Easter

This post will be covering several things all involving Easter!

The first thing was an Easter egg hunt in my mom and dad's side yard.  This was originally scheduled for a Sunday afternoon, but it was pouring down rain, so they rescheduled it for Wednesday after naps.  My mom borrowed a bunch of ride on toys and had the driveway lined with lots of toys for the kids.  She put up a giant ribbon blocking off the yard, and then when it was time to hunt, she lifted the ribbon and the kids ran down the hill.  It was a lot of fun and the kids loved it...

the group of hunters...

Miss Catherine was making a run for it so Chris was trying to get her to stay put...

Some driveway fun before the hunt...

All lined up and ready to go!

Under the yellow ribbon!

The Easter bunny also made a special appearance...

Showing me his basket full of eggs...

note about the baskets: when we ordered Andy's basket, we were moving into our new house (hard to believe that was 2 years ago already) and Cal's basket was packed up somewhere.  I didn't know what size Cal's basket was, so I guessed.  Well, I guessed incorrectly and Andy's basket it bigger than Cal's.  Because Cal was older and would be collecting more eggs, we let him carry Andy's basket.  Next year, when they are more aware of the basket sizes, we will have to get one of them a new one.  

Some bunny love...

Andy and some buddies from his class: Charlie, Jack and Lee

Cal and his favorite babysitter who just *happened* to be in the neighborhood (read: she was the bunny...)

Running kids!

And drove the jeep down the hill and thought he was pretty special...

At the top of the hill, about to go cruising down...

On Friday morning, we loaded the car and headed to the beach for the weekend.  We absolutely love our family's little beach house, and we have made sooooo many memories there....BUT, it just isn'tbig enough for all of our families to be down there together (mine and Chris's along with my parents).  We found out last summer that it just wasn't big enough, and then Chris and E got pregnant and it became even more apparent that it wasn't big enough.....sooo, my parents bought a new house down there! It is much bigger and has room for all of the cousins to play and grow! We are excited about the new house, but it is bittersweet since we really love our current house.  We are pretty sure that this weekend at the beach was our last one in this house-- kind of a wild realization!

Anyway... here's a few dozen pictures of our weekend!

We got there Friday and played out in the cul-de-sac.  Some friends of ours from Chapel Hill bought the house next door and they have two kids (girls) roughly the same ages as my boys.  They had a BALL playing together. 

Dad had a boat on a trailer in the driveway and the kids got in for a picture...

Grandma leading a parade down the street...

Saturday morning, our neighborhood had an Easter Egg hunt.  The (big) boys stayed back at the house so mom and I took the (little) boys.  It was HUGE! People from other neighborhoods came over and it was packed with kids.
Trying to get a sweet picture of these two is not easy...

Please note the headlock... 

They had the park divided up into age groups: 0-2, 3-4, 5-8, 10-up.  So my mom took Andy to his little spot and I took Cal. The first place he ran was this huge hill-- not easy to climb while holding a basket and retrieving eggs! But he scaled it just fine and got quite a few eggs while doing it!

Anna Claire was there collecting eggs too!

I am pretty sure Andy was the biggest kid in his area.  And he LOVED the egg hunt.  He would put his basket down, SPRINT to some eggs, grab two, then sprint back to his basket where he would THROW the eggs in as hard as he could...

Both boys got a ton of eggs! Andy slowed down once he realized there were treats inside the eggs!

Our crew: Andy, Cal, Anna Claire, and Kenan!

Up on the bluff for a few more shots...

The firetruck came and brought an Easter Bunny fireman!

Andy wanted nothing to do with him, but Cal was ready to go give him some love...

After the hunt, Eddie tried to take both boys on a boat ride.  Andy wasn't real excited about it, so just Cal went...

 The rest of the pictures on this post are from my phone, but I figured I'd just include them here instead of another phone dump post later on...

Andy is pretty terrible in the car.  Okay, he worse than that.  He's awful.  Like, makes you want to start crying with him awful.  But, he was quiet for about 4 minutes when he had the iPad...

 Cal and AC going on a wagon ride!

Andy and Kenan playing with bubbles!

Mom and I had the brilliant idea for the adults to eat dinner after the boys had been bathed and put to bed.  Seriously-- best idea EVER! Here you have two clean and happy boys, waiting for their 7:01 bed time!

Andy was already scoping out the eggs...

The hill Cal maneuvered...

"holy cow! you mean there is CANDY in here???"

Leaving the hunt with two happy little boys...

