Easter 2013

Since The Mayor went to sleep last night with a fever, we knew church was out of the question this morning.  And The Mayor obviously needed his rest because he didn't wake up until after 8AM, which he hasn't done in a long time.  After some cuddle time with him in our bed (he was still a bit lethargic and feverish), we went to wake up Love Bug so we could go check out the Easter baskets.  The baskets got his energy level up a bit because they were both pretty excited with their baskets.

The Mayor got a couple of Transformers while Love Bug got a Tinkerbell doll and a mini-Repunzel doll.  Obviously there was some candy and marshmallow Peeps but the toys took the prize.  At some point in the morning, The Mayor's fever broke and once it broke, his energy was back up and he was back to his old self.  We decided to load the kids up in the strollers and take a nice walk.  About 2 miles from home it started raining on us.  The kids thought it was fun being in the rain and D and I just laughed at my idea for going on a walk.  Sad thing is I checked the weather report before we left and there was only a 10% chance of rain.  Obviously the report was way off, but we had fun nonetheless.  After we made it home and dried off, we ran a couple of quick errands and came home for an Easter egg hunt.  D hid the eggs in the backyard and the kids had a blast finding their eggs.  I just love how excited they get when they find their eggs.

After we grilled out for dinner, we headed upstairs for bath and bed.  I wish we had been able to go to church this morning, but the day was still perfect.

This week is Spring Break so we have nothing on our calendar.  YAY!

coming down and seeing their baskets

they were excited!

an Easter stomach bug

D and I woke up at midnight to a crying boy.  The Mayor was crying because he had just vomited (luckily in the toilet) and then got sick 3 more times.  Thankfully, we still had Zofran from the stomach virus he had over Christmas break.  A dose of Zofran did the trick and the vomiting stopped.  D and I took turns sleeping in The Mayor's room with him but he never slept peacefully for the rest of the night.  He tossed and turned until morning.

We had an Easter egg hunt this morning at our Sunday School teacher's house.  They were hosting the entire class and all our kids.  Unfortunately, The Mayor and D had to stay home due to his stomach virus, but Love Bug and I went.  It was fun; they split the kids into 3 groups based off their ages and then we had a pot luck lunch around their pool.  The weather was amazing.  Sunny and in the 60s.  We stayed until after lunch and headed home.  The Mayor had spiked a fever and spent the morning and afternoon cuddling with D and me, but he did have enough energy to dye some eggs.  The kids did a great job this year; they each dyed a dozen.  Around 2:30, The Mayor said he was tired and actually said he wanted to take a nap.  I had to wake him at 5:15 and he still had a fever of 101.4.  His appetite was pretty non-existent; he spent the day nibbling on Saltines and drinking Gatorade mixed with water.  At 7:15 tonight, he told me it was time for him to go to bed.  That is one sick boy if he is agreeing to take a nap and telling me when it is time to go to bed.

We will be missing church tomorrow morning and have postponed our family Easter dinner with PopPop, Mamie, Meega, J, Bennett and Walker until later in the week.  We will have an Easter egg hunt in the backyard for Love Bug and The Mayor in the morning and depending on how he feels, we will load them up in the stroller and go on a walk.  Maybe some fresh air will do him some good.  Instead of an Easter ham, we will be grilling out.  We will save the ham for the family dinner.  This isn't how I envisioned our Easter being but we will all be together so that's all that matters.

an easter party

Today was Love Bug's Easter party at school and I was in charge of food with one other mother.  I volunteered to bring fruit and the bunny cake I make every year.  I was all about doing something easy and something I have made every year for the past 3 years.  I had a tennis match this morning that was in the northern part of the county so D took the kids and the food to school for me this morning.  Unfortunately and fortunately - I was annihilated in my match so I had more than enough time to get to her party.  HA!

The kids had an Easter egg hunt on their playground and were told they could each get 12 eggs.  It was cute to see the girls all grabbing and counting as they went and seeing the boys just grabbing.  It was hysterical to see the parents of the boys following them around and stealing eggs from their baskets to throw on the ground for the girls to pick up.  (The Mayor's party was Tuesday but it was just for the kids...the parents weren't invited)

After the egg hunt, we went inside for crafts and lunch.  They made bunnies with their handprints and then ate pizza, fruit and cake for lunch.  Another high note of the day was The Mayor had pictures today (they were canceled last week due to inclement weather) and I ran into his teacher in the hall and she said he did AWESOME!  What a huge difference from picture day in the fall where he was rolling around on the ground, tackling people and just being a wild animal.  She said they had to get onto all of the boys...except him!!! HALLELUJAH!!  Seeing major changes in my boy!

