Easter, 2012

The kids Easter baskets. :) Bathing suits, goggles, tattoos, a book for Jake, workbooks for the bigs, bubbles, chalk and some pez. We are ready for summer.

The kids make music in the Giants house at Tyler Arboretum on Easter morning. We had a great family hike in the sunshine.

The table, set and ready to go.

On our hike.

Our first time hosting Easter dinner!

Still recovering. Not sure what my blogger problem is, but I'm working on it.

Egg Hunting

Jake gets the hang of it and has a blast.

I think that Nicole said that they hid 900 eggs. It was nuts. We have bags of candy. Ugh.

The kids eagerly awaiting the start at Nicole's.

Insanity at the gym Egg hunt.

This was a relatively non creepy bunny, which was a nice change.

Just back from the beach and I'm exhausted. More later.

Julia's well visit.

We had Julia's 4 year well visit today. I admit to being nervous, as this one included 4 shots. Shots are funny with older kids, with babies they are heartbreaking and tear inducing because these sweet innocent things have no idea what is happening to them....but with older kids there is an element of preparation (therefore, fear) that goes along with it. We talked about it in advance, how the Dr would ask her questions, how she would be in her underwear but that it was okay for the Dr to look at her private parts, how she was going to get some shots. I had all three kids with me, which always makes things extra interesting, of course. The visit went well, she passed her eye test perfectly, did the colorblind thing fine, answered the Dr's questions about things like letters and numbers, then dutifully laid down for her shots. I asked her if she wanted me to hold her hand like I did when she got her ears pierced. She said, "sure, Mom" as though she was reasurring me, not the reverse. The Dr recommended that I hold both hands, as most kids tried to kick/and or grab at the shots. Not my Jules. She giggles through the first one, took the next two in stride, and the fourth one made her said "ouch" as the Dr was warning me that that one would burn going in. Not a tear. I was so proud of her. I have gone from a super anti vax fear monger to a grateful, informed vaccinator who feels that I am both protecting my children, and society in general by vaccinating my children. We still wait on some, and space a few out, but in general we follow the schedule that our Dr's recommend. We love and trust our Dr's. At 37 lbs and 40.5 inches, Julia continued to follow her growth curve and is 90% for height and weight.

It's been a good week at chez Mangan. The kids have been easy, Nate has been away, but we have our rhythm down and mix things up with quiet nights and busy nights with friends. School and the gym are our constants, and we love our routine.

Jake got his first haircut today ~ it was on a whim, Luke was looking shaggy and we had some time to kill between Julias appointment and going out to dinner with Nate. Luke went short in Spring mode, and as the barber had a second, I threw Jake up into the chair for some mullet clean up (can't stand baby mullet). He sat, totally transfixed, staring at himself in the mirror, then started giggling as the barber used the clippers. The barber (our friend, Craig, who we love and we take the boys to every time) was giggling himself, which is funny in a 200 lb bald man with tattoos, saying that he has never seen a baby sit so still for a haircut. It was adorable. We had a great dinner out at Firecreek, and put every one to bed happy and healthy.

I had a good gratitude check today, and am working on improving my general attitude. Our schedule with Nate's travel and school is rather exhausting, but I'm really working hard to try to accept rather than rail against it internally. It isn't easy, but nothing worthwhile is easy. I know that we will all come out of this better ~ literally each one of us ~ and when we have a plethora of family time again we will revel in it. Until then, we will savor the moments that we have. A busy weekend ahead and then a few days of respite at the beach with friends.....then Easter insanity. This weekend includes two egg hunts, so that should be fun. We haven't mentioned the Easter Bunny once, I think that we are officially an anti easter bunny family. That thing still freaks me out. There are worse crimes, right?

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

I have some sort of head cold, and it has been 40 and raining for two straight days while Nate has been out of town. We have not left the house.

It's very "The Shining" over here right now.

Will write more when I am not such a flaming grump.

Easter Eve

Things all went awry yesterday. Nate took the day off, to recover from his 8 days-out-of-10-on-the-road-stint. We took both kids to the Dr. for the coughs-that-would-not-end (thanks, sucky, cold, PA spring weather). We had 9 yards of mulch delivered. We delighted in the idea of getting a ton of yard work done while the kids were napping. Kids went to bed. Nate to the gym, briefly. Me to the yard. I came inside to get some water after about an hour of weeding to hear both kids awake. Wha? I ran upstairs to find Luke IN Julia's crib with her, both wide awake. (Yes, we are the parents who don't use baby monitors). Luke (my always 3-4 hour napper) had either never gone to sleep, or else woken up unfathomably early, and decided that Jules would make a great "supposed to be napping" playmate. I groaned. I got them both up, and out, and tried to do more yard work. 9 yards of mulch is a veritable mountain of mulch, I came to learn.

Kids played (aka ate mulch, beheaded tulips, and Luke decorated his sister with handful after handful of mulch). We worked. The joy of new construction is a horror of a yard and never ending lists of "to do's".

At some point I came inside and started to get dinner ready. I turned on the Masters, one of my all time favorite Spring delights. As Julia banged away at pots and pans at my feet, Luke got really strangely silent. I wandered into the living room to check on him, to find him securely cuddled up in the big chair, sound asleep. My sweet son had gotten into my favorite golf watching position, and sucked his thumb, and been lulled into the sweetest sleep known to man ~ golf sleep. There is nothing quite like laying down with some great golf on and taking a snooze. I hope with all of my heart that this is but one of MANY great golf snoozes that you fall into in your life, Luke. I had to take a pic. Your first Masters watching. He watched some more today....and every time someone makes a putt he claps and says "Yay!" and every time someone misses he shouts "Ammost!". I love it.

