.easter weekend 2013.

.easter was so fun this year.

.i swear i love holidays more when i have kids. especially at the age b is...she just is starting to connect the dots and get more and more excited...i cant even imagine the next few years...!!

.we started our weekend off by sleeping in. we talked about going to a easter hunt, but decided we would just do our own at home after church. since we are new here, we dont know where to go, and dont really know our ward too well, or heard anything about our ward doing anything anyways.

.so saturday we hung around, i went grocery shopping while the babies slept and andrew stayed home. . . than once they woke up, we headed off to get some subway (for whatever reason, i am LOVING subway...and NO i am NOT pregnant...seriously, you think im crazy...TWICE?).

.once we finished our dinner, we headed off to get b some sandals. she has lots of tennis shoes, but she is CONSTANTLY throwing them off cause her feet are too hot. so i went to get sandals.

.i found this ADORABLE pair, i LOVED them, if they had them in my size i would get it....HOWEVER, my child HATES things between her toes! REALLY CHILD...really??...the most adorable pair and you cant get over your OCD for a cute pair of shoes. she literally SCREAMED and cried when i put them on her....so i had to get some sandals that didnt have to go between her toes...

...do you know my options...not pretty. she was OBSESSED with this one pair that had 3 different colored flowers...i was not a fan, and neither was andrew. when i showed andrew he said, "those are ugly" and that means something coming from andrew. . . but they worked and was a good price, and i guess they will match everything because they have so many colors? gosh kid. get over this o.c.d...please.

.we rented a few movies and headed home. i wanted to do SOMETHING easter with them, so we made easter s'mores. graham cracker, chocolate, peep....i honestly didnt have one, but b LOVED watching the b blow up in the microwave and consuming him. i did a few things to get ready for dinner the next day, bathed the kids and put them to bed...but that was the thing...they didnt go to bed...for 1.5 hours. they played and played and played in parker's bed and laughed and laughed and laughed.

.they FINALLY went to bed, and the easter bunny made his appearance right around midnight. mommy and daddy had just finished a movie, and he just came right through and left tracks....

VIDEO: EASTER BUNNY CAME

.when i did this (left the bunny tracks) andrew laughed at me and thought i was being a little ridiculous ...but i wanted to do something fun for them to find in the morning and will probably do it every year from now on....even when santa claus comes...just a different "footprint" obviously.

VIDEO: EASTER MORNING WAKE UP

.we woke up and the kids found their baskets. b was so thrilled for CANDY...we headed off to church and had some great lessons. when we got home we had some lunch and the kids and daddy went and took naps while mommy worked on dinner. 

VIDEO: B FOUND THE BUNNY TRACKS

.when the kids got up we facetimed with gma/gpa westensee and the family. it is evan's birthday and so we sang happy birthday and the grandparents got to see their grandbabies. 

.than we had dinner. i was happy i made a nice dinner, and everything turned out good. i am NOT a cook, so cooking is kinda a hit or miss if it turns out good. we had ham, mashed potatoes, steamed corn, and whipped jello.

.than b and i dyed eggs. so i didnt want to deal with the whole liquid, dropping the egg into the liquid and than into a different liquid just to make a cool egg that a not even 2 year old could honestly care less about. so i saw a link on my sister's wall to use shaving cream and than food coloring...when i read up about it people said the  eggs tasted like shaving cream....but someone else suggested COOL WHIP and food coloring. SWEET. an easy, inexpensive dye that b can eat and doesnt get TOO messy. so we did it and had a blast. the eggs didnt turned out all that great...but it works for this year, cause b loved eating the cool whip.

.now the kids are bathed, prayers are sent, and the babies are sleeping. it was a great easter and i loved watching the excitement of my little ones. so much fun. i loved the special spirit easter brings, and for our Savior, for all that He has done for me. I am especially grateful that he trusted me to raise two beautiful children, and to watch them learn and grow and enjoy this easter season with me.

 .easter peep s'mores.

.i pretended for the picture, lets be honest...mama just ate chocolate :)

 the easter bunny came through the back door.....

....over the ottoman..... 

...and out the front door, and left the presents along the route. 

