Easter!

Again, it was an Easter miracle!  I did not have to work all weekend, as I had been originally scheduled.  We were so grateful to have Easter free to spend with each other, as last year's Easter fell by the wayside when Kayla ended up in the hospital in Fayetteville for five days.

Avery and Kayla's Easter baskets.  Avery loved his construction trucks, while all Kayla wanted to do was eat her animal crackers.  You would think this girl never got fed...

Here are the obligatory Easter outfit pictures.  I have much respect for children photographers....my anxiety was going through the roof trying to get a picture of the two kids looking at the camera at the same time with a semi-normal expression on their face.  I was pretty unsuccessful.  It worked better by splitting the two up.

These are bloomers that Ninny made for Kayla when she was born.  This was the first time we got to wear them, as Kayla rarely wears dresses (or clothes, for that matter).  I just think they are so darn cute and could not stop taking pictures of Kayla in them.

Avery and his favorite egg.

The Jean Team, kickin' it Easter-style.

We went to church on Easter morning.  The last time we went to church was in Cleveland at Christmas time.  Let's just say it is very hard to explain to a three year old who is obsessed with trying to find Baby Jesus that the baby grew up, was crucified, and now we are celebrating Him rising from the dead.  Pretty heavy stuff for a preschooler, if you ask me.  Maybe Mercer Mayer should write a Little Critter book about it.

In church, Avery was doing great entertaining himself with books, looking around (for Baby Jesus), and singing with the choir.  Then Miss Kayla showed up (she had been snoozing in the car).  Let's just say that after this girl ran through her cup of cheerios, she was in no way having any church time.  We made it to the homily.  BUT the kids got to explore the church grounds for a while....I feel like that should still count. 

 After church and naps, we had our friends come over for Easter dinner, as neither of us have family in town.  The kids enjoyed playing together and eating a feast of chicken nuggets.  YUM.

Easter Egg Dyeing

It was an Easter miracle.  No, seriously, Phil and I actually prayed to the Easter Bunny earlier that week that I would be able to get out of my obligation of working the entire weekend of Easter.  On Friday morning, someone threw me a bone and like that, I was a free woman!!  One of the first things I did was go out and buy a dozen eggs and an egg dyeing kit from Walmart.  Right now, Avery's favorite books are the Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer.  We had been reading the Easter book, "Happy Easter, Little Critter!", and Avery was very intrigued by the egg dyeing part.  I was so happy to be able to have the time to enjoy this activity with my children!  A special thanks to Ninny, who made these super cute aprons for the kids a while back for various art projects.  No, my children are not naked underneath the aprons, but if you have ever tried to get dye stains out of your clothes, you would understand why the aprons and underwear are the uniform of choice for dyeing easter eggs.  **Special Note: Please take care to note the progression of egg dyeing action photos below.  Observe how the newspaper gradually gets taken away from Kayla, but she still manages to pull a fast one on us.  This girl is fast.**

Spring Photos

Happy Birthday, Marley!

Marley is Kayla's friend, almost from birth.  They are a little less than a month apart.  Here are some pics from an afternoon of playing in the backyard, as well as pics from Marley's first birthday party, which was so stinkin' cute!!!

A HodgePodge of March Photos

Once again, I am behind on posting pictures.  Here is an assortment from March:

Kayla will not eat bananas cut up anymore.  What a big girl.

 Avery eating his birthday icecream.  He is not really a big sweets eater, but he sure does love his icecream!  I should have put his candle in it...

 Kayla and her BFF, Haley.  Finally, someone loves this dog.

 Kayla has outsmarted Avery.  Avery tries to play with his toys in the middle of the table, where Kayla is too short to reach from the edges.  Kayla quickly figured out how to get to those toys...

 Note Haley in the upper right hand corner.  Not sure who is copying who.

 Avery and Kayla hanging out in the corner, fixing one of our kitchen chairs.  This kept them occupied for quite a long time.  I look forward to more activities like this in the future so I can cook dinners in peace.

 Kayla's first trip to Chuck E Cheese.

 Kayla's new thing is to lift her shirt and show off her belly.  I couldn't help but think of spring break when I took this picture....

Assault with a deadly weapon.  After being attacked with the golf club several times, Avery was genuinely afraid of Kayla.  Don't worry, all golf clubs (and other assorted items that can be used to bludgeon) have been put away.

Harvard, Here We Come

A Look Back on Flowertown Fun

Avery and I have gone to the Flowertown Festival every single year since we have lived down here, with the exception of 2009, as Avery would have been born right around then.  Priorities.  Here is a look of Avery growing over the past couple of years.

2010, 11 months old

2011, 2 years old

2012, 3 years old

Flowertown Festival 2012

This year, I took both of the kids to the Flowertown Festival in Summerville.  We have gone almost every year since we have moved down here.  Avery was finally big and brave enough to enjoy some of the rides....I was very proud of him for riding them by himself!  Kayla was stuck in the stroller this time around, but by next year, I am sure my monster child will be big enough to ride with her older brother.  And then I will have to worry about how to negotiate with two kids when it's time to get off of the rides!

My Mom's a Physical Therapist

I'm not sure why my kids exercise on the orange mat by the back door.  Perhaps I should join them once in a while.

Kayla perfecting her plank at 13 months.

 Avery working on his pushups (girl-style) at 11 months.

It is important to keep the hamstrings limber, especially when you are 12 months old.