Easter Saturday

We started out too early - playing soccer. I don't believe that I have blogged any soccer. Dylan's school friend invited him to play in his church's soccer league.  That's the Crews' church so we invited them.  Dylan's school friend moved away, which is sad, but soccer is good now that the practices are over. Noah and Isaac are on the same team, and Dylan, Malia, and Olivia are on the same team. 

 Olivia scored!!!

 Darren's mom and step-dad were in town for Easter weekend so they came to watch too.

then we went home to shower and went right to Brandon's 6th birthday party at the Treasure Island Fun Center.   

 Then I took a nap with Tyler, we ate dinner. I filled their baskets with the traditional books. The rest of the stuff is from my mom and  Don.  I got them dart gun refills. I don't really get into the Easter bunny and getting kids crazy gifts for Easter.  Baskets are fun, but I just used some baskets we had.  My mom made me my Easter basket and I kept it for a long time.  I think she mailed it to me at BYU and I don't know where it is now. 

 Then the lighting was beautiful and Steven hid the eggs in the back yard that they boys had carefully "filled" the evening before with two jelly beans each. Tyler is the youngest, so he got a head start on the hunt.  

 Then Isaac got a 10 second head start on Dylan.

 My mom got the boys most of the things in their Easter baskets. They learned that chocolate bunnies are hollow, dissapiointing to every child.  I got Tyler squirt pool/bath toy animals - equally delicious to him.

 They learned that chocolate bunnies are hollow, disappointing to every child.  I got Tyler squirt pool/bath toy animals - equally delicious to him.

 Tyler had recently started crawling. I should have put some baby legs on him or something.

 Oh yea, I got them squirt guns that had candy in their tops. Isaac kept pretending to smile for a picture with his chocolate face but then was darting away so quickly.  I got one, but he had wiped the chocolate mostly away by then.

 We had made string eggs in Joy school and I wanted a picture of it. Dylan pretended he made it out of his Spiderman webbing.

The kids had baths and went to bed. We actually didn't read any of the Easter story, but that's okay because most of the nights before that week, we had read from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and some of John - about the last week of Christ's life. So they were prepared for Easter Sunday. I'd like to do an Easter Sonrise service every year, but I can't get my act together, and I taught the nursery school church lesson to prepare etc so I stayed up late like I do before any exciting day. When the kids can all fully get themselves up and ready by themselves, maybe I'll pick up that tradition.

Dear Tyler, you're 7 months old!

Dear Tyler,

You're 7 months old! Do you know something?  I think you're so beautiful.  You're a cute beautiful baby boy.  I love to hold you on my lap while you bounce and dig your toes into my tummy or thighs then spring-retract them up so you can do it again.  

 Yes I took you to see the Easter Bunny.  It's your 1st Easter and I started a tradition when I took Dylan!  I took Dylan and Isaac to this same bunny for their first years.  They were tiny babies though.  I actually missed taking you to sit on the mall Santa's lap, so I'll have to do it next year to give a photo to give to your Great Grandma Rebeck for her tree.

You crack yourself up sometimes.
You started doing really well at nights and would go to bed without crying.  You still liked to nurse to sleep, but would go to bed in your bed and stay in there from sometime between 7 and 10pm until 5:30.  But recently, you fight sleeping again, don't really want to nurse, take a bottle, be rocked, etc, and don't fall to sleep 'til after 10pm, then you wake up before 5:30.  It's sorta exhausting for your daddy and me.

 You got up on all fours, then the next day you rocked and rocked, then on your 7 month birthday, you took a reach AND knee - so you crawled!  Daddy and I both saw it.  You were going for a toy towards our coffee table and we watched you do the push up, get on all fours, and go before splatting.  So exciting!

(Yes Dylan is dunking his head in the pool behind you - he was hot.)

Now you can rock and scoot and get up and splat down at your leisure.  You even go from your tummy up to a side plank.  Where you are almost back to sitting up buy you're still tipped over on your hand. You've never seemed to mind tummy time.  Oh, and you pulled yourself up to a standing position on our couch on your 7 month birthday too!  That surprised Dylan and me both.  He said "Look, Tyler is doing what Ivy can do!"

 You sleep on your back, but sometimes I put you down on your side and you'll stay.  But if you start to wiggle, you make it back to your back. You like your feet up on your blankets or on me.
We took your bumper out of your crib because I loved watching you sleep through the rungs. For a couple of weeks, you would be found smushed into those wood slats or would be caught with a limb in there.  You've been good lately though.

 You mostly nurse for nutrition.  I give you simple table scraps and some of my green smoothie I've been making lately.  You still don't like bananas. I feel so guilty about giving you some of our oranges in one of those mesh bag holder thingies.  I didn't clean up the drips well enough that rested above your bib on your collar bone area.  So not only did you have some red skin in your diaper area, it burned your skin above your bib!  I cleared it up with hydrocortizone liquid from your pediatrician.  We'll wait for that. You lunge towards my cup of water and can cough back drink some.  I'm going to buy you a sippy cup tomorrow. (I did buy you two kinds of cups and you love the water!)
When you nurse, your hands are busy.  You don't want to hold anything specific, nor do you want to hold anything for long.  You're not wiggly other than your top hand though, that's good.

You're really wiggly and busy in general.  You usually like me to be near you.  Sometimes only I will do.  You are so sweet and I love it when you get tired and just want me and fall asleep in the sling when we're out, or when you fall asleep on Daddy when we're out.  I love to kiss you.  I like you.
Love, Mommy