Henry was my super helper when we decided to surprise dad with his favorite dessert- chocolate chip bars. We've spent lots of time indoors this week due to our wet, cold weather (April showers bring May flowers after all . . . it's May 1 on Sunday so I'm expecting great things!!). Baking makes a great rainy day activity!
Henry discovered the deliciousness of chocolate chips when I wasn't looking!!!
Henry had the cutest curls until right after his first birthday- which brought his first haircut. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the humid summer air will add a little spring to his locks. But I'm not getting my hopes up . . .
Here he is, right before his first birthday. Look at those curls!!
Get ready for marathon post! Too many cute pictures not to post! :)
Henry LOVED the Easter egg hunt (after watching his older cousins for a few minutes, he figured it out!). He spied an egg behind our collection of beer boxes . . . why a collection of beer boxes in our basement? Tom thinks they make great "blocks" to stack. So inventive!
All smiles after our hunt!
We had the traditional ham dinner. After the kids finished up, most of us were able to still sit for a few minutes at the table and actually have a conversation (something we haven't really been able to do for quite some time now) . . . the kids must be growing up!
Aunt Angie brings the bunny cake each year for the kids to decorate! It was SO much fun watching them go to town on it this year . . . so different than last year when it was just Brynn and Nolan doing the decorating. I'm not sure if more jelly beans landed on the cake or in the kids' mouths!
Two jelly beans for me . . . one for the cake!
The finished product . . . too cute!
I adore my sister-in-law! However, I'm not a big fan of being pregnant with her. She is so stinkin' cute! She is all belly and absolutely glowing. We can't wait for Nolan to be a big brother in about a month!
After everyone left on Saturday, we dyed eggs with Henry. He loved plopping the eggs in the cups (as you can see, he added several eggs to one cup!).
He would sing, "stu-wa, stu-wa, stu-wa" (stir, stir, stir) while he "mixed" his eggs.
Enjoying the fruits of his labor
The Parks family on Easter morning!
Grandma Mary got Henry a grill for Easter. He loves it!
Grandma Mary, Henry and Aunt Anne
Grandma and Anne made an adorable bunny cake for dessert!
Easter Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day! After we got home from our Easter festivities, we spent the rest of the day outside. We even enjoyed a picnic dinner on the lawn that evening! We LOVE spring!
Dad and Henry practiced batting a few balls (Henry needs to sharpen his skills so he can compete with cousin Nolan- that kids is a baseball prodigy!).
Jen and the girls were going to head over to our house on Friday afternoon for a play date (since they didn't have school that day). But we decided to change locations because my house was clean and ready for our Easter company on Saturday. We thought dying eggs with the kids would be fun! I still think it was fun . . . Jennie, however, may never invite us back. Her girls daintily painted their eggs . . .
My boy is anything but dainty! He was crawling on the table to get closer to the paint, eating the paint, and throwing the rollers . . .
Then he decided to do a little experiment and smash his egg (this is after he threw it down on the table and made it crack).
He was very intrigued with what he discovered and just had to taste it!
Yum!
I thought the entire process was thoroughly entertaining! I think Jennie's skin was ready to crawl off her body. Only time will tell if we get to dye eggs together again!
Well, we are half way through the second pregnancy! It has gone by pretty quickly so far! This one definitely "feels" different than Henry- perhaps we're having a little girl?!?! We decided not to find out the gender again so we'll find out when he/she decides to enter this world! I'm "rounding out" much more quickly and in many more places (ahem!) than I did with Henry as well. And I'm happy to report that I've gained almost as much weight already with this one than I did total with the first. Ya gotta love that! I'm doing my best to embrace ALL of me! :)Now the ultra sound is a story in itself . . . I wrote the ultra sound on the incorrect date on the calendar, which was fine because Tom thought he could make it to the appointment if it was scheduled for a Friday. Henry and I were leaving Northfield last Tuesday and I thought I'd call and reschedule on my way out of town. I pulled the pamphlet out of my purse and it says my appointment is in 5 minutes (NEVER would I have messed up appointment dates/times when I was pregnant with Henry- poor second child!)! Yikes! So we rush out to the hospital. Generally, Henry has been pretty good during my appointments so I thought he'd be his charming self and hang out while the ultrasound was happening. Plus, I thought he'd get a kick out of the big TV since he doesn't ever watch it yet. Boy was I wrong! Henry completely threw a tantrum on the floor of ultrasound room the ENTIRE time. I was so embarrassed! So needless to say, I didn't really get to enjoy watching this baby squirm around inside of me. I have to wait for the real deal in four months or so!
My sweet Henry snoozing with all his "lovies"- his blanket, baby and water cup!
Poor Auntie Jennie had all four of her wisdom teeth pulled on Friday (she was a mess all weekend- her cheeks still look like she's storing food for the winter). Uncle Darren had class this weekend so we helped out with the girls. Henry had lots of fun playing with is cousins! Tom got a snazzy new bike trailer and took Henry and Brynnie for a spin in it (he tried taking Henry and Cara, but Cara wanted NOTHING to do with it- super surprising! Ha!)! 