Easter 2011

Look how cute and little Everett was last year!

I can't believe he celebrated his SECOND Easter this year!

He's not very fond of photo-taking lately so I wasn't able to get any big smiles or poses. They were all caught "in action."

{Notice the bump/redness on his head? This comes from a lot of constant banging of the head. He's been doing it a lot. }

{Ignore the ugly boxes. We're still in the process of moving. Ugh.}

We enjoyed a wonderful sermon at church and headed out to my parent's afterwards. Lots of great food and wonderful company in celebration of Jesus' resurrection! Wonderful day indeed!

Challenging Day

Today's been a challenging day. We had to cancel our move for this weekend due to me losing my job in the coming future. Long story short, my boss is in the process of losing his buildings due to substantial delinquency.

On the bright side, the owner of the place we were going to move into graciously is willing to refund the $1700 in deposit and rent we already paid. Working in this field, this is something that a landlord never does. It's very rare, to say the least. In the 10 years I've been in this business, the companies I worked for never once refunded a deposit if someone backed out for any reason. He was so sympathetic when I called him this morning. The best part is, I didn't even ask and it was his offer to do so.

The place we're living at now has been re-rented so we are scrambling to find an affordable place. I admit I was looking forward to a newer, larger, more private place to live.

Also, after only 2 days, we pulled E out of daycare since I'm home with him now. In these 2 days, Everett hit the inevitable and is SICK. It was my understanding that if a child is sick, that they are not allowed to come to daycare. Every single kid in Everett's class has been sick this week. Coughing and excess amounts of nasty green/yellow snot hanging from their noses. No wonder Everett is sick. I'm also fighting something as well. And with no naps in daycare, Everett is beyond exhausted. He is so off schedule that he hasn't been able to nap at home either. I'm really looking forward to getting him back on track.

It's been a whirlwind and stressful day for me today with the combination of an overly fussy Everett, canceling our move for this weekend, and talking to my current landlord and seeing if there's anything we can work out so we don't have to move out in 2 days.

I truly believe that everything in life happens for a reason though and this bump in the road is all apart of God's plan for Everett, Dale, and I. Dale told me today that God is just keeping us on our toes, and isn't that the truth!

First Day of School

Today was Everett's 1st official day of school! Just like my mom always did, I made sure to get a photo.

Last night, I was already anticipating him going and was trying to think of a reason why he didn't have to go. Deep down though, I knew it would be a great experience for him.

I ended up staying there for about an hour and a half to help him get acquainted. On Mondays, there's only 4 of them so it was a good first day for him to adjust.

He did very well sitting at the table with the other kids for breakfast. At home, I don't give Everett his food in bowls because he always ends up throwing the bowl, causing food to fly everywhere. I told the teacher that I'm surprised that he hasn't chucked the bowl of cereal and mandarin oranges. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later, the floor was covered with honey nut cheerios and oranges.

As I left to go to work, he didn't cry. The minute I got into the car, I broke down. Yes, that's right. Everett didn't cry but Mom did. About an hour after I got into work, I called Emily (director/owner) to check up on him. I guess he ended up crying a little awhile after I left when he realized I wasn't there any longer but he was easily consolable when his teacher held him.

I worried about nap time and thought (and still think) impossible for Everett to sleep on a cot on the floor amongst the other kids. He actually ended up napping for 20 minutes but was woken up by an infant crying in the next room. I'm just surprised he napped at all. I was also told he didn't eat lunch and only had a bite or two of his afternoon snack. He went to town on dinner when we got home!

I received the "Toddling Turtle's Daily Report" and here is what today's report had to say: Today at school, I had a wonderful first day. After you left for work, we did an art project. I made a penguin and I enjoyed putting all the body parts together. The first toy I played with was the vacuum cleaner. I also played with the big red ball. All in all, I had a fantastic first day and can't wait to come back again.

I'm not quite sure if he really can't wait to come back. When I came to pick him up, I peaked through the classroom window and watched him for a little bit. He was just standing there with a glazed look over his face while staring at one of the other kids. The second I walked in, he saw me and started crying and refused to give me a smile or a hug and only wanted to rest his head on my shoulder. He had such a somber-looking look on his face. He didn't make a peep the whole way home and it took a little bit of coaxing for me to get any noise or expression out of him. This is unlike him. Poor guy!

Overall, I guess I am pleased with how his 1st day went. I'm thankful that he didn't cry all day, which Emily told me that a handful of kids do on their 1st day. I am looking forward to staying home tomorrow with Everett and getting a decent nap out of him. It'll be recovery day for us.

I'm already dreading him going back on Wednesday. This will be a big adjustment for all of us!

Fun Family Day

Today was the first Saturday in a long time that offered decent, non-rainy weather that allowed for us to spend a little bit of time at the park. Dale also didn't work today either which was the first Saturday off in over a month. It was so nice to wake up together as a family and have breakfast today and spend some time lounging on the floor with blankets watching Sesame Street. The show for the morning was Everett's pick. He wanted some Elmo.

Dale's mom came over shortly after breakfast and watched Everett while Dale and I went out to run a few errands.

After naptime, we packed Everett up and went to Tickle Creek Park. This park was awesome!

The moment we carried him out the door and set him at the entrance to the playground, he got the cutest grin of happiness on his face. It's been so cold and rainy and dark here and he hasn't spent time outside playing in months and it was so great to see how much he was enjoying himself.

Even Dale had some fun!

The park had some of the comfiest and safest child swings I've ever seen.

We had such an enjoyable time being outside and spending some much needed family time together.

The day ended with a delicious Mexican dinner at La Bamba with Dale's mom. It's been awhile since we had such a fun Saturday. I took for granted Dale having both Saturday and Sunday off! I also got the house cleaned, laundry done, and Dale cleaned both of our vehicles. Talk about a fun and efficient day!

Wordless Wednesday {Pots & Pans}