 .parker got puff, yogurt bites, baby food, 2 books, 2 cars and a water ball.

.mommy got see's and more chocolate....daddy got a shirt, sees and more candy...and jellybeans...he LOVES jellybeans. 

.b got candy, a bubble wand, her abc book, water ball and more candy.

 .she already has a piece of candy in her mouth.

.tired eyes. lol.

.at church....do you see the stinking sandals she picked out.

.i LOVE their smiles in this picture.

 .the old ladies drooled over how cute parker looked. i have to say i thought he was pretty stinking cute.

 .can you believe i didnt put brooklynn in pink!?! nope. i did green. And she looks stinking cute in it. she was a little stinker thought when it came to taking pictures AFTER church because she was WORN OUT and tired...i dont blame her, i was too. 

 .i looked and looked and looked for a little boys tie, at least one that would match b's dress too, and FINALLY after looking 4 different places i found one. yahoo.

 .here is a little better picture of b's dress. 

.my two loves. i thank God everyday for allowing me to be their mommy. i sure love these two. especially their smiles :)

 .i made a nice easter dinner. honey glazed ham, whipped jello, corn and mashed potatoes. i was pretty proud of myself for not burning ANYTHING and everything turning out good. 

.bout to sit down for dinner....b helped herself to some corn.

.so the egg dying didnt turned out as well as i would of wanted. but it worked for a not even 2 year old. she LOVED playing in the cool whip and loved eating it...and guess what?? she could. 

.b showing off our masterpieces. 

 .here we are....wahoo.

 .than i snuggled this little man who was out watching the lighting storm on our balcony and last balance and face planted right onto the concrete. poor guy.

.we survived our 20 dollar week.

.im on a budget.

.a tight one.

.andrew has separate accounts for everything.

.tithing.food/gas.retirement.etc.

.i just know that i get to use the "food" account and when its gone, its gone.

.well last weekend, andrew sat down and told me..."well, you have 20 dollars for this upcoming week."

.okay. game on. ill do it.

.and i did. i went the the store, got what we needed for the week's meals and spent 16 dollars.

.luckily i had chicken in the freezer, and had bought formula the week before.

.and guess what....we survived. 

.they may not have been the BEST dinners....crapes with strawberries, cafe rio, sweet and sour chicken,  okay...we ate pretty stinking good for only spending 16 bucks.

.and today. i rewarded myself. i went out and got some "treats" for our easter baskets.

.and i came home and hid them in a duffel bag.

.and he wont know until sunday that i got treats.   :)

.what else has been going on you ask....

BROOKLYNN IS POTTY TRAINED!

.this last weekend, andrew and i would see a diaper laying on the ground, go and check, and sure enough, b had taken her diaper off, pulled up her pants and walked around like it was no big deal. 

.i looked at the weather and saw it wasnt suppose to be supper nice, so i knew i wouldnt want to venture outside anyways, so i decided, okay...this week is the week.

.day one went okay. i stripped her down totally naked and let her roam the apartment. she had accidents. but i was ready for that. we survived. the WORSE accident was....

(if you have a weak stomach do not read further)

.so day one of potty training....i took brooklynn potty, we set the timer, and i let her play with her brother like everything was normal (cause thats what i wanted....i didnt want to do different things...i wanted it to be normal.

.so than about 5 minutes into playing with her brother she starts yelling, "POO!" and running to the bathroom. i said, okay lets go and as i start running behind her, i turn to check on parker and there is was.

.poo on the floor that parker QUICKLY grabbed in his hands and proceeded to try to consume it like it was his last meal. 

oh.my.gosh. SICK. i wish i could say he didnt get ANY in his mouth, but i would be lying if i said he didnt. i grabbed him, rushed to the bathroom, helped b get on the toilet, grabbed wipes and wiped parker down, and wiped out his mouth 3-4 times gagging him each time because i wanted to get ANYTHING that would be in there. it was SO NASTY. thankfully he didnt get the chance to consume it like it was his last NASTY meal.....oh.my.nastiness.

