Easter!

This year Easter was ..... Easter. Nothing special other than the fact that it is the holiday celebrated to remember Christ's resurrection - which is of course VERY special.

The day before Easter we took the kids to City Park to the Easter Festival and Egg Hunt put on by Antioch Church. It was pretty chilly, but the kiddos didn't complain, even in their shorts and sandals (whoops).

After the egg hunt we went to eat lunch at Al's Burgers. Yummy!!

Easter morning included the discovery of the Easter baskets left by the Easter Bunny himself! (side note...the magic died for our two oldest this year because Maya is too smart and asked....so that's cool.)

Dallin got a new book and some Hot Wheels cars. He was very excited about both!

I think the girls forgot that there was going to be a basket with goodies in the morning because Dallin had to go in their room and show them his before they came out to find their own. Maya got a new book and Hidden Figures. She admires the women in that story and had been asking for the movie for a couple of months.

Brianna also got a new book and an L.O.L. doll. 

Lydia got nothing but the gift of life one month previous.

Then of course we had the mandatory egg hunt in our backyard before church that morning. 

After church we took some photos of the kiddos. Well. We tried. It was a massive fail.

I think the best photos we got were of the three older kids enjoying this ladybug that Dallin found in the grass.

Then we added Lydia to the mix and it got even worse. By the way, this was her face for the first two months of her life. Quite a joy.

Dallin decided he had enough and was outta there!!!

This year we did not dye eggs. I'm 100% okay with that and might continue that tradition, the one of not doing it, for several more years until doing it doesn't fill me dread because of the ensuing mess. Thumbs up for as little stress as possible.

Happy Easter!

Lydia - 1 month!

Oh my gosh you guys. Lydia turned one month old 3 weeks ago. She has changed even since then, but I'll post anyway, despite the tardiness.

Lydia is not my easiest baby. In fact, she's probably the hardest so far. Now that she is almost 8 weeks old things are getting better, but for a while there it was not the greatest. I will say, however, that she is superb at sleeping at night! After I nurse her she gets put into her bassinet around 8 PM completely awake, she falls asleep without a peep (she will take a pacifier but doesn't like it when she's sleeping), and doesn't wake to eat until 3 or 4 AM most nights. After she eats she goes right back to sleep and then wakes around 7 AM for the day. I love that about her!!

During the day is a different story. When she was a month old and the weeks surrounding it, she would not stay asleep for more than ten minutes when I put her down. It drove me BONKERS. I couldn't get anything done! If I wanted her to sleep, I had to wear her in my lillebaby carrier. We are still working on getting through that, but she is doing much better at sleeping in her bed and staying asleep for naps. 

She also cries a lot when she is awake. If she is content for more than ten minutes it's kind of amazing. It's been a struggle for me. I'm looking forward to the coming months when she (hopefully) eases into a regular daily routine and we can find ways to keep her happy. 

We love you, Lydia, thank you for keeping us on our toes!

March Merriment

March was a big month for us this year! 

One morning the kids and I had fun playing with the camera on my phone.

We had fun doing hairstyles. The girls are being better about letting me do it lately, which is LOVELY.

Dallin went through a short phase of being a stinker about eating breakfast. On this morning he would only eat if Brianna stayed sitting next to him on the chair in our room. That phase seems to have passed, at least for the moment.

Dallin fell in love with this tiny baby doll and liked to wrap her up and put her in the bassinet prepared for the new baby. 

I got to go out to dinner with some gal pals at Carrabba's to celebrate new baby girl.

View from up top at 38 weeks.

We went out for dinner for my dad's birthday and afterwards we had carrot cake that I made for him. We used a sparkler for his candle!

Maya had a school field trip to the Children's Discovery Museum. My friend sent me a few pictures of her adventures there.

Maya had her school pictures taken. She's so cute! When she saw the photo she said, "Wait...that's not where I was!" Haha - the power of a green screen!

I had gone out with a friend to get a pedicure one evening and when I got home and took off my sock all the toenails on one foot were ruined because they hadn't dried all the way. I was super bummed!! I called the salon and was able to go back in to get them touched up. I did just that, but had to take all of my kids with me. Thankfully it only took about 10-15 minutes; the girls were watching the TV that was on mute and Dallin intently watched the woman paint my toenails.

More hairs!

Dallin and that doll again...

More fun with the camera - the chubby cheeks are cute haha!

We went on a walk while I was in early labor with the new baby. There was a train and Dallin enjoyed getting to see it so close.

Lydia Elise arrived! By far the highlight of our month!

While I was in the hospital with Lydia the girls got to have some time with their Browning cousins. I'm so glad that the dates coincided so that my kids had something to do while I was indisposed.

All eight cousins on the Duggins side. 

She is such a sweet baby!

After one day and night of cluster feeding (pretty sure it's of the devil) I stuck a pacifier in this girl's mouth. She took it with no hesitation and I am completely thrilled.

After her first bath. Her umbilical cord only took four days to fall off so she got a nice warm actual bath.

Aunt Lisa came to visit for a day. I appreciated her help with the kids and random things around the house.

They love their sister so much!

A moment of quiet solitude. It doesn't happen much.

We are pretty cool cats, if I do say so myself.

Fun hair for church.

Dallin snuggled up to me while I was nursing. He lay on my shoulder and played with Lydia's hair while she ate. These are the moments I treasure with my little flock.