Thursday, April 23, 2015

Easter 2015 and Ellie's 2nd Birthday!



After a loooooong and very cold and snowy Winter, I was hoping for a warm and sunny Easter holiday.  Well, it was only in the 40's and windy, but the sun was out and we had a wonderful day.

The Saturday before, we dyed our Easter eggs.



Eloise did not like waiting for them to get their color.

I hid them the night before just like my mom did for me growing up.  It was such a fun tradition to start this year now that the girls are old enough!





Then we headed off to church and the girls went on the church easter egg hunt.  It was cold and muddy, so it was moved inside.






When we got home, I realized I had yet to take a good photo of the girls in their Easter dresses.  I bought these off Zulily and I'm slightly obsessed with them.  But of course, the girls were freezing, so a "good" picture was not going to happen.


cell phone snap
cell phone snap
I was so excited to host our first formal dinner in out new home and really use our new dining room set.  It was the one real splurge for us last Fall.  Our set is from Restoration Hardware.  The hutch, table and chairs didn't leave room for a sideboard in our budget, but that is next on my list and definitely my most wanted item for the house.  I'm going to Annie Sloan paint our kitchen table and chairs and if that comes out, I might try to refurbish an old sideboard for the dining room.  Yay for projects!

It was also so fun to get out our wedding china.  My grandmother actually gave us this entire set for a wedding present and since it was hers, it's even more special.

cell phone snap

My parents and my brother and his girlfriend Sarah joined us for dinner.

And we celebrated Ellie's 2nd birthday at dessert time.  :)


I bake this carrot cake every year and reallllly wish we had some leftover right now because now I'm craving it!










We didn't plan a party for Eloise this year because Andrew and I decided that we would only do parties on odd years (1, 3, 5, etc.).  With 3 kids, a birthday party every year could get ridiculous.  But just like we did with Adalyn's 2nd birthday (click that link , OMG she so tiny, yet so much bigger than E at 2!) we had our playgroup over and ordered pizza and I made cupcakes.  It was especially fun because one of my momma friends who I love so, so, so, so much had her son Grayson the day after Eloise.  We were actually in the hospital together and the kiddos met on their first 2 days of life.  (I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure E & G fall in love).  It's crazy to think that our little group has been together for over 3 years and now we are celebrating all the little siblings birthdays!


Our project this weekend is to finish painting the wainscoting in the playroom.  The ceiling was done professionally but we are going to tackle the rest!  I can't wait for that to be done and for the chairs and table to be finished.  This is my favorite room because it gets the most light.






Truth:  E was having a rough afternoon.  Hey, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to", right?


















Gosh, I love these kids and this life.  It's utterly exhausting and I'm tested in patience everyday, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.