Easter

We had a perfect day for Easter egg hunts yesterday. We invited friends and family to come and spend the day with us. I was really worried because they had forecasted  rain all day, but it stopped around 1 and started up again around 6, so we had a perfect window to play outside :) We had about 15 kids and about the same amount of adult, which made for a pretty good combination, there was always an adult near to help out. Because of the age ranges of the kids we decided to do 2 egg hunts. One for the little and one for the big. It worked out perfectly. Ben then gathered all the kids together and did a lesson on Easter. 

He had hidden 6 eggs with items in them about the resurrection. He called the kids up in order to open the egg and talk about what was inside. Some of the moms had asked where he had gotten the idea, and you can find it here, he condensed it down to 6 eggs instead of 12, and left the last one empty to symbolize the empty tomb. 

Ari didn't really understand the concept of the Easter egg hunt, but sat there saying "ball...ball" and pointing to all the eggs :)

They finished our new sidewalk the day before the hunt :) 

Over flowing baskets :)

Everyone got a ton of candy.  

Here is Arianna's Easter dress. She loves it...

Also we wanted to leave everyone with a beautiful Easter message. I think this is a great video to watch with kids. It makes the last week of Christ's life seem more real. 

Family Photo Session

We had an amazing photo session with J Design Studios  Here are some of the pictures we took :)

Sierra was in town and helped out, so I thought we should get some pictures with her too :)

Snow and Blankets

Ari has been having a great time playing with blankets lately...

 

 

We got a crazy snow storm and I thought it was a great chance for Ari to play outside :)

I love this picture, she looks so grown up!

(even though she still isn't walking)

 

My mom made her the Hello Kitty hat before she was born...this is the first time that she didn't pull it off her head when I put it on!

 I love those blue eyes!

I have to brag...

So Arianna still won't walk, but she does so many other amazing things!

Ari can color! She understands the concept and will not be fooled by leaving the cap on :)

She loves to read, this is what I normally find her doing. She would love me to read to her all day long. It is so hard to say "No, I can't read you a book right now..."
 

Ari has an amazing imagination. She treats her monkey like a person and talks to it. She also snuggles with it, covers it with a blanket and pats it's back...

 Ari can talk! It has been really hard to capture on video because she just wants to play with the camera, but she can say "ball", "brown bear", "duck" ,"dog", "dad", "where's the ball", and "book."

Ari loves to be outside! She has started to cry when I bring her in, or she sits at the door and tries to put her coat on to go out...I can't wait for warm weather!

Some other things that I haven't been able to capture with the camera...

• She makes noises when she plays with her cars and trucks

• If her nose isn't too raw she will let you wipe it, and will even blow!

• She still charms strangers with her smile :)

• She sleeps 12 hours at night, 7:30-7:30 (when she isn't sick)

• She has finally started to get cuddly, only when she is tired, but that is better than nothing.

What Ari does when I am not looking...

Today I was getting some work done...wait what was that? Work was actually getting accomplished while Arianna was awake? Yes! But that usually means Ari is up to no good. The other day when she was "too quiet" she had emptied her wipes all over her room, pulled all the blankets out of the closet,  and had unfolded all my neat piles of laundry...So what was she up to today? Well I caught it on camera...

Yup, she was "reading" :) she did this for at least ten minutes...Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? is her favorite book right now. I even took this video, edited it, uploaded it, and then went back in to check on her and she was still reading...Arianna is one amazing little girl.

Catching up

Because I am not doing the month posts anymore I have not been charting Arianna's progress as much as in the past. I thought I would take some time to share some of the great changes that have been happening in our home.

• Arianna is now down to one nap a day. It is usually 2-3 hours, which is wonderful :) 
• She has learned to climb down from things! She can get off the couches or beds without difficulty. 
• She hasn't learned very many signs, but she does know how to nicely ask for something that she wants.
• She can feed herself with a spoon or fork, but it does get messy :)
• She is eating much better and more variety than in the past. She will try anything you give her, but she first has to lick it. 
• Arianna loves Bananas. I mean loves, she ate 3 in one day is still wanted more. I have to try really hard to just keep it to 2 a day :)
• Ari has always loved music, but lately she has learned to ask for it. She loves to watch shows that have music in them or play the piano. (I have to admit that I use the tv as a babysitter so I can take a shower.)
• She has grown very attached to her blanket and will sometimes choose to stay in bed after she wakes up from her nap to play with it. (I try to not let her take it out of her bed)
• Ben and I think Ari has said her first word, she points to the neighbors dog and says "da-daa" fairly consistently. She will also do this with pictures of dogs on our phones or in her books.
•  Arianna's hair has gotten just long enough to pull back into 2 lower pig tails :)
• Ari loves books! She will "read" them to herself or drag one over for you to read to her. She can handle regular books without tearing them, much to the surprise of others.
• I just noticed this morning that Ari will take a  handful of Cherrios in her left hand then eat them one by one with her right...I think it shows amazing fine motor skills.
• She loves outside, I am excited for good weather and when she can walk, crawling on prickly grass isn't the most enjoyable thing :)

Getting into everything :)

She loves to read

Playing with daddy...

Just some pictures

Ari's hair is getting long enough to play with :)

Quality Time with grandma

No  Grandma this is how you do it...

 

mmm...yummy