Easter

We have had such bad luck with the past few holidays. Being on bed rest for Valentines Day and now Josh and I were both sick for Easter. Josh has been battling an awful head/chest/sinus cold all week and has been down on the couch whenever he has been home. I was feeling great and had so much energy all week, but on Saturday I started getting really nauseous and having a lot of the pre-labor symptoms that resulted in me being down on the couch most Saturday and Sunday. So all the stuff I planned on getting ready for Easter didn't happen. Luckily I had gotten eggs, candy, and a few fun little gifts earlier in the week. The kids woke up and we made them hang out upstairs until about 9:30 when we were ready to get up (hence the leotards the girls were wearing dancing around while we were sleeping.)

 They were excited to see their baskets and the fun things in them. They each got a Dream Lite pillow pet and haven't put them down since.

 They loved the egg hunt and got plenty of candy.

 I had picked out their Easter church outfits months ago, and since Josh and I weren't feeling well they didn't even get to wear them :( So I'll have to take Easter pictures in a few weeks. I did run over to the church for 20 minutes to direct my choir during sacrament meeting. Towards the end of the song I started getting really light headed and wasn't sure I was going to make it. As soon as the song ended I turned and quickly headed for the door that luckily is on the stand and leads to the hallway. I was pretty dizzy and ended up stumbling into the lap of one of the speakers, then was able to grab onto the empty sacrament table as I headed out the door where I found a chair and sat down just in time before I fully passed out. A bunch of the priesthood brethren, including the speaker, all jumped up and followed me out. Awesome. I think they were half expecting me to pop out a baby right then and there. But luckily after being fanned for a few minutes I was able to leave and head home to rest. I still am getting calls from people at church thinking I had my baby right after that. But nope...still no baby.

After the afternoon naps and resting we headed to the Ericson's for an Easter dinner and another egg hunt. Because the kids didn't get to wear their Easter outfits to church, I found these matching outfits and had them wear them for the evening. The sun wasn't shining, but the kids could keep their eyes open, which means no good pictures. This one, however, turned out pretty cute.

 With little Mckinsley:

 The kids loved the egg hunt and got more candy.

 It's crazy to think that in the next 3 months we will go from 4 kids to 7. Fernanda, Natalie, and I are all pregnant. I'm due April 17, Natalie is due Jun 7, and Fernanda is due July 10. It's fun to all be prego together and so close. Natalie and I are having girls and Fernanda is having a boy. FINALLY Brayden will have a little buddy to run around with and get away from all the girls!!!

The Escalade

The girls got a power wheels escalade for Christmas, but for obvious reasons we have had to keep it inside. We ended up leaving it in the family room since Christmas bc it has been played with more than any other toy, eventhough it couldn't be driven inside. Once the weather got warm enough we took it outside and the kids have not stopped riding it. I was surprised how fast it goes. Our yard is perfect for them to be able to drive across the lawn, turn, and come back around. Brynlee is a little too small to drive it...she has ended up in bushes and running into trees. But she loves to be a passenger and be in control of the radio. I was surprised how good Brooklyn is at steering it and even going in reverse. Hopefully they continue to enjoy it all summer long!

Pregnancy Update

Here I am just over 36 weeks. The doctor finally allowed me to go off of bedrest at 37 weeks since it is safe for the baby to come anytime. I was SO excited to be able to do everything again. I got a huge burst of energy and haven't stopped cleaning the house, rearranging all the rooms, vacuuming, etc. I have felt great, but sad that I missed the last 7 weeks of enjoying the pregnancy bc we have been so worried about her coming early. 

Dying Easter Eggs/Easter Egg Roll

The week before Easter we had our family Sunday with my side of the family. We always do an Easter egg roll, so on Saturday we got out our eggs and the kids dyed them while Brynlee was napping. We went with glitter eggs this year. 

I forgot my camera for the egg roll, so I'll have to add pics of that later. Josh ended up winning the adults competition and Brayden won the kids! Not sure if it was bc we baked our eggs instead of boiling them this year. Congrats!

Brynlee's Room

With Rachelle and Sean moving out, we were able to move Brayden to the main floor and experiment with Brynlee and Brooklyn in the same bedroom. It has gone SO much better than I expected. I was not about to allow it if the kids' sleep habits changed one bit, so luckily the girls have continued to sleep really well and it hasn't been a problem. I was in the middle of taking Brynlee's stuff down and realized that I haven't really taken pics of her room. I will be doing a brand new girls room, so I won't be putting any of this stuff back up. I took a couple of pics to remember, eventhough I started taking the pictures after I had already started changing the rooms around. Oh well.

St. Patrick's Day

When the holidays are on Sundays, it seems to always complicate things. Especially bc that means I can't run to the store that day and get anything. The kids had been talking about the leprechauns coming for weeks. I didn't want to do the treasure hunt before church, so I made them wait until after. Which worked out nicely bc I wasn't able to make it through church and had to come home after sacrament meeting. So when they kids got home their treasure hunt was waiting for them. There were clues all over the house and they took turns running to find the next clue. They finally got their treasure at the end.

 Yes...the leprechaun went potty and it was green. The kids loved it.

Helmets / First Picnic

We've been in the process of moving all the kids around, so now Brayden has his own room on the main floor. He was SO excited when he realized that the little BYU helmet fit on his tiger. So of course we had to take a picture, and naturally the girls wanted to be a part of it.

 The kids have LOVED the warmer weather. I couldn't resist letting them have a picnic outside with our next door neighbor, Annette, when she suggested it. So we enjoyed a yummy picnic.