The Hunt

We will try to make this post about Easter super interesting by giving it a title that makes it sound adventurous. Otherwise, it is just us pictures of us picking up eggs.

It was actually a lot of fun, thanks to the wonderfully organized Lacey.  She hosted an egg hunt at her house, with lots of yummy treats.

Some of us look like we know we are getting our picture taken.

Kelley arranged for an Easter Egg Roll relay game. Here she is demonstrating for the kids. How come some people are just graceful no matter what they do? Look at that form. I guess that is what you get when you are a dancer. You look good walking,  even with an egg tucked under your chin.

Watching Will try to get the egg between his knees was funny. I think all the other kids did the course about three times, and Will was still working on completing it once when we called it quits.

Lacey, the Hostess with the Mostess.

Ready for some eggs.

But every time I tried to get one of her picking the eggs up,this is what I got.

A good group of ladies. I must admit that I wish I knew many of them better. It is always fun to get together with them, and their families.

Promises, Promises

How many of us made a promise to ourselves before we had children that they would never have a face that looked like this?


Or this?

And now? For all I know, most of the time, I might be walking around with something on my own face. Blissfully unaware.  I do have to admit that I was embarrassed the other day when I ran into a friend and she looked down at Will and told him, "Will, you have a boogie hanging out of your nose."

Okay.

Maybe I need to recommit myself to the "My children will never have gross faces, or noses" promise. It is looking like that might be a good one.

And Georgia's hair? I know, it needs...something! But you put a hair clip or elastic band in this girl's hair at the risk of losing an eye.

A few days ago she was looking in the mirror and then said, "Mom, my hair is getting orange! Then she told me mine is yellow. I kinda hope it isn't exactly "yellow."

Speaking of faces. I got some good ones of Walker this week. I can't decide which is my favorite. And as for the messy face above... I will always love it! No matter how smeared.

A little too high.

A little confused.

There we go!

Tummy Time Heart-To-Heart

 

Walker is not a fan of tummy time. Trying to find something to distract him from his frustration is key. This little sheep given to us by the Tyson family was the one who got to hear about his dislike for tummy time this week. 

On top of Mom being so mean, and making him do this activity, he has been sick all week. He was tested for RSV because he was snorting like such a little piggy at the doctor's office that he was concerned for his breathing. Walker does not understand the need to breathe out of your mouth when stuffed up.

He weighed 16 lbs. at the appointment, and was only 24 inches long. He feels much bigger than that after lugging him around all day. He is quit the shorty, and the only fat he has, he keeps stored in his cheeks and his diaper. It gets all chubby and rolly polly down there.  

Walker is four months old this week. He is very popular at our house. I have a feeling that is not going to change any time soon, because as you can see in the picture, he is kinda cute!

Hard Work

Holding your head up while on your tummy is a lot of work when you are a baby with Torticollis.

But things are coming along for our little Walker. His therapy has been moved to every other week. I just have to make sure to be diligent at home. Look at him try to get that chin lifted! He is a sweet boy. He get SO excited when he hears the water start to run for his bath. He laughs and kicks his little legs. He loves the tub.  He is also excelling at bubble blowing. Weather he is happy or sad he likes to make mumbling noises, or say, "Ya, ya, ya." and crank out spit bubbles.

He is a baldy these days. I took this picture about two weeks ago, and all that hair on the top of his head is gone now. Boy that happened fast!

Bowling Good Time

We celebrated Wally's birthday on Saturday with a few of his little guy friends at a bowling ally.  I found a local lady that makes cute cakes to make a bowling cake for the big day. I was so happy with how it turned out! It was good too!

The kids had a great time bowling,  ( and yes, you CAN see our Party Hero's underpants, but he was nice! Oh well, I am sure mine are also showing more than I would care to know.)

They danced to the loud music.

And Will cried.

They met a giant bowling pin.

And Georgia cried.

They ate pizza.

They wrestled.

And Will cried.

We all had cake. My mouth is open because SOMEBODY had to sing Happy Birthday!

Wally opened presents.

And Will cried.

