Easter 2012

We had a great Easter last week, just spending time with our little family and continuing traditions. I have all these ideas in my head for holidays and elaborate things to do or traditions to star, but I think a lot of that will have to wait until Eloise is a little older and more independent. 'Cause right now, I just plain don't have the time to do holidays the way I want to. I think traditions, especially ones centering around special times of the year, are really important to build family unity and create a sense of self and an atmosphere of love and togetherness in a home.
This year, we did Easter baskets for each other (and hid them in our house, per Dylan's family tradition), I made a big ham and potato Easter dinner, we dyed Easter eggs (and forgot to hide them for a hunt, but there's always next year), and ate WAY too much candy. Oh, and took some impromptu family pictures c/o my self-timer in our backyard. We kept the Easter bunny and egg-dying and candy stuff on Easter Saturday, and church and dinner and together time on Sunday. It was a great weekend spent together.

Dylan got her this outfit last year, when we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl in my tummy. When Dylan gave it to me (as part of my Easter basket), he said it was the most gender-neutral one at Target...pink polka-dotted bunnies and fuzzy bunny bums don't a gender-neutral outfit make, but I appreciate his attempt (yellow is supposedly gender-neutral, they say).

With her Easter basket!

ATTACKING her Easter basket

Yeah, we did it. We put ears on her. And she looked like a bald Easter elf.

Favorite part of her basket - this squishy frog. Which she has already licked to death, which is sad because she loved that thing and could be entertained by it for a long time.

Dying eggs while Eloise slept (an Easter miracle, that she took a nap while one or both of us weren't in the room)

Finished product!

I made these funfetti cupcakes, with homemade chocolate cream cheese frosting, and dyed coconut for the grass. Yummmm

Picture time!!! Unfortunately, her outfit had been much cuter at church, but she shed layers throughout the morning. Picture this dress, with white tights and white patent leather shoes, and a white sweater over her bare shoulders.

Haven't had a family picture taken in a couple months...thank you back stairs and the self-timer

Dylan took a BUNCH of pictures of the two of us, which is nice to have, and nice to see the way she looks at me in some of these. Reaffirms that we're doing a good job of showing her how loved she is.

I love kissing her squishy cheeks :)

Mmmm...LOVE this

Imitating her constant little tongue-sticking-out

My other favorite

Her reward for picture-taking? CARROTS!