Our Belated Easter

For some reason, Easter sneaked up on me this year. One thing that threw me off was the night before Easter when Tyler started talking up the Easter Bunny to the kids in a way that almost made me believe in him too! Growing up in my family, I don't remember my mom ever making a big deal about the Easter Bunny. I remember just waking up to Easter baskets and an egg hunt and saying, "Thanks Mom" pretty much with the understanding that the Easter bunny wasn't real.

Here's Whitney with her favorite thing in her basket... gum. Cole got a plush Bumble Bee Transformer (Thank you, clearance aisle at Wal-Mart. Best $3 I've spent in a long time.) After the kids saw their baskets, we had the egg hunt. Annie was a pro! I was shocked at how quickly she caught on to the egg collecting game.

We went to the church Easter Party which was great like last year. The only bad part was at the end when Whitney heard me talking to the person who had been in the bunny suit and their description of how hot it was under the mask etc. etc.... Not a huge deal b/c I'm not a big fan of the E.B. in the first place. But we'll just say that Whitney had quite a few questions for me on the way home.

Cole was cracking us up at the Easter party (and on Sunday with friends) when it was time for the egg hunt. Whenever we'd stop and look for Cole, we'd find him off in some random corner or at the top of a play structure with his loot just hoarding it or eating it up as fast as he could. Like most kids with sugar on Easter, he was in heaven.

Late on "Easter Eve," Tyler's best friend from high school, Garrett, called and invited us to join him and his family for an Easter Sunday dinner. Little did I know that we would not only be joining Garrett, but also his extended family at Garrett's aunt's house! We brought our herd and Garrett & Cindy brought theirs. It was wonderful to see them again; we hadn't seen each other since Cindy & I were expecting our 2nd kids. Garrett's family could not have been more generous and kind to us. The food was amazing, the home was perfect, the Easter Egg hunt was a hit, and everyone was so warm. We felt so blessed to have them take us under their wings and share a beautiful Easter holiday with them.

But you know when we go somewhere with 3 little kids like ours, we can't leave without some drama. I was chatting with one of Garrett's aunts when all of a sudden I noticed that Annie was missing. We found her in one of the guest bathrooms. Not just playing in the potty, but BRUSHING HER TEETH in TOILET water with a stolen toothbrush from one of Garrett's aunt's kids! I was DYING. Garrett's aunt keeps an immaculate home, so I wasn't worried about Annie's hygiene. But still, it was so embarrassing.

Then later that afternoon I was outside taking pictures of Whitney & Annie with their new friends. I thought Tyler was taking care of Cole, and he thought I had Cole outside with me. But little did we know that Cole was fending for himself in the bathroom. I guess he couldn't unsnap his Sunday pants himself or something, but he had a TERRIBLE accident all over the place. Someone heard him crying in the bathroom and told Tyler, so Tyler got the lucky job of cleaning up Cole's masterpiece. I'll spare you the gory details, but Tyler still shudders when he thinks of what he had to clean up that afternoon in the bathroom.

Here are some pictures of the girls; I wish I had gotten more. Lannah is in the pink, and she is just a month older than Whitney. Maelee is in the polka dot dress, and she is about 4 months older than Cole. They were precious little girls and really got along well.

As we were saying our goodbyes, I thanked our hosts again for letting us share their Easter Sunday and apologized (again) for the craziness of our little family. I said something like, "I bet seeing us around here sure makes you grateful to have your kids in college who are independent and don't drink out of the toilet..." But Garrett's aunt got teary-eyed as she told me how badly she missed her little kids. She told me it's hard not to wonder if she stopped to give her little kids hugs enough or stopped to teach them everything they needed to know. The tears flowed as she told me that she was especially missing her kids that Easter holiday and how much she loved them.

I was grateful for that tender moment she shared with me. It was a reminder that I needed to hear to enjoy motherhood during these younger years. Every mother I've met who has kids older than me swears that I will miss these days when the kids are young, and some days I really wonder when that day will come. True, I probably won't miss the diapers, or the late-night feedings or whatnot, but I feel like I'm starting to catch a glimpse of what it will be like to miss these young personalities and sweet innocent dispositions. Kids truly are a gift from God. What a blessing it is for me to learn from these cuties and to be their full-time mom!