Easter EGGstravaganza's 2011!!

Easter has been streeetched out for us over the past few weeks, which is great for me because it has always been one of my very favorite holidays.  I don't know if it's because it is close to my birthday, or because I love the great music at church on Easter morning, or if it's because I absolutely LOVE Easter egg hunts...regardless, I find everything about this holiday quite refreshing and special.

When my dad was here a few weeks ago, I was able to bake and decorate Easter cookies:

We also had the pleasure of having Sara, Matthew and Hunter in town with us the weekend before Easter for Sara's spring break.  Among other fun things, we were able to do some Easter egg dying.  Hunter wasn't so much into it, and Chase really was intrigued by the stickers... but Matthew and I had a blast!

 sideways...but you get the picture

Chase looks very annoyed that this picture interrupted his sticker session.

Thankfully, Jason had Good Friday off, and Chase man didn't have school, so we went into Charlotte for an Easter Bunny Brunch.  My sister and family were in town last year for this event and we had a ball, so I really wanted to go again.  Luckily, it was on Good Friday; we headed to ATL Saturday morning to spend Easter with family.  Last year, the Easter Bunny was a bit scary for Chase

Easter 2010:

This year, Chase had a little man crush on the Easter Bunny... Chase viewed the Easter Bunny like a celebrity- really it was quite precious...take a look:

Easter 2011:

 Look Mom, it's the Easter Bunny!!

Chase cut in front of another kid to go back up to the Easter Bunny and give him a high five!

Of course, this was brunch and one of my favorite activities this year was the little craft project they had us make out of our english muffins...something I will be sure to replicate for future Easters:

easy AND cute!

Then of course, there was the hunt.  We didn't find the golden egg at this Easter egg hunt...

Saturday morning we headed to Atlanta where my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dan live.  My grandpa Chase and Uncle Terry also came down for the occasion, as well as my Aunt Shauna and Uncle Tom from Nevada and their children Matt (with his wife Kristen and son TJ) and Emily who flew in from Pennsylvania... wow...

TJ and Chase are about the same age, so it is always fun to see how they will interact together.  Most of the time, they are like two peas in a pod!  They were able to play together in the pool as well as dye some Easter eggs together:

 Uncle Terry and Chase playing with blocks

 In their Easter smocks (thanks Aunt Cindy) ready to dye some eggs!

yikes... this was stressful, yet fun to watch :)

Sunday morning we got up and had a nice private mass at the house held by Fr Terry before we headed out to the St Marlo Easter egg hunt.  Now, contrary to Jason's story, I DID NOT beat up a 7 yr old kid to get a golden egg...I did however tell him that he was a cheater (but he called me one first!)  It's a long story... call me if you want all the details :)

 grandpa and I looking sharp, as always :)

Chase collecting his goodies! 

After the big hunt, we went back to Aunt Cindy's and Uncle Dan's where the Easter Bunny had been and went on a hunt for Chase and Eleanor's easter baskets.  They were in Aunt Cindy's grand bathtub...

After we looked at what the Easter bunny brought Chase, we had yet another egg hunt in Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dan's back yard.... super fun!!  It was getting quite warm though, so some of the miscellaneous chocolate sitting out in the sun got melted.  The rest of the eggs made it!

 

After the egg hunt... all hot and sweaty

Our prize...err, I mean Chase's prize for finding the golden egg

The Easter Basket hidden by the bunny :)
 

 he was into the candy (which was VERY limited) immediately!!

Chase in his official easter egg hunting cap at Aunt Cindy's house... too cute!

Ellie in her adorable easter outfit (thanks again Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dan!)

loving pool/hot tub time!

the boys were exhausted, and Chase who rarely naps at all was able to fall asleep on dad... precious :)

After all of that craziness, we got to enjoy Aunt Cindy's marvelous cooking and had pork tenderloin, ham, sweet potatoes, grandma's special rolls, cream puffs and refrigerator cookies (among MANY other things...) It was a FABULOUS weekend and such a special way to spend Easter!!

My first month of being a mother of TWO!!

