Easter Sunday

With church not being until one o'clock we had plenty of time to sleep in, do Easter baskets, and have a yummy breakfast. And that is exactly what we did! I had actually got the kids' Easter baskets put together a few days before so all that was left to do was set it all out and "hide" some Easter eggs. I was actually so excited for the kids to see their Easter baskets I woke up early because I couldn't sleep. As I waited for everyone to get up, I figured I would start on breakfast so it could be ready after we finished up with Easter baskets. I made egg McMuffin copy cat sandwiches and fruit smoothies. It was really good but not too much got eaten because of how much candy we had!

This was the first year we actually did Easter baskets as the years before our parent's sent lots of goodies so I didn't feel like I needed to do much. This year it was fun to get a few little treats and I did not plan on doing a theme basket, but it pretty much turned into that. Boston's was ninja turtles and Ella's was princess (except the disney movie didn't fit).

Boston loved finding all of the eggs and loved the sound it made when he shook them. He loved opening them to see what was in them and would eat all of the candy or goldfish in the egg and then would do it again with the next one he found. Ella just liked pulling everything out of the baskets and putting anything and everything in her mouth.

The rest of the morning we just took it easy and enjoyed spending time together. We even had time to watch a Disney movie before church, it was nice to not feel rushed and be able to spend our morning relaxing and enjoying family. 

Of course before church we had to take a few photos of the kids in their Easter outfits. We didn't have a lot of time before church so we quickly took a few photos, and man it just keeps getting harder as they get older to get good pictures. It also didn't help that the wind was blowing making capturing a picture that much harder. But we were able to get a few and then head to church.

We ended the day by have a yummy dinner, Parmesan chicken with rice and veggies. We also FaceTimed family as we do every Sunday and then ended with watching some Star Wars because I got Blake the whole six movie series for Easter and he just had to start watching them. It was a good Easter and nice to take it easy!

Ella {11 Months}

Only 30 more days and my baby will be a year old. Ella has grown so much and it has gone by so quickly, I can't believe she is 11 months old. She has been learning so much lately and is getting closer to walking everyday. The farthest she has gone is about ten steps. She has the balance to do it but still prefers crawling, although if she can hold on to something she loves to walk that way. 

Ella sleeps great at night but during the day I am lucky if I get two naps out of her, which is difficult when I am needing to get things done. She loves to be held so when she is awake it is hard to get my work done, so I usually wait until later at night to work so I can take care of her and what she needs as well as Boston.

Ella has gotten a few more teeth and currently has three (which she likes to grind together, its like nails on a chalkboard for me), and there are a few others that look close. She has one bottom tooth and two top teeth (funny enough not the two center top teeth, she has one middle top tooth and then one on the side) it is cute but I can't help but think she looks a little bit like a redneck! Haha. I just am hoping her other top front tooth comes in by her birthday!

Some of Ella's favorites are bananas, peanut butter sandwiches, bath time, being held, chasing Boston around, pickles, yogurt, and her blanket. This little girl is such a sweet and happy girl but has a little attitude on her. She is very particular and wants to be held like all the time because if you put her down she starts to cry and follow you wherever you go. Some of the things Ella dislikes are getting dressed, diaper changes, being put down, cheese, and being told no when she gets into things she isn't supposed to. 

I have been thinking back a lot lately about what my life was like a year ago. I was still in school finishing up my last semester, I was very pregnant with Ella, Boston had just started nursery, Blake had more hair (haha), and we still had one car. It is crazy how life changes so quickly and I am glad it changed so I could have my sweet Ella. Now that she is here, I can't picture my life without her.

Blake's 25th Birthday

Blakes is 25! And to celebrate this monumental birthday I wanted to do something special for him, I had come across a post on Instagram a while ago that some had spelled out in donuts "Happy Birthday" so I thought it would be a great idea to implement for Blake's birthday. I asked around to people if they knew of any donuts shops that would be able to do a custom order like this and lucky for me there was one here locally in Rexburg that did. Paradise Bakery! Blake loved their donuts already and they were easy to work with and affordable! I was so glad with how they turned out, plus they were gigantic!

Blake's parents and two of his sisters were able to come up for the weekend. So we had extra fun spending time with them. On Blake's birthday I surprised him with the huge donuts but also made him his favorite breakfast, biscuits and gravy! He was so excited and his family loved it as well! After we ate breakfast (which was more like brunch) we watched The Good Dinosaur and were able to just relax for a bit. Once that was over Blake and Boston and Blake's family went over to the hotel his family was staying at to swim. I stayed home with Ella who wasn't feeling well.

That was not the end of the festivities for the day! We just kept going! We actually headed up to the campus to go bowling which was fun! Blake did awesome with a score of 137 and I got beat by Boston, my two-year-old, I am not even going to say my score its too embarrassing (okay it was a 34) so sad, I had never bowled such a bad game before. When we finished bowling we took a little break at home so the kids could nap before we went out to eat for dinner. Dinner was at a new Mexican place here in town, Casa De Ochoa. Blake and I had never been to it before (we can say that for a lot of places because we hardly ever go out to eat) and it was pretty good. 

All full from dinner and as the day was coming to an end, we ended with Blake opening presents and eating some cake. Blake was pretty excited for the packs of magic cards he got (that was my gift to him) he also got an R2-D2 bop-it (which is really fun) from his parents, a bow from my parents, as well as some of his favorite candy, Reese's, and some money from grandparents. It was a fun-filled day and were were exhausted. To end the night we sung "Happy Birthday" to Blake and dug into his Reese's Ice Cream Cake. Layers of ice cream sandwiches, topped with peanut butter, Reese's, caramel sauce, and chocolate sauces, all covered in whip cream with more Reese's, caramel, and chocolate on top! It was so good but so rich. I could only eat a tiny little piece!

We ended the night watching Aladdin as our food digested and were able to FaceTime my family for a few minutes so they could say "Happy Birthday" to Blake. All in all it was a good day! Full of delicious food, family, and fun! Happy 25th birthday Blake!

Decorist

Two days after I heard about my job at Laurel & Wolf I was also notified that I had the opportunity to  also become part of the Decorist team as one of their e-designers. I couldn't believe it! I was going to be able to have two jobs in my field AND be able to stay home with my kids! I was so happy I started dancing around the room when I heard the good news! I have been officially hired and working for them for about a week and have already started on two projects. I love being able to do this and do it from home. I also can choose my hours and take on as many projects as I feel I can handle, these jobs have been a blessing to me and my family and I am so grateful for my design friends from school who let me know about the jobs!

Decorist is similar to Laurel & Wolf, they offer virtual design at a flat fee to the client, who then works with a designer to create a unique look for their room. The designer finds the items, provides a shopping list to buy and then the client buys the products and sets it up! Affordable interior design services for the client and a way for the designer to expand their portfolio! 

I have already begun work and it has been so fun, it honestly doesn't feel like work and I LOVE it! Especially that I get paid to do things I love and help others bring spaces together! If you are interested in design services, I would be more than happy to help you!