Easter 2011 - Easter Weekend

Dear Abigail,

I told you we were busy, didn't I! On Saturday morning, you and Daddy ran a few errands (cleaned the car out, changed the head light, ran to get last minute things from the grocery store) while Mommy got her final walk in before the marathon next weekend. Yes, marathon, or rather the half, but still it will be an interesting weekend next weekend!

By the time you guys got home, it was time to start getting ready and head to Aunt Amy's and the gang! We thought - THOUGHT being the key word - that you would take a nap in the car, so we didn't even bother with trying at home. However, within 10 minutes of you falling asleep, you were awake. And you weren't happy about it. After a bit of crying (and Mommy & Daddy ignoring the crying), you finally gave up and just watched your movie. It was a long ride no doubt, and it's only an hour and 1/2 to their house! BUT - once we got there, you were a much happier camper. You were a little frightened of Dixie, their dog, but she was super nice to you so there was no reason to be scared. And Caroline got you distracted by playing with her barbies and then of course, playing outside with it being such a beautiful day and all!

You loved jumping on the trampoline, too! You jumped and jumped and jumped. At one point, you had pulled off your pants and were jumping bottomless!!!!
The whole entire family was able to get together for a cookout including Auntie Jill and Uncle Will and Alexis! And of course, Papa was there (and Ellie, too!). All the kiddos played so well together while the grown ups got the food all ready. Uncle Martin (with a little guidance from Daddy and Uncle Jaybee) grilled steaks and pork chops and we had all the fixins for an all American cookout including potato salad and strawberry pie! We made Uncle Martin stick with the American type meal for this cookout - he has a tendency to go a little off track with things to cook! You girls (Ellie and you) had to eat a little earlier than the rest of us. We learned, Ellie, too, did not nap that day, so you both were going to bed early no doubt! So you girls ate while the steaks were cookin'...

After eating, we headed up stairs to get cleaned up and put on our PJs and get ready for the bed. There was no question you were tired; however, you just weren't in the mood to truly go to sleep. It started off good. I put you in one room in the 'attic' and Ellie went in the other. You were lying in the bed, all snuggled in the blanket, then you could hear Ellie squirming a little, so you had to come check on her, to which you saw me sitting outside your door, to which you begged me to lay with you for a little while. At this point, Ellie was crying and you were not going back to bed so I said yes. Big mistake. VERY big mistake. Miss Ellie decided she DID need her rest and cried like 5 seconds and went straight to sleep. You, however, tricked Mommy several times. I would think you were asleep, so I'd creep out, but your sixth sense would step in (or maybe just your hearing or something) and you'd pop your head up, and, very sleepily, say "Mommy sleep with me for a little while?" UGH. So this continued for about 30+ minutes, and so I thought I had you. I got all the way down stairs and thought that I heard you so I looked on the monitor and low and behold, you were out of your room. Mommy decided she had had enough, so I went and got Daddy to take a turn. At this point, most everyone was done eating, so I sat and ate while Daddy went to check on you. He didn't hear me say that you were out of your bed, so he thought he was doing good just sitting there at the top of the stairs, until he heard your little voice say "Mommy?" and then he noticed that little voice was NOT coming from the room it should be coming from... Yep, you were in Ellie's room. I kind of wish we would have just left you, but at the time we didn't know what was going to go down, or what could have gone down. So Daddy went to get you, to which you decided to scream really loud right beside Ellie. Fortunately, that no nap came into play with Ellie because she was conked out! She didn't move a muscle and you just screamed and screamed, and we heard you but we thought Daddy had it under control. But then about 10 minutes later Daddy sent an email (thank goodness for blackberries, huh) saying that he'd be happy to stay up there, but you'd been screaming the whole time for Mommy to sleep with you!!!!!! SO, I headed back up there, taking one for the team (you, Daddy and Ellie) and just decided to wait it out. And, since you cried so much, you were REALLY tired, so you pretty much conked out immediately. I was able to finally go downstairs and enjoy the family cookout, which included the strawberry pie! But then Ellie cried and that freaked us all out but she went back so we thought, yay, it's over, but no, no. No it wasn't. You woke up around 9:30ish screaming again, so both Steph and I ran up all those flights of stairs and after taking a knee for a few seconds, I was able to calm you down. After about 10 minutes or so, it was pretty obvious you weren't going back to sleep anytime soon, or at least would hear me if I snuck out, so by 10, I decided to call it a night and told Daddy to tell everyone good night and just went to sleep with you. Let me just say, this was NOT one of my favorite nights. I kept trying to stay positive by keeping in mind that this was one terrible night in the 2 and 1/2 years of you sleeping perfectly! I was also a little worried about whether the Easter bunny was going to remember to make a stop, since he probably got exhausted watching you be asleep, then awake, then asleep, then awake, then sleeping with your Mommy, BUT, low and behold, he did!!!!

You were a little interested in your basket, but it was Ellie who was eyeing your swimsuit!!! It was a mermaid swimsuit!!!

And the Easter bunny brought a basket from Papa, too! It was really hard to get into, but way worth the effort once it was opened!

You played with lots and lots of bubbles. Papa even commented on how good you are at blowing the bubbles!!

We ate bagels for breakfast and let the kiddos play outside in their PJs!!! Uncle Martin decided to join you kiddos on the trampoline this go round!

Then it was time to dye Easter eggs! Just the girls decided to dye the eggs and they turned out marvelous, and even a little less messy than last year!

After dyeing eggs, it was clearly time to get our baths and get all prettied up for Easter brunch. After lots of scrubbing, you and Ellie were smelling squeky clean, and looking mighty pretty in your Easter best :)
Now, I have to give you a little background on your dress. This dress is the exact dress your BFF wore 30+ years ago, to Easter. Sarah's grandmother, Ginger, made it, and Mommy loved her some Ginger. Every Sunday, I got to go to Ginger's house to eat lunch, a home cooked lunch, and play with your BFF and all her family. It's one of Mommy's favorite memories. And now, Sarah lives in Ginger's house!!! Anyway, so Ginger made the dress for Sarah, and since Sarah wore it that first time, every other girl in her family has worn it, too! So I think this makes you officially a part of Sarah's family, even though you already are since you are named after her, and all... :) Don't you just look perfect in it though!

I think we all clean up pretty good, don't ya think...

So after we got all prettied up, we got ready for a delicious brunch! You waited patiently while we got the last minute things together...
And we even got to sit outside! It was perfect!

After brunch, the kiddos played one last time. It was making Mommy a little nervous you playing in the dress and all, but you were very delicate with it!

We rested our bellies, and then had an egg hunt!! Aunt Amy has a big ole back yard, so there were lots of places to look for these eggs! The big kids eggs were numbered, so if they found one without a number then they had to put it back so the little kids could get it, and then vice versa. BUT, you were so good at hunting that you found some of the big kid eggs!!!!

Ellie was pretty determined to find eggs, too!

And of course, once all the eggs were found, you two had to open everyone of them to see what yumminess was inside!!

After eating a little chocolate (and getting a little on the dress!! AHHH!!), we decorated cupcakes (to which I didn't get a single picture so maybe Aunt Amy or Aunt Steph will send those) and after eating a little cupcake, we decided to head it back home, and PRAY that you take a nap in the car!!!! GUESS WHAT! You did! You were asleep before we hit the interstate and stayed asleep until we were pulling into our neighborhood! Ahhh, much better princess!!

Overall, a very nice Easter holiday! We had lots of hunts, and lots of good food, and lots of family time!

LOVE YOU LITTLE BUNNY GIRL!!!