Trama!

I posted an update at the bottom - now that we've been to the dentist!

You know.... It's been a rough few weeks around here. I'm actually ready for April to head on out and have a fresh start in May. We've had head injuries, major knee scrapes, toe stubbings, more bangs and bumps and LOTS and LOTS of bandaids and wraps. Then today, we had another fall. Nicole hit the kitchen floor face first and got a big fat busted lip.... then after we got the bleeding to stop we realized - she has a major tooth chip. It's not a little chip - it's a huge "1/2 of one of her front teeth is missing" kind of chip.

Now, she seems no worse for wear..... I was trying to get her to smile so that I could get a picture (for the good ole baby book). You can't really see it from that angle - and here's a really bad one.. but you can see the big ole gap it's made between her two front teeth now...

So tomorrow my baby and I (with big sister in tow) are heading off to the pediatric dentist to see what they think about our chipped tooth predicament. You can say a prayer for us. Nicole isn't a fan of strangers when they want to get in her space so this could be very interesting. I'm still wondering how the dentist is going to get her to open her mouth when it's a battle every night to get her teeth brushed. I'll post an update once we get home.

Well.... we just got back from the pediatric dentist. It is a huge chip - they were shocked. She did pretty well - so thanks for all the prayers. They took an xray and thankfully it doesn't look like the roots were damaged and she missed the pulp area (but it was close). They said there is still a possibility of it abcessing in the next few weeks to months since obviously it was a hard hit on the hardwoods. The big issue is that because it's so big and pretty jagged, it'll start to interfere with her normal eating as she gets older and tries to eat harder food. SOOOOOOO... baby crown here we come. In a few weeks (once the nerves have a chance to heal a bit) we'll go back and they'll put a crown on that tooth to protect it and hopefully protect it from heat sensitivity and such. Of course to do that to an 18 month old (that's how old she'll be at that point) will require sedation. I'm trying not to stress over that and focus on doing what's right for Nicole and her little tooth. We have our 18 month check up in week or so, so I'm looking forward to talking to the pediatrician about all this and getting her input as well.

But you'd never know anything had happend...until Nicole flashes her "happy baby" smile.

A Last Look At Easter Parties

With all the celebrations leading up to Easter - I haven't had time to post some of the fun things we got to do this past weekend. One of our activities included our neighborhood Easter egg hunt.

Megan wanted to be the big girl and ride her bike to it...

Once we got there, Megan was in hog heaven with a big craft table...

And both girls jumped at the chance to express themselves with the sidewalk chalk...

Megan drew the Easter Bunny

Then.... finally - the Easter Bunny arrived. Megan was the first to run over for a huge bear hug!Even Nicole had a wave of bravery and got "close" to the big bunny.

And finally... time for the egg hunt!

And, what is an Easter party without some chocolate? Let's just say, Nicole had her fill!

Before we left, both the girls made some new friends....

Then it was time for the trek home! Rejuvinated with some candy, art, egg hunting, and a hug from the Easter Bunny.... Megan was ready to hit the road!

Nicole- how much fun did you have?

And a kiss from little sister to big sister while we were trying to get a picture of the girls in front of the final blooms of our azeleas.

So - those are some of our fun Easter memories. BUT - the best memory is Megan running around the house saying, "He is risen!" and retelling the Easter story. Egg hunts and Easter Bunnies are fun, but our hearts desire is that Megan and Nicole will understand the reason we celebrate Easter. The night before Easter, Megan was going to bed and said - Jesus rose from the dead and went to heaven to prepare a castle for me. That's right Princess!

Happy Easter

My Easter basket runneth over with love!

To help us celebrate Easter, my family came over and we had a great egg hunt with all the kids...

Nicole didn't let the big kids have all the fun...

But she did take lots of breaks...

We had a total of 112 eggs to find....

We always love time with "the cousins"

And one my favorites.... a little moment of downtown with one of Nicole's favorite friends - Sugar (the dog next door) and Uncle Kevin and Granddad.

We hope that you all had as wonderful an Easter that we have had.

This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano

This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano is now one of our new night time favorites. This charming book is a sweet rhyming story about a little boy praying to God. I found this to be a great tool to talk about prayer with your child. For us it has been a springboard to discussing prayer when you are scared, sad, happy, and overwhelmed with blessings. I particularly liked that the book showed that prayer is a conversation with God and incorporated a variety of situations, including temptation. It was also refreshing that it was not a rote book but one that explored saying thank you, asking for help, and asking to become more like Him. My daughter (4) loves our new book and when I don't have time to read, she will sit and talk through the beautiful illustrations. I'm always looking for new additions to our library that help instill a variety of spiritual foundations into our children. This book is a perfect addition!

I was provided a copy of this book by Waterbrook/Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review.

Crimson Chauffers

What are the crimson chauffers? Oh, that's my MOPS table group. And today we got together for a table Easter party. Here are all our kiddies (minus a few). And of course... we had to have a traditional egg hunt!

That was Nicoles one and only egg.... there was to much to do outside to worry herself about finding eggs - and the bigger kids were fine with that!

We also decorated some cupcakes...

School Party

Thursday, we headed over to Megan's school for her Easter Party. Let's just say right here... that's going to be the hardest thing about sending Megan to public school (which currently is the plan). I LOVE that at her little church preschool, that it's an EASTER party and not a spring party. I know that they continue to undergird the truths that she learns at home. And I love that the party started with the story of Easter using the Resurrection Eggs.

Megan got to open the egg with the "whip" in it. It made my heart proud that she knew all the pieces and how they tell the story of Easter. I just love her heart for the Lord. After we talked about the real meaning of Easter - it was off to the class egg hunt!

Ready, Set, GO!!!!

Bunny Time

Oh, yeah - it's that time of year again.... As we get ready to celebrate Easter - the easter bunny and eggs hunts seem to line our calendar. This past weekend, we headed over to Megan's "school church" (the church where her pre-school is located) for thier annual egg hunt and blessing of the animals. It was Nicole's first "real" egg hunt. I don't think last years really counted.

We grabbed one of Megan's BFF's - Elizabeth - to go with us.

Megan had a great time with the Easter Bunny!

Megan was excited about all her very full basket!

And little Nicole was loving being the big girl, getting to carry her own basket, like her big sister!

OOPS......

Nicole was very curious about the giant Easter Bunny.

But it took some "mommy courage" to actually get close to him.

After the hunt was over, the girls got to play on the playground a bit and then top it off with a treat from the church bake sale!

Eggs, bunny, treats.... now that's a weekend!