Easter

So, before I even start posting, let me say I am very frustrated with myself. I forgot to take pics of us as a family when we were all dressed up and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We all looked very nice yesterday but in typical "mom-ness" I only thought to take pics of Hannah. It wasn't until I was putting her to bed and we were both in our pjs that I realized we had taken no family pics. I'm still upset today about it. We had a very busy day and it just escaped my mind. (I will be sure to do better for Mother's day when we will all be dressed up again!)

We got up early to get all dolled up for the 9am easter service. Then we came home and got ready to have 14 people to our house for Easter lunch. Then we had company from about 1 till 8:30. We had a wonderful day! And, we came out ahead because once people had left we discovered a bounty of treasures-wonderful mashed potatoes made from a super secret recipe from JJ, delicious chocolate covered strawberries and pavlova dessert from Beth, a sippy cup left by Holden, yummy peach tea brought by the Wrights, strawberries from Tim, and spiral sliced ham from the Hunters!

Saturday we dyed Easter eggs with Hannah. In my mind I envisioned a fun, glee-filled experience as a family. Thats not exactly what I got. I should mention Hannah has 4 giant lumps on all her back gums and two have recently sprouted sharp points. She has been extra cranky, fussy and clingy the last few days. We started with Hannah standing on a kitchen chair pushed up to the island. I was right there with my arm around her. Well, she slipped off the edge of the chair and I caught her before she hit the ground but she was very startled and wouldn't calm down. I tried to distract her with the stickers for the eggs-lesson learned, Hannah is afraid of stickers! yes! She did not like them at all! She didn't want them on her hands or on her shirt. She wasn't too sure of them being on me or Jesse either. So she just kept crying. This was my wonderful egg dying experience! Fortunately she did like the finished product!

I walked around the living room "hiding" the eggs and she followed behind me picking them all up and putting them in a basket! I couldn't believe she got the concept. It was so cute. We hid and found the eggs about 3 times. She loved it. She also loved clapping the eggs together, which makes me thankful they were hard boiled!

So, enough talking, now for the pictures you've all been waiting for (especially Ashley :) )

Jesse and I both really enjoyed our pastor's Easter sermon. For the last couple months we've been doing a series on pain and he wrapped that up yesterday. We've been learning how God uses pain for many reasons-to remind us of our need for him, to teach us something, to bring us back to Him, to empathize/minister with others in the same position. There were many more reasons, but these hit home for me. Yesterday was a message of hope. He said "Raise your hand if you are a member of the human race." So of course, thats everyone in the room. Then he said, if you are a human, you will have pain in your life. Some will be kindergarten level pain, some will be graduate school level pain. Some will be physical, some emotional, some mental. But there will be pain. We have hope. The pain ends if you have trusted in Jesus as your savior and Lord. We have the hope of eternity in Heaven with Him, pain free. Our pastor told about his sister who had struggled with extreme depression her whole life and died because of untreated breast cancer-she had lived a very painful life. But when she passed away, having believed in Christ for her salvation, she passed into eternity pain free and what a joy that is. We finished the service by singing the song "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin and it really hit home. I am so thankful for the hope of my future eternity with Him. Please read the lyrics (emphasis is mine)...

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say, It is well
Jesus has overcome

and the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise
When He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise, on eagle's wings
Before my God
fall on my knees,
and rise...
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
when this darkness breaks to light
and the shadows disappear
and my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
and the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I hear the voice of many angels sing
Worthy is the Lamb!
And I hear the cry of every longing heart
Worthy is the Lamb!

I will rise
when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise, on eagle's wings
Before my God
fall on my knees,
and rise...
I will rise....
I will rise....

Potty, Park and Pound Chicken

Today, I was renewed in my quest to have Hannah potty trained early! I am so sick of diapers and leaking diapers and waste and stink and throwing away money. So, after breakfast, we went straight to the potty-read books, sang songs. Then Maddy came and she played in the bathroom with us. We had a grand time! Then Hannah poo'd in the potty and we had a wonderful celebration. There were high fives and a piece of candy and the ritual of flushing the toilet. This afternoon after nap she also pee'd in the potty! Again, high fives, candy and flushing! Yay Hannah!

I will admit, potty training is way harder and requires more patience than weaning, dropping the third nap, getting rid of the paci, transitioning to the sippy cup, and all other changes we've made thus far. But, probably the most rewarding!

We got to go the the park today. Some days Hannah is afraid of the swing but today she walked right up to it and made it clear that she wanted in it. She swung for about 30 minutes! She loved it today! She also tried to climb up the slide-life lesson #1564 for Hannah-slides are for going down, not up. (trying to prevent future injury) She climbed up the steps and slide down about 15 times. Then after nap, potty, and snack this afternoon we played in the backyard. She had so much energy today! She is exploring and moving non-stop.

