Happy Easter!!

We always love Easter! The kids love the candy, I love having what ever I gave up for Lent and we are all thankful that Jesus died and rose for us!

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We spent yesterday prepping for Easter. It's easy to convince the kids to clean up the living room if I tell them the Easter Bunny can't hide eggs if it's all messy. So the kids cleaned up and we also dyed Easter eggs. This is one of my favorite parts of Easter. Although I hate when set up and clean up take longer than the actual event. We only did 9 eggs, so it was pretty fast. The kids had a great time and we made some great eggs. We've only egg fought a few so far, but Emma's is the winner so far beating the one I made, Nick's and one of Ryan's.

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The kids (almost) managed to stay upstairs until everyone was ready today. We came down and found baskets and eggs. Nick finally got into finding eggs, but preferred to put the toy milk and juice from the kitchen in his basket. Emma found 1 egg first with M&M's and was set. They had fun, but were mad that we didn't have time to sit and eat everything! We took a quick family picture, while still nicely dressed and off we went.

Today, we attended Kris's church for Easter service. They had a breakfast before hand (yay! No making or cleaning up breakfast for me). Then they had an egg hunt afterward. It was forced inside due to all the rain we've been having. I went with Emma and Nick; Ryan was done before they even got a few eggs! They all had a great time. I am so thankful that all my kids feel at home at Kris's church.

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Spring Break

The kids are in PA with Kris. From what I've been told they are making themselves at home at the farm. Kris found them with a bag of peanuts on the porch just swinging away. Kris has been moving furniture around and cleaning in preparation of the upcoming trips there for the whole family. They had a great time at Katie's birthday party and seeing the Imagination Movers (Ryan got to shake Rich's hand!).

While they are gone, Nick and I have had some great one on one time. He is loving being the center of my attention. We've been to the gym a lot and swam one day. He really thinks he is about 4 though, wants to go off and swim by himself. We saw the ENT last Saturday, who said he needed tubes. We were lucky enough to be able to schedule the surgery for yesterday. He was great, even though he hadn't eaten all day! I can already tell he's hearing better and he is making more babbling sounds.

Nick had his 15 month doctors appointment on Thursday. He did great, even though he had another double ear infection. His speech was the only thing they were worried about, which hopefully the tubes will help with. He's switched from 75th% on height and 50th% on weight to 50th% on height and 75th% on weight - which explains the belly he's developed!

We've played outside almost every day this week, thanks to the nice weather. Nick really likes bouncing the basketball. And when it rolls away he's right after it, until it gets to the grass. He does not like the grass, even with shoes on. Nor does he like the sand (I opened and cleaned out the sand box for him). We've been on a lot of walks this week and have really enjoyed playing together. We also got him some new shoes since the soft ones just weren't going to cut it outside anymore. He didn't like them, but has now gotten used to them.

Today, we went to the Easter egg hunt at our gym. Because it was on grass, Nick was a little confused and seemed more bothered by the grass than worried about getting eggs. He also got to see the Easter bunny, which he was not a fan of!

If Kris took pictures, I'll post them when he gets home tomorrow! I'm off to enjoy the last day with only one!

Up until now..

Since the sicknesses hit....

Nick still keeps getting sick (ear infections) and Ryan got a viral infection that attacked his hip joint. Ryan is doing ok - he was back walking within a day and Nick is seeing the ENT.

We haven't really had a lot going on. We've had some nice weather, which of course takes us outside! The kids were all shocked with short sleeves and kept trying to pull them down. We've had a few trips to the park and played outside our house. Ryan was excited to get his truck back out again. Here is a quick update on everyone:

Ryan - I have only one picture of Ryan since March. Actually I only had 5 pictures taken the whole month of March, so that shows how exciting we are. Ryan is doing great at school. His hand writing is really taking off. Ryan was named Student of the Week a few weeks ago, when he had a really good week of writing. Ryan loves playing school at home. He has an entire pretend class (all the kids from his class) - he gives them papers to do and tells then where to go - unfortunately, he really likes playing this after he goes to bed! So he'll be up for an hour or so talking to himself. Ryan is just starting to outgrow all his clothes - do they have to get bigger??

Emma - She's driving us crazy! I must hear 'but I want to, I want to' at least 10 times a day (as if that is going to make me change my mind). She's decided that naps aren't important until she is so tired she actually drops! Last week taking two naps - one in which she fell asleep within minutes of laying down (so not her). She loves movies and would watch tv all day. Although she seems to be pulling for attention, she doesn't seem to want too much of it when I can give it (Nick's naptime). She's lately been a bully to Nick, knocking him down and sitting on top of him. It all starts innocently with a hug but progresses quickly. His crying doesn't bother her! She is still loving puzzles and is very excited for her birthday in a few weeks. Maybe turning 3 will be better!

Nick - he's getting so big! He's finally started eating some fruits and veggies. He's still particular about them, but he's trying. He is walking really good now and needs some new shoes! He's pretty happy to walk around the house and play. He has started to listen to directions and loves to be my helper. He's had 6 ear infections since December and has an appointment with the ENT this week. He's finally sleeping through the night most nights and although Kris says to let him cry it out, I don't because usually he's up because his ears hurt!

That's all. This next week is Spring Break. Kris is taking Ryan and Emma to PA to visit his family. They get to go to Katie's 4th birthday party, Kelli's Easter egg hunt and see the Imagination Movers. They are very excited to go, but are already telling me that they'll miss me. I'm sure I'll miss them more. Nick and I are staying home - visiting the ENT and his pediatrician for his 15 month appointment and getting some spring cleaning done. It should be a good week all around!