I am happy to report, I have SURVIVED....so far :)  This double duty business is definitely a little more challenging, but also quite fun.  Ellie turned 1 month old on April 17th, and for her first month of life we really have been busy!  Chase is busy being a big brother... and a great one at that!  I find him consoling her without my help (he gives her her pacifier or "shhh"es her when she is crying while rubbing her head), explaining things to her, and he even asks her at night to sing our Amen song with Jason and I... too cute!

Marie came to visit for a week and a half, and while I enjoyed having the help around, Chase enjoyed playing with his Grandma... and boy can he play hard!  He ran her ragged and Grandma ran him ragged.  It was so much fun to have her here!

 Ellie's first bath

Chase and Grandma working on planting flowers for Mommy!

 Mommy and Chase making daddy's favorite dessert...caramel bars

Grandma and her grand babies!!

Shortly after Marie came, my dad arrived for a little visit and bonding time.  Chase once again took full advantage of having Grandpa here and kept him busy with quality play play play time!!  It was a lot of fun having my dad around.  Of course, I got to reap the benefits of his AMAZING cooking skills... yuuumm!!  I ate like a queen with Dad around- it was bliss!

 Thanks for the wagon, Grandpa...now lets go take it for a ride!

Dad and Ellie

We also had Kelly and Bessie stop by for a night on their way back to Indiana...  it was really great to see them, and Kelly was able to get some great photos of my children! 

 My sleepy Little Miss

Classic Chase... pouts with the best of 'em!

All in all, a really great first month as a mother of 2... I truly feel blessed!

Yay! I'm a month old!!

Eleanor Grace Larsen

I am delighted to announce the birth of our daughter, Eleanor Grace Larsen. 

Born on St Patrick's Day (just like Mommy and Daddy wanted!!!)

                                     March 17, 2011 at 2:20am
                            7 pounds 10 ounces, 20 inches long. 
                   She is absolutely beautiful!!  See for yourself:

Mom, Dad and new Baby Ellie!

Right after her bath, already a little shamrock baby

Chase loves his little sister

After I had been contracting all day on the 16th, we went into the hospital for our scheduled induction as planned.  My doctor was on call on the 16th, so we went in that evening hoping to have a baby before 7am on the 17th.  Luckily for me, I was already 3-4 cm/80% effaced, so he was able to break my water around 9pm.  I knew after having Chase I wasn't going to have much tolerance for labor pains...my goal was to make it until 10pm before wanting my epidural... I made it to 9:45pm (believe it or not, this is an improvement from when I had Chase)  I don't remember it hurting quite that bad with Chase- although with him I wasn't contracting like I was with Ellie.  After Dr Svendsen broke my water, my contractions went from every 5 minutes to every 2-3 minutes...they hurt.  I ended up needing 2 epidural because the first one didn't take on my left side, but aroun 11:30pm I was finally beginning to feel comfortable.  I tried to sleep (Jason was sawing logs) but had little success.  My WONDERFUL nurse Mandy checked me at 2 am, and I was complete! YAY! once everything was set up, it took only 4 contractions and she was here!  The experience was quite short, but pain free (at the end) and just so smooth.  I feel fortunate to have now had 2 great labor and delivery experiences... and we got our wish- on the 17th, before 7am!!

Chase is loving his little sister.  He expresses interest in holding her, and calming her down when she cries.  He says "it's okay baby Ellie" or "do you need your passy baby Ellie" and my personal favorite "I am right here baby Ellie"... Melts my heart!  I am sure, with time, this is all going to change :)  Until then, we are a happy family of four recovering nicely at home!!

Our Family of 3 Will Soon Be 4!!

Well, it is about 1:45 am and I was only able to sleep for a couple hours...now, of course, I am wide awake.  Probably because I am getting anxious about our very fast approaching induction.  I go into the hospital at 7 pm tonight (the 16th) to be induced and have a baby *hopefully* on the 17th!  These last couple of days have been emotional ones.  I cried the other night before work, and then at work... I just can't believe we are going to be a family of FOUR!  I look at how much Chase has grown in what seems like and very short 2 years, and it is truly amazing... I am SO excited to be the mother of a precious little girl, and cannot WAIT to see how it will be (and what she will look like)!

Today, during normal daytime hours, Chase and I will be spending the day together before I have to go into the hospital.  Although we are together at home every Wednesday and Thursday, I never before have been looking so forward to spending a day with my son.  It will be our last day for one on one quality time... and the last day he is an only child.  I am getting choked up just thinking about it.  At 4 pm tomorrow when we part ways, I just know there will be tears!

