More Easter Fun

Isn't he just about the cutest thing you've ever seen? (not that I'm biased at all!) Yesterday, we went to our church's Easter egg hunt. It had been raining in the morning and was still very wet outside, so the event was moved indoors. Kaitlyn and Ethan were in the same age group, and they got to hunt together. The eggs were "hidden" all across the floor. I have never seen so many plastic eggs in one room. What cracks me up about the picture below is that the egg hunt is almost over and yet there are still lots of eggs that have not been scooped up. I expected a mad frenzy in an effort to get as many eggs possible, but all the kids were milling about content with the eggs already in their baskets. Guess most of the little ones haven't learned the vice of greed yet!

One of the advantages of having the hunt indoors is that Ethan got to participate. I wasn't about to let him crawl around on wet grass, so this worked out well. He was quite content to just play with the eggs the whole time.

The kids had fun sorting through the goodies in their Easter baskets this morning. Ethan got some sunglasses. He's not too sure he likes them yet. He's going to be one cool dude this summer!

We managed to squeeze in some quick Easter pictures before church this morning. And it's a good thing that we did because Kaitlyn was a mess when she got home. Scuffed shoes, lost bows, and ripped tights. Easter outfits are not designed to survive the playground! And to top it all off, she had a poop accident in her dress at the end of church. Lovely. But enjoy the pre-mess pictures!

Easter Eggs

We're knee deep in Easter eggs around here--both real and plastic! Yesterday, Kaitlyn and I dyed eggs. We managed to keep the mess mostly contained. The hardest part was convincing her that she had to let the eggs dry before she could touch them. She was dying to play with them. And she loves eating them as much as she liked making them. She requests an egg at every meal now.

Today was the Easter Egg Hunt and Party at her preschool. The eggs were "hidden" in the grass for the kids to find. The hunt lasted all of 5 minutes, while all the parents were busy snapping pictures. Kaitlyn found lots of eggs and she had so much fun opening them to find the prizes inside.

It was a little breezy so Kaitlyn kept pushing her hair back during the hunt. Her bows had fallen out yet again. I have got to find a way to fix this child's hair so that it stays out of her eyes! Her hair is so fine that no hair accessory will stay in for very long. I suppose I could try bangs again, but I wasn't crazy about that look the last time her hair was cut.

After the egg hunt, we all went back to the classroom for an Easter party. We got to see the crafts they've been doing lately, as well as enjoy some yummy treats by the party moms. In the picture below, Kaitlyn is feasting on an iced sugar cookie while her teacher is reading an Easter story to the kids.

More Easter fun to come with an egg hunt this weekend at church...

Skittles Rainbow

We've been on spring break this week. In honor of spring's arrival, Kaitlyn made a rainbow out of Skittles and glue (with a little help from mom.) She diligently sorted all the colors and was all too happy to snack on the art supplies from time to time.

Other fun excursions this week included meeting Daddy for lunch and visiting his office, going to the mall (and getting ice cream), playing at Chick-Fil-A (and getting ice cream), and playing outside with our next door neighbors. Kaitlyn even got to hold a live earth worm in her hand and was thrilled. Oh the joys of childhood!

A Year in Review

Here's a look at Ethan over the past year, starting with the day of his birth.

Ethan's 1st Birthday Party

Happy 1st Birthday Ethan! It's hard to believe a whole year has gone by since his birth. He is such a joy in so many ways. He loves to smile and is a very laid-back baby. He loves to sit in a big pile of books and flip through all the pages. He will "walk" if you hold on to his hands. He likes a wide variety of food, but he refuses to feed himself yet. He is the sweetest little boy and loves to cuddle up for story time and lullabies before nap.

Today, he had his first birthday party. Gran, Papa Bell and Aunt Lindsey joined us for the fun. Enjoy the pictures!

Kaitlyn was SO excited about his birthday party, mainly because she knew it involved balloons and cake--two of her favorite things. Here she is posing in front of the party table.

