firsts

it's funny that even though i've spent almost twenty years of my life living in utah, there are still firsts to be had. the place is growing like crazy! and they keep getting all these cool new things.

and then, of course, there are all the things i get to show my kids for the first time.

this time around, we went to scheel's for the very first time.

it's a sport store that is absolutely mammoth!

they have a mini bowling alley. and bears. and jeeps you can sit in. and some pretty amazing gelato.

but if any of you reading this are there in the future, do not leave without getting the chocolate chip cookie.

it was by far the best part.

(can you tell in that picture that the poor kid was running a fever of 103? but he really did want to be sitting in that jeep...)

maggie got to take her first taste of fry sauce. we made sure it came from crown burger. all other fry sauce pales in comparison. one day, i have hope that tennyson will try the fry sauce. he has no idea what he's missing out on. 

we also finally went to the aquarium for the first time.

when you are used to going to the shedd in chicago, you hold very low expectations for any other aquarium.

but this little thing was actually wonderful! tennyson even touched a shark (and then pulled his hand out of the water as quick as possible yelling "ew yuck!").

but by far my favorite first was meeting my first nephew for the first time.

we were very, very lucky that he was born while we were there.

the odds weren't really in our favor.

maggie adored him.

tennyson at least looked at him once or twice.

and i held him while my kids screamed and fought with each other thinking,

"why didn't i appreciate it more when i only had one that slept all day?"

p.s. if you are wondering my least favorite first?

it would definitely be that this trip was the first time i was ever stranded because my flights kept getting cancelled.

lucky

we are lucky.

lucky that every year, we've been able to make a visit out to utah to see family.

my kids are the luckiest, because they get spoiled.

they are spoiled by my cousins.

like these two girls who lugged maggie around an entire arcade for a night.

(by the way, how cute are these photobooth pictures?)

and they are spoiled by my aunts.

like one aunt who bought matching pajamas for my cousin and maggie to wear.

and of course, there are the grandmas.

they are always extra spoiled by grandmas.

all the kisses.

all the treats.

all the fun games they play.

like i said, we are so lucky.

lucky that we get to spend a week being spoiled.

look forward to some posts in the next few days with more of what we did.

it was a great trip.

eleven months

maggie.

our little eleven month old.

we are only one month away from the big one.

i remember with tennyson at eleven months saying, "has it already been eleven months? time is flying!"

i don't know if it's the second child, or if maggie is just wearing me out, but this time around i keep thinking "has it really only been eleven months? girl's been around an eternity!"

i had a hard time with her photo shoot this month.

it was hard for me to pick out the picture i wanted to use as the official photo, because for some reason all the sudden she looks like a different kid. i'm sitting here scrolling through the pictures on my computer thinking, none of these look like her. she's thinning out, losing some of her baby cheeks, and turning into more of a toddler and less of a baby. 

it's making me a little sad. i've become quite fond of nibbling those little cheeks.

fun facts:

-maggie currently has seven teeth. three on bottom, four on top.

-she has enough hair to hold a little pony on top of her hair. it's so cute i could die. (and mike feels the same way about the tiny barrettes we can now get to stick in her hair.)

-she's now a pro at cruising around furniture.

-occasionally we can get her to stand up on her own, but she's stubborn.

-maggie still wakes up at least once during the night. usually more. i've given up all hope on sleeping through the night ever again.

-maggie has the most adorable raspy little voice, and instead of screaming when she's upset, she outright yells. a raspy little yell. so half of you wants to tell her to just be quiet, and the other half is like "that's the cutest thing i've ever heard." and when she yells, she makes this face...

and i simply want to eat her up and throw her out the window at the same time.

-maggie still loves to eat. she spends a lot of the day either in her high chair, or eating whatever food tennyson left laying around.
-she's found a new love for both mickey mouse and jake and the neverland pirates. it's the first point in her life where she's really even cared the tv is on, and it's so cute how her eyes light up when she hears the song. and then her whole body breaks out in a dance.

seriously, maggie is a hoot and a half.

she's absolutely crazy and we are absolutely in love with her.

eyes

tennyson likes to be unique.

from his quirky little mannerisms, to the time table he seems to be on, to the red hair on his head.

but the most unique thing about him are his eyes.

they captivate me.

it's been impossible to capture in a picture.

kid sees a camera and runs screaming in the other direction.
not the best conditions, you know?

but on easter sunday, i got it.

a picture of his eyes in all their glory.

they are totally and completely unique.

just like he is.

easter

we aren't one for traditional easters, i guess.

remember tennyson's first easter? the one we spent in an airport?

yeah, we did the whole airport thing again this year.

this year, it was only mike on the plane. he was coming back from new hampshire. so our easter sunday was a little more hectic than other's sundays were.

but that's just the way we do it.

while mike woke up early to catch his flight, i woke up early with the kids and got them prepped and ready for the easter egg hunt.

 that tricky little easter bunny took the eggs and hid them all over the house.

this thrilled tennyson, since the kid has a deep passion for egg hunts. he ran all over the house trying to find them. i think he must have run the equivalent of at least a mile.

sometimes, they were a little tricky to spot.

but he always got them in the end.

maggie liked that she could eat the eggs. and also that she could bang them together and make the shells crack.

after the hunt was over, i was lucky to be able to get both my kids dressed in their easter best and also snap a few pictures before church.

and i really mean i was lucky, because my kids aren't the most cooperative when it comes to pictures.

i offer you exhibit a:

and exhibit b:

we did manage to pull a few gems out of the whole ordeal.

(p.s. i'm so entirely in love with maggie's dress this year. we bought it back in november and it's been sitting in her closet ever since, just begging me to let her wear it.)

after we finished taking pictures, i sent the kids off to church with my parents and i went to get mike from the airport.

it actually worked out well, because when we got back, we were able to work on making easter dinner while everyone else was still at church. plus, we are lucky that my parents are the nursery leaders, so tennyson and maggie got to sing songs and play the entire time, and no one had to try to wrestle maggie for the entire three hours.

the easter bunny was very thoughtful this year and waited to deliver the baskets until mike was around. so when the kids got home from church, there they were, just waiting.

maggie was thrilled because her basket had a lot of things inside that closely resembled balls. she even had a real ball in there that was perfectly the size of her hand, so she could carry it around and crawl at the same time. 

tennyson was thrilled because his entire basket was full of eggs and mater.

and easter grass. really, that's all the kid wanted to play with.

eventually it did end up all over the living room. i really mean all over. 

mike and i were thrilled because we could smell the ham cooking.

boy, was dinner delicious.

we were lucky to be able to see my uncle, as well, and i really could have sat at the dinner table talking forever (as could have mike) but we needed to drive home that night, and so we pried ourselves away and got into the car for our 3.5 hour drive.

that's how we do easter around here.

i'm hoping that maybe next year we can have our first easter as a married couple where no one is 39 weeks pregnant, and no one is on a plane, and we just get to spend a quiet sunday at home.

but then again, i've really enjoyed doing it our way, too. because despite the travel and the craziness, we have been close to family, and been able to celebrate with those that mean the most to us.

maybe i wouldn't trade things after all.