For his reward, we hit the local candy store and got some goodies and then came home.  The afternoon flew by and before we knew it, it was time to think about dinner.  Luckily I had all of the stuff to make breakfast for dinner.  I love an easy dinner...and now we are about to head upstairs to start the bedtime routine.  There isn't any school tomorrow for Good Friday and next week is Spring Break.  So we are excited about a week of NOTHING!

pin the egg in the Easter basket

I love her sweet face when she is praying

kindergarten registration

Today I actually felt the sadness of how fast time is going.  I registered The Mayor for kindergarten.  I actually made it through the registration with no tears but I had a pang in my chest.  A heaviness hit me when I realized a huge chapter in our life is about to come to an end.  The Mayor will never be at home with me everyday ever again.  Starting August 8 through the next 12 years, The Mayor will be in school for 8 hours everyday for 180 days of the year.  I know he is in preschool...but preschool is just 4 hours and who cares if he misses a day of preschool?  They don't worry about attendance...and 4 hours flies by.  As soon as I drop them off, it is almost time to go back and get them.  In public school, he will be at the bus stop around 6:45 AM and won't get home until 2:45 PM.  My time with him during the day will be getting shorter and time is going to just start going faster.  The positive in this whole situation is The Mayor is so excited about going to kindergarten.  He actually thanked me today for registering him and said he is excited to ride the "new, cool, yellow school bus".  When I asked him if he wanted me to drive him to school or take the bus, he said the bus.  When I asked again if he was sure he didn't want me to drive him, he said "mom, the cool yellow school bus will take me to school".  Duh.

I faked cried to The Mayor today after I told him I was registering him for kindergarten.  He looked at me like I had 3 heads and asked "why are you whining like that??"  I laughed and said "because I am going to miss you so much next year when you go to kindergarten".  He wasn't phased.  Again, I know this is a good thing.  I would much rather it just be me who is sad and him be excited.  It would be torture to send him to school if he wasn't thrilled about being there.

The rest of the day was extremely uneventful comparatively speaking.  Love Bug and I curled up and watched "Booty The Beast" (what she calls "Beauty and the Beast") while The Mayor was in school.  I love having those quiet moments with her when she is curled up in my lap.  Thank goodness I will still have two more years with her at home when The Mayor starts elementary school.

The Mayor at 9 months...feels just like yesterday...my baby is growing up

another race down

Last week was crazy busy.  I got asked to work a contract for my friend's market research company which ate up most of the week and then we left for Florida on Friday as soon as The Mayor got out of school for D's race.

Working was good...and fun.  It was nice using my brain again!  And it was nice interacting with adults and feeling like I was actually working while the kids were at home being taken care of by D.  I don't want to go back to work full-time but it was nice to have a fun week-long project.

Friday morning Love Bug and I packed up while D went to work for a couple of meetings and The Mayor went to school.  I couldn't let him miss a day since he had missed a day from our trip to Orlando and then a whole week because of the flu.  So we picked him up a few minutes early and headed to Valdosta to drop them off with MeMe and Big Daddy and then we headed to Florida.

The kids were beyond excited to be staying the whole weekend with MeMe and Big Daddy.  So excited that apparently The Mayor said he wasn't ready to come home with us...he wanted to stay with them.  And the report back was they were great and well-behaved!  Couldn't have asked for better.

Florida was amazing and exhausting.  There was a large group of us...some of which were competing in the Half IronMan distance triathlon on Saturday with D and the rest competing in the Olympic distance triathlon and our friend Cathi doing her first tri ever in the Sprint distance on Sunday.

Saturday was a long day.  We were up and out of the hotel before 6am and at the race site.  D and our friend Laura decided to pace some of our friends during the 13.1 mile run of the Half IronMan.  It was HOT and muggy since it had been raining that morning and the heat really drained our friends.  I thought it was crazy that D and Laura ran a half marathon the day before they were to do their own Olympic triathlon...but I have come to learn these people are crazy!  They are on a totally different level then I will ever be.  Their dedication and support of each other was really amazing to see firsthand.  I really admire this group of people.

We went out to a wonderful dinner at a local Italian restaurant that night to celebrate the weekend and then were back at the hotel for a early night's sleep because we were back at it again starting at 5am.  D was a little sore from the previous day's run but he was ready for his race.  He crushed the swim and bike but I was worried about his run.  Our friend Meredith (who did the Half IronMan the previous day) laced up her shoes and said she was going to pace D on his 10K run.  I told her she was insane and didn't need to push herself but she said she wanted to support her friend.  She helped a lot too.  I could tell D was hurting on that run but having his friend by his side pushing him helped him beat his goal by 18 minutes and come in 4th place in his age group.  So proud of him and the rest of the crew!

