Happy Easter Everyone

Well, Easter came and went, and we have a house full of candy to show for it!  The Easter Bunny did pay us a visit, complete with Easter baskets and an indoor and outdoor Easter egg hunt!  Ellie had a fantastic time.  Tommy, on the other hand, ushered in Easter with a fever.  Tommy's version of sick is different than Ellie's - he is really calm, and just gives a few less smiles.

We went to church that morning, complete with two bathroom trips with Ellie and one trip to change Tommy (that made the service a little hectic for us).  On Easter afternoon, we had our families over for a great dinner!

All in all, we had a great holiday!

Opening her Easter basket with two very interested spectators

Tom in his new cap from the Easter Bunny

Headed down to hunt.  Note the green rain boots.  Easter essential.

Some good finds in the playroom.

Headed outside, again note Sadie's involvement.  Surely not anything to do with the candy.

Oh. the spectators helping Ellie investigate her haul.

Pretty lady.  I can't believe she is so big.

Decorating her easter cake.  Please note that Ellie was responsible for the icing!

Family picture - impressed we got a fairly normal one.

Tom at church, a good looking young man in argyle.

Family pic outside the church...Chaos: Ellie wouldn't smile, it was cold and windy,Tommy got a fever in church so I removed his socks and shoes, he looks miserable and Mikey and I are just hanging on for dear life.  Happy Easter!

5 Months Old

Tommy turned 5 months old earlier this week!  He is still such a lovable little guy - very smiley and happy.  He has started talking a lot more.  We call it chit chatting.  Just babbles away.  He can turn over from his tummy to his back and is so, so, so close to going from his back to his front.  He is sleeping really well and is really just a sweet, sweet addition to our family.

California Dreaming....

Ellie and I recently took a "ladies trip" to California to see Uncle John Postlewait.  We had a fantastic trip together.  She was incredibly excited to travel.  She loved the airplane rides and was a really good girl on them.  California treated us well - it greeted us with sunshine and 80 degree temperatures, perfect for afternoons at the beach!  Uncle John showed us a great time - breakfast out at Uncle Bills (our favorite place, we went three times), days at the park and on the beach, and some great dinners at night. 

For those of you that don't know, John lives right on the beach in Hermosa Beach.  So that lead to an easy walk to the beach, helpful with a 2 year old that needs to go to the bathroom.  John and his roommates were great hosts!  Ellie walked in to his house to a pile full of toys and things to do, and his roommates were really nice and played with Ellie and talked tv and pop culture with me!  It was our dream come true!  When we got home, Ellie said to Mikey "We left Uncle John in California with his girls"  :)

Big thanks to the weather gods for giving us some good sunshine in LA!   Even bigger thanks to Uncle John for having us and showing us an amazing time!

Here are some pictures...

On the bus ride from the parking lot to the airport - 5:30 am...tired

Ellie pepped right up at the airport when she saw the airplanes

Real excited about the airplane!  Her quote every time we were about ready to take off "Are we ready freddy?"

Checking out the ocean right after we got there..."Mama, its a pool!"

At our favorite breakfast place...Uncle Bills.  Hi Uncle John!

Ready to order like a big girl

Posing with mom...Ellie was not the most willing photography subject.  To get this we bribed her with Skittles.  Uncle John and I had other methods of bribery for photos as well.

Really busy days and short naps equaled some tired car rides.  Also check out her "big girl hat"  She always wore it backwards like Uncle John does, but for the car rides had to turn it sideways.

At an awesome park near where John lives.  6 slides at this park!

Checking out the birds

Using her new skill of bird chasing that Uncle John taught her

Ready to hit the beach

Laying out - Mama, I get the flower towel.  This was the only time she held still on the beach.

Posing with Uncle John...cost - 5 skittles.

Heading into the water

Uncle John had to do a lot of lugging the sand pail with water.

Running out of the waves was her favorite things to do

Diva.

Posing with Mom in front of the Kelly and Donna's beach house from 90210.  Passing the 90210 adoration down a generation.  Mikey wanted to tear up this picture.  His 90210 hatred runs deep.

Posing with mom on Manhattan Beach Pier.  For this one, she wouldn't be bribed so we had to say "Is that a balloon behind Uncle John?"

"Ellie, is that a dolphin behind Uncle John?"  She got smart after this one and never posed again.

Carosel at the Santa Monica pier

Wheeeeee

Her favorite part of the trip...seeing Minnie and Mickey Mouse.  My most annoyed part of the trip: Minnie refusing to pose with my child who is begging for a picture until I gave her a "donation". 

First ice cream cone.  Happy.  Messy.

Headed home.  She really was a great girl on the airplane.

Some pretty snazzy shades

Its beginning to get hot out, a gal's got to have some shades to keep the sun out of her eyes.

This is what happens when you try and get 5 kids to pose for a picture

Our good friends Julie and Clint Harris recently added a third child to their brood.  Baby Greyson joined big sister Lillian and big brother Weston.  When we went to visit for the first time, we tried snapping some pictures of all the kids together, and ended up with some hilarious shots.

Two Mom's on a Nice Day

We were sitting outside recently, and I had Tommy standing up in my lap (his single most favorite activity of the moment), and Mikey and I noticed Ellie had brought baby Stella outside and was also doing the same thing with Stella in her lap.  We were lucky Mikey had his phone in his hand and was able to take a picture quickly.  It makes me smile.

A Gal's First Haircut

Ellie had her first haircut recently.  We figured that since she is almost two and a half and her hair was halfway down her back, it was time.  The curls make the length deceiving, but her hair was long and home of some pretty major tangles.

We went to Shear Madness, and she was really good. Ellie was really excited to sit in a Lightening McQueen car and watch a movie.  She sat still the whole time and left with a lollipop!

Look back at St. Pats

Can you tell its been awhile since the blog has been updated?  Here are some pictures of the kids on St. Patricks day.  Tommy's outfit was pretty easy.  Ellie on the other hand kept asking to wear her green cowboy boots.  I told her a few times she didn't have green cowboy boots, until she took me by the hand, led me to her closet, where she pointed out her green galoshes.  "See mom, I told you" - not the last time I will hear that I bet.

Tommy is Four Months!

Tommy hit the 4 month mark a few weeks ago.  He continues to be an incredibly happy, smiley baby.  He is incredibly social, and has a smile for anyone that comes and says hi to him.  He is growing too - he weighed in at 12.5 ounces at his 4 month doctor's appointment.  At that same appointment, he wowed the nurses with his big smiles, but turned very unhappy after he got his shots and broke out into what we called a "rage rash" or huge splotches across his face. 

Tommy's most favorite thing in the world is his sister.  He saves his biggest smiles for her and cranes his neck to look at her when he hears her voice.  Ellie has been great with him, very loving and has even listened to her mother and refrained from licking Tommy.  She has asked repeatedly to do so, and the answer continues to be no.  :)

Here are some pictures of Tommy as he continues to grow.