

One of the kids favorite things to do at home is play store.

The kids LOVE their baby sister and if she is awake, they are by her side or asking to hold her. For some reason every one of my babies has come out tan...and later takes on our family's pale whiteness. Too funny.

Since my mom stayed to help out after A's birth, we were also able to celebrate Nana's birthday. We went downtown to this great shop called Pinkitzel. While we probably could have purchased 100 cupcakes elsewhere for the 5 we purchased there, they were really good and a fun treat.

This birthday was a big one for my mom. Since my brother's family lives fairly close by, they were also able to come, along with my dad, to help us celebrate the big 6-0. It was a fun surprise for my mom followed by a family photo session a sweet friend of mine did for us. I'll have to post those photos when I get them.

Here are the chicklets on our first Sunday going to church as a family of 5. I think we had to start getting shoes and coats on 30 minutes prior to make it out the door on time!

Who says girls can't play Legos? By the way, have you seen the new girls Friends Legos? ADORABLE. I might buy some just for myself.

Yes, I will be "that mom" who dresses her kids alike. How could I not?

Daddy and his girl.

And here she is, all 11 pounds, 12 ounces of her.