easter fun

this year for easter was fun because ely is now old enough to actaully begin to understand some of the easter traditions of our families.

the wednesday before easter we participate in my family's tradition of coloring easter eggs. if you know my family at all you know that we tend to go overboard with holidays (you should see our halloween pumpkins ). we has egg dye, markers and shrinking plastic sleeves to decorate eggs with. ely was a mess but she had so much fun!

we are becoming increasingly close to the people in our home church. on the thursday before easter we joined them for a seder meal. it was a first for preston and me. it was followed by a yummy dinner.

we were going to attend the sunrise service with home church, but i couldn't hang. mornings are still really hard for me and i didn't want to chance getting sick all day. so instead we visited our former church and saw some friends that we haven't seen in too long. grandma kathy got ely a really cute easter dress. ely didn't want to take it off all day. after a lunch and a nap we went o my mom's house for an egg hunt and pizza party (ely's favorite food is pizza). ely couldn't wait to "fin easer eggs at mama's house." we opened easter baskets and then played with the toys.

overall it was an easter filled with new traditions and old ones. i look forward to having another little one to share our traditions with.

more good news!

i found out today that our home insurance company can't find the part to fix our ancient microwave so we are getting a new stove and microwave! right now the stove and microwave are all one piece so they are replacing both! that's it! good news!

she's not a baby anymore!

so this weekend was a big weekend in the nesper household. not only was it a busy easter weekend, but ely hit a big milestone in her little life: she slept in her own bed in her own room! for those of you who know what nighttime parenting style we've chosen, you know that is a huge step. for those of you who don't, let me tell you it's a huge step!! preston and i chose to have a family bed and to not have ely in a crib in her own room. this is what worked for us. when she was itty bitty this is how we got the most sleep. she slept in our bed for awhile and then on a twin mattress next to our bed when she got older. so for the last two years and 3 months i have had my little baby sleeping soundly next to me, but now my baby is not a baby! we got her a new bed, new sheets and a new bedspread. all in her favorite color, purple or pink of course. we put her to sleep on friday night for her first night and preston and i slept on the floor in case she needed us, but of course she really didn't. then saturday night preston and i slept in our room while she slept in her room. our room seemed so little and empty with just the two of us. last night she slept by herself again and didn't wake up until 8:30. i actually had to drag her out of bed!


i know this is a good thing, but i was so sad to see her leave. preston not as much. :) i cried both friday and saturday nights. i think it was mostly because she's getting bigger and bigger and i'm not ready! i've already told preston that he has to take ely's first day of school off because i am going to cry all day! ely of course will say good-bye (if i'm lucky) and run into the school yard. well, i guess that's what being a parent is. you grow up with your kids.

happy birthday to me!

my wonderful husband decided to make my birthday special and took me and ely to sea world. we got a great deal! when you buy a one day ticket you get a pass for the whole year. so now we can go to sea world a few more times this year. ely loved it! i thought she would be scared of shamu so we watched some videos and looked at pictures before we went. i couldn't believe how still she sat for all the shows! she loved shamu! we went with one of her favorite playmates, cousin annika. it was lots of fun and we can't wait to go again!

ely and annika waiting for shamu.

she's in the middle of saying shamu!

watching the sea lions

annika and ely petting the dogs after the pet show. ely was not afraid! she walked right up and pet the dogs, cats and even the pig! she tried to catch the ducks, but they kept running away. i don't know why, she's so gentle! :)

Snow Day!

we took ely to the snow for her first time a week ago. she loved it! her favorite part is that snow is white and you can throw it. we didn't teach her to throw the snow, but when she step out and picked some up she started throwing. i don't know where she learned it, maybe it's instinct!

grandma melinda sent ely a wonderful pair of snow boots. it was more than we were expecting. they were the reason that she did so well in the snow. it took some clever marketing to get her to wear the boots, but eventually she did. she looked like a little snow baby in her new boots and snow pants!