Easter Bliss!

Holidays just keep getting more and more fun as my kids get older and more aware.  It was so fun to teach Seth about the meaning of Easter.  He kept talking about it being Jesus' birthday again (just like Christmas).  Someday he will understand...

The festivities, however, he understood perfectly!!  We had so much fun dying eggs at the Erickson's house.  One of the many "lasts" we have been doing with them, leading up to their move.  We have had very enjoyable traditions with them that will be missed, and this is one of them. 

I have been trying to work out what our family tradition will be.  So far it is that on Easter Morning, the doorbell is rung and waiting on the porch are Easter baskets.  When I was a kid my mom always used new beach buckets and filled them with sand toys, kites, candy and maybe a small toy of some sort.  This is what I have tried to follow.

Emery was very aware that there was a surprise outside and hurried just as fast as Seth to see what was waiting for her.  Her bucket had eggs that were filled with "puffs" (a baby cheerio like snack).  She also got some baby food in sqeeze tubes that she loves, and a kite.

Seth shares my love of Easter candy.  Cadburry eggs, peeps, you name it!  Did he eat even half of it...nope.  Most ended up in the trash:)  I do that a lot when I don't want candy hanging around.  He didn't even notice.

You may think Emery got slighted in the treat department, but she was over the moon to get her baby food and bucket.  She carried it around all afternoon.

Easter breakfast, strawberries, blueberry muffins, oj and eggs...my fav!!

Easter pictures...of course!

This one is my favorite.  Seth loves to help Emery walk wen she is stumbling a lot!  He is so sweet to her sometimes.  She loves it!

The hunt began.  Seth has improved at hunting quite a bit from last year.  He is quite fast!

Emery rose to the challenge.  She caught on really quick, which surprised me!  She really is quite competitive!

Looking at his loot!

I love, love, love this picture because Seth had just been explaining to Emery that she was too little to eat candy so he would take her eggs for her.  

End of the day, trying to fly his kite! 

This has been one of my favorite Easters!

Treetops

The other day Seth found a ladybug and let it crawl onto his finger.  He wanted to keep it as a pet, so I helped him set up a jar with holes in the top.  He carefully added twigs, leaves and flowers.  On his own he came up with the name Treetops.  Treetops was his best friend for a few hours.  He even sat her on the couch next to him to watch an episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Just a day in the life of a little boy!  Later on that evening we let her go in some bushes.  

(if you can handle it, read on.  There are 3 more  new posts:)

My baby girl turns 1

On Februray 23rd Emery turned 1!

I can hardly believe how fast a year went.  On the other hand, I can't even remember life without her.  I am pretty sure Seth can't either.  It has been awesome to watch their relationship grow.  In the beginning he was so scared of her and would tell me to put her down for a nap so I could play with him.  Now he frequently asks me to wake her up so she can play with him.  I love that he loves her, and without a doubt she is his biggest fan!  I love the way she watches and looks at him.  I see her silently practicing doing the things he does (like reading, and climbing, tinkering with toys, and building tracks) on her own when she is playing on her own.   

Some things I want to note about Emery in her first year of life:

She loves to cuddle.  

She signs more and lights, claps, does patty cake and popcorn popping. 

Her first word other than momma and dada is "dts"  (lights).  She says it when she signs.

She loves to say uh uh, no no no, and uh oh

She will respond "no" or uh uh and shake her head no, to anything you offer her, even if she wants it.  It is funny to watch.

She climbs just about anything.  I have had to put my step stools on counter tops so that she doesn't climb them.  

She copies Seth

She loves, loves, loves dogs (or any animal for that matter). 

Her favorite book is Moo, Baa, La La La and Doggies by Sandra Boyten.  She frequently crawls or toddles over to me with either of those books in hand.  

She has never been a big eater and has really frustrated me in the nutrition department.  She goes through waves of not wanting to eat much at all.  This is such a flip from her bottomless pit of a brother.

She loves my shoes already, and really likes sunglasses.

She only says mamma when she is crying

She waves at everyone and loves to smile at people.  She has a very friendly and sweet disposition (but can hold her own and push other kids around if she deems it necessary in order to get what she wants:)

She is our happy baby!  Happy Birthday to Emery Brooke!  We love you to pieces.

 Brandon was in Florida for her actual birthday.  It is only fair, since the same thing happened for Seth's first birthday.  We had a good day though, then celebrated it on Saturday when Daddy got home!

 The girl loves cake!

She had to be stripped to open her presents since she was so messy from her cake!

She got her first doll, cute clothes, a book, and her own pair of sunglasses.

While Brandon was gone, She did get to open one gift from Aunt Shae.  She had no problem tearing the package opened!

The following week she got her one year shots!  I thought this was funny.

 She loves my shoes and glasses.

Genuine enjoyment!

I don't particularly enjoy playing pretend with kids (but I do it with a smile anyway).  I do, however, geniuinely enjoy playing sports with my son.  It has been so fun to get out there and toss the ball around or pitch the ball to him.  So far baseball seems to be the most enjoyable to him, and soccer is a close second.  We also love jumping on the trampoline and doing tricks.  I can do this play for hours and not even get bored.  I love this age!

Seth is really quite good at hitting the ball.  

I did manage to impress him with my ability to hit the ball over the fence and into the neighbors yard.  He still talks about it!

En resumen

I am going to attempt to post the skinny on what has gone down at our house since our computer crashed two and a  half months ago.  We have had some great events.
Shae, Daren and Brooklyn came to visit
Went to the aquarium, Disneyland, and whale watching in Palos Verdes
Brandon had surgery on his knee for a torn meniscus.
My cousin Heidi has been living down here and was able to spend a good amount of time at our house.
Seth has been taking swim lessons at the Y
Emery has learned to walk and has since busted her lip for the third time in her life now.

We went to the Zoo with Katie, Shae and Brooklyn

How similar Seth is to these animals?

This picture cracked me up!  His buddy the gorilla.

Emery has been so cuddly  lately.  I enjoy that, since Seth would have none of that as a baby!

The funniest/most dramatic moment of the day was when Seth dropped his "dragon ball" toy accidently into the elephant habitat.  I guess they have a new toy!

Seth was devastated.  I was trying so, so hard to be understanding, but all I really was doing was cracking up at the dramatic situation.  

Baby Brooky is just as chill as can be, and enjoyed the animals.

The following day we went to the aquarium.  This was actually done on Emery's birthday, although we didn't celebrate it then because Brandon was in Florida for work.  Shae and I took the kids and had a great time. 

Emery was loving the scuba divers, until they waved to her.  Then she was a little freaked out! 

Once again I found myself cracking up at Seth's situation.  A bird landed  on his shoulder, then made its way to his head.  He was brave until the bird started sliding down his hair.  Then he freaked out, threw his cup of nectar and screamed.  Luckily the worker just outside the door gave him a new cup.

Brooklyn, Emery and Seth.  The three cousins on my side of the family. 

We also made a trip to Disneyland.  Seth has experience the Matterhorn ride.  He like it because he knows that he is brave when he rides it.  We practiced making scary faces just as we started the ride.  He actually really has a good time. 

Conference weekend.  Brandon just had surgery on his knee.    Seth loved having church at home.  We made muffins, and had a packet of kids activities to do while watching. 

We have also made good use of our backyard.  The kids have enjoyed eating outside while the weather has been warm.

As you can see, the past two and a half months have been full of fun!