Remember last Easter, when I was about 7 months pregnant and I totally forgot to prepare for Easter?  I joked that I had fallen very short of the “golden Baptist standard of Easter Sunday.” Well, boo-yah!!!  Look who planned ahead this year!!!!!

Are those MATCHING outfits???  Why,yes, they are!  We’ve come a long way, baby. (For a refresher on last Easter, just click here.)

(ahem…..that is a joke. Easter is not about clothing, of course….sometimes it may feel like it IS, but I can assure you that it isn’t. It’s about Jesus rising from the grave, conquering death, and making Heaven attainable for ALL of us.)

This was a refreshingly beautiful, happy Easter–the whole week was great! My parents visited, the sun is shining again, flowers are blooming, and JD is drinking from bottles AND sippy cups.  Life is looking up.

We even quizzed the kids to make sure they knew that Easter is about Jesus’s resurrection, NOT about bunny rabbits.  They passed with flying colors.  It’s always good to get to feel like, “Hey, we’re doing okay!!” even for just a little while!

The only downside to Easter is having to get everyone dressed up, and that’s not really a down side.  It’s just a lot of work.  I spared myself the AGONY that used to come when I made the boys wear ties.

The tie, which offended Caleb to the point of tears, had already been removed for his picture.

Oh, the sweetness and cuteness–I love it!!!  But you have no idea the crying and carrying on that we endured to get Caleb into that shirt and tie, which he shed as quickly as possible.

I am an older, battle worn, and more sensible woman these days.  This year there were no tears. Now they wear this polo shirts.

ah, another Easter, another baby for us to cuddle….I will never grow tired of babies.  If I had handled the whole delivery, sleepless nights, and stress thing better, I would keep having them.  As it is, I’m just excited to tend to the ones I already have.  I figure I can spend my whole life rocking babies in the church nursery.

Don’t you love rocking babies??  Daniel is three, and sometimes I still rock him to sleep–or at least to the point of drowsiness–just so that we can both enjoy it.

Even the Easter Bunny scored big this year.  She–yes, our bunny is a female–decided to focus more on toys that fit in the basket and less on candy.  It was a serious hit.  The boys said it was their “best basket ever”.  I steered clear of the dollar store toys this year and got toys that I knew they wanted.

Big thank you to my mom for taking these photos for us!  I was pleased as punch to have proof that I actually remembered to buy Easter outfits this year.

I filled his eggs with Gerber Puffs.  Also!  I witnessed the BEST idea at church.  I saw a mom put her baby’s bib on backwards for feeding time.  *Mind blown*  How have I had four babies and never thought to do this????  That way the food did not stain the cute bib!!!  I’ve been copying this idea ever since.  Front side of bib out for drool time.  Backwards for feeding!!  Love it!

Another great idea we didn’t figure out until #4:  You don’t need a baby bath chair, once they graduate from the infant tub.  You need a large, non stick mat for the tub, like you use for old people that are fall risks!  JD never slips around, and we don’t have to struggle with a bath chair.  Genius.

We had such a blessed weekend, and I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed having my parents here.  Pictures from our DC adventure to come soon!

Sunday night we all slept like babies:

Happy Easter and Happy Spring, ya’ll!!!

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