And in the end everyone was a champion, and received a bowling trophy!

These were a great find in the Walmart party section.

It was a good day!

Love, From Chicago!

We owe a great big THANK YOU! to the employees at Patient's Choice! Last year for Christmas they gave Del tickets to the Jazz vs. Bulls game here in Chicago. Del decided that he would take me, despite my pitiful lack of inside knowledge of the game.


 We decided to make a get away of it, and headed back to the Omni Hotel for the night. Our great friends from the ward,  the Ogle family, were kind enough to take Walker for us, and we were able to have a good gal from church watch the older kids. I must admit that I really missed, and worried about Walker, (aka: felt guilty for leaving) but it was nice to have a 24 hour break. We had some pretty great seats on the seventh row to make things even cooler. And I told Del I couldn't believe that I made eye contact with one of the Bull's players that was on the bench scanning the crowd! Joachim So and So. I am SURE it was eye contact with me, yeah right. He seems to be a loser by the way.

We walked past this shoe shine station and Del laughingly told me to hop up there and he would buy me a shoe shine. So I did!  The guys running the station, and the other customer, kept asking me, "First shine?  First shine?" Del thought it was pretty funny, and apparently so  did a few others, because the next thing I knew...

I had drawn this little crowd of dudes speaking anther language. They were pointing and laughing. And hung around the entire time I got my shine,  before finally one of them decided to go ahead and get his shoes buffed up too! I guess a ditz sitting at a shoe shine station is good for business.













We were in the hotel room talking when a commotion started outside. I got a picture of a human rights protest going down Michigan Avenue.  Free Tibet!

We had a great time, great food, (Bandera on Michigan Ave was Yummy!) and got some pretty decent weather. Gotta love Chicago!

But holding my babies in the burbs is pretty nice too.

Happy Birthday Wally!

Wally is seven years old today. He is still our little ball of energy and enthusiasm.  This morning Del went out to the bus stop really early before leaving for work and wrote "Happy Birthday Wally!" on the road with chalk. I laughed as I watched all the congratulations from all the kids as they arrived to wait for the bus. Wally received handshakes and claps on the back from the other little boys. It made his day, I could tell.  He was so excited to pass out cupcakes at school, and open presents. He opened his huge Nerf gun and  lots of good stuff from Grandma and Grandpas. He got a five dollar bill, and has been sure to tell everyone that Abraham Lincoln is on the front and the White House is on the back.

The only downfall to his day is that I got a call from the school telling me that while Wally was defending his snow castle at recess, he was scratched on the face by a little boy that we have seen quit a bit of trouble from this year. It is getting old. But Wally didn't let it damper his day, and he wears his battle scar proudly in this picture. We sure love you Wally boy!  You are the one who has to be our first parenting experiment, and we are grateful for your patience as we figure it out. You always make us smile!

Today...

I cleaned raw egg out of the carpet. And now I am moving on to the wet, mushed up teddy grahams in the carpet.  If this what the end of two looks like,  I don't want to do three! I would never have believed that anyone could give a toddler aged Wally a run for his money!

And Then I Met Georgia!

A Little Bit Of, Not Much Going On

I have not been up to much. I did give my house a good dose of some much needed scrubbing. These past few months have left some areas at the bottom of my priority list.  Cleaning out those forgotten areas makes one contemplate deep decisions like, 
"Just how many gross, once black, deodorant, hair product, and toothpaste covered elastic bands do I REALLY need?"
Or,
"At what point do I decide that I should just go ahead and repaint the crayon colored wall instead of using an entire box of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers?"

And when was the last time you pulled out YOUR fridge and cleaned behind it? Scary.

And please tell me I am not the only one who finally goes through "The Stack," (you know that pile of papers that seems to be the catch-all for junk mail, school papers, and new visiting teaching route updates.) And realized that you did not attend "Family Literacy Night" OR "Guys Night Out," because the flier somehow got swallowed up and forgotten.

Aaaa...well. My baby is still pretty cute, so here are some pictures of him. Little Mr. Cheeks, and no neck.

Jessie