Family Pictures

I love how our pictures turned out! They are priceless. Now I just have to decide which ones to enlarge and frame...

Random Act of Kindness

What's helping keep our spirits up during this cold week? Gerber daisies from Jeremy's parents--we love them!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

We had breakfast with the Easter Bunny today. It's a free event at South Towne Mall and our second year of participation. If you have never been, you should plan on going next year, too. Here's what to expect:
Wait in line to get the breakfast--which is tiny Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, pancakes with no syrup/jam, and o.j. or chocolate milk.
Speakers begin blaring "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" and the rabbit makes his entrance with mall employees holding large baskets of plastic Easter Eggs.
Breakfast begins to be served and the line progresses towards the bunny and the food.
Meet the bunny and take a picture, if desired.
Get a plastic Easter Egg (with candy inside) for each child.
Get breakfast.
Eat breakfast.
Wish you had maple syrup for the pancake.
Marvel on how soon Easter will be here.
Put wet wipes to good use on sticky fingers and chocoalte milk mustaches.
Pack up the kids to go home and think, "That was fun--for a free event!"

Pictures

Thanks to everyone who gave me referrals for photographers! It was so fun checking out their websites/blogs. We did get family pictures last week and I'm really happy with how they turned out. We got some family shots, but mostly I wanted just portraits of each of the kids. Miranda was a typical two-year old and didn't want to fully co-operate, but the photographer bribed her with fruit snacks to get a few great shots. Brad was really good too, and was wide awake the whole time. There is a picture of Brad on the photographer's website if you want to check it out. The website is http://www.angelamariephoto.com/ and it's her post for today, March 16th, the last picture. I'm still choosing the pictures I want and then she'll edit them. I can't wait to get them back!

Good Things

This week Jeremy went to Nashville for a work conference. He got back last night and had a good time. He got to spend time with some family, as well, which was so fun for him and definitely made the trip worth it. His flight got in at 7:55 pm, and it was so cute, he called me and asked if I would keep Miranda up past her bedtime so he could see her and put her to bed.

I ended up staying at my parent's house for a couple of the nights because I knew I wouldn't be up to playing the single-parent role very well. I'm really glad I did. My mom helped a lot with the kids. It was so nice to have someone there (during the day!) to help hold a fussy baby or distract a dramatic toddler. We had some delicious meals and saw cousins every day, too. While Miranda napped, my mom was nice enough to watch Brad while my sister Holli and I went out and did some errands. It's so wonderful to go to stores without kids! Since it was a change from the normal routine, I tried some new things this week. These are some good things I discovered.

Lean Cuisine's Butternut Squash Ravioli
Holli bought me this because she wanted me try it. It is so de-lish! I want to find a recipe to make it at home.

Flower Hair Clips
Kristi, my other sister, made some of these for Miranda. They are so cute and dress up a pony tail so easy! I love them on alligator clips.

World Market
Fun, eclectic stuff.

Fast Fix
They fixed my mom's wedding band in 20 minutes (the prongs got bent and her diamond was crooked) and then they offered to clean my ring. I love having it professionally cleaned. It's like the same happy feeling as getting a pedicure.

Layers Clothing
Okay, so this isn't new for me, but it was one of the many stores Holli and I went to. If you're not familiar with this store, you have to check it out. http://layersclothing.com/shop.php We there at least every couple of months. They have a warehouse with a retail store and a lot of clearance items. They just moved to Sandy on the West frontage road right off 90th. I got this top in black, Holli got it in cream. Only $8.

Mommy's Little Helper

I gave Brad a bath and Miranda wanted to help, probably because it's a good excuse to play in the water. When I was done, of course Brad was crying because he hates getting bathed, so I told Miranda she could keep playing while I went and dressed him. When I came back after a couple minutes, she had decided someone else needed a bath.

What a Handsome Boy

Which way to the gym?

Don't you just love the sporadic movements of newborns? It looks like Brad is showing off is muscles. Check out this cute 'gun show'.

Stroller Ride

Miranda and I have been waiting all winter to go on our walks that help keep us sane. With the warmer weather last week, we went for the first time this year and Brad got to have his first stroller ride. (Miranda didn't want her picture taken and she was already climbing out of the stroller before I could take the picture...)

Good Hair, Bad Hair

Last Friday we went to a wedding reception and took this picture of the kids dressed up so cute.
Isn't it funny how cute hair one day can create a bad hair day the next morning?