Mother's Day Weekend

What a weekend! I feel like I was really spoiled with great family time, plus a bit of relaxation, all weekend long. The festivities began on Friday, when we went to the zoo with some friends.  The weather was absolutely divine and EJ had a great time!  As usual, one of her favorite activities was the petting zoo. 

Everett and her very first friend, Brianna, check out the goats.  Brianna is the daughter of one of my best friends from college, Jayna.  She is about 2 months younger than Everett.

Ethan, Elliott, Everett, and Brianna all help the goats out with their grooming. 

 This sheep is really living the life. 

And of course, before we could leave, EJ had to give her favorite goat a hug goodbye.  =)

That evening, we went to our customary Friday night Westside Family Dinner with a bunch of friends and their kids.  This is Everett and one of her friends, Matteson, who is the daughter of our good friends, the Reicharts.  Everett is totally jealous of Matteson's awesome punk-rock hair.

On Saturday EJ and I took my mom to brunch to celebrate her.  We had a great time together and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful mother!  That afternoon the whole family went to Riverfest, which is a music & arts festival in the neighborhood next to us.  EJ enjoyed dancing to the music, eating funnel cