Easter, swimming, bikes, plays, and more! April!

We ended our busy March and continued right into April. On the 1st we went to Lolo's with Stephanie and Bart for Bart's early birthday celebration. Shar kept JJ which was nice. I was really excited for Bart's birthday presents because I'd been gathering stuff for quite some time. My mom and dad were coming down the first weekend which was Easter weekend. Very early on I decided I wanted to put JJ in swim lessons. After looking into it a lot of places start at 6 months. So we planned on his first lesson being while Grandma and Grandpa were down to watch. After his swim lesson we went to lunch and then hurried home because Dad, John, Nick, Ashton, and I were going golfing. My mom watched JJ and they went shopping and ran some errands I guess.

JJ did well at his first lesson. I think I was more worn out from trying to squat in the shallow water. I'm not tall enough to be on my knees but obviously too tall to stand in 3 ft of water so I was squatting down the whole time. The lesson is pretty much the same every week and they're focusing on teaching them that water isn't solid. Teach them to blow bubbles in the water, teach them the movements to get out of the pool, and get them used to putting their ears and head, etc. underwater.

Happy Easter! My cute little Easter bunny.

I really didn't have an Easter basket ready or going to even do one, but just like the picture with Santa I figured for pictures he needed something. Mom and I had to go to the grocery store at 10 pm anyways so I grabbed a few things. Most of the toys were toys he already had, but I'm sure he didn't know the difference.

Most of Sunday morning was just lounging around. The boys went and set up an Easter egg hunt at the park just down the road. We were able to get a cute picture of all the kids in their Easter outfit from Grandma Connie.

Monday we went to breakfast before Shar and her kids headed to Utah and a few hours later mom and dad headed home. 

We put together a last minute Easter dinner and invited Stephanie and Bart, and Erica and Nathan and Miss Sophie over. I hadn't seen Sophie since January and she's almost caught up with JJ! JJ didn't do very well with sharing his stuff. We need more play dates so he can work on that.

The following weekend Stephanie and I had a girl's night. We grabbed a quick dinner at Some Burro's and then went to Cinderella. I really liked it. Saturday we had Bug's 2nd swim lesson and I can't remember what else we did that day. Sunday was Tour de Tempe. I was pretty nervous about how Bug would do because it's a long ride and it falls right during his morning nap time which is usually his best nap of the day. Aunt Stephanie and I had picked out a good outfit for him and Dad had spent a lot of time getting his trailer all ready.

We do this ride with a lot of people. Most hadn't seen Bug since December. We had to get a picture of Bug and Dave since they were both rocking awesome hats.

Well, he did really well. He didn't cry at all. He also didn't sleep at all. I was so sure he'd fall asleep but nope!

We had planned to go to Crackers after the ride and I was worried again that he would be fussy because he hadn't had a nap, but nope! We fed him a bottle before we got seated and then some food before we got our food and he made eyes at the old ladies next to us through our whole meal. I was so surprised at how well he did. He lost it about 10 minutes from home because he was just exhausted. We put him down and this is how I found him about 5 minutes later.

Based on the pictures it looks like we went furniture shopping later that day. I don't know why or what got us started on getting new couches but that is what we were looking for.

When we got home we decided to list the couches for sale on one of the facebook sites. We've had these couches for 7-8 years and the pillows were pretty shot thanks to two dogs laying on them and just the way you lean into the couches because they are so big. Also since we bought the rocker/glider our front room has been really crowded with furniture. John had tried to get me to sell just one piece but I didn't want to break up the set. We tried to move one chair to the extra bedroom but they are so big they don't fit through bedroom doors. I wouldn't let John buy new couches until we sold the old stuff. Well.... I didn't expect the lady who came to look at them to haul them away that night, but she did! Suddenly we had no furniture. We spent several nights on the floor with JJ.




We've had a bit of a fussy baby this month because of teething. He doesn't want to chew on anything designed for teething but everything else. He seems to get low grade fevers quite often as well. We held him down one night to get a picture of the first tooth. That tooth has cut through now and the one next to it is working its way out.

These pictures were taken one night at Target. We had to run over there to get something and while I was shopping John and JJ were having a good time. I tried to pick out just one picture to post but I couldn't pick just one. He is such a happy baby which is why this teething has been hard because he's just not himself. I'm afraid we're going to just go from one tooth to the next and he's going to be fussy forever.

On the 14th Nick and I were able to volunteer for the ABC15 Telethon for Phoenix Children's Hospital. It's the 2nd year we've done this and the 3rd time I've volunteered. I love doing it. We do the early shift (4am) which is a little hard but it's so fun once you're there. It's my dream job to work for the foundation of PCH. I've made some good connections with people and they recognized Nick and I when we got there. I was passionate about this before JJ but even more now because knowing there is an organization like this available to us if we ever needed it.

Big Red was there again this year. Kudos to whoever Big Red is because he comes in there and gives 120%. It was making us laugh. There is a lot of down time that early in the morning that we were able to visit with the news anchor, Nick Ciletti, and a lot of the camera guys. They are all really nice and make it that much more fun.

