of bipolar weather and Easter

Dusty sandals, abandoned just as quickly as they were pulled from the depths of the closet; a reminder that Mother Nature is indeed all powerful.  Our daily trips to the park and rounds with the chalk and bubbles were halted with over a foot of deep, wet snow.  In the span of two days, we were able to relive my favorite parts of winter; sleeping in under cozy blankets, movies with lots of snuggles, indoor picnics, and drinking coffee all day.

Best of all, Ruby got to make her very first snowman.  Who somehow made a semi-transformation into chia pet.

I recently got the urge to go and watch my clip of Eisley's birth, wherein I successfully a) gave myself extreme baby fever, b) was scared to death of myself, and c) realized all over again that I give a surprisingly good impersonation of a pterodactyl.  So to sum things up, I'd like another baby without the end of labor part of that whole process.  I can't believe that tiny, squawking wrinkled baby is now the chubby baby tornado that practically runs through my house.  And let me tell you, her thrill for noise has remained steady; she came into this world wanting to announce loudly that she was here.  She continues that trend by screaming, screeching, and shouting every five seconds, just to ensure that anyone within a five mile radius knows she's around.

My hairs had a recent dip in the swimming pool of blonde, lighter and brighter for summer.  I love me some hairapy.  I have been spoiled in the past week with pedicures, manicures, and girl time.  Pepper and I were spoiled with a day out sans children.  My nails are so bad off, that despite my poor understanding of my manicurist, I was able to very clearly understand her demonstration of the question, "Do you bite your nails?"  The answer to that is a resounding NO! (ew) but they were in bad shape.  Shellac manicures are the new way to go in my opinion.  Now if only I could get my own personal manicurist to show up with the wave of my wand.  We moved onto several stores, but did the most damage in the least amount of time at Ulta.  It's always great when the gorgeous girls that work in those places list off some things you may need with under eye concealer being at the top of their list.

Have I mentioned that Eisley has slept like...well, something that doesn't sleep...like at all, for the past week or more?

Ruby's facial expressions have been a large source of entertainment lately.  Her thinking face is somewhat of a crooked grimace with her eyes looking as far upward as physically possible.  We have spent many moments trying to think of difficult questions for her just to catch another glimpse of the face.  She also has this face where her nose gets super scrunchy; this usually occurs when she is suggesting something that she knows I'll very likely not agree with (ice cream for dinner, that sort of thing).

Eisley blows kisses on demand now, complete with the mwah! noise.  Her little wheels turn a little more every day - she is a sponge!  My favorite part about her right now is her loving on things - me, the dogs, and stuffed animals.  I also happen to be partial to her little run.

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I am thankful for the place I am in this Easter vs. last Easter.  Last Easter was a rough time in my life, and I struggled to understand which way was up.  I wasn't completely open with anyone and battled with a lot of internal struggles and external hardships.  One thing remains for sure: my blessings are so abundant - I love Easter week as a time to be thankful for the lives we live, the blessings we are given, and most of all, our savior.

We went to an Easter egg hunt in town this morning, which turned out to be very poorly orchestrated, and not well adapted for the little ones.  Thankfully, Ruby wasn't distraught over there being no remaining eggs.  We used our morning out as an excuse to grab lattes, and we returned home for breakfast.

what a difference in a year.

Eggs are dyed, the story of Easter awaits us before bedtime, and the magic of tomorrow morning is in the works.  So very thankful.