More playing in the cul-de-sac.... this time with shovels!

The olders taking the youngers on a wagon ride...

This picture makes me laugh...

Eddie got the job of pulling all four kids.  They were literally squealing with laughter...

And this one.... this sums it all up for me... the happiness on their faces.....I just love this picture...

Speaking of faces....someone at school taught Cal how great this face is, so he taught Nug to do it too...well, sort of...

One morning we woke up and both kids wanted to snuggle... please control your cat calls at my gorgeousness sans make up and clearly sans hairbrush.   But I do love some good snuggle time.

The boys love it too.... so much that they crawled up on grandma that afternoon....

Andy thought this little statue was just the coolest thing.  He would drag over his rocking chair and just stare at him smiling... the were buddies!

Kenan got on the pushtoy that Andy loves, so he got on the front of it...

I took the boys for a walk in the stroller.  The iPads helped...briefly.  Then Andy was over it.  This double stroller is NOT big enough for two kids! The double bob really is awesome because they both have their own space.  Cal barely fit in his little compartment...

The Easter bunny did come, but surprisingly, momma forgot to take any pictures....! He brought the boys lots of fun stuff... some cars, a few movies to watch in the car, and some new sunglasses.  Andy was a HUGE fan of the sunglasses...

Hope you had a wonderful Easter as well! This was honestly one of my most favorite Easters at the beach.  It was just a lot of fun, and the kids were well-behaved and it was just.....FUN!
 

 

iPhone picture dump

it's that time again... if y'all aren't on instagram, you really should be. I love it. It makes your okay pictures look so much better! My user name is carriewilliamson--follow me!  I am so original in my user name. 

First picture: how amazingly cute is this little guy? This is Andrea's baby, Wells, and I think this is seriously one of the most adorable pictures I have ever seen.  I am obsessed with his little smile!!!

This one...he just doesn't quite get the whole concept here....

We took Hank to Petsmart to get a little bath.  The boys were chatting on the way there....

And this...is how I go to the bathroom these days.  With all three boys hovering...

I ran into a restaurant to pick up lunch the other day.  Andy saw the bowl of lemons to go in drinks and he started pointing and asking for one.  I told him repeatedly that he wouldn't like it and he wouldn't want it.  He insisted, so I said FINE.  I gave a slice to him and he ate.the.whole.thing.  Literally did not flinch.  I worried about him swallowing the rind, so I stuck my finger in his mouth to get it all out.  Crazy boy!

We went over to Chris's house this week to celebrate Catherine's birthday with the cousins.  Her birthday party was while we were out of town, so we got to help her celebrate here! These cousins LOVE each other!

Cal's soccer season is under way and Andy is enjoying practice time as much as CalBoy is!

Happy little kid with his crown...

And that turns into a meltdown in 2.4 seconds...

While we were at Chris's house, we left lovie there-- unbeknownst to us.  Maggie, his dog, picked it up and walked off with it.  I turned our house upside down looking for the thing.  I called Trader Joes, I called the gym, I cleaned my car multiple times.  Andy is in love with this thing and he was so sad to not have it.  He walked around looking for it saying, "Lala?? LaaaLaaaaa!!!!" It was killing me.  In a last ditch effort, I text my brother asking about it and he wrote back, "oh yeah, that's here." Such a typical guy! Here is Andy looking under the bed for his lovie for nap time...

We had Cal's second soccer game this weekend.  It was the team's third, but he missed a game while we were in Texas.  He actually did really well! He dribbled the ball a ton and scored three times! Two of the times were in his own goal, but whatever.  We were excited for him and he was thrilled! One time, he dribbled down the field in the wrong direction-- scored on his own goal, then ran out doing the gangham style dance.  Seriously, y'all.  I took a video, but it isn't uploading.... 

We got lovie back and washed him since he spent some time outside with Maggie and when we gave him back to Andy, he was SO SO SO happy! He didn't stop smiling and hugging him!

Saturday afternoon, we had a birthday party at the gymnastics place.  Both boys got to go, so it was Andy's first time there.  They both had a ball... Cal is on the opposite wall, stacking blocks, and Andy just jumped in...

Andy was hamming it up for my friend Ashly's camera.  She sent me these of the wild one...

And, the little guy wearing daddy's hat this morning..

it is COLD and rainy here, but it has been a pretty great weekend! We went to church today and plan on spending the rest of the day watching basketball!

