Easter Weekend

I need to do Jane's 10 month post but I thought I'd at least get Easter done first. I may not properly finish up March but since April is already half over I guess I need to move on. 

 Jane's 9 month pictures were that Saturday so we were in Topeka the entire weekend. After finishing up pictures in the morning we headed over to my Mom and Dad's. 

This was Anna's first year dying Easter eggs and I was so excited. I have so many great memories dying eggs growing up and watching Anna do it for the first time was awesome. 

Grandma showing Anna what to do

 Anna loved it like I thought she would. We opted to give Anna the cracked eggs and that ended up being a great decision every since she wasn't exactly gentle with them. 

Anna's first egg!

 I had fun with the eggs myself and it was wonderful getting to help Anna have fun too. 

Mom and Hailie had a great time too. We enjoyed experimenting with different color combinations. 

 Showing off her eggs. 

It was a little chilly that day but Anna didn't mind too much.  

Jane slept through most of the activities but woke up for a little bit of fun outside. 

Just chillin' with Grandma

A little later we went back over to Kevin's parent's house. Gama was out of town but we were getting together with Thomas, Serena, and Adell so the girls could have an Easter egg hunt together. 

Eventually Anna figured out she could be more efficient by carrying several eggs back to her basket at a time. (the basket was a little big for her to carry around)

Jane enjoyed watching the action from Daddy's shoulders. 

The girls with their eggs! There was a pretty hilarious series of Anna and Adell together. 

I won't include them all but by the end you could clearly tell how annoyed Adell was that we were still taking pictures. I love her so much. 

The next day we went out to the Farm for lunch. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked for Jane's first Easter but what can you do. We had planned another egg hunt but Anna fell asleep and Jane was needing to sleep so it didn't happen. It was fairly windy so it was probably for the best. Hopefully next year we'll be able to get some good photos since it will be Jane's first time hunting. 

Hopefully everyone had a Happy Easter!

Huntington Beach

A few weeks ago Jane and I joined Kevin on a little trip to Huntington Beach, CA. Kevin had a work conference and we thought it would be fun to tag along. We decided not to bring Anna on this trip (two little kids in one hotel room with different activity needs didn't sound fun to me). It ended up being a good thing we planned it this way because Anna had pneumonia earlier in the week and while she was doing better when we left she would not have been okay enough to travel. Thanks Mom for taking care of our sick kiddo!

This was Jane's first plane ride! We joked that she was getting a late start since by this age Anna had already been on about 5 plane trips. 

She did really well on the flights although she was super active and wanted to do stuff. We had hoped she would sleep during the actual flights but she basically just fell asleep toward the end of each leg. The younger the baby the easier they are to fly with (in my opinion). Jane actually did better then I did since I was recovering from a sinus infection. That pressure kills!

Our flight was incredibly early and we arrived well before check in so we had to wait for our room. We killed some time in the lobby (I even managed a nap with the little stinker). There was even enough time for us to take a walk to the grocery store to stock up on supplies for our hotel room. 

Finally we got our room and we were very happy. We mostly just hung out and relaxed since Kevin wasn't feeling 100% that weekend either. The view from our room was amazing so we just enjoyed the sunset on our balcony. 

A zoomed in picture of the pier that we walked to the next day. 

It got chilly pretty fast once the sun started to set but we were able to stay out long enough for a few cute pictures of Miss Jane. 

Dinner on the balcony!

Cuddles before bed!

We weren't sure what would happen with sleep and the time difference but Jane was nice and slept really well that night. She was pretty tired and took a long morning nap. Most of it was on Kevin and we just watched tv and rested. It had been such a stressful week with sickness and preparing for the trip that we really needed the down time. 

The very end of Jane's long nap. 

Once our sleepy head woke up we took Jane down to the pool for her very first swim! Of course we had to lather her up in sunscreen first. We put in on her head too and some nearby people made fun of us but we were like "have you seen how pale this kid is?"

The water was a little chilly but Jane was having a pretty good time. She started kicking like crazy as soon as she got into the water. It was all fun until Kevin did the head under water business. Jane did not enjoy it at all. 

Daddy with his baby.

We thought maybe it was a little too cold so we thought we'd head over to the hot tub to warm up. Jane LOVED it in there and would have stayed longer but we didn't want her to get overheated. 

A little later that afternoon we went out for a walk along the beach. 

It was a gorgeous day to be out and Jane loved looking around at all the people. Made it a little difficult to get a good picture of her but it was so fun seeing her take in everything. 

We meant to ask someone to take a family picture but that never happened. This was the best group shot we managed during our trip. I love it though. 

It was a little chilly on the pier so we stopped to put on Jane's jacket. 

My cutie patootie!

We had a really nice dinner that evening and the next day it was just me and Jane since Kevin had to go to the conference. Jane and I enjoyed breakfast together, a nice walk along the beach, a lovely nap, and hanging out by the pool. 

That night we had one last dinner with Daddy before Jane and I were heading back to Kansas. It was a short trip but I was missing Anna pretty bad so it was good to get back. 

Trees, Boxes, and Books

March was an insane month around here and I've been terrible about posting but I thought I'd try and catch up in a few posts. They may be sort of random but that's all I can manage right now. 

