Easter

After thirty years on this earth I think I have decided. Easter is my favorite holiday. As I told Nick it is a holiday all about Jesus and springtime - what could be better. Last year we began an Easter tradition I hope to continue annually. The R's came over for egg dying, egg hunting, and fun on good Friday. This year Amy and Ridglea weren't able to make it, but my mom brought Raigen and Ry. We began with an egg hunt at the park. Then we dyed and decorated lots of eggs with every type of dye, glitter, sticker, and marker we could find. Then we baked resurrection rolls and read the Easter story. Finally, we ate a simple dinner of BBQ sandwiches. Such a sweet afternoon with my family!









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Preparing for Miss Lydia

Things have continued to move quickly along through pregnancy. I will begin seeing my doctor every other week tomorrow. I can't believe I we are already at that point! She has continued to look great and we are right on track. She is already weighing in at over three pounds.

I am not sure if I have shared here, but our sweet girl's name is Lydia Varine. It is my maternal grandma's full name and our Lydia will share a middle name with her Aunt Amy. My grandma always went by Varine though, so in a way she's the first Lydia in our family.

Nick is working so hard on the baby's room in his free time, and I am loving to watch our vision come together. He is doing major new trimwork, paint, floors, etc. We have her glider, dresser, crib, and cradle here at the house, but we still need to refinish the dresser and cradle. Life is always busy and the springtime always seems to be even more this way, so time is definitely at a premium for all of our projects. Amazingly enough, I am not overly anxious about getting everything finished in time. I am positive that it will come together!


Good bye guest room I never took the time to decorate. I knew that this would be a baby room one day, and just never got around to doing anything else with it.


Nick let me pick three paint samples, his quote: "I'm willing to spend $10 on this decision". While I was resting he went to paint samples. I expected three small squares, instead he had painted six on all four walls. He wanted to try some glazes and make sure we liked it in all lighting in the room. Just when I think he can't surprise me!


Her name in paint!

We have also been taking childbirth classes. Because weekend time is so hard to come by we had to sign up for the weeknight courses. These are shorter per session, but more sessions overall. I look forward to these each week even though I learn way too much information for my comfort level! Nick has been a trooper and has bonded with some of the other dads-to-be over the awkwardity (Nick's favorite made up word).

I am trying to soak up and enjoy every moment of this special time.

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Showered with Love

We have been so blessed to have two showers thrown for us in the past month. We scheduled them pretty early since May and June get so full with end of the year activities for everyone. The first shower was thrown by my team at school. My teammate Lisa was kind enough to open her home for this shower. Even with it being race weekend so many sweet friends from work past and present were able to make it. I am so thankful for the precious people who have been placed in my life through my job. They completely outdid themselves with the outpouring of love they showed for our little girl. She received so many cute shoes, bows, outfits, and blankets. As well as a bathtub, bottles, pack n play, and more. We were lucky enough to have the grandmas at the shower, and they came over after. We spent more time with the daddy going through everything and starting to get it organized.


Beautiful decorations by my Shayla. She and Lydia are currently having a competition for the most pink decor. Shayla was nice enough to share hers for the occasion!


The cake was picked by Cindy, and sadly she had to go so early she didn't get to enjoy it. It tasted as good as it looked. The inside had fresh strawberries, yum!


This sweet girl is Kilee. I taught with her mom, Genevieve, my first year. Kilee was a newborn and clocked many hours at school with us. Genevieve had her fourth baby just last week!


Yummy punch by my teammate Amanda.


Ridglea commandeered the sweet baby Meme (Nick's mom) made for Lydia. I can't wait for Lydia to play babies, too!


Meme and Marmee, two of the best grandmas around. I didn't realize I had put Ridglea's bow in my hair for safekeeping until AFTER the picture.


My Carla, another teammate from my first year of teaching, and a lifelong friend.


Sweet teammates and hostesses Shayla and Lisa.


Ms. Kay our wonderful office manager and dear friend.


Surprise guests, Amy and Ridglea. They braved traffic and made the drive, so they wouldn't miss Lydia's first baby shower.

The second shower was thrown by our church family at Redeemer. Koni, Karen, Kate, and Meryal put together such a special time. Nick's current varsity girls and their moms were invited, and it meant so much that so many were able to make it. Koni's home is always so cute for any event and this was no exception. All of the pink candy, the sweet cake, and the yummy punch and flavored water were just perfect. It made me a little teary to see Lydia's name on the shower cake and the invitation. Meryal shared a sweet devotional about our baby's name and its roots in the bible, and Kate had lots of fun games for the guests to participate in as well. Once again, Nick and I were just humbled by the outpouring of love showered upon our little one. We have some truly amazing and generous people in our lives.



Cake and candy table-so pink-I love it!


Sweet sisters!


Missing the bow... Again!


Listening to the rules of a game.


Framed invitation and pretty flowers.


Kate explaining the "diaper bag game". Of ourselves a veteran mom won this one. I'm so sad I didn't get a picture with my wonderful hostesses.

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