Easter

I woke up on Easter morning with laryngitis and absolutely no voice.

It's a good thing I could lip sync while conducting the children's choir at church because the only sound I could produce was a whisper. The children sang a beautiful song called "Gethsemane" and the boys were so happy that their grandparents could hear them sing because they were in town for a wedding and a birthday that coincided with Easter.

Since we had family visiting, we were happy to host dinner. But not before the Easter photo-op. I love any opportunity where it is acceptable to dress my boys in pink.

Finn was in a particularly photogenic mood.

We spent the afternoon preparing the feast while the little ones napped. We fit in a quick hunt for eggs when the cousins arrived. I had Blake and Nash hide all the eggs even though they were the ones finding them too. They were so sweet to make sure their siblings and cousins received a sufficient amount of eggs.

Finn stopped at one egg once he discovered the jelly beans within.

It was wonderful to have family in town to soak up all the Easter goodness with us. Even with the sugar high that resulted from the surplus of candy strewn across the house.

Finn | Eighteen Months

Finn went ahead and turned the big one-and-a-half.

As we were leaving church last week, I noticed a huge wildflower field completely in bloom. I couldn't resist taking Finn back to that location to capture his advancement in age.

The rows and rows of yellow blooms were open for a little while, but as soon as the sun lowered, they closed right up.

At eighteen months, I finally upgraded Finn from a pack-n-play to a real crib. I managed to fit the crib in our closet still. I'm all about optimal sleep and I see too many sleepless naps and nights for multiple parties if we arrange it any other way. Maybe we'll reconsider the roommate situation in a few months. But let's face it, I like Finn to be close to me. When Troy tries to put him down at night, I usually scoop him away so I can spend a few minutes snuggling him before lowering him into his bed. I know all too well that he won't be my baby for long and I'm trying to savor any babyhood tidbits that I can.

Finn loves to throw his food on the floor. A month ago he ate everything in sight and now he won't touch anything except crackers and fruit. Even fruit is hit or miss. One day he likes blueberries and bananas and the next day he throws them on the floor. And since he won't eat at mealtimes, he begs at our cupboards all day long for snacks. I usually don't give in, so it's extra frustrating when he pushes me around all day while seeking snacks. I sure hope this phase is short lived.

Other than the mealtime situation, Finn is a dream. When he wants to be tickled, he holds his arms out and wiggles his fingers while making noises with his tongue. His vocabulary is increasing every day. Eighteen months is the age of eligibility for nursery at church and so far he has gone right in with no tears. Finn begs to go outside and wants to do anything his brothers are doing, including rough housing. He loves his thumb and nie-night more than life itself.

He's really starting to become "one of the boys" instead of just "the baby." As much as I want to hold onto to babyhood with all my might, I had a little epiphany about the reality of growing up a few weeks ago. Our family went to a movie at a movie theater; all six of us. We rarely go out to dinner or movies as a family anymore because it's just too stressful. But it was a rainy Friday night and we decided to make a go for it. To our great surprise, everyone was on their best behavior. Even Finn was still and snuggly through the whole movie. It has been so long since we've done anything like that. I caught a glimpse of the freedom that comes with children growing up and acting appropriately in public. I have a feeling the party is only just beginning.

Spring Festival

Now that we've lived in California a little over a year, some outings that were new to us last spring are being repeated. The second the spring festival advertisements popped up around town, the boys couldn't stop talking about finding the golden egg at the egg hunt.

Finn made his egg hunt debut. 

I'm always amused by the differences between Blake and Nash. While waiting at the starting line, Blake's brows were furrowed in serious concentration while Nash goofed off with his bucket on his head.

No one from our family found the golden egg but they managed to collect a few other eggs.

Crew was a bit jealous of his older brothers' collections that revealed candy since the toddler egg hunt only contained stickers. 

Just like last year, the highlight of the day was the bubble station. The bubbles alone make this event worth attending.

I'm sure we'll be back next year to search for the highly sought after golden egg. And a twice-repeated activity surely constitutes a tradition in our book.