Easter Sunday ~ Violet's 1st Easter

This year for Easter, we spent the morning at home, George's parents came over for breakfast, and then we went to one of our best friends' house for Easter dinner. This was new for this year for all of us and it couldn't have turned out better!

Lily woke up first after Violet had gone back to sleep when she was through nursing early morning.  Lily came running in our bedroom holding a pair of bunny glasses that were in Violet's Easter basket.

Andrew got up and it took him a little while to find his basket.  The Easter Bunny still hides them, no matter how old you are.  Lily looked all over and still couldn't find hers and finally sat down on the couch, crying, saying, "The Easter Bunny came in to our house and took my basket!"   I asked her where she always hides when she plays hide and seek and off she went...there it was!

Aunt Pam the Great sent the kids an Easter treat from the Popcorn Factory--they look forward to it every year! Andrew and Lily decided that since it was Violet's first Easter, she should get the little stuffed chick inside.  Sweet kids.

Violet loved her new o-ball the Easter bunny brought!

Andrew's favorite chocolate bunny ever!

Violet sat on the table in her bumbo while we had breakfast. It took her a little bit to get used to George's mom without crying. 6 months was tough for her in that.  She actually started that stranger awareness around 4 months, but it was full on by 6 months for sure.  Eventually, Violet was ok and able to sit with his mom after Daddy held her while sitting next to her first.

Nothing like having a billion things crammed in before Easter and having to dye eggs on Easter morning. ;)  Lily loved doing this, so I'm glad we fit it in anyway! I love hardboiled eggs, so I didn't mind having them either.

Clearly, the 10 year old is the one who needs help. *eyeroll* {I don't have any other pictures of Reagan dyeing them without help.} 

Trying to get a picture of my husband's parents with their grandchildren was entertaining to say the least.  When I got the girls to cooperate, his parents were looking randomly wherever.  Lily finally had enough. 

George's parents left soon after and we got ready to go to some of our best friends' house for supper.  This was their first year hosting at their house and we're so happy they included us!  We are so blessed that we have great friends with great kids and everyone gets along.  The adults sat at the table and ate together {we had the babies, of course} while the kids ate in the livingroom.  It was nice to sit as couples and have conversation while we ate!  

More friends came by after their respective family suppers to join us all for dessert which rounded out a wonderful day!  

Between Stef and I, we surprisingly didn't take many pictures that day.  The Lilys had little balls of styrofoam  ALL over them from something they got into and Stef had to vacuum them off...no picture, but I certainly don't want to forget it! We were cracking up!  The kids played outside for awhile and the husbands retreated to the man cave.

We did manage to get a picture of our family that day.  The very first one with all 6 of us. 

Stef and I finally took some pictures of Liam and Violet in their matching bunny jammies which turned out pretty hilarious in the way they kept rolling and grabbing.  She has a whole post of just these you can see here: Baby Bunnies  I love that these babies share all their firsts!  Happy 1st Easter to them!

It was a wonderful Easter and we can't wait to do it again next year! 

Spirit Of Friendship

In 2007, I moved across the country with my then 7 year old son to start a new life with my now husband and his daughter.

Leaving our family and friends behind was difficult, but the promise of true love and companionship was completely worth the risk.  As a result of some of the difficulties of my husband's custody fight for his daughter, we found ourselves navigating the legal system which was nearly all consuming for far too long.

As a woman who needs emotional connection, I was truly struggling in finding this. I don't have difficulty making friends, but I did not want to let anyone in to the chaos that was our life surrounding this custody battle. Who wants to delve into the lives of those who had to document nearly every action and sadly nearly every discussion centered around this topic far too long.

I definitely maintained long distance friendships and relationships that had already long been forged, but to connect in person was a big piece of my life that was lacking.

When I found myself with a new baby girl up at all hours of the night, social media became a place of comfort at 3am when I found other mothers of newborns also up nursing or pregnant women facing insomnia who'd find a place to "talk" online at 3am.  Twitter and the blogging world became that connection for me. Nearly instantly, I'd discovered other moms of older sons and new or new to be baby girls locally and the blossoming of friendships began. 

At first it was just witty or commiserating conversations via Twitter. Then we decided to meet up in person for playdates, consignment shopping and moms nights out.  Soon after, a few more moms with similar aged baby girls connected and we decided on a weekly date with our kids. 

Throughout those playdates each week, eventually deeper friendships were created. Some of us connected by the ages of our older boys and our newer baby girls or the shared the experience of the death of parent, miscarriages or even a same career choice.

I finally felt I was able to allow myself to connect.  Simply connect.

After nearly 5 years of that spirit of friendship missing from my life, it was like I had a light fired up that had been snuffed. I missed it. And truly didn't know how much until it was back in my life again.

Let's face it, in your 30s it is difficult to make new, genuine friends. People are set in their ways, lives are busy, connections are long established and it's difficult to allow yourself to be vulnerable when you have some history under your belt.

These women...my friends, embraced me and allowed me to embrace them.  Finding women who accept each other, don't take it personally when one cannot attend a function, accept help when they are going through something, and call just to check in, has made such a difference in my everyday life.

We watched babies be born, we've lost loved ones, we've laughed and cried together, simply walking beside one another....connecting in a way I had only hoped to find again in my life. 

I'm grateful and honored to call these women my friends.  What started out as a playgroup for our daughters became friendships that I will cultivate for the rest of my life and can only hope our baby daughters will be so lucky as they grow up together.