Ethan was all smiles too as we sang Happy Birthday. Notice the look of anticipation on Kaitlyn's face. She can't wait to dig into the big cake!

Ethan immediately dug into the icing. Guess he liked the feeling of it on his hands because he kept going back for more.

Since he wouldn't put the icing or cake in his mouth, I decided to feed him a few bites. He didn't actually spit it out, but he was clearly thinking about it for a while. I wouldn't say that he liked the cake, but he didn't hate it either. Not surprising since it was his first taste of pure sugar.

Then I realized that I forgot to put his birthday hat on. So I put the hat on, and he started tugging at the string...with icing all over his hands.

Our messy little birthday boy with icing all over his hands, face, ear and hair.

After a quick bath and outfit change, we opened presents. Of course, he liked the wrapping paper most of all, but he now has some fun books, toys and puzzles to explore later.

Happy Birthday little boy! I look forward to another year of milestones and adventures with you!

Kaitlyn's Spring Program

Today was Kaitlyn's spring program at her preschool. Her class all wore yellow shirts and sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and recited "Little Miss Muffet." Well actually, no one in her class really sang or recited. Rather, they all got a bit of stage fright and squirmed and stared out into the audience while the teachers tried to lead them in song and rhyme. Pretty typical for a bunch of 2 year olds! The older classes were quite entertaining though, and it'll be neat to see Kaitlyn in that environment again next year.

Some pictures for your enjoyment...

For some reason, Kaitlyn decided that she wanted to puff out her cheeks for a good portion of the program today. Not sure where that one came from! Here she is sitting in silence as her teachers valiantly try to get them to sing.

Getting ready to go back up on stage with the whole group. Still puffing out her cheeks.

At this point in the program, Jeff was trying to corral a very restless Ethan, so I manned the camera. As soon as I stood up, she saw me and started smiling excitedly.

Here's a picture of her whole class after the program. So cute in their matching shirts!

Baby Blessing 2010

Ethan was honored at our church's Baby Blessing tonight. At the end of the blessing, all of the babies born in the past year and their families were presented on stage, and the elders surrounded us and prayed for us. It was so neat to look around and know that I was looking at Ethan's future friends. We're so blessed to be part of a young, vibrant church.

The kids did remarkably well given that there were quite a few things to sit through before we went on stage. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry about Ethan or Kaitlyn making too much noise because it was very loud in the auditorium with all the other crying babies and restless children. Thank goodness for nurseries during regular church services! Below is a picture of Jeff and Ethan before the service started.

Ethan's name being called...

All of us on stage. Kaitlyn is holding a Bible and blessing book that was given to Ethan.

This year, there were 35 new babies born in our church! 35! That's approximately 1 baby born every 10 days! These 35 families nearly fill the stage, and they are only a small fraction of the families with children at our church.

Afterward the ceremony, we joined everyone downstairs for a celebration dinner. There were balloons at each table, and Kaitlyn was thrilled to get to take one home. We attempted a family shot, but as usual, the kids were not interested in looking at the camera.

As I said, Kaitlyn loved her balloon and wanted it right by her side when she came home. Actually, I think she was clutching it so tightly mainly because she wanted to keep it away from Ethan. Her fine hair was attracted to the balloon like a magnet. We got a few good laughs out of it.

And I couldn't resist getting a few more pictures of Ethan since he was looking so handsome tonight. Notice all the drool...it's a constant fountain these days. I keep thinking he's teething, but I don't see any teeth about to pop through.

Such a happy little boy!

Puzzle Fun

This one's for you, Papa Greg!

I think Kaitlyn may have inherited her dad's (and granddad's) love of geography. One of her favorite activities lately is putting together this map puzzle. She dumps all the pieces out (each piece is in the shape of a state), carefully turns them over, and goes to work. She usually does the puzzle on her bed so that Ethan can't disturb her. She is adamant about doing the puzzle all by herself and she can finish it pretty quickly. She can even name several of the states.

Here she is at the beginning...

...almost done...

...and SO proud of her accomplishment at the end.