Peppa, Easter and other fun happenings.

Time escapes me again! I feel like March has come and gone in the blink of an eye. The highlights include a trip to Sioux City for Peppa Pig Live with Maggie and her kids, Easter, and hosting couple of dinner parties with friends and their families. Not that this is a highlight by any means, but my father also had an unexpected surgery due to a bowel obstruction in California, so we have spent lots of time communicating and coordinating help for my mom who is his full time nurse. This resulted in an unplanned full (fun!) day with the Oliver kids in order to facilitate a trip out there for Maggie.

Peppa was fun! We booked the show when I was still pregnant with Piper. Dave gladly committed to a one on one evening with her so I could take the older two. We hit the road around 4 and dined at Subway before walking to the show. We were a bit nervous about how Greta would do considering her endless amount of energy, however, she was a champ. She was so interested in the show and the lights and action. Sully expired about halfway through. He was happy as long as he was on my lap, leaving Maggie to manage the other three. The show was cute and the hundreds of kids in attendance loved every second of it.

We celebrated Easter as we always do, on the Willard farm in Colton. This year was unique because of the 6+ inches of snow that fell the day before. The kids had a blast finding eggs in the snow. It was beautiful and so peaceful. Mandy, my sister in law took charge of Piper so Dave and I could join in on the egg finding fun with the older two. We feel so lucky to be included in such a great celebration.

My dad is on the mend, although he had a slight step back in the recovery process turning the 7 day hospital stay into a 13 day stay. He is exhausted and trying to regain his strength. He is making great improvements, but a minor infection to his incision site is going to keep him in San Diego a bit longer. My bother Alex spent almost a week out there when he was still in the hospital and Maggie went as soon as he was discharged to help around the condo. She returns tomorrow, so we got to spend Monday with her kids. Jeff dropped them off early and came in time to eat dinner. Piper and I will go tomorrow. Mega thanks to siblings who will drop anything to help when needed and to a husband who will help me to get there, and the most thanks goes to my mom who has been his charge nurse and is doing all she can to get him home asap.

Catching up on pics! I need to blog more frequently ;).

Sully and I before a much needed haircut on St Patty's Day. 

Looking sharp. 

Pretty in her Hello Kitty glasses. 

Piper, getting so big. 

Bedtime stories. 

Morning coffee. 

Baking banana bread. 

Cool Sully, he even put his own shoes on ;).

Peppa! 

All eyes.

Post Peppa fun with their muddy puddles boots. 

The whole group.

Greta playing in the 'tub.'

Snug as three bugs. 

Easter morning. 

Easter on the farm. 

Egg finding fun.

Greta! 

Silly Greta. 

Secret room with daddy. 

Morning snuggles. 

Sisters. 

Hanging before bedtime.
Sully, 3 years 10 months, Piper 5 months, Greta 2 years 5 months.

Half way through March.

I can't believe St Patrick's Days is already here.

Piper and I went to St Louis the weekend of March 4-6 to visit Stacy. And get this, she scheduled a birthday facial/eyebrow wax for me. She got extra babysitter help for the kids and I was instructed to go and relax and not to worry about a thing. It was amazing. The rest of the weekend was fast and fun, we played outside, went out to dinner (with four kids, it took us 50 minutes, when we got back to the car, the clock said 5:50, we were completely spent). Stacy and I had lots of chat time and ice cream, a St Louis tradition I look forward to. Piper traveled like a little champ, no surprise there.

Dave and the kids kept busy at home, they spent lots of time with the Olivers, which they love. It also gave Dave a short break from time to time which is always nice. Its hard to believe when you have just the two of them they seem easy. Boy has our perspective changed.

We returned on Sunday and Dave was off for the week. I turned 36 on Monday and spent it with Dave and the kids and my family. My favorite part was sleeping (sort of) uninterrupted until 9am. It was so nice to hear from so many friends on my special day.  The rest of the week consisted of a work shift for me and a few appointments for Dave. Its always nice to feel like we are checking things off of our master list.

The highlight of my week was buying Sully a new bike. After all of the construction over the last couple of years we have lacked outdoor space and toys. He has picked it up so quickly and absolutely loves it. Greta is a little less interested, but knowing her personality, she won't be too far behind.

Piper had her 4 month check up and she checked out perfect. She is 14lbs 12oz (55th percentile) and 23.5 inches long (10th percentile). She is officially rolling over, in both directions, so she made the transition to her crib (for most of the night). I am not good about putting her back in her crib after the first feeding, but I'm working it. She was up twice last night, at 2 and 5, so we have some work to do there, but I truly don't know any different as this has been the trend with all of my kids and I really don't mind it, although I do miss my sleep :).

We are back to the daily grind this week. Daylight savings has thrown a bit of a wrench into the routine, but we will adjust eventually.

Enjoy the photos below.

Piper's first flight. 

Hanging with mama.

Taco Johns fun with the Olivers and Grandma Banana. 

Darth Vadar makes everything better.

BFFs watching Monsters Inc.

Birthday photo attempt with all three ;).

Piper's first swing. 

Bike riding with a neighbor buddy, Kade. 

Sweet Pip, 4 months.

Coffee date with Daddy. 

Sully is getting good on the swing set. 

Whats your favorite color, Sully?

Sisterly love. 

Afternoon full of fun at Maggie's.

Sweet Munce kiddos. 

Dave gets a boys weekend.

Dave and Bommer went to NYC last weekend to see the B-52s two nights in a row. He had a similar trip last year. I was nervous about the weekend and being on my own, but fortunately Jeff also had a boys weekend away. So, Maggie and I coparented all of the kids. Maggie went with Sully to a performance at his school, we watched Isaac's basketball game, we had meals together (including a pizza party with my neighbors, the Kimbers), and we shared a babysitter so we could see a show we had tickets to. We survived, but it was busy and there were minimal breaks. Thanks a gazillion times to Maggie for helping me through. The hard part is not having him gone, its having him come home and return to work the following morning for a full week back.

Dave and Paul had fun. They managed front row spots both nights, ate good pizza, and stayed up a little too late both nights. I know he was tired when he returned home, but Im glad they were able to go, glad they had fun, and really glad it is behind us ;). We all missed him around here.

Enjoying a warm February day. 

Greta gets in on the fun before nap time.

Me and all of the kids after Isaac's b-ball game. 

Greta thrilled to help with the dishes.

Building his own cup tower. 

Maggie and Sully at a school outing.

Pizza party with the Kimber and Oliver families. 

Amy and I with our girls. Piper and Khloe are 2 weeks apart, Greta and
Annika are 1 year apart. 

At 'Once' with our mom and aunt Jo. 

Piper's toes and rolls :).

Cozy nap time. 

Sully's 'beach day' attire at preschool. 

Dave and Bommer recreating the B-52s
album cover at the Stratosphere in New York.