Easter weekend

We celebrated Easter at my parents house and had our big family get together on Saturday. Aubree's little sister Lauren got baptized that morning, so that was a memorable, meaningful start to the weekend.

The weather was gorgeous on Saturday. Which was really lucky because Sunday was rainy. We had 8 kids at the house so I can only imagine how crowded and chaotic it would have been if we had all been stuck inside due to rain. As it was, we had perfect weather for a huge Easter egg hunt. We even hid an egg in the coop where the chickens lay their real eggs. By the time a kid discovered it one of the hens had already pecked it open, good thing there was not candy inside!

 We always have to attempt a picture with all the grandkids together, But attempt is all we can do.

 Addie has a favorite swing at Papa & Grandma's house & she spent a lot of time on it over the weekend.

 Lauren will be a fun play-buddy cousin once she is a little older :)

 Naked at the piano, need I say more?

Etta is 1 1/2

Etta is 18 months old today! Happy half birthday Ettalyn Rose Marston!

I made some cocoa-banana cupcakes to celebrate. It started off with me noticing that we had bananas that were past their prime. So I was going to make banana bread. Then I realized the timing was right for having a treat to celebrate Etta's half birthday, so I decided to make banana muffins instead. Then I was trying to think of a way to make things a little more birthday festive. Cocoa instead of chocolate chips makes things look special. So the semi-healthy banana bread idea morphed into cocoa-banana cupcakes, which were screaming for some cream cheese frosting so I had to comply!

Etta decided that she wanted to be dressy today. She got lots of compliments on her dress. Note that technically this is actually an Addie-sized shirt with ruffles on the bottom, but Etta is already starting the age-old tradition of raiding big sisters closet!

Here she is at 12 months

6 months

newborn

A little about Etta at 18 months:

-she is using the potty at home numerous times a day. She did great at my parents house over the weekend too. Obviously she is still in a diaper full time, but I sure appreciate the ease of wiping a bum that went poo in the potty instead of a diaper.

-she loves attention. LOVES it. She loves to smile and say hi to complete strangers. She likes to dance and spin for people.

-she is pretty physical. Loves to give hugs (while saying "hug"). Would prefer to be carried a lot more than I let her be.

-is (finally!!!) sleeping through the night every night. Still naps great. Falls asleep well on her own.

-is a great little eater. Loves her fruits and veggies (must have got that from her daddy!)

-wants to be 3 years old. Tries to do everything her sister does. Puts on her own pants. Takes off her shirts. Colors and climbs and runs and screams ("no" is her favorite word to scream).

-is strong-willed. She can scream and throw fits to rival the best 2 year old. She can be really great at following directions and obeying, but she can also make it very clear when she has no intention of doing what you want.

-is a tough little cookie. Handles pain pretty well (including teething pain). Can take the tickle-monster (Tom her uncle)  for 20 minutes straight and keep coming back for more even when her sister and 3 year old cousin have moved on.

Palm Sunday

It is hard to resist the cute frilly Easter dresses displayed at the stores this time of year. Both girls do have new dresses that they will debut next weekend. But for Palm Sunday today I decided they could just be cozy and casual in playdresses. I bought these two dresses about a year and a half apart from Kate Quinn, both times with sales or coupons of course! I loved the first one so much but was dismayed when I put it on Addie when she was about 18 months and she was already almost too tall for the size 2. Addie continues to be tall for her age, so the size 4 has been too short to be a dress for a few months already. Good thing this style transitions well into a 3/4 length tunic shirt. Just substitute leggings for the tights, and voila!

Cousin Coen is Moving Closer!

Addie & Etta are pleased to share the news that Coen

 is moving his mommy, daddy & doggy Maya up to North Seattle.

We look forward to more frequent playdates, game nights and maybe babysitting swaps!

4 girls

TJ & Sammy came over with their parents for a playdate and dinner.
We had 4 little dancing princesses at one point. Pretty fun stuff!

A pretend sleepover

Etta & Addie's friend Maya came over to visit the other weekend.
The 3 of them went from room to room exploring & playing together.
They decided to pretend it was nap time.

Of course, no one would actually fall asleep in this arrangement.

But who wants to sleep when you have friends over?

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Where are Addie and Etta?

Look Etta, there is Addie!

Hiding together doesn't really work Miss Etta

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Little princess

So I am not artistic. I do not sew. Not a knitter. Not creatively crafty. But when I saw the simple instructions for making crowns out of felt, I thought it was something I could tackle. So we made a trip to the fabric store and picked out felt and matching foam board. Then we got to choose the fun embellishments  like big purple buttons, sparkly glitter glue, glitter foamy stickers, etc. I did the fun decorating with Addie. Matt had the important job of gluing the foam to the felt and sewing the 2 back strips of the crown together. Kind of funny that my husband is more confident and talented with a needle & thread than me, right?!