Because we went in so early we were off early too. So Nick and I decided to go golfing. We went to the range, then played 18 holes, and then back to the range. I told Nick when we left that I'd forgotten the sunscreen and he told me I was ok. Nope, I was burned! It was nice to be out though and getting some fresh air. I did get it in the hole from the sandtrap. That was probably my best hit of the day.

The 14th was also JJ's 7 month. I put him in this onesie because I have pictures of him in a onesie of the same design when he was only 2 weeks old. He's such a silly boy. As stated previously, he's got the one tooth. He's pretty much all over the place and getting quite fast. We've gotten his wake up time from 430 to about 545. I would still like 615... but we'll keep working on that. He loves veggies; fruits not so much. He seems to have found his voice a bit more and occasionally just squeals.

He's also a good sport when I put his pants on his head. He loves my phone so we took a few JJ selfies.

The following weekend we went looking for furniture again. We found a new couch and loveseat and ottoman. They're smaller than the old stuff. I hope they work. We still have the glider and we moved a poang chair back out. So I'm not sure we really downsized at all, but... oh well!

Oh yeah... somewhere in the middle of the couch search we decided to upgrade to a king size as well. This isn't a huge deal EXCEPT we have a Tempurpedic mattress and we like it and to upgrade to a king size Tempurpedic isn't cheap. We debated about different brands, etc. but ultimately we decided to stick with what we know. We put our queen for sale and Nick and Shar decided to buy it. The problem with selling stuff to people you know is that then you worry about if they don't like it. I hope they like it. We've been on a Tempurpedic for 7-8 years and we like it. We had to move our queen to the king size frame for a night because the new one wasn't delivered yet. This frame is a bit higher than our old one! Stephanie and Bart came over to help move furniture and we ordered some pizza and hung out for the evening.

This past week has been one of those weeks. Tuesday visiting teachers, Wednesday home teachers, Thursday I subbed at Bunco. Bug also had a rough week with teething and I think a virus. We'd been having a hard time getting him to eat but at daycare he was fine so we were dealing with it but Wednesday Laura said he hardly ate all day and I think it was that same day John said his overnight diaper was dry so I called the doctor and made an appointment for Thursday morning.

Wednesday we were invited over to Nick and Shar's for Cailee's birthday. JJ likes the aquarium. We weren't able to stay long because we had home teachers coming, but we got some cake and ice cream and gave her the present. I hear she liked her gift so that is good.

I felt bad Thursday because I got Bug down for his morning nap and thought he'd wake up right about time to leave for the doctor but he was still out cold. I had to load him up and he woke up and was not happy. He weighs 16 lbs 15 oz. The doctor said his ears were clear and she thought it was just a virus coupled with teething. She said as long as he is peeing and eating at least 1/2 his normal amount to go with it. Thankfully Friday he was feeling better because he was definitely more like his normal self.

It's been a bad season for mosquitoes already. Bug and I were outside talking to John for a few minutes the other night and we came in and he had these awful bites. He's had them on his face, arms, legs. I hate it. 

This was Friday night when he was finally being happy again. He is so goofy.

Saturday morning. Before 6 am. I thought he was playing with something else until I looked down and there was powder everywhere.

He was cranky Saturday morning because he woke up about 5. Since it wasn't time to eat yet I figured going for a run would keep him happy. He actually cried for a lot of it but then he fell asleep.

I bought tickets while I was on maternity leave for Newsies. It was Saturday in Tucson. JJ stayed with Aunt Shar all day. I was afraid he was going to be naughty for her, but she says he was good. After our run we put him down for a nap and got ready to go. We left about 1030 so we could get down there and grab some food. The play was at 2 so we were able to get out of there about 5 and home about 7. It was nice getting out a little and I'm glad Bug was feeling better and behaved.

I have loved Newsies ever since I saw the movie for the first time. I saw this movie in the 4th grade at a birthday/sleep over for my friend Kristin. We watched it several times that night. When I heard a few years ago it was becoming a musical play I've wanted to see it. I've waited and waited for it to come to Phoenix and it still hasn't. (Maybe because it just barely started on tour for the first time in October 2014). But this was the first opportunity I've had to possibly see it and I wasn't going to miss it.

I was really happy with our seats. Centennial Hall has enough rise that you can see over the people in front of you and we were pretty well centered. Next, I was afraid the sound system wouldn't be very good since it's an old theater but I was pleasantly surprised.

I really liked it. I'm still partial to the movie. I mean, I fell in love with the movie in 4th grade. I know it pretty much by heart so any deviation throws me a bit. Plus I'm a sucker for Christian Bale. That being said I think it's a good adaptation of the movie. I think the guy who played David was probably the best vocally. The lead, was good, but a little nasally at times. The changes to the story line surprised me, but they worked. The new music was good, although I love the original songs the best. In general I loved being able to listen to the music and hear it performed live.

Last, this morning JJ found the dog dishes. He pretty quickly had it all splashed out onto the floor. Later today he found the food too and decided to give it a taste test. So... now Edward and Joey are going to have to ask for their food to be put down for them. He's also learned that the house is bigger than just the front room. He makes a break for the kitchen and the hall now. I dressed him in his cute overalls today. Mistake. They're now black and white overalls, but the floor is a lot cleaner.