.day two. brooklynn was totally accident free. i was THRILLED. she literally potty trained in a day. and she would go by herself. she was still naked this day, because i was scared putting underwear on her would make it feel like a diaper, she needed one more naked day.

.day three. we had to leave the apartment to head to the house for the home inspection. i was scared, but knew this was all part of it. we went potty before we left to pick up andrew, headed over there and she was dry. she told me twice while we were there that she needed to go and went. she was completely accident free that day. AWESOME.

.day four- she had a few accidents throughout the day (i figured we will still see a few more in the future) but other than that she did great. 

.day five (today)...i needed to run errands and knew it was going to be a LONG day of errands. i packed an extra outfit just in case....and guess what, we didnt need to use it! she went 5 hours out and about and no accidents. wahoo. go b.

.she does still wear diapers at naptime and bedtime. but as soon as she wakes up they are OFF. and i explain to her when i put them on before nap/bedtime that we are only putting this on so you dont pee in your bed. 

.wahoo. not even 2 and she is potty trained. i couldnt be more happier.

 .b found these ski googles when daddy was going through a closet.....

....and she LOVES them...she loves wearing them, and does ALL over the apartment all day long.

.this is b after eating pudding....do you think she tasted ANYTHING?

VIDEOS:
.so b was giving parker is paci one morning and she was TRYING to get him to take 2 pacis at once...but everytime she would bring the second one to his mouth, he would spit the one currently in his mouth out...b thought it was hilarious....and guess what i got it on video, as well as her adorable smile. (i know, i know, that is UNREAL).
.parker changing paci's.

.here is b now showing you the correct way to get into her BROTHER'S BED....and i know, your thinking MOVE THE CAR....but guess what she STILL gets in....having the car there just keeps her from getting too hurt.
.b getting into parker's bed.

.abc book.

.as requested by rachel, here is a blog post about the abc book i made.

.i made it first for my niece for christmas, and have been wanting to make b one ever since.

.and than when we moved to texas, and i realized b was starting to forget people's names, i KNEW i had to make it soon.

.and than a free $20 from shutterfly coupon came in the mail.

.sweet.

.i put it off, and put it off, and put it off, and than realized the coupon was suppose to expire in like 3 days.

.so i worked like mad, and ordered it the evening the coupon expired.

.b has NOT seen it yet, she will find it in her easter basket on sunday....but i LOVED how it turned out.

.i did brooklynn's book a little bigger than i did my nieces...and i LOVE it.

.so i made it on shutterfly. when you look at the books there is one that already has the letters and called the abc book or something like that...i DID NOT know this for lily's book, and it took me FOREVER.... thank goodness i found it for Brooklynn's. 

.brooklynn's book STILL took me right around 4-5 hours AT LEAST. 

.i wanted to scrapbook the book for her, but lets me real, i am NOT crafty....so i made it online.

.anyways. lucky for b, she has a good amount of cousins and uncles, etc....so finding words for some of the letters was easy.

.so here are the pages i did. they would of been fancier, and prettier, but thats what i get for procrastinating.

.so here is the front of the book. nothin fancy.

.and i just started with words we use everyday.....you can do more words if you want.

.i did a BMW car because we call Brooklynn "beamer" because her initials are BMW.

.so i did ALL family for the people except...derek...who IS family....he was over ALL THE TIME when he lived in idaho....and he is known as uncle derek....brooklynn would ask and still does, "where's derek?"

.and Ellie Turner and Ellie Leder, only because these were the 2 friends who saw brooklynn and played with her forever...these 2 were brooklynn's first 2 friends.

.i should of did IDAHO as well for "i" because thats where she was born...but i didnt think of it, until now.

.you trying thinking of more "q" words! lol

.ronnie i KNOW your going to LOVE this picture, but i had ZERO in full quality...so this is what you get :)

.we did texas because there is where we currently live.

.and utah because there is where gma/gpa westensee live and ronnie.

.and washington for gma/gpa mcdonald and because mommy and daddy grew up there.

I combined XYZ because i was SICK of thinking of things :)

Anyways...if you have any questions let me know. It was FUN and now i have ALOT more ideas for what i want to do..just dont have the time right now. or desire. lol.