Easter Bunny

There were a lot of things on my "to do" list I wanted to accomplish over spring break.  Visiting the Easter Bunny was was one of our top priorities. Especially because we could go on a Tuesday when hardly anyone was there!

My, that Easter Bunny sure is a friendly rabbit. He was hopping all around the mall. Ayden liked to touch the bunny's nose. Allie preferred to sit next to him on the bench. Maybe next year. 

 

Ayden's first visit with the bunny. Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring Ayden lots of pouches with carrots in them!!!

The official Easter Bunny picture of 2014. I guess those two little smiles were worth the $23 I spent for that photo. 

Austin visited the bunny with us. Look at those cheese faces. Cutie pies!!!

After a quick play at the kids area, Allie and I hit up the yogurt stand. I couldn't help to capture this moment in the mall as I text Todd "Best day ever!"  What more could a mommy want than walking through the mall with my two beautiful littles and ice cream...how lucky am I?

I was actually trying to get a photo of Allie walking through the mall licking her ice cream cone, but she saw me with the camera and stopped to pose and smile. Yep!  That's my daughter!

My Little Gummy Bear

After a LONG, EXHAUSTING day at school, I pick up my two littles from day care.  Upon my arrival, Allie usually has two Gummy Bears in one of her little hands.  Now, I'm not sure if she earns her special treat from being a great helper all day or if she simply asks for them before she leaves...but on MOST days, Allie happily gobbles up one gummy and saves the other for me.  Melt my heart.  What a giving and thoughtful little girl I have.  After the tornado of days I have...a little gummy bear goes a long way.  Allie, I don't know who you get it from, but you are the sweetest.

Lucky the Leprechaun

How lucky are we to have these two wee cutie pies?!?!  Allie said she is the leprechaun and Ayden is the lucky charm! 

 

 

Last night a sneaky little leprechaun snuck into our house and left us some surprises. Allie saw our kitchen first and yelled for me to come see. "Wow!  It's beautiful!" Allie gasped.  

We found a letter on our table from a leprechaun named Lucky. He left us some St. Patrick's Day treats and goodies to enjoy today. He decorated our kitchen in everything shamrock, green, and St. Patrick-ish!

Lucky invaded our pantry and whipped up some cupcakes, Jell-O, and pancake batter. We found a rainbow of fruit with a marshmallow cloud and gold too. He used his leprechaun magic to turn our pancakes and milk GREEN!  He also left us some green gummy bears, green jelly beans, green chocolate chips, green M&M's, and green candy corn (Allie's favorite)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky had heard we've been talking about what a good man St. Patrick was. He told us to always be good to others.  Lucky left the wee ones some goodies before he headed out. Allie's been wanting a "pointer" just like at day care. Lucky left a GREEN pointer and a set of RAINBOW paint for Allie and a green pear pouch for Ayden. Yummy!!!

 

 

 

Yummy little leprechaun pancakes topped off with lucky charms marshmallows. Allie gobbled up most of her green pancakes and ate ALL of her Jell-O...

 

 

...and gulped down her green milk too. 

 

 

 

Thanks, Lucky, for a super yummy St. Patrick's Day breakfast. We can't wait to  see you again next year!

Of course...our St. Patrick's Day is not complete without a traditional Shamrock Shake....Mmmmm!  Thanks for sharing, Allie!  I love me some minty goodness. 

Ayden is 6 Months

A half a year old!!!  Ayden is changing and growing right before our eyes!  Ayden likes to blow raspberries and make grunting noises.  He can lay on his belly and pick his head up.  When he gets tired, he will roll to his back.  Ayden likes to hang out in the jump-a-roo and exersaucer.  When someone is holding him, he likes to try and grab anything he can get his hands on.  Ayden is really good at putting his binky into his mouth now, which is extremely helpful to Todd and I at night.  Ayden got his first taste of real food.  He's sucked and chewed on apple and pear slices, red pepper, broccoli, and banana too.  I tried to feed him some applesauce, but he wasn't very fond of it.  Ayden got his first illness...RSV.  Soon after he had an ear infection and diaper rash.  Poor guy has been a bit miserable lately.  In between all the crying, he's had a TON of smiles and giggles!

 

 

Snow Baby

Today will go down in history as the snowiest Michigan winter ever with a record breaking snowfall totaling 98.4 inches!  I only saw it fitting that Ayden model his snowflake jammies one last time before he grows out of them...the one last time we will have snow this season (we HOPE!). Enough already with the snow. It's mid-April already!!!

This winter has tested our family. Cooped up inside.  Car accident due to icy roads.   I'm pretty sure some new words such as...deep freeze, polar vortex, artic air and thunder snow were added to the weather dictionary. ...and the most snow days I've seen during my teaching career (can't really complain about that one). 

Is it spring yet?!?!!

A Successful 1st Season

Way to go, SNAP POPS on an awesome 2014 competitive season!!!  You all did so well at your THREE competitions this season (one at Eastern and two at Cobo). Allie really loved being a part of her team and enjoyed going to practice every week. She especially loved wearing her uniform and asked a number of times if she could wear it all day and to bed at night. 

This years professional photos were PERFECT!  Allie was super cooperative and was perfectly happy for pose in front of the camera. I'm hoping one day I'll be able to compare her SENIOR cheer photos with these ones!

Allie loves Coach Stacey and her cheer mentor, Diya. I'm so happy she bonded and became so comfortable with them...it made leaving Todd and I at competitions that much easier. 

I know as Allie grows up (hopefully in the cheer world) she probably won't remember her first competitions...but she'll be able to look back at her three-year-old cheer self and her very first competition medals. Hopefully starting cheer at such a young age will give her a jump start on her cheer skills...her front and back handspring, standing back tuck, double full, front and back walkover, ariel...and any other crazy dangerous tumbling move that I'm hoping she will master one day. 

A First I'd Like to Forget

With most firsts, there is an excitement or proud feeling a parent gets when their child accomplishes something for the first time. Ayden's first smile made my heart melt and his first giggle is a day I will never forget. 

It happened a lot sooner than I would have liked...Ayden caught a cough and runny nose and ended up with RSV. Luckily, he wasn't wheezing and didn't need breathing treatments. But, his cough was horrific. Poor thing. 

Over the past 2 weeks we've had a few first I'd like to forget and pretend never happened. I'd like to NOT remember his sad little face every time he coughed or couldn't breathe out of his nose. Or how I had to hold him down while he screamed and I poured medicine down his throat...I'm soooo terribly sorry. Or the day he SCREAMED for 2 hours before bed and nothing consoled him. OR the morning there was crazy snow and the roads were really bad and he screamed on the car ride ALL THE WAY to Allie's cheerleading competition...nightmare. My poor little guy...my mommy guilt is at an ultimate high. 

One little blessing throughout all of this is Ayden continued to sleep all night. I did put the swaddle back on him and gave him a shot of Benadryl before bed...thank you Ayden for allowing Mommy to sleep at night. I can take so much better care of you when I'm rested.