Happy Easter!

As we adults prepare our hearts to celebrate what I consider to be the most important of Christian holidays, we also participate in various traditions with our children.  And what fun traditions they are!

First, you have to have a good Easter egg hunt.

 

Unfortunately, I've come down with some nasty virus and was laid up on the couch at home with Walter while Paul took Henry to the church Easter egg hunt. I've been looking forward to the hunt for weeks, so I was feeling seriously terrible (thank goodness for Zofran and Ibuprofen!).  Paul said the kiddos were limited to only 6 eggs each, so he spent most of the time picking eggs out of Henry's basket and putting them back on the ground while Henry focused on filling the basket.  I love that he's at an age where he's oblivious to these type of things! 

After the hunt, you've gotta check out the bounce house!!

Apparently, Henry had a very difficult time staying on his feet. Paul said he got a little timid, would sit and start to inch towards the exit, and would then change his mind last minute and turn around and head back in to attempt to jump again.  He said this went on about 10 times before he decided to pull Henry out before he got hurt. 

Then, assuming you've been a sweet boy, you must get a visit from the Easter bunny. Even if you find him terrifying.

 

While Walter has a matching basket, I didn't actually fill it or get him anything. We'll save that fun for next year!

And finally, to round out the Easter traditions, you've gotta pose for pictures. Lots and lots of pictures!

And I feel as though a disclaimer is in order before the remaining photos are seen: yes, I realize I look completely disheveled.  Let it be noted I have yet to kick whatever it is that I've come down with, and Paul and I managed to get ourselves and our children ready and out the door in 30 minutes for church.  It was an EASTER MIRACLE that we made it to church before service started.

And most importantly, praise to Him for the ultimate sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ.  He is Risen!!

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Romans 6:8-11

Newborn Photographs

Special thanks to Jeremy Schmucker for taking these photos of our newest little one!

 

This tiny face is a CLONE of Paul Meredith. Babies are such little miracles.

 

 

 

Love this sailboat hat - one of my mom's friends made this for Walter (and Henry has a matching one). So sweet!

 

 

 

 

I have no idea how there is a SINGLE decent photo of the four of us.  From the second Henry walked in the door from school, he whined, cried, and acted like a toddler on steroids.  My Dad is convinced Henry saw Jeremy's setup in our living room and he thought we were going to move and disappear to have another baby again. Ha!

Henry was acting so crazy we walked up to my parents to see if the swing would calm him down.  It kind of calmed him down.... kind of. :)

 

So, so happy to be a family of four!

Aquarium

We took Henry (and Walter) to the Dallas World Aquarium for the first time earlier this week.  I'm not sure it really counts for Walter since there was a blanket covering the stroller the entire time we were looking at the animals.  For Henry, however, it was a HUGE success.  One of our friends gave Henry the ocean-themed Baby Einstein DVD, which he's watched [mostly in passing] many, many times.  He can identify almost as many ocean animals as land animals, so we suspected he would be excited to see "fishes," crabs, penguins, etc.  My mother was kind enough to come with us and help us maneuver all the stuff these kiddos come with!

We kept trying to point out various birds as we entered the Aquarium, but Henry wasn't quite sure where to look at first.

After we got inside, however, it was hard to get him to look at the camera - he was enthralled!

 

We loved the little owls! They were super active, and Henry loves to make "hoo" noises when we discuss owls at home.

Could not get over the size of the manatee! I was very impressed - I don't think I've ever seen one of these at an aquarium before.

And Henry has DEFINITELY warmed up to Walter.  When I asked whether he wanted to sit on the chair and take a picture with him, I got a vigorous head nod yes.  He actually looked at the camera and said "cheese!"  Shocker!

He also then decided to take a dive and give Walter a kiss on the forehead.  Like Paul's shocked expression in the background? I barely had time to take this photo before I threw the camera aside and rescued Walter. So blessed to have such sweet boys!

Easter Party!

Henry had his Easter party at school last week, which started out with a table full of smiling (and hungry) children.

Don't you love Walter snoozing in the background? Kid knows how to par-tay.

And we all suspected Santa would be scary for the kids at the Christmas party.  The Easter bunny was up in the air.  EPIC. FAIL.  Each and every child was TERRIFIED of the Easter bunny.  We could barely get Henry to hunt for eggs because he spent the entire time outside looking for the Easter bunny.  He apparently found the Easter bunny to be so terrifying that he couldn't trust his parents to protect him, and had to make sure he knew where he was at all times.  While we did our best to comfort him and try to convince him the Easter bunny was not evil, we got quite a few grins out of the experience. :)

And here are a few pictures of my sweet friend Yesenia's little girl.  She had her second little girl a week after I had Walter, and wasn't able to make it to the party.  While Sophia also found the Easter bunny to be terrifying, she man-handled her cupcake like a girl after my own heart!