After the race was over, we went back to the hotel for quick showers, checked out and headed back to Valdosta to get the kids and then home to Atlanta.  We rolled into our home around 8PM and crashed quickly afterwards.  It was a long weekend...and I could not have been happier that today was ice cold with nothing on the calendar.  We really needed a day with nothing to do.  I'm still exhausted so I am going to sign off on this blog post and hit the sack!

coming out of the water

in transition...getting ready for the bike

getting ready to mount the bike

coming back from the bike

leaving for the run

D and Meredith rounding the loop to finish the last 3.1 miles of the race

rounding the finish!

at the finish line

the crew!!  Missing our friend (and D's boss Bart - he had to fly out that morning during the race)

D and our friend Cathi - she completed her first tri ever!

one gorgeous weekend

Oh man, was this weekend amazing in regards to weather.  We had temps close to the 70s, sunshine, great breeze and no pollen (yet...it is just around the corner I am sure).  We spent most of the afternoon playing outside and enjoying this spring weather.

The entire weekend was just low-key...the way I like it.  D had some training he had to do since his next race is next weekend and I had a tennis match on Sunday but other than that, we had nothing on our calendars.  We played outside a lot and took the kids to the gym so they could play and we could workout.  When we picked them up from the kid's area, they were outside playing in the covered outdoor area.  Even the gym employees couldn't get enough of this great weather.  And I am so glad we soaked it all up because today was rainy and cold.  The rain is supposed to move out tonight and sunshine (and slightly cooler temperatures) are making their way back.  I will take it!

Tomorrow is picture day for Love Bug (The Mayor's is on Thursday).  I kept trying to find a cute dress to put her in but ultimately settled on putting her in her birthday party outfit.  Nothing describes Love Bug more at this stage in her life than Princess.  So why not dress her in her custom princess outfit and when I look back on these pictures decades from now, I will remember with fondness this sweet stage of life we are in.

outdoor dance party!

spring is in the air

Today, the weather was GORGEOUS!  It feels like Spring is finally here.  It was almost in the 70s today and we took every advantage of this weather.

We started the morning with Love Bug's 3 year well visit.  Peanut is 37 1/2 inches tall (63rd percentile) and 32 1/2 pounds (69th percentile).  I am so used to The Mayor's numbers being almost off the charts but the doctor says she is completely normal, healthy and growing right on course with her previous stats.  The best part...no vaccinations!

After the doctor, we ran into Meega and Bennett and had lunch together.  The kids were so excited when we ran into them in the parking lot...and after lunch, we invited Meega, Bennett and Walker (Walker missed lunch - he was at home with J) to come over and ride bikes.  They showed up and the kids played for over 2 hours in the beautiful sunshine.  They rode bikes, played with sidewalk chalk, blocks, bubbles and kicked the ball around.  Then the neighbor kids came out and invited The Mayor and Bennett to play kickball.  The Mayor was so excited to be invited to play with the big kids...Bennett stood by The Mayor to play and then came and sat with me.  Then he and Love Bug were just not interested in what those big kids were doing so they went back onto our driveway to play.

After they left, we rested for a bit and then met D at the Mexican restaurant for dinner.  It was a great treat especially since I wasn't excited about what I had originally planned for dinner.  After dinner was frozen yogurt and then home for family movie night.  Love Bug has been dying to sleep in The Mayor's room with him and we have been telling her she could do it when she turned 3.  Well, she is now 3 and she totally called us out.  We told them they could attempt the sleepover tonight.  It isn't going well.  She has only been in bed for 15 minutes and has come out of the room 3 times (to go to the bathroom, give us hugs...).  I am about to go put her in her crib where she can't escape and she will sleep.  The Mayor is so tired...he keeps telling her "the rule is you can't get out of my bed"!  Poor boy just wants to sleep!  We will try again another night.

butterflies and princesses

This morning Love Bug got to wear her PJs to school for a fun Pajama Party and the teachers served them breakfast for lunch.  She also got to decorate a butterfly any way she wanted and it will hang in the hall all next week.  She did fun scribbles, glued colored pom-poms on and added two pages of Mickey and Minnie stickers on her butterfly.  She was so proud!

After school, the kids "cleaned" their playroom while I cleaned the downstairs.  They did actually clean, it just took forever.  They would clean, then take out toys, then clean, then take out toys...it finally was clean...2 hours later.  It was fine, it kept them busy and they had a blast playing together.

While they were playing/cleaning, a package arrived from Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Woody and Elizabeth. Love Bug was so excited she had another birthday present to open.  And The Mayor cheered her on.  When she finally got the wrapping paper off, The Mayor said, quite excitedly I might add, "Oh my goodness!!  It's a box!!"  He literally thought the present was a box and they were both so excited about the box.  It was so precious and hysterical.  The excitement only grew when we told her to open the box...inside she found the movie "Sofia The First" and a Sofia tote bag.  "Sofia The First" is the latest show on Disney Junior and of course, our little princess LOVES this show.  She was in princess heaven and was so happy when I told her we could now watch Sofia in the car.

Tomorrow The Mayor doesn't have school since it is a teacher work day and Love Bug has her 3 year well visit.  The weather is going to be so gorgeous so we will be playing outside.  Bring on spring!

"It's a box"!  So happy I captured this on film!

"SOFIA"!!!