Our Easter Weekend

To start our Easter weekend, Derek, Karis and I decorated a few eggs on Saturday morning.  When Makena woke up from her morning nap, the girls did their first Easter egg hunt (last Easter, Makena was just born and we didn't do anything for Easter).  

Makena didn't really get what was going on.  I helped her find two eggs and Karis rapidly swept up the rest.  She even snatched one out of Makena's basket.  Rude.  

A serious egg finder:

Discovering what was inside the eggs (either Capt'n Crunch cereal, jelly beans or M&Ms):

Karis popped open those eggs so fast we could only hold her back from eating three of them.  She's never been given so much sugar before!

The girls also found two singing Easter bunnies that Nana had brought with her on her last visit.  The girls loved watching them sing and move.

Dressed up and ready to go to church on Sunday morning:

For our church Easter celebration, we had egg hunts, cookie decorating, bounce houses, shaved ice, and photo booths.  Despite the rain at one point, we had a great time enjoying the day with our church family.

Makena in her Easter outfit:

Derek had the following Monday and Tuesday off.  It was great to have family time together since Derek was at church for most of the day on Sunday.  On Monday morning, Derek and Karis went on their first hike together.  They had a great time and I'm sure there will be more hikes in the future.

In the evening, we went to my sister's for our Easter dinner together (Derek was too pooped on Sunday night so we postponed it one day).  Julie always makes a great meal and Karis loves to play with her cousins.  I love how they look out for her and play with her.

On Tuesday, we took the kids to the petting zoo.  Makena loved feeding the animals.  She used to try to eat the lettuce and carrots, but this time she gave it to the animals and enjoyed watching them.

 

Karis giving a thumbs up to the little train ride:

Three-week old goats!

It was quiet at the zoo so Karis got a lot of attention from the goats.  Their aggressiveness was a little too much for her!

After dinner we went to Dairy Queen and Karis got her first ice cream cone.  She enjoyed every bit of it!  We walked around afterwards and enjoyed the warm evening.  Karis was a bit out of sorts from a poor nap and a massive sugar high.  She was so upset that we were going home (yet she wanted to go home to get Fluffy).  To avoid a major meltdown, I told her I would take her to Trader Joe's since I needed to pick up a couple things anyways.  I thought that would make her happy, but she was then upset that Daddy and sister weren't going. I guess she was really enjoying the family time!  We all made a trip to Trader Joe's and then it was time for bed!

Our Hungry Little Bird

I can't say it enough.  Makena loves to eat.  She would eat all day if I let her.  Her little innocent face with mouth open wide is so cute.  It's one thing when we're feeding her, but it's even funnier when I catch her like that when I'm eating or prepping dinner at the counter.  She always wants food!

I typically feed both girls dinner, and then I try to take a few moments to myself to sit and eat my dinner (as fast as I can because I know at any moment, duty calls).  My few minutes of silence are often interrupted by a "Darth Vader"-like heavy breathing. I look down and sure enough Makena is asking for food with her mouth open wide.  Below is a video that will give you an idea of what I'm talking about.  Derek took the video the other morning.  I had just finished feeding Makena breakfast.  I went into the other room and Makena stuck around to see what she could get from Daddy.  

Miss Indepence

Karis is loving her ability to do things on her own.  Although she tells me when she has to go to the potty, she wants me to stay out of the bathroom so she can go by herself.  If she uses the small potty seat, she even takes out the little container and dumps the content into the toilet.  I just stick around to help her turn on the water so she can wash her hands.

Karis loves to take off and put on her clothes all by herself.  Earlier today, her shirt sleeves were wet from eating soup for lunch.  She disappeared for a little bit and then came downstairs with a new shirt on and exclaimed, "No help!" with a proud smile.  I loved how she took the initiative to change her shirt.

The other night, she started to get ready for bed without us asking her to.  She took off her pants and underwear and put on a Pull-Up.  She asked to brush her teeth and when she was finished, she found some pajamas to put on.  She picked out which book she wanted mommy to read and which one daddy was to read.  It's fun to watch her become independent.  It definitely makes it easier for us.  But, at the same time it's a little sad to see her growing up!

One way that we don't like seeing her exercise her independence is on the playground.  She is so daring and takes on all kinds of things that weren't meant for her short little limbs.  Thankfully, she is pretty strong and coordinated that she has had only a couple of minor falls.

Karis is rapidly catching up with her speech.  We were told that most kids catch up by the time they are 2 1/2 years old and I think Karis will do just that.  She is now saying 3-word sentences.  Her longest string of words came out a few days ago.  I had put her down for a nap (when she's cranky, I tell her she needs a nap so she can be happy).  She was quiet for about 5 or 10 minutes and then called out, "Mommy!  Pee-pee!"  I took her out of the crib and as we were leaving her room, she said, "Me wake-up happy.  Park now?"  I was so surprised at how she rattled out that sentence.  She was happy and perhaps dozing off for 5 minutes was enough for her.  Silly girl.

Below is a photo taken at Target.  Last week, we took a leisure trip to the store while Daddy and Makena stayed at home.  I let Karis check out the dollar bins, run through the store and pick out a fun snack.  She did great at listening to me and putting things back when I had asked her to.  At the check-out line, Karis found some candy sticks with an airplane on top that had spinning propellers.  She LOVED them. She immediately wanted to take them home to show Daddy.  I told her we weren't going to take them home today and that she needed to put them back.  She was so intrigued by them.  I let her play with them for a little bit longer and then asked her again to put them back.  She slowly did so, trying to hold down the button for the propeller as long as possible.  Trust me, I so wanted to get back in line and buy one for her, but I thought this would be a good learning opportunity.  I was so proud of my sweet girl for doing something she really didn't want to without a fight or tantrum.

This morning, Karis had her toe nails painted for the first time.  She had seen a couple older girls with painted toe nails and wanted the same.  It was funny painting her nails pretty pink with scabs on her toes and ankles from her recent tumbles.  She's such a rough and tough girl!

Today's Pics

We had a couple of really nice summer-like days this past week.  Despite runny noses and coughs, we spent a lot of time outside.

I ran out to Toys R Us before the "heat wave" to buy a water table for the girls.  It was something I've been waiting to buy and with the oncoming warm weather, I thought it was the perfect time to get one.  Plus, I had $15 worth of coupons!

Here are a few pics of the girls enjoying the table.

Look how happy Makena is!  When both girls were playing together, Makena didn't appreciate getting splashed or having water dumped on her by big sis.  Karis went up to take a nap and Makena and I came back out to play.  She loved having the table to herself!

Grandma came to visit for almost two weeks.  In that time, Karis was able to go to the park a lot.  When grandma left, it warmed up so we continued to go to the park.  Now, all day long, Karis ask, "Park, now?" or "Bye-bye, now?"

The other day we dropped by a friend's local park for a few minutes.  When Derek came home from work later that day, he took Karis to the park before having to go back out to work.  When Derek left, Karis asked to go to the park AGAIN.  I told her, "Karis, we went to the park two times today."  To which she answered, "Three?" I guess in her mind, there is no limit as to how many times we can go to the park in one day!