 

Andy lately

As I have said in the past, I try to keep it very REAL on my blog.  There are a ton of wonderful things to write about, but to be honest, there are a ton of hard things too.  Right now, Andy is HARD.  Well, not all the time.  Sometimes he can be just as sweet as can be.  He loooooves his momma and loves to run around and play!

He also loooooves to scream as loudly as he possibly can when we are in the car...or in a store...or any other point of the day...

We are in the midst of the TERRIBLE TWOS.  And they are, my friends, quite terrible. 

He isn't always awful.  But when he is, it's like he is trying to win an award for the loudest, most poorly-behaved child in America.  And, I would, hands-down, grant him this award. 

He has a mind of his own and if he doesn't get what he wants exactly when he wants it, a melt down follows.  I think a huge part of this is the language barrier.  He is figuring out how to express himself and when I am not fully understanding what it is that he wants, he just loses it! He also loses it any time he is strapped down-- in the car, in a restaurant, in a stroller, in a shopping cart.... the kid will let you know how unhappy he is with you. 

I try to keep a sense of humor about it all-- because honestly, what else can you do? (although I did break down and cry on Tuesday because he seriously screamed at the top of his lungs-- not exaggerating-- for five hours straight. My mom called at 9 and heard him and then we talked again around 1 and he was still screaming....she was in shock).  So, in order to help with the sense of humor, I have been taking pictures of him.  You can see in these pictures what a strong-willed little boy he is. 

As both of my parents have pointed out (with smiles), he is soooo me.  Apparently, I acted similarly to this when I was little.  Whatev.  I don't believe it.  I was an angel. I never cried, much less screamed. 

I guess, as they say, karma is a bitch..... here's evidence....

 he insisted on pulling this suitcase through the airport.  he looks so big here...and SO SO determined. 

 andy makes going through security interesting.  this was on the way to texas.  on the way home, right as we were about to walk through the screeners, he took off in a dead sprint away from me.  i was barefoot and my pants were falling down since i took off my belt.  andy felt like these security bins were the perfect seat for him.  and he refused to get out of them.

 once we landed in texas, we were in the baggage area.  he threw baby on the carousel and then went after him.  i must have pulled him off of this thing 50 times.  he thought it was awesome.  of course it is dangerous...that's why he loved it, i am sure.

 there are tons of awesome walking trails by eddie's parents house.  i asked andy if he wanted to walk and see the waterfall one afternoon after naps (he woke up on the wrong side of the pack n play).  we got about 20 yards down the trail and he stopped and said screamed NO! So I said, okay, let's go back the other way. again, he screamed NO! so, i offered to go back towards the waterfall.  he then threw himself on the ground in a pretty intense tantrum.  there were people walking by and bikers passing.  i just smiled and waved and said, "he'll be two in may." since that seems to explain it all.  i could have attempted to pick him up, but i knew it wouldn't be pretty.  there would be kicking and flailing, so i let him wear that part out a little. 

 in texas, andy would walk into patty's pantry every single morning.  he would find the fruit snacks or raisins and squat down to try to eat them.  he always took some of this animals in there with him.  if we didn't open the food for him right away, he would become furious with us.  the boy likes this food. 

In the DFW airport, there was a person taking a snooze.  Andy did not want to leave this person alone.  Not sure what he was thinking, but I was afraid he was going to go try to wake the person...or tackle him.  

Again, the boy looooves his momma.... so i think i get the brunt of most of his temper. plus i am around him all the time, so i am the one dealing with him 99% of the time. 

This picture of him eating his happy meal just makes me so happy.  he was so worn out, but so content to munch on those apples.

speaking of eating. yesterday, i ran into a restaurant to pick up lunch. andy spied the lemon slices cut for iced tea.  he started demanding one.  i explained to him that he wouldn't like it and it is very sour.  he didn't care.  he took one and put the ENTIRE thing in his mouth.  rind included.  he chewed it all up-- and was about to swallow when I stuck my finger in his mouth and got it all out.  he didn't even flinch or make a funny face.

 This little guy can be SO SO happy one minute...and then falling on the ground screaming the next. 

 today, one of his classmates brought in their baby sister for pick up.  andy was enamored.  he could NOT leave her alone.  he wanted to stare at her and rock her and touch her.  little does he know, his CRAZY behavior is not much incentive to have another! HAHA!

Andy, finally.... proof what an angel he is in the car.... good thing this doesn't have volume, right???

As my sweet mom says, this too shall pass.  Holy smokes, y'all.  Here's hoping to it passing soon!

Happy Friday!