Earlier in March we had a nice weekend so Kevin took a couple days off so that he could work on cutting some trees down in our front yard. The previous owners planted 4 Bradford Pear trees in the front yard and we hate them. For some reason the old owner planted them in between the sidewalk and street. Garbage trucks, delivery trucks, etc always hit the branches, the leaves in the fall are a pain to rake since they are in the street and sidewalk. Grass can't grow because of the density and these sucker branches come up (in the root system of the tree) and look terrible. Well, three of those trees are no more!

We borrowed my Dad's pole saw and Kevin went to town. He cut down pretty much all the branches and then my parents came to town with the trailer and my Dad helped us haul everything off and he brought his chainsaw so we could finish getting the trunks cut down. It was a lot of work but they are gone and we are happy. 

We were very appreciative of the help. My Mom watched the girls so I could assist here and there. Hailie and Seth even helped load up the trailer. It was quite the production. I haven't taken a picture of the yard since they all were removed but I'll try and do that soon. We still have three trees left up front so I don't feel too bad about chopping them down.

Anna enjoyed lunch outside while Jane napped and I helped Kevin out one afternoon. 

 I saved a huge box from a diaper shipment and the girls had a blast. Anna colored it, Jane used it to stand up, and they laughed like crazy crawling around inside. 

I love how a box can keep them busy long enough for me to get something done!

I have a few random pictures of Kevin with the girls so I thought I'd throw them in. I love this one of the girls in their matching pj's reading books. 

Just climbing on Daddy!

Anna was generous and decided to share one of her doggies with Jane. She allowed her to have "other Maddie". So sweet. 

I'll try and get some more posts up from March soon!

Jane: 9 Months!

We started out this week with a 9 month old. It's crazy that we've hit this milestone already. My baby is going to be one before I know it. We've had some nice days so we managed to get outside for pictures although my "helper" was actually more of a distraction but I think we managed to get a few good shots. ;)

Jane now has a full month of crawling under her belt and you can tell. She's much faster and is now into everything as expected. You can tell the path Jane has taken across a room based on how the toys are strewn across the floor. She is also very persistent. When she sees something she wants she will go for it. Doesn't matter what or who she has to crawl over to get to said object either. It's created a little bit of conflict with Anna and we now hear "No Jane", "Don't touch that Jane", "That's mine Jane" more and more then ever before. 

Can't take her eyes of big sis!

We were having Anna play with some toys on the coffee table but I fear that isn't going to work for much longer. Jane has been pulling up to a stand on things like crazy this past month and in the last few days I've seen her standing up by the coffee table (it's taller so it's taken longer to figure out). It's only a matter of time before she does it with the intent to get into Anna's stuff. 

This last month has also brought two more teeth! We had a rough week getting there but Jane's top front teeth finally made an appearance. We now just have to work on biting. She usually does it when she's giving kisses or playing but man it hurts. The other day she bit her own hand and got very upset so I'm hoping that helps her figure out that she shouldn't do it. 

Our house is a split level so we have several baby gates. Anna is pretty good on the stairs so there are a couple of gates that we have been fairly lax about closing. We have to get better though because Jane can now climb them. It's crazy how much she has improved in just a week! It helps that she has Anna "cheering" her on. "Come on Jane", "Climb the stairs Jane!". Adorable. Jane has also been getting more and more into dancing. I love watching her bounce to the music and smile.

It's been a fun month full of changes. I love that she's getting so mobile and there is nothing like having your baby crawl over to you. It does make her seem like less of a baby though and it makes me a little sad because it's going too fast. We just love our sweet, happy, growling girl. 

Our favorite picture!

Crawling, growling, and fun!

I've been pretty bad about loading pictures from the camera this last month so I'm very behind on posting. Here is a random assortment including a couple videos for your viewing pleasure :)

Anna has been enjoying "reading" to Jane lately. I thought it was thoughtful of her to show the pictures to her. 

I think I've mentioned that Jane is a bit of a growler. I managed to get a short little video one afternoon when she decided not to nap.

Just a few weeks before she started crawling!

This was just a little over 2 weeks ago. It's funny watching the video now that she has gotten the hang of it. Jane is into everything now. I sort of forgot how exhausting it is when they first become mobile and want everything they see and won't stop until they get it.

In preparation for Valentine's Day we worked on a few Valentines. Anna really enjoyed working on them. We got a few store bought Valentines for our playgroup buddies and Anna LOVED handing them to all the boys and girls. She had to come home and tell Daddy all about it. 

Post dinner chunky baby snuggles! I adore her double chin in this picture. 

Clean baby snuggles with Daddy. 

We've had some snow and Anna wanted to play in it bad. Jane was napping and it was way too cold outside to play so we brought some snow in. She was so cute and spend a long time just filling bowls up and then dumping them. 

The next day it wasn't quite as cold so while Jane was napping Anna played on the deck for a little bit. It will be nice when Jane can get out in this and they can wear themselves out stomping around. 

With Jane's new abilities she can more easily follow Anna around. It was so cute when they started pulling containers out together. 

House projects have been on hold for a few months but last weekend we got back to work and have started moving forward. Eventually I'll post some before and after pictures but I will wait until the progress is more impressive. We're in the patching and sanding stage that isn't really noticeable in a photo. 

Anna fixing stuff on her workbench

 Poor little Anna spent about 3 days with a high fever last week. She'd perk up on ibuprofen but as soon as it wore off she wanted Mommy. 

Luckily Jane has been fever free and I'm hoping it stays that way. While Anna was down Jane kept busy working on pulling to a stand. She's definitely getting there!