Easter and Other Things

I have to admit...Easter rocked this year! (minus the ridiculous amount of time Josh and I spent arguing over who's responsibility it was to find a replacement for the nursery during first service and why the other didn't take are of it)

I usually have a good time at holidays...I just edit out the family crap when it comes time to blog about it. This year though, despite my brother deciding to show up an hour later than planned and the brief bit of "passionate discussion" with Josh, it all went off without much of a hitch. 

Friday started the festivities. We actually had my family (Mom, Dad, Jordan, David and Grandma...minus Landyn who was with his mom) over for dinner (bbq chicken, salad, and a good ol' pot of pinto beans) and then went to town dying all of 20 or so eggs. This is an all time low for our family as egg dying is usually quite the fete. The best part of the night: watching Elliot ultimately turn about 80% green from the markers that turned out to be more like a paintbrush that didn't dry very fast after using them. Apparently they tasted great though since he kept putting them and the colored eggs in his mouth...

Easter Sunday we ditched church (always a slave to my brother's custody schedule) to spend the day in Porterville, starting at my grandma's house for snacks, egg hunts and lunch. Elliot was particularly stoked about the candy...

Scoping out the sweet koi fish pond is always fun...

...and playing with pine cones...

...hunting for plastic eggs to throw on the ground and get to the candy inside...

...back to the pond to throw in some fish food...

...egg hunt number two in one of the best backyards ever...

...and especially playing with the extensive collection of wind chimes.

After lunch and Elliot's nap we all went to my cousin's house where they were hosting Easter for my mom's extended family. 

The kids were adorable on this swing...

...Elliot was adorable in general...

...Landyn rocked yet another egg hunt before stepping on a gigantic thorn...

...and then we all desperately tried to get the kids together for a group photo. Elliot and Peyton, the other "baby" of the group, would have none of it.

***

As for the "other stuff"

I guess I should finally commit to the blog world something about baby #2. This has been a very uneventful pregnancy. Gone are the days when I laid around dreaming of the little boy that would soon become my best buddy. In full force are the days of already being a mommy to an almost 2 year old which means I rarely have a minute to think about baby #2. Other than feeling like a whale or when the baby constantly does stomach turning somersaults or kicks me repeatedly. 

Or when Elliot pulls up my shirt, smiles the most adorable smile, wraps his arms around my belly and mushes his face against it and sings twinkle twinkle little star. That sends me over the moon!

I will officially be halfway through on Monday which seems impossible to me. Halfway to a family of four, to life changing newborn snuggles, and all that implies...halfway to so much change. Did I mention I'm really excited??? And only a few days away from knowing if this crazy kicking, flipping bean is a boy or a girl.

We will find out the gender the day before our 3 year anniversary. This year we are FINALLY taking the beach trip we say we will take every year. We have a hotel booked, someone to watch Elliot and lots of excitement. I don't remember the last time we went out just the two of us, let alone overnight and right next to the ocean!!

Other than that we are hopefully going to start ripping up the carpet in our house to lay down our new beautiful floors!! So excited. And I won't bother catching blogger up on the crazy flood my son caused which ended with an $1800 check and 45 cases of flooring sitting in our garage. The important thing is we are one step closer to making this house feel more like a home. Throwing out those stained old rugs will feel like a new chapter in our lives. New floor, new paint (hopefully), new nursery, new baby...I can't wait for September and the end of the year! So much will have happened by then. 

In a small way I feel like I'm getting the hang of being a mom...being able to balance play time and work. Getting projects done and making a visible change to my house every day. It's amazing what solitude will do. It used to drive me crazy...and yah, it still leaves me feeling lonely and disconnected but also I am focusing more on things like daily Bible reading, making the most out of my time with Elliot, keeping up with the kitchen because it helps my life feel a little less out of control. Speaking of which...I've been up since 3am and yet feel the need to get started on my day. So on that note...