Easter Bunnies

We had a lovely Easter weekend, despite a rainy Saturday. The dreary weather cleared up just in time to have some friends over for dinner on Saturday night. Elliot and Beatrice did a great job of entertaining our guests while Mommy and Daddy made dinner. We woke up on Sunday morning to bright blue skies and very warm weather. Elliot and I put on our Sunday best and went to church (Daddy and Beatrice held down the fort at home and waited for the Easter Bunny). After church the kids dove into their Easter baskets. Elliot liked his toys but liked the candy better. Beatrice was more interested in Elliot's tricycle than she was in her Easter basket.

After playing the yard for a bit we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and go for a walk along Sligo Creek Trail. Along our 3 mile walk we looked for tadpoles in the creek, made a play ground pit stop, and had lunch in down town silver spring. During lunch, Beatrice tired daddy's vanilla milk shake, then decided not to give it back to Daddy. Considering she won't drink cold milk, I was surprised how much she liked it. After lunch Elliot and Daddy decided to see a movie -Rio, a cartoon about a Parrot from Brazil.

Needless to say, we were all pooped by bedtime tonight! I can't wait to spend more of our weekends outdoors.

Growing in the Garden

We spent most of our Sunday this weekend in our new yard. Our yard was in a pretty sad state when we moved in and we tried to work with it, but last month we gave in and decided to have it landscaped. The result is wonderful! I can't wait for the grass to take root so that we can play on it. Elliot's favorite part of the yard is the rock garden. Which is the former the pond filled in with pea gravel (after cutting holes in the bottom). I knew that it would make the perfect construction zone - note the orange cones that Elliot set up along the parameter.

Elliot has been a great helper in the yard and this weekend and helped us installed a rain barrel, hang a bird feeder and bird houses, paint and hang some garden art, plant our vegetable garden, and put in solar lights. Beatrice likes the yard too, but she was napping when I brought out the camera.

Showing off our rain barrel in the vegetable garden.

He can't wait to mow the lawn.

There is still lots of room for riding bikes.

Beatrice's Art - Elliot painted the pink and made the white dots, Bea reluctantly let me paint her hands and make hand prints.

Elliot's art - He did it all with the exception of the face and body of the butterfly. He described it as " a butterfly in the sun."

Party Time

The pink and green butterfly themed party was a success! The only downside was the weather which kept all 35 guests inside for the entire party. Thank goodness for the play room. Beatrice and Natalie were showered with attention, love, and presents. I went a little over board with the decorations and you can see lots of pictures of the decor on my other blog, http://www.namesakedesign.blogspot.com/ (posting on April 14th). I will add additional photos from the party as I receive them from party goers.

Thank you everyone who came to celebrate - especially Grammy and Papa who came all the way from Colorado.

Aunt Lindsay, Brian, Beatrice, Amanda, Natalie, and Uncle John

Beatrice, Amanda, Mom-Mom (great grandmother to E and B) Lindsay, Natalie, and Mimsey

Beatrice really liked this plate. It was one of Natalie's presents.

The cake Mommy made

The babies look a little confused/concerned....

Natalie's Aunt Rachel helping the big kids with cake and ice cream.

Elliot wanted to test all of the new toys to make sure they were "safe". These Busy Gears were a big hit.

Natalie was fascinated by the balloons. Elliot was very sweet to his little cousin.

Beatrice Turns 1!

Today was Beatrice's first birthday. This year went by so fast! We kicked off the birthday celebrations with a trip to the doctor for her one year check up. I really would have preferred to go another day (nobody wants shots on their birthday), but today worked best schedule wise. Beatrice is 29" tall (60th percentile) and weighs 20 pounds 12 ounces (50th percentile). She cried her little head off when she got her shots, but recovered quickly.

She spent the rest of the day playing with Elliot and Mariana. At around 5 PM, Grammy and Papa arrived. They flew in from Colorado today and are staying until Sunday. Our friends the Haugens (minus Nick who is out of town for work) came over for pizza. For dessert we had pink cupcakes made by Elliot and Mariana. Beatrice liked smashing the cupcake almost as much as she liked eating it.

I can't wait for the big birthday celebration this weekend. We are having a joint party with cousin Natalie. It is going to be so much fun!