Easter Sunday

We had a wonderful day celebrating Easter Sunday with family! Heather's side of the family joined us for the day. Beginning with Easter breakfast at church, worship, a delicious lunch, an Easter egg hunt, fun outside in the sunshine, and even a trip to the park...it was a great day!

Eli enjoyed his first Easter! He even got a little surprise in his basket!

Cousins Noelle and Kyle helped Grace find her Easter basket!
Cousin Adam...

Eli with Auntie BJ...
The only picture I got of Grace still in her Easter dress...right before naptime!

After lunch the cousins had an Easter egg hunt in our backyard!

Here's Carson and Noelle enjoying some of the treasures they found in their hunt...

Grace looking through her eggs...

Taking the candy out of her eggs...

Grace has developed quite the sweet tooth...

She loved the candy!
Cousin Noelle enjoying bubbles outside...
Uncle Chad enjoyed them too!

It was a wonderful day with family...but most importantly a wonderful celebration of our Risen Lord and Savior...

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning my sisters and their kiddos came and spent the day with us. We started the day with an Easter Egg hunt!

Grace didn't really care too much about the bunny- just wanted her candy! Dave with nephew Adam...
Cousin picture attempt... (Ryan had already left the scene...)

The Easter bunny came back! (This picture was taken after Grace took candy from the bunny while it wasn't looking :)

New Wheels

Check out our new wheels! :)

Grace and Eli both enjoyed their new ride! :) This was something we decided to get with some of the gift money we received when Eli was born. Now I can jog, walk, and take the kiddos to the park during our sunny spring/summer days ahead!

Beautiful Days!

Well, we started the month of March with tons of snow left in our backyard. We ended the month with none!! :) This was actually the first snow-less Minnesota March since the 1860s! (Woohoo! :)

We have enjoyed some beautiful days here for the past few days...

It's so great being outside again! (Without freezing... :)

Here's Grace "talking" on her phone while walking to the playhouse... :)

Making Momma some dinner! :)

Just found this kitchen for a good deal on Craigslist...
Grace loves it!

Ryan's Birthday

Today we got to celebrate our nephew Ryan's 2nd birthday! Another reason why it's so great being close to family... I haven't been able to celebrate family birthdays in years!

Ryan with big brother Carson helping blow out the candles...I hardly took ANY pictures today...

But here are a few of Eli! :)

He LOVES to chew on his fingers! (Good thing he doesn't have teeth yet! :)
If you look closely you can see the lovely drool spots on his shirt :)

Feeling Better!

It's so great to see Gracie smile again!! With the horrible cold, short on naps, two year molars, and an ear infection...we didn't see much of this last week! So glad she's feeling better and back to her sweet and happy little self :)

Doctors Visit

Well we found out more than just Eli's stats at his four month well baby visit.

We've had awful colds in our house for the past week or so... First Eli, then Heather, then Grace, then Dave, and then Eli again! Ugh...

Turns out Eli has RSV plus an ear infection. (Poor little guy!) I brought Grace in as well to get her ears check...and sure enough...she had an ear infection too. So we walked out with three prescriptions and a nebulizer...

Here's Eli's Latest Stats:

Height: 25 1/4" (75th percentile)

Weight: 16 lb. 4 oz. (90th percentile!)

Here's Eli getting his first breathing treatment at home...

He was such a little trooper!

Little Snoozer

4 Months!

Can't believe how fast our little guy is growing and how much he's changed!

He's such a sweet little boy and so smiley!

He's getting so close to rolling over...

He's fascinated by people and could win a staring contest hands down :)

He loves to chew on his fingers and is drooling like crazy these days...

Not sleeping quite as beautifully as he once was...but hopefully soon again...

Still loves his carrier and can sleep most anywhere...

He started showing less and less interest in the bottle...so we've temporarily given up on that...

He has the highest pitched squeals...you'd almost think he was a girl... :)

We love our little man! :)

Look at those chubby cheeks!

Big yawn!

Amy's Visit

We were spoiled with visitors this week! When we dropped Matt & Bethany off at the airport we picked Amy up! Heather and Amy taught together at Saint Pauls during our first two years in Saint Louis. It was so much fun having her with us!

We had beautiful weather here this week for Amy's visit! She was kind enough to let me take pictures with her fancy camera! (One that I can only dream of having some day... :)

Amy and Grace...

We got to swing for the first time since fall! It was so great to be outside!!

And ELI! :)

Check out that drool! :)

Can't wait for spring break '11! ;)

New Niece!

Dave's sister Eden and her husband Larry gave birth to a beautiful baby girl today!

JOY ELIZABETH

8 lb. 4 oz

20 1/2 in. long

Congraulations Eden and Larry!

Family Visit

My sister and her two boys came for a little while this afternoon.

It's great living close to some family! ( Just over an hour away- last year they lived just over nine hours away!)

Kim and Eli

CARSON

(Such a photogenic little boy!) Carson with little brother Ryan...

Fun Times

We had a wonderful weekend with friends in town!

We enjoyed a delicious brunch at Lola's today...

Bethany & Matt

(Bethany and Heather went to college together and lived in the same town during our vicarage year in Indiana. We're looking forward to celebrating their wedding day with them in June!)
Emily, (Bethany's little sis- who just moved to Waconia this summer too and is teaching Spanish at nearby Lutheran schools.) with Bethany and Matt.

Sisters...

A few more pictures of the two lovebirds... :)
Ahhh... :)

SO great to see them again! Thanks for visiting us!! :)

Little Lady

Here's our little lady showing off her new princess slippers from Bethany and Matt... :)

Big Week!

This has been a big week for Grace! She's been sleeping in her "big girl" bed for one week now!

We've had the toddler bed in her room since last summer when Heather found a good deal on one at a garage sale. We had no intention of getting Grace out of her crib anytime soon...but one day last week she laid down on it...(until that time it was just a nice resting place for all her stuffed animal friends!) When asked if she wanted to take a nap in her big girl bed...she said "Yes!"

She's been sleeping in it ever since! She climbs in it at nap time and bed time and doesn't get out of it until we come and get her...

Sweet Baby

Here are a few pictures of sweet baby Eli from today! :)

Snow

Grace is really starting to like this white fluffy stuff in our backyard...

It's slowly starting to melt... but we still have lots of it!

(Although, I'm sure it will be all melted, sunny, and 80 degrees by the time our guests come next week for their "Spring Break!" :)

It's fun for climbing...

And digging too!

I have a feeling we're going to be spending a lot of time out here in the winters to come!