Easter 2017----He is Risen

I love her expression in this one!

Easter 2017

Easter 2017!!  WOW! It is hard to believe that Ellie is just a few short weeks from being a 1 year old!  We all enjoyed Easter! Like every other holiday lately, the celebrations seemed to last for a whole week. With Easter egg hunts here and there and everywhere!

I was able to utilize my Christmas present and take some pictures of the kiddos in their Easter clothes! It is SO fun to buy matching dresses for the girls!  I searched and searched for a tie for Porter to match, ended up using one of Thomas's, it was close enough?!

We had a wonderful Sunday. Porter and I were both able to sing in the choir at church, and I was able to bear a short testimony of the Savior.  We got to eat a big yummy dinner with family. I made my first ever carrot cake, thanks to my friend, Laura's recipe! Yummy!

And as you can see in the pictures below, other adventures happened these past few weeks!

Isn't she just a little doll!?!!

Such special sisters, and the brother behind me making them smile!!

These two have such a special bond. Porter helps so much with Ellie

My handsome boy! He is growing into such a sweet young man! And I fit in his shoes?! What a weird feeling!

This beautiful girl!  It is so hard being the middle child, don't I know it.  She has
struggled a lot with no longer being the baby.  I try to keep her feeling as special
as she is.  She tries so hard to be good and do what is right. But, man, can the
girl whine and cry about all the injustices Porter lays upon her. One day, they will
be best friends, I just wish it would happen sooner than later!

Our little treasure in yellow! She is so sweet and happy, most of the time! She loves to be held and in all the action. Once she learns to walk, she will be out there in the mix of the fun!

He wanted this picture! "Mom, get one with me and Ellie on my shoulders"

That is my Addie's sweet natural smile!

Easter Egg hunt at the library!

Porter had a cool opportunity to meet Brett Farve and get a ball signed.

Thomas got a picture!

Addie and her Easter hat from school! hahah

A bee entered the picture!

Coloring eggs with our new neighbor, Addie and her have become fast friends!

Addie found one of the 6 golden eggs at the Church Easter egg hunt. She picked a big prize!

This is how babies do Easter egg hunts!

baking my cake

getting it ready with cream cheese frosting

My finished carrot cake!

I love that she feeds herself now! With Porter and
Addie, they went from breastfeeding to the sippy
cup, so we had little experience with the bottle. I am
sure she could have done this a month or so ago, but
I am grateful that she can do it now! 

I love Addie's school work and her phonics!

Addie's music program.

This little picture kind of hurts my heart. I feel like this kind of
shows how Addie feels. That Ellie has stolen her spotlight,
and she sits back quietly.  I hope that we can find the balance soon.
It breaks my heart when Addie says, "I wish my name was Ellie",
or "Ellie is everyone's favorite".  I want my kids to feel like they are
all the most important to me.  And that I love them all in different ways
but the same amount.

This girl!

Like Porter and Addie did when they were babies, Ellie loves noodles!

Baby Goose is 11 months old!

Repping Clinton Arrows!

Where in the world did 11 months go?!  This little peanut has changed our lives.  She is always the center of attention in our house.  Ellie has started to laugh, I mean she has been laughing when you tickle her on her leg or her tummy, but now she is laughing because she finds something funny. And we just eat that up!  She started with laughing at Addie in the car this week, and we realized it was the first time she had ever laughed because she was tickled on an emotional level. It was super precious. We are all putty in her hands, every thing she does, we all sit in awe of her!  One of the sweetest relationships is Ellie's and Porter's, he is so sweet and gentle with her.  He isn't embarrass cooing and kissing her in public, and the kid is almost 12.  He wakes up in the morning and is always so happy to greet her.  It is such a sweet relationship they have. I just wish he gave just an ounce of that to Addie.  One day!
Ellie cut her other top tooth this week.  I am so excited to see the 4-teeth grin!  The doctor started her on zyrtec and it has helped so much with her snotty little nose and night time cough! Wow! The whole house is sleeping good!  Ellie is working hard on trying to figure out how to get from siting up to her tummy.  She hasn't quite figured it out, and when she does it, she lands hard on her face. She is determined to figure it out!  I can tell she is getting ready to crawl.  Technically she is about 8 1/2 month old, her adjusted age. So, it is really important to me to remember that, and base her milestones off of that.  It is hard sometimes to see other babies her bio age, and how far ahead they are. But I know she is doing so well.  I have no worries about her development.  I have a great sense of calm.  I know she will catch right up!
  House news!  We are working on getting a construction loan on the house, and will close on it before the end of this month.  Then starts the demo and then the remodel.  I am excited for it, but it is going to be hard to do it with a little one!  But my hope is we get moved in before the school year starts. I am not sure how realistic that is, but one can hope!  It will be great to be so close to family and to have some space and land!  I am super excited about the little lake house that comes with it! That means my family has no excuses not to come visit!! hint hint! Ha!  It's going to be a journey, but we are excited for it!

Bffs! Afton & Ellie

She had her arm around him, but always seems to
stop doing things when I pull out my phone!

It keeps them listening!

General Conference Bingo

Ellie tearing up her bingo board

Addie has some molars growing in!

HiiT shirts for my class!

We have talked about
making these for years! They
turned out great!

Our darling girl!

Riding on the "Frozen" bike. He will do anything to make her happy!

Love all these peeps! Sporting our new HiiT shirts!

The coolest thing about my job is I get paid to workout with my friends! You can't beat that!

High Intensity Interval training, just do HiiT!

One morning, right before leaving for school,
Addie slammed her finger in the door. 

I have never seen a finger blister up like this
after being pinched in the door.

It looks so sore! She was very brave. Skittles helped her
get over it and helped us make it to school on time. But
you can see that it hurt something fierce!

Everyone needs a turn on the Frozen car! ha!