blessed

easter brings with it reminders of how blessed we are. blessed we have our health. our family. a roof over our head. food in our bellies. lots and lots of love.

and buzz lightyear. the easter bunny was listening.

and harper couldn't have been more surprised and excited upon discovering him next to her hidden easter basket after locating all the easter eggs. after this series of photos was taken, she gave me a great big hug. i don't think she knew what else to do.

and buzz wasn't put down for a minute the rest of the day.

crosby's first easter basket had all the necessities- boogie wipes, nappies and teething toys. i hear sofie the giraffe is a popular munching toy. never had it with harper, so anxious to see it work its magic.

(please observe in 95% of the subsequent photos, there is a buzz lightyear face, body, foot or hand to be found. consider it a fun little game for you readers to engage in and enjoy. your own highlight's for children magazine's hidden pictures activity.)

here are our easter day events that buzz, er, harper and crosby partook in.

on our way to brunch at the club...

with the easter bunny... (seriously, they creep me out. i hate their mesh eyes and perma grins.)

easter egg hunt on the golf course...

passed out cold after a long morning...

{sigh} our family of four. and inside that backpack that she got in her easter basket and also couldn't let go? buzz, woody and jessie.

getting her hair trimmed by teppie. she's cut her bangs several times, but this is a first for the rest of her hair. and the curls still remained!

family photo in front of the crib that's been in my mom's family for years and years and years. my great-grandmother slept in it as an infant, all the way to me. ethan, griffin, harper and crosby have only had their photos taken in it. slats are not up to code. : )

and this is what i am most thankful for and blessed to have. my two beautiful little girls.

buzz is never too far away...

i am one lucky mama.

the four cousins...and buzz.

hope you had a wonderful easter filled with your own special blessings.

43 and 1

on saturday, our baby bee turned 1 month. and my brother, chris, turned forty-something. ok, well, you can see from the title how young he turned. doesn't look a day over 35.

this little one, however, is growing like crazy and no longer looks like a newborn.

she was up to 7 pounds, 5 ounces when we took her in to the emergency room last week for a fever of 101 degrees. she had been fighting some congestion, and with harper in preschool and me with the flu the week before, it didn't come as a surprise that crosby would pick something up. as soon as we got to the er, wouldn't you know it, her temp had dropped to normal range without medications. so the doctor and nurse literally did nothing for us but chit chat. we took a 2 hour excursion at 11 pm to just chat up some doctors and hang out in the hideous fluorescent lighting. oh joy.

yes, crosby, this was how mommy felt when i knew we were going to be heading to the emergency room, too. i just can't show it like you can.

she really would not let the paci go. each time i took it out, i had a millisecond to snap a photo before she'd bust out the full on cry. and so, it graced most of the shots i took.

and here are chris and crosby. uncle and niece. godfather and goddaughter. she'll be baptized in june, on michael's and my 7th wedding anniversary and the 1 year anniversary of my uncle's passing. i'm already emotional about the whole event, for some uncanny and fateful reasons.

we (being my sister and i) give my mom a hard time whenever chris comes home. chris is the first born and only son. he doesn't make it home all too often, but when he does, the red sea parts and my mom makes whatever meals he is craving. most often, we dine on reubens one night and our family german meal of kielbasa, sauerkraut, potatoes and noodles the next. this time, however, he chose german potato salad, cherry chip cupcakes and my mom's homemade buttercream frosting for his birthday meal. i guess we won't give him or my mom heck just this once. it was his birthday after all.

chris and stephanie. i love this picture. ♥

and a few more of my one month old cici. this t-shirt was actually mine when i was little, because i was also the little sister. my mom found it when harper was born, but it didn't make sense for her to wear it. and now, it makes all the sense in the world for crosby. and i just love that it fits her perfectly and is still intact after more than 31 years of collecting dust in a box in my mom's basement. and i love my mom for saving sentimental things such as this.

my 2 beautiful little loves.

the incredible edible

i love holidays. i love them even more since becoming a mom. i want to be able to share all my holiday memories from growing up with my girls. one of my favorite memories was decorating easter eggs with my mom. we would prepare weeks ahead of time by purchasing the latest and greatest paas egg decorating kit from the grocery store. as we got closer to easter, my mom would hard boil the eggs, and i would ready the cups of colorful baths. then one by one, i would drop in the eggs. i got more creative as time went on, mixing colors, varying shades, making some half green and half blue, tie dyeing, covering with stickers, or writing hidden messages with the white crayon that would appear once dyed. and on easter morning, the eggs would either be hidden around the house or find their way to my easter basket.

i bought a kit last year, but with family holiday events, never used it. and this year, i found a site online to make your own colors by mixing mccormick food colors. and so after nap on good friday, we joined together in the dining room to get creative. harper loved this activity.

she wanted to do it all by herself, and so once again, i let my cleanliness ocd go. i've done that a lot lately. i'm learning to deal.

she took a break while waiting for the eggs to color to have some sister snuggles...

...and eat a snack. i was multitasking and making dinner when she asked to lick the spatula. nope, not of cool whip or frosting or cake batter, but sour cream. the girl loves her some very odd food items, mainly condiments, and will devour them any chance she gets. cream cheese, syrup, ranch dressing, mustard, ketchup and sour cream. she'll eat them by the spoonful. i really don't know where she gets it.

and finally, our eggs were done! she was so proud of the work she did.

fast forward to the next morning when i realized that i had forgotten to refrigerate said beautifully decorated hard-boiled eggs and thus, these ovoids would never see the light of easter morning baskets or hiding spots. only the gleaming silver of the trash can. michael was very disappointed, as he was really hoping for some hard-boiled egg love.

but we did have another dozen eggs for the easter bunny to hide. i found this craft in a blog and decided to give it a go.

first, cut off the top of the egg and remove the yolk and egg white. (hence the reason we made a double batch of pancakes, 2 dozen muffins, egg sandwiches, and breakfast casserole for easter morning all on saturday- what else could i do with 12 egg insides?) sterilize the egg shells and then place them in a cool water bath. dye the eggs any color you wish. let dry upside down. fill with candies or small treats (ours included mini peanut butter cups, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, jelly beans, and chocolate and yogurt raisins. all from trader joes). cover with a sticker or mini baking cup.

and voila! surprise-filled eggs. perfect for discovering on easter morning and cracking open to see what sugary goodness awaits you.

on saturday morning, we joined with the eastons for some egg hunting at our local rec center. they led us into the woods to find the eggs "hidden" all over the woodsy floor.

we literally got nothing in any of our eggs. no special prize for us. but each child did receive a goodie bag, complete with what else? sugary treats.

and with all that sugar comes energy, which needs to be run off. specifically on the tennis courts. with your best friend. and your wellies.

♪ these boots were made for... hunter.

more egg-cellent and egg-citing easter photos to come.