Easter Celebrations

It seems that for the past few holidays we have really spread out our celebrations.  And our Easter celebrations turned out the same.  We started out by making and decorating Easter cookies on Thursday.  I love that making cookies is becoming a holiday tradition for our little family!

Tori is quite a pro at cutting cookies out!

Who says you have to wait for a cookie, as long as there is frosting Tori is good to go!!!

She did a great job decorating her cookie as well!

The finished product- yummy!

Friday evening we had Amanda and Amber join us for dinner and our Easter egg hunt!  Tori was all ready to go and find some eggs- although I'm pretty sure she had no idea what we were doing at this point!

It didn't take her long to catch on- she's an excellent egg finder! 

Garrett also proved to be an awesome Easter egg hunter- especially since his were all right in a little pile for him!!! 

Saturday morning we went to visit our dentist's office.  Sounds a little random, but they were having pictures with the Easter bunny, giving out balloons, and doing face painting.  It sounded like fun, so we thought we would check it out.  As soon as we walked in, and Tori saw the Easter bunny (who was rather tall) she quickly backed right up into my legs, and I knew we were in for an interesting time.  She was pretty much terrified of him.  Luckily, Daddy was able to jump in so we could still get this adorable picture with the Easter bunny! (If I hadn't been so worried about Tori and her reaction to the bunny, I would have jumped in too- oh well!)

It turned out that the only thing Tori was excited about was her balloon- no face painting for her!

Garrett, on the other hand, had a great time getting his face painted!  Isn't he just the cutest little bunny you have ever seen?!!!

Mommy and her adorable bunny!

Today we tried our hand at dying Easter eggs.  I love this part because it means deviled eggs later!!!  Tori had so much fun putting the eggs (and her fingers) in the dye!

Garrett's first Easter egg dying!

Yep, (with Mommy's help) he is a pro!

Daddy was very focused on his egg- it turned out awesome!!!

Tori loved showing Grandma and Grandpa Allen her Easter eggs!!!

Even though all of our other festivities were fun, the best part of Easter was being at church as a family (the 1st time in our ward since November) and remembering all that our Savior did and still does for us each day!  I am in awe of His love and sacrifice for each one of us, and I am eternally grateful for it!!!

Gung-ho About Garrett

While I have loved every stage Garrett has gone through, the one he is in right now is especially fun!  I love watching his little personality start to come out more and more.  And I also love that he is becoming more aware of, and interactive with, the world around him!

All I have to say- we have one happy little dude on our hands!

Garrett loves his mobile!  And since he sleeps on his tummy, when he wakes up I usually find him like this- straining to check it out!

Garrett has taken to the bouncer chair with ease!

Our little drool monster- it's a good thing he is so cute!!!

I know this is the saddest, most heart-strings pulling, picture ever- but I had to put it in.  One evening we had put Garrett down for the night.  As mentioned above, he sleeps on his tummy- we've tried having him sleep on his back and he only goes for about an hour at the most (if we are lucky).  So, sleeping on his tummy it is.  Anyways, 20 minutes after laying Garrett down for the night, Jared and I heard him start to scream- which is very un-Garrett like.  We ran in to his room to find him like this- so sad that his first time rolling over was such a scary and traumatic ordeal!

It is so fun watching Garrett figure out...

and start to enjoy playing with toys!!!

We finally got to see (and caught on video) our little G-man rolling over!!!

Garrett has discovered his fingers- I love watching him check them out!

 This little guy loves to bounce- and he loves to talk!!!

Garrett is getting so much better at sitting up- but it looks so uncomfortable to be basically bent in half!

He must be related to Tori (oh, and Jared, and me too!) with his tongue stuck out like that!!!

Checking out his mobile again- this really does not look comfortable at all!

Yep, Garrett is now growling!!!

I just can't even express how much I love out little Garrett- he stole my heart the moment I saw him!  It's a done deal- I am smitten!!!

We Love the Children's Museum

Our second big outing this week was to the Children's Museum.  I know we were here a few weeks ago, but we still found so many new things we missed the first time around!  And this time Jared was able to come with us- we had a blast!!!

Tori loves the slide in the Mr Potato Head exhibit- talk about a grin!!!  

Tori requested a picture with this horse.  I think it's the first time she has ever asked for a picture to be taken- she even posed!

Tori and Daddy build an awesome car together in the Lego exhibit!

Holy cow- Tori and Daddy found some dinosaurs!!!

What a cute little paleontologist!!!

Look at all those dinosaur bones she found!

Mommy, Garrett, and Tori enjoying a yummy lunch!

Garrett loved the Babyscape area!

It was so fun watching him play and discover!

I'm pretty sure this was made for a smaller kid- but I do know this big kid had a grand time on it!!!

Just like at home- make a big stack of blocks and Tori will knock them over!

I think Tori could have played at the water table all day long!

 Tori got soaked at the water table where the jacket didn't cover her pants- basically from the knees down.  She was quite distressed by this...

In the ScienceWorks exhibit we learned all about Indiana's fresh water life.  Tori loved the fish!!!

We also learned all about eating healthy foods- tasty!

I don't think this was the intention, but Tori learned how to balance a lego on her head!

I know for sure this was Daddy's favorite exhibit!!!

 Tori loved her first Children's Museum carousel ride!

 And she loved looking for Daddy and Garrett every time we came around!

Our two kiddos at the end of our trip- both of them happy and tired!!!

I would say our outing was a huge success!  Thanks for a fun day Children's Museum- until we meet again!

Tori Meets the Dentist

Today Tori had her very first dentist appointment!!!  Here she is sitting like a very big girl in the waiting room!

Once she figured out that crawling underneath the chairs was a lot of fun, she got to sit with Mommy in the waiting room!

She really was so brave!  I think that having Daddy and Snow White with her helped a bunch!!!

Tori was just fine doing things all by herself! (She is holding the little tooth mirror thing in her mouth)

She was such a big girl and let Robyn (our hygienist) take a look!

And they were still friends after that!

Tori got a little scared when Robyn wanted to polish her teeth.  But Tori was much more cooperative after Robyn explained that her teeth would be shiny!

Our dentist got a quick peek inside Tori's mouth and her first visit was all done!  She was really such a brave girl and did a great job!  We were so proud of her!!!