Easter 2012

Matt had Easter weekend off this year, so we packed up enough stuff for a two week vacation and headed down to Eastpoint to see Gigi. Tyler absolutely loved being there, and we all had a great and relaxing time. Tyler played in the hose and explored the yard, Buster ran around chasing squirrels and the neighbors' dog, Cora played on the deck, and we sat back with our Coronas and had some quality time together and with my Grandma. We also saw some beautiful sunsets (Tyler would say, "The sun going down!"). We were so sad when it was time to leave.



















On Saturday afternoon, Tyler dyed Easter eggs. He started off using the spoon, but quickly abandoned it and chose to use his hands. He was just dropping the eggs in and cracking them in the process, mixing the colors and dripping the dye all over himself. He was a mess! It was really fun. After he was done, he put his eggs in a basket and carried them around for a while. At one point, he fell down and cracked all the eggs. So, he was carrying around a basket of multicolored, cracked eggs that were covered in dirt. It was the ugliest batch of Easter eggs I've ever seen, but he carried them around so proudly. It was adorable.























On Easter morning, Tyler opened his Easter basket and then we packed the kiddos up for the beach. On the way over to St. George, Tyler was whining and I asked him what was wrong. He said, "I got some-ting in my eye!" He had sunscreen in his eye, so from there our beach trip was a bit of a disaster. Tyler tried so hard to have fun, but his eye was red and puffy and he was definitely in pain. He was so cute laughing when the waves would come up and hit him. But, he got more and more uncomfortable, so we had to end up going back to Gigi's so we could put him in the bathtub and rinse his eye out. We had both kids screaming on the way home...All we could do was laugh at our beach trip being such an epic failure. Just before we put him down for his nap that afternoon, he was upset. So, he took one of the rubber snakes he got in his Easter basket and started whipping Cora in the face with it. She screamed so loud and Tyler got in big trouble. That was his first brotherly act of violence.




Look at Buster's face...What a freak!


Thanks for the swimsuit, Aunt Linda! She looked so cute.

We put the kids down for a nap after the beach fiasco, and when Tyler woke up there was an Easter egg hunt ready in the back yard.



































This was my attempt to get a good one of Gigi and the kids:






Tyler wouldn't look at the camera, so Matt said, "Tyler, look at Mom!" He snapped his head toward me, put his fist in the air and yelled, "Mom!"

We are so thankful for the Eye of the Storm.



Tyler and Cora updates:

Yesterday, out of nowhere he counted to nine. I asked him to do it again, and he would say, "Three, two, one, three!"

He can say just about anything now. I love it!

He is still the pickiest eater in the world and will hardly ever try something new. If he ever rejects peanut butter and jelly, we are in major trouble!

Cora has still been getting me up all throughout the night. Sometimes she gets up 3 or 4 times a night, and many times I will need to put her in her swing to get her back to sleep because she will be wide awake after I feed her. But within the past week there have been a couple of decent nights. Last night was the best! She went down at 7:30pm and slept until 1:00am. Then she went right back down in her crib and slept until 7:45am. It was wonderful, especially because I was so exhausted that I fell asleep by 8:30pm. I haven't had a night's sleep like that in months.

She is gaining weight but very slowly. She should be gaining about 2 pounds each month, but she is only gaining about half a pound each month. I'm not sure how that's possible because she eats constantly! The doctor prescribed some medicine for reflux just to see if that helps at all. I'm hoping it helps her feel better...I'm not sure if she has reflux but she seems uncomfortable and in pain sometimes. I know she's very gassy, but there's not much more I can do about that. We will see if this medicine helps her at all.

She tries to suck her thumb, but hasn't quite gotten it yet. I'm hoping that she will since she will not take a pacifier. The other day I tried to give her a bottle with a little bit of pumped breastmilk in it; She gagged, coughed and cried. I guess she won't take a bottle!

She is still difficult to keep happy unless she is getting your full attention. She's usually content if Matt or I am holding her propped on our hip, facing her out and walking around and/or bouncing. But, now we can sometimes leave her on her floor mat play gym for about 15 or 20 minutes and she will happily look at, bat at and grab the toys.

Tyler typically ignores Cora, but occasionally he will acknowledge her and it's so sweet. This morning I took him out of his high chair after breakfast, and he ran over to where Cora was laying, knelt down in front of her and said, "I got out Baby Toya! I got out!" Last week Tyler threw a toy on the tile and it made a loud noise that startled Cora. She jumped and started to cry a little bit. I said, "Uh-oh you scared baby Cora." So, as he was running over to her he said, "Otay! Otay, Baby Toya! I coming, I coming!" Then, he kissed her on the head. Precious!

I went back to work last week so Matt is on daddy duty during the day. He's doing a great job and I can already tell that he and Cora have grown closer.