Happy Easter!

We had a very fun Easter this year! It was a beautiful day, and we got to spend it with our families.

When we got up on Easter morning, Haley found an empty basket in her room that the Easter bunny left her. We quickly realized that the Easter bunny hid eggs for Haley throughout the house. Haley was able to find 3 of them before we went to church. She's not very speedy at this because she likes to treasure each egg as she finds it. She opens the egg and checks out what's inside very carefully before placing the contents and the egg in her basket and moving on to the next thing.

Here's a pic of her after she found her first egg (it was hidden in her room).



She had to sit down to check it out and study the contents.



After church, we found the basket of toys and candy (mostly toys) that the Easter bunny left.



Haley had fun checking out her basket - again, she was very slow! She likes to stop and play with each thing before moving to the next. I try not to rush her because I know that in no time at all, she will learn to be greedy and move on quickly to the next thing. It's very sweet that she likes to treasure each new item.



We had lunch at the Starnes. Tami and family gave Haley an Easter outfit for her bitty baby. Abigail and Olivia wore Easter dresses that matched their bitty babies - they were very cute!



After lunch, the girls had an Easter egg hunt and we all stayed outside to enjoy the beautiful day. Haley had fun checking out uncle Brian's new dogs.



We had dinner at Marynell and O's house, where we got to check out the new baby! Baby Marie was less than a week old! She's so beautiful!!!



We had another egg hunt at Marynell's house. Haley and Jake had a blast collecting Easter eggs.



Here are Haley and Jake checking out baby Marie (or baby Ri, as Jake calls her).



Haley and Jake had a great time playing together. They were SO SILLY at the dinner table. Haley made up silly, nonsense songs. Every time she sang one, Jake would say 'One more time' and Haley would sing it again.



It was a wonderful Easter!



Click here to see more Easter pictures

Baby Kendall's Activities

Baby Kendall has been more and more active lately. On both Wednesday and Thursday nights last week, I was able to lay on my back and watch her move - little punches and kicks seemed to be coming from all over the place. I remember occasionally seeing some movement when I was expecting Haley, but I do not remember seeing this much movement with my first pregnancy.

This morning in church, we (baby and I) listened to the Easter music program. I had my hands resting on the top of my tummy, as I often do. Baby K was kicking me like crazy (the last ultrasound showed that she was head down, so I assume that movement at the top of my uterus is kicking). At first, I thought she was responding to the music. Then I realized that if I moved my hands off my tummy, she stopped. When I rested my hands on the top of my tummy again, the kicking started back. It was almost as if she was telling me to move, that the weight of my arms pushing down on her was NOT ok with her! Baby K's movement seemed to start later in my pregnancy than Haley's did, but once she got going, she definitely seemed to be more active than Haley.

Hopefully, this is not an indicator of her personality, because I was convinced early on (and hopeful as well) that this baby would be my calm, low key child. We'll see!

Happy Birthday, Cicely Marie!

Helen (aka He He) had her baby this weekend! Many of us were convinced it was going to be a boy, but to our surprise, Helen and Edward had a baby girl (Haley always said Helen was going to have a girl baby)! Now Jake has a baby sister. Little Cicely Marie weighed over 8 pounds, and she will be called Marie. We can't wait to meet her.

Easter Carnival at Pine Island

Haley and I were planning on going to an Easter Egg hunt at church this weekend. Due to forecasts of severe weather, the organizers made the decision on Friday to cancel the Saturday event. We were disappointed, and I asked Mom if we could still make it to the Pine Island carnival that was scheduled for the same time. Marynell was able to get us reservations.

The dress that Haley wore to the carnival was not the dress I had in mind. However, Haley saw it hanging in her closet and really wanted to wear it. Marynell made this dress for me when I was a little girl.

The carnival was WONDERFUL - Marynell and I took Haley. Haley had a fabulous time. I told her we were going to an Easter party. As soon as we got out of the car, she was ready to run. She saw the games and rides from a distance, and it was all we could do to keep her with us - she wanted to run past the sign in table to start playing. The weather looked a little gloomy when we got there, but the rain held off and it ended up being very pleasant the entire time. When we left after a good two hours of playing, Haley told us in the car 'That was a very nice party!'

Here are some pics - we will definitely try to make it back next year!

Haley's first ride was the train. Because there weren't many kids there, she got to go around several times.



Afte the train ride, Haley got to bounce - this is one of her favorite things to do.



After bouncing, Haley got to ride on a pirate ship ride!





Next, we were off to meet the Easter bunny. Haley only hesitated for a minute, then she was happy to sit on his lap.



Haley rode the big slide several times. This is probably the biggest slide she has ever gone down.





Before lunch, Haley and Marynell had some cotton candy (I had popcorn). Haley had no trouble finishing her entire stick of cotton candy.



We played a couple of games. Haley won a yo yo when Marynell helped her with this game.



Haley played putt putt - she enjoyed trying to get the ball in the hole, and she did NOT want any help from Marynell or Mommy.



We had Chickfila nuggets - and cheetos - for lunch. Haley enjoyed her entire lunch, including her cheetos!



We spent an hour or so after lunch at the playground - Haley had a ball.



Haley did great on the monkey bars - with Marynell's help!



What a fun day!

Wallabees and Bunny Rabbits

The zoo class that Haley and Marynell attended this week was all about Wallabees. Because Easter is near, the kids also got to pet a live bunny! The bunny's name was Eeyore.

Prenatal Appointment #6

Mom and Haley attended my prenatal appointment this morning. Mom was impressed by the ultrasound - Haley was not! She was more interested in a silly frog toy that was in the doctor's office.

We saw baby's face and heartbeat, and the doctor pointed out that she had her hand laying on her chest. Everything looked fine, and he estimated that her current weight is 3 lb 12 oz - this is about half a pound bigger than average for this time period. Maybe I should cut out some of the fast food?;)

The doctor also confirmed that baby is head down. He said she will probably stay in that position for the rest of the pregnancy.

A beautiful Sunday afternoon

Haley had fun playing outside this afternoon. The weather was very nice, and we found our next door neighbors the Banks making even more improvements to their back yard. Kevin helped Gerald some, and the girls and Haley played. Haley was SO wound up that it took awhile to get her down for a nap. She did not want to miss anything. Here are some pics of her with her good friends Jessika and Bianka.



Haley decided that Bianka's tummy was a drum...



My little monkey:



The crew working on the Banks' backyard: