Hoppy Easter!

We had an incredibly wonderful Easter! It was just a very nice day. We went to super early Mass, (7:15am), then home to do baskets, play, nap, cook, play some more. It was a long day and we didn't feel rushed at all. Very enjoyable! Miles and I had been reading an Easter book and it seemed he was getting it. He learned about Jesus dying on the cross and rising again. He's brought it up a few times, so I think it's sinking in. Tonight before bed, he said he loved mommy, daddy, Hailey, his cousins, his family and God. It was very sweet. He's also brought up that an Angel will come to him when he's dead. I know he doesn't fully grasp death and we haven't gotten into it very much at all, but we did talk about it with the Easter story and an angel appearing to Jesus' friends when he rose. It's coming together in that little head of his!

Coloring eggs

Miles dictated a letter to the Easter Bunny

He was so excited to see his basket in the morning!

In Hailey's Easter basket, she got a little plastic purse with a candy necklace in it. In the middle, is a candy heart. Miles was playing with the necklace and candy and said that no one could eat the heart because it was his heart and his love for mommy, daddy and Hailey. He's brought that up several times in the last day and I think it's so sweet. He's been talking about his heart and his love a lot and it warms my heart. We're doing something right with that boy!

All ready for Mass

Hailey also warms my heart. She is something else. I love the way she reaches up to take my hand to lead me somewhere or for assistance with a particularly tricky step. Even if it's just to take me down the hallway, she's so trusting and sure of herself when she's holding my hand. It's the sweetest thing. I love hearing her little voice come to life. She's full of "uh-oh's" these days and it's so cute. She also tries to say many other things and today said "more mommy"! She tries to say "book", but really only says "boo".

It's tradition in my family that we have an egg cracking contest on Easter morning. You choose your winning egg and go head to head with someone else, trying to crack their egg with just one quick hit. If you survive, you go on to the next person. I can't recall for sure if Miles or Ahmad won, but Miles definitely thought he did!

The winning egg!

Hailey did not mind eating the loosing eggs!

Hailey loves books these days! She loves to look at books and will bring one to me and crawl up into my lap to be read to. She flips quickly through the pages of some books and spends minutes looking at other pages. I'm glad to see this new development because she hasn't shown too much interest previously. We read and she liked some books, but it was pretty inconsistent. We read mostly at night before bed and for a long time, she wouldn't want to read-batting a book out of my hand-because she wanted to nurse and go to sleep. But now, she's reading 2-3 books before bed and also at other times during the day. I'm glad!

I love these jammies! I call Hailey "love", so they are very fitting. And here she is upside down!

I stopped nursing Hailey on Friday night. Her last nursing was Thursday in the middle of the night sometime or other. She did pretty well Friday night. She was up a lot, almost every hour, but she didn't fuss too much when I told her "all done milk". Saturday night she was a bit more upset about it, but made it through. It seems that if she can still put her hand down my shirt, she is comforted even if she can't nurse! Last night, she did wonderfully and slept through the night! I know she did that once or twice a long time ago, maybe a year ago, but not since. I slept so good!

Easter egg hunt in the front yard

I love that Miles wore his Spiderman costume all day on Easter! And here's a nice shot of my first time pedicured toes!

Another funny thing Hailey does is that she loves to be upside down. She loves hanging over the edge of something or my lap or us holding her upside down. It's pretty funny. She also is a climber. She climbs anything she can and loves to have me help her jump down. She's trying to get on our chairs around the table lately and wants to sit with us!

Now that's a face of a kid enjoying some ice cream!

Miles has been back in trouble at school the last 2 weeks or so. He's been hitting his friends and having trouble keeping his hands to himself. We just don't get it. We know he can get carried away when he's excited or playing, but to just hit someone for no reason, it doesn't make sense. The more we talk about it, the more we think that this daycare may not be the right fit anymore. We aren't sure they are handling him the best he could be and their only answer is to move him to a new room. And we think he's bored. He is so smart and does wonderfully on anything with learning. The sight word tests have stopped the last 2 weeks...that's when his behaviors started up again...not sure, but perhaps they are related? We know we have a part in this too, and believe me, we are disciplining him at home. But at home, he does so well listening. We've seen such huge improvements in him lately. So, we are looking around at new preschools. I'm still looking. But we do have a tour at a Montessori school tomorrow. We want to see what it's all about. Maybe something will be a better fit.

Sporting their new sunglasses from Nana and Grampie

These two kiddos, they are so dear to me. They are so sweet. I just love them so much.