Tears or no tears, I am ready!  And this is such an exciting day!!  I can't wait to meet her.  I promise to take lots of pictures, and of course, blog about her arrival :)  Until then...

Just Call Me Martha...

These last few weeks, I have been feeling quite crafty and organizational... I guess we can call that my personal version of nesting.  I have been cleaning things like the plantation blinds, curtains, organizing closets and drawers, and diligently scrubbing away at the bathrooms about every other day.  I am a clean freak regardless of pregnancy, but clutter and dirtiness seem to REALLY bother me these days... ask Jason, I have threatened him several times over the piles and messes of his stuff.  Luckily, he is being quite the trooper and calmly says, "okay, I will do it... and what should I do next?"  I really appreciate his willingness/readiness to help get everything ready around this place.  How can a family of 3.75 have so much stuff!?! 

I digress... my crafty side has also peaked its little head out.  Pre-children, I was quite crafty.  I kept up on my scrapbooking, cooking, baking and other miscellaneous projects.  Having a 2 year old definitely limits my Martha Stewart time, BUT I was able to get a very simple project accomplished a couple of weeks ago.  I made 2 diaper wreaths!  One for Eleanor (I used this as my "test" wreath to see how it would turn out... and I wanted something pretty to hang on MY hospital door and home) and one for Lucas, Michelle from work's unborn little boy!  We are due just 2 days apart, so I thought this would be just perfect.  It was surprisingly super easy to make! 

I have discovered I do not like printed diapers for decorative projects like this... so at babies r us, they sell seventh generation (who knew they made diapers?!) diapers.  They are more of an offwhite natural color, but have no gaudy prints on them...yay!  a little ribbon, paint, and cute baby items and you have yourself a diaper wreath.  I highly recommend trying this out.  On the difficulty scale, 0-10, it really is maybe only a 2!  No excuses and it's SUPER cute!  Check them out:

 The empty space on the bottom is for her stats when she comes out!

 The one I made for Lucas... don't mind the misspelling, I have since fixed my pregnancy brain error!

Hanging on her bedroom door!

The Baby's Room/ Chase Video

Here are some updated pictures of the baby's room, which has taken a while to get in order (first we had to clean out her closet which we were very successfully using as storage!)  It is definitely still a work in progress and I would like to get some decorations on the walls, but coming together nicely!

 

Chase has been a little sponge lately with everything he is learning.  One of his most favorite books right now is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom which he requests to read on a nightly basis.  At the end of the book he sings the ABC's and Jason just recently learned he knows many of his letters!  I tried getting a little video clip before bed one night... he semi cooperates, but it is cute anyways... so I will share... enjoy!

Time for A Big Boy Bed!

We have hit another milestone with Chase... a big boy bed!  Seeing that his baby sister was coming shortly, we wanted to get him out of the crib and into his own bed in order to transition the crib to her.  My wonderful sister passed on some great advice to pack up the crib out of Chase's site for at least a month so there is no association with it being his crib when the baby takes over.  So far so good!  He hasn't asked about his crib once! 

Thankfully, when Jason's parents came down for Chase's birthday, they also brought with them a very old, yet very well constructed set of bunk beds and matching dresser and desk.  Now, apparently, Jason got this set used when he was a little boy... who knows how old it really is.  Clearly, they don't make furniture like they use to...this set is rock solid and in excellent shape! 

Chase was a little too excited when his mattresses finally came.  His bed wasn't ready to be slept in until 10pm.  I think because it was so late, and Chase was SO tired, this was a bad first night to try out the bed.  There was also no gate at his door keeping him in his room.... around 11:30pm, he ended up back in the crib for a night.  Every other night since (we started officially February 10th) he has gone to bed and been taking naps in his bed without difficulty.  We do have a gate at his door because he is deathly afraid of a closed door... something I will start doing early with Baby Ellie.  For now it works!  Here are some pictures of the occasion:

 Very excited when he first got in!

 Let's not forget our blankey....

 and our 12 other toys/animals...

A picture of him really sleeping the other day during nap time... so cute!