Easter!

Last Easter. A couple weeks away from baby. A couple of unsuspecting kids....

This Easter. WAY cuter!

Easter at Grandma Great's (Joanne's Mom) is a tradition. We always have an egg hunt in the back living room that includes the kids and the "big" kids. Believe it! Just because we've all started having kids of our own doesn't mean Grandma Great doesn't want to watch us try to find eggs and our plate of treats. The plate has candy, coinage and an egg with our name on it. Over the years they have gotten harder and harder to find. Example: Cousin Kim's was in Grandma's car. We line up youngest to oldest to be released in to the madness. Guess who was first?!!

Thank you Michelle for reminding us to get a family photo.

The beautiful Munsons!

Alexander realized he liked chocolate. Took him till he was four! He can run fast and Marigold likes to watch him.

Singing songs with Grandma Great.

Snuggling with Lorelli.
Learning how to pose with Auntie Jodie and Michelle. Good lips Gold!

Bubble blowing with Kim, Lorelli and Dada.

Magical!

Giggling with Grammy.

Taking a break with Mama.

All this with no second nap. It took exactly 45 seconds for her to fall asleep on the way home. Happy Easter!!

Speaking of Baby Cash

Baby friends are the best kind.

I can't get enough of this kid. I don't understand you if this picture doesn't make you happy.

Looking for a secret passageway...

She's going to be disappointed.

Light

Ask Marigold where the light is... Go ahead, ask her.

So smart. She would also be happy to show you where outside, birds, Dada, Mama, Auntie, Cash(My friend Aimee's little boy), and books are.

*The resurgence of interest in this bouncer comes from seeing Baby Cash use it when he visits on Wednesdays. She's going to be hilarious to watch as an older sibling someday.

All By Myself

Marigold loves to eat. Always has. She gets this from both sides of the family and that has made feeding her nutritious things easy pea-z. She still loves to eat but ever since she discovered she could pick up her own food... bye bye being spoon fed. I thought she was turning up her nose at the food I had painstakingly made for her. No. If I put it on the spoon and hand it to her we're cool but god forbid I try to feed her. It takes WAY longer now. I also worry about her eating enough. I think that's just a mom worry though. Any good finger food advice? I'm looking for new whole food recipes she can feed herself that have good nutrition and flavor.

The family table just keeps getting more and more fun.

Velour Track Suit

It was a hand-me-down. I was going on a run and she was tagging along. I'm glad about it.

She makes velour look so good.

Ferries and Friends

We got the lovely opportunity to visit our friends Mairead, Jason and Truman on Bainbridge Island last weekend. It was so fun to load up and take a ferry ride in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The weather was mild on the boat so it made for some great bird watching for Marigold.

Beautiful Eva and her handsome 2nd born, Welles joined us for the adventure.
There were a lot of birds and Marigold pointed and asked questions about every single one.

We had so much fun that we forgot to take pictures when we got to our destination. You'll have to take my word for it. It was beautiful! They have a pond with fish and salamander eggs! It was a real treat. Thanks Shutt Family!!!

Barrettes

She may not be a fan of having me put it in her hair but oh man, SO CUTE!

I hope I hope I hope she gets her dad/auntie's hair....

Parenting is hard....

Teething sucks. So does crying it out and colds. It especially sucks when they all happen at once. I'm so tired and truly can't remember the last time I slept thru the night. It's been a rough week and a half in the Schoolcraft house and I feel like I'm just making it up as I go along. Marigold has always dealt really well with getting a cold. Sure it's only happened twice before this one but I thought I knew how it would play out. Wrong again mama. I guess teething makes all things terrible and a cold is no exception. Once she's up, usually around 10 or 11 pm, she's up for 2 hours or more! Nothing can make her comfortable, she wants to be held or poking/pulling me in the eye, nose or hair, but that's not all that great either. I'm so okay with doing all that work to get her back to sleep. My heart just breaks for her. What really hurts is when she's up again 2 or 3 hours later. Big sigh and pain in my body and heart. I want to be able to let her cry it out but something physically happens inside of me. It hurts and pulls and I cannot ignore it or sleep thru it. I think the cold is on it's way out. The teething will be up and down for a stretch. Her focus on crying until someone responds is unshakable. She's a tough cookie. We have been spoiled by her sleeping up to this point and hate the thought of reverting. Does anyone have any advice or know how on sleep training with out torturing mama or baby?

Look how cute she is! Why doesn't she like to sleep?