Tomorrow is Easter. I remember back to last Easter, when we celebrated with a not quite yet 4 day old baby at my Mom and Dad's. Our neighbor brought us a homemade bunny cake last year, and again this year. We attacked that sweet bunny cake today at snack time (yes, Luke is pants less....and yes, "no pee pee on CAKE!" was uttered.)

Tastiest bunny I have ever eaten :)

Tomorrow we celebrate Luke's third Easter, and Julia's second. It hit me on Thursday that "Oh SNAP! I'm a MOM. I am supposed to have EASTER BASKETS!". So I ran out and grabbed Jules a pink pail to match Luke's blue one, and a few things to stuff them with, and came home. This whole Easter thing snuck up on me this year, with the wedding a week before it. So it's Easter Eve. The little Easter buckets are all ready to go. The morning will be crazy with church, a visit to Mom Mom and Pop Pops, home for naps, and then off to Kevin and Meredith's for some Easter dinner and cousin chaos/delight. Happy Easter all. Happy Masters. Happy yard work.

That creepy bunny

So I betrayed my children's trust yesterday.

Back around Christmas time I posted about Santa and all of the weird ethical feelings he roused in me. My friend Cammi pointed out that Santa was nothing compared to the giant man dressed as creepy plastic faced bunny that we call the "Easter Bunny". Since she mentioned that to me, I have been dreading the appearance of the bunny man. The cult-that-masquerades-as-a-gym that we belong to had an Easter Festival/breakfast with the Easter Bunny/Easter egg hunt yesterday. I love free breakfast, and I love cheesy opportunities to let my children hunt plastic eggs, so I signed us up. For two days I thought about how the bunny man was going to be there. I decided that I really didn't need to put my children on the lap of the man dressed as bunny. Then we got there, and I did. Shamelessly. I handed over my precious kids to the bunny man. Look at the betrayal on Luke's face. He totally gave bunny man a "What you talkin bout Willis?" look as he inched away from him. Julia, meanwhile, was too taken with her pretty paper bracelet to even notice that she was sitting on the lap of a creepy bunny.

An Easter egg hunt in a gym is hilarious, by the way. Lacking grassy knolls and flowerbeds to hide eggs in, they resorted to plastic cones and parachute tent structures. It was a melee. Kids running everywhere, and parents bumping into one another because they were all walking around watching everything through their camera lens. Luke was a great hunter, and gallantly showed his baby sister the ropes. Julia bounced up and down with delight the first time she picked up a cone to find a shiny plastic egg beneath it.

In other news, while we ate breakfast today Julia ran around the kitchen with lipstick in one hand and a debit card in the other, screeching with delight. Friends gave her "My First Purse" as a birthday present, and she opened it this morning. Serious.Delight. It came replete with a cell phone, mirror, debit card, car keys, lipstick and a wallet. It was both the cutest thing that I have ever seen, and totally terrifying. My daughter, holding a cell phone up to her ear while chewing on a debit card. And its going to be all too soon that it's a real phone, and our real debit card. AAAArgh.

Easter pics

Dont worry!~ As soon as I took the picture of the Easter Eggs I was sure to hide them from Nate (Nate is not allowed near ANY of the eggs in the house). Two babies 13 months apart has guaranteed that :)

We had a wonderful Easter. Great food, great company, and easy children. It was our first ride in the car as a family of 4. Two babies in the back! I had to wake Julia again last night to feed her, so the sleeping thing has been a breeze so far. I know less sleep lies aheah though, so I am trying to enjoy every second of it while I can. Luke pulled a glass measuring cup out of the cabinet yesterday at my Mom and Dads and it shattered on the floor, giving him a cut on his foot. Dr Dad took great care of him. Julia has her first Dr's appointment tomorrow, she was discharged from the hospital weighing 7'12, so I am interested to see what she weighs now. I had forgotten the mania of the weight game with a newborn.......wondering over every little ounce. The way that she eats, I have no worry that she isnt gaining.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

Another great night. Julia is a wonderful sleeper, I actually had to wake her up to nurse last night. We had our family Easter breakfast this morning and are excited to watch the Nova game and celebrate Easter with my family today. Seeing her in her pink striped fleece sleeper this morning I thought about hiding Jules somewhere in the house and having an Easter Egg hunt for her..... but she is just too quiet, the boys never would have found her.

Luke and Jules are buddies. I missed the actual "high 5" but almost caught it in the picture.

I gave her her first sponge bath and baby mohawk today. She smells so good I could not put her down, so she is dozing, full bellied and plump and so pink and clean in my sling on my chest at the moment. I believe that my slings are going to be responsible for my sanity in the coming weeks and months as they enable to keep my little one close, yet have both hands free. Thusfar she seems a huge fan of the plan.

I think that Luke may have been worried about losing some attention time to Julia, so he taught himself to talk. All of a sudden he's picking up new words almost daily ~ Mom and Dad, Dog, and Duck, Whats That? have suddenly been joined by Snack and Juice. If he can say Juice, he can say Jules, so at some point I should stop playing "where's the baby" and start playing "Where's Jules" with him. I love saying "your sister" to Luke. I hope that they become the best of friends.