For dinner we had pound chicken that I loved and Jesse liked. I joined a cooking group through my church and can now have fabulous meals with very little work. Its very nice! Jesse has liked all the meals and I love just defrosting a meal I made a month ago and popping it in the oven or crockpot. If you get the chance to join a cooking group, I highly recommend it! Put in 4 hours with your friends one evening a month and get 7+ meals out of it. Voila!

So, thats a run down of our day-Potty, Park and Pound chicken! Yumm!

Super Busy!

Hello all 5 of my readers! Have you been missing me? Its been almost 3 weeks since you've heard from me. I so much to catch up on!

First-Hannah is blooming vocally! She has learned the Itsy Bitsy Spider; she follows me around the house doing her version of a spider and saying "issy issy". When I stop and sing it her face lights up. She learned this song while visiting Pop's and Poni's house in Oklahoma City. She also says Yes; well, it sounds like "Jes". Today I asked her if she wanted her blanket to which she responded "Jes!" She also says "Quack Quack Quack" when she sees ducks (or chickens) but it sounds like quick "Ah-Ah-Ah". And finally for a monkey I always say "Oh Oh Ahh Ahh" and she says "Ahh Ahh". It looks the same as the duck but her vocal inflections are very different. Its obvious what she is saying, especially since she will be holding a stuffed monkey or looking at a book with monkeys.

Second-She is an excellent walker and getting very close to running. She will chase the dogs or get excited and walk very quickly-it'll soon be a run and will keep me moving!

Third-Our trip to vegas was wonderful!! I cried a little when I left Hannah in Oklahoma City but once I left it was great. I really enjoyed my time with just me and Jesse. It was a good reminder that there is more to me that just being a mom (though I love that role) and that Jesse and I need time together just us. We need to make a bigger commitment to going out on dates. We loved our hotel-I highly recommend The Trump whenever you may be in Vegas. It was beautiful and quiet and close to the strip. The first evening we were there we had dinner at the Wynn and explored the Venetian Hotel including a Gondola ride through the canals.

Gondola at the Venetian.....

The Conservatory at The Wynn......

 On day two, we had a fabulous breakfast at the Wynn then took a taxi to Planet Hollywood and made our way down the strip stopping at the Coca Cola store for pics with the Polar Bear, and going all the way to the Luxor where we met our friends and started working our way back up the strip. We saw lots of beauty, lots of trash, lots of ridiculousness. But we loved it. It was very windy this day and therefore I performed several Marilyn Monroe moments, but I tried not to be too embarrassed and let it ruin my day.

The coca cola bear.....

That night we went to an interactive dinner theater called Tony and Tina's wedding. It was performed as if we guests at the wedding. We watched the ceremony, had dinner and wedding cake, all the while interacting with the actors who were the Bride and Groom, Wedding Party and other guests. Before the show the actors came and mingled with us in the lobby and I got to talk with a lot of them. I think because I was so talkative they bumped us up to a VIP table so we were right in front of all the action. I had a blast! I don't know if Ryan, Shawna or Jesse did-but I did! On our way home this evening we saw the fountains at the Bellagio (which is the nicest hotel in vegas, IMHO) and then headed to the Wynn to see the "performance" at the lake and have dessert.

Waiting for the fountains at the Bellagio.....

 Jesse doing the YMCA at "the wedding" (our friend Ryan is to his left in the hard hat).....

The Conservatory at the Bellagio. Beautiful!.....

Day three we had a good breakfast at the Palazzo though we wandered through several hotels for about an hour trying to find the "perfect place" to eat. Then we headed over to Ceasar's palace because I hadn't seen it yet but had read it shouldn't bee missed. Here I did the only shopping of the whole trip at H&M because we don't have that in Denver and treated myself to a new dress and new shirt. Being in this hotel made me want to go to Italy and Greece and see for myself what it really looks like! I hope the real thing has less slot machines and more sunshine!

Random.....

We joined up with our friends and headed to Wild Bills Gambling Hall which looked very old style compared to many of the other hotels/casinos. But we had a lot of fun playing Black Jack here and I won $35! Which of course made my day! We then headed to the Paris which I think was my second favorite hotel, after the Bellagio. It really made me feel like we were in Paris! We went to the Rio for their famous buffet-after all we were in Vegas, we MUST do a Buffet. I don't know that I got my money's worth or that the food was really fabulous but it was good and we had fun. For our last night we went to a dueling pianos bar in the Palazzo. Some of the songs were a lot of fun and some I had never heard before. But overall it was a good night.

The best thing about our last day in Vegas was leaving. I had a wonderful trip but I was soooo glad to get home to Hannah! She seemed happy to see me too and gave me lots of hugs and snuggles.