2014 Easter Morning

The Easter Bunny came!!!

An early morning egg hunt - Quinn was starting to get the hang of it.

Dressed and ready for church.

Landon had a hard time getting the girls to pose for these pics, so I'll post them all. There's a good memory in here somewhere.

I love this pic below :)

An after church photo session.

The Funks!

We got to church extra early to get a seat in the sanctuary (we did Christmas Eve from hallway seating, and declared we couldn't do THAT again). We actually got there for a prime seat - the front row in the second session. The perfect place to sit. Landon took the kids out for a photo session while I held down the row with Big E.
When the Funks came in, there was already limited seating so we squeezed Colin and Caroline in with us. Cora immediately went to 13-year-old Caroline's lap. Quinn stayed with us. And that's about the last we heard from our children all through the service. Seriously - barely a peep.

IT was an Easter miracle! We made it all the way through the service. Without Cora there to distract her, Quinn was happy to sit and cuddle with Landon and I, and Cora was so happy to be sitting with Caroline that she didn't dare make a sound.

We decided that from now on, we would give our kids jelly beans before church every single Sunday.

A photobomb from Sam :)

Easter Egg Dying

Impromptu parties are the best!

Saturday morning with the Groeber's and friends, dying eggs.

Erin's Dad was in town, too, with his wife and young son Gabriel, so we had 6 kids at the table.
Next year, with just the Groeber's and Messal's, we'll have 7 around the table - so having 6 was just a little practice :)

Sean, James, & Cora were really into egg dying this year. Quinn and Annalisa were into it, too... but they were a bit like bulls in a china shop at the table. Throwing eggs in cups. Slamming eggs on the table. It didn't take long for us to try to distract them with baby dolls.

It also didn't take Cora very long to go upstairs and find a princess dress. 

Quinn in her apron all day; Cora in a princess dress. Cody said "It figures". 

I have some really cute pics of Annalisa and Quinn from this day, but I'll have to find and add later. I'm afraid if I wait any longer to pub this, it will be lost forever!!! The kids had so much fun all together dying eggs.

Hunting in the Hood

Easter EGG Hunting, that is.

We worried that it would rain so we moved the party down the street. It was chilly, but not rainy. A good afternoon for an egg hunt.

???, Maelin, Gauge, Turner, Taylor, the Khourey boys, Quinn in front (3 older kids who were visiting someone in neighborhood), Kate, Cora, Presley, and Hannah. There were more kids around for this, but we had a hard time getting them lined up for a pic. Both Quinn & Hannah had to be dropped in the pic right before people started snapping their cameras :)

Quinn wouldn't dare set her basket down or let me hold it for her. She loves carrying trinkets in baskets and bags!

TONS of eggs!

Juliet was still so little here! 6 weeks?
With Juliet, there are 2 other babies that will be in the same grade as Messal Baby #3 (1 girl and 2 boys), and two other moms in the neighborhood are pregnant for the next school year. There are no shortage of friends to play with for the Messal kids!

Big E was in town for Easter - which always makes it feel a little more like a holiday.

Messal Baby #3 - WAY Overdue Ultrasound Pics

Sweet Peanut #3 - starting to grow... We were about 8 weeks pregnant here - this was my first ultrasound and doc appointment. 

 And, pics from the midway ultrasound on March 26, 2014. Sweet sweet baby. We didn't look - AGAIN!

 In the midway ultrasound, there was a little echo on the baby's heart. When paired with other symptoms (e.g., raised levels in the quad screening, lower growth), it could be a sign of a problem. Landon and I both acted like we didn't panic, then independently spent the night scouring the internet that evening looking for explanations. Neither of us admitted to the other what we were doing, but we both amazingly woke up the next day experts on this condition.

Of course, internet expertise ALWAYS results in worst-case-scenario thinking... so I was a bit crazy that week.

When I got an email from Cora's teacher that she was a bit lethargic on Friday at school, I scooped her up and went straight to the Messal-Famous laid-back pediatrician Dr. Davis under the guise of getting Cora's ears and cough checked-out. He asked about the pregnancy, I explained the ultrasound...

Dr. Davis: Carrie - this cough that Cora has that I am not even treating? I am MUCH more concerned about that cough than I am about what you described in the baby's ultrasound.

By the weekend we decided to give it not another thought (that's a stretch - but we have given it very little more convo).

Throughout pregnancy baby has measured big - we were over 97% in size at the midway ultrasound.
She did a third, quick ultrasound around 27 weeks, and the babe was measuring 85%.
Oddly (thankfully!), I'm measuring a little small, so no major worries.

We're technically 37 weeks today (and by my calculations based on when we think the due date actually is), 38 weeks today.

It's clearly the home stretch!

Push-ups

Landon's been teaching Cora how to do push-ups.
(yeah yeah, I know, I've never been able to do an actual push-up in my life).

She's whiney, with no nap, and asking for another puzzle. This time of day she has a habit of not finishing her puzzles...

Landon: Cora, if you don't finish that puzzle, I'm going to make you do 10 push-ups!
Cora: (stares blankly)
Landon: Cora, do you know what push-ups are?
Cora: Yeah! Those are those things that you push from the bottom and then lick on top!

She's now in the living room screaming,

"Daddy, if you don't finish this puzzle, you're going to be in big trouble! I'll make you eat popsicles!"

Quinny's Pretty, and other stories

Ah, the guilt. So many sweet stories happen at this house to be recorded! We've chased too many memories this summer to begin to try to record them!

Quinn and Foster have started playdates. They are still usually tagging along with their big sisters, but they get really excited when they see each other now, and they've started doing their own thing together.

Foster is my buddy; I've trained him to say "Quinny's Pretty".

Last night, a couple of my former Schotty's came over for dinner. We were having popsicles (and they were having wine) on the porch, and Quinny was entertaining everyone. In and out, bringing pretend food from her kitchen. Behind the swing to say "boo".

Me: QUinny, you're a monkey!
Quinny: MEeeeee (imagine really high-pitched me)
Me: Yes - you're a monkey!
Quinny: Noooo.
Me: Then what are you?
Quinny: Pretty

Quinn ALWAYS says "thank you" right now - in a tone that is as if you've just paid her the best compliment or given her the best gift. I wish I could capture it in words. She emphasizes the "you" - super sweet.

Cora is all questions - anything that happens, she tries to make sense of it.
One from today: "Your belly is getting really big - that's why the baby wants to come out of it".
Something like that sweetie :)

3 observations

I need to set-aside time to catch-up on the blog. Until then, 3 observations:

1. Everything (and by everything, I really do mean nearly everything) that Cora says starts with, "You know what...?". If it doesn't start with "You know what...?" (and even if it does), it likely ends with "You aren't going to believe it!!!" or "Daddy won't even believe it!!!" or "Mia won't even believe it!!!"

2. Quinn has entered the phase where she believes if she just uses her words to ask for it, then she automatically gets it. For so long, we've been saying, "Quinny, use your words" when she whined. Back in those days, she pretty much got whatever she used the word for, if we could make it happen. Now that she has the word for almost everything, this is getting tricky.

3. When Cora is adamantly against something, she wags her finger in front of her face to say "no". "No, No, NO!" while shaking her head in the direction opposite the way her finger is wagging... it's so stinking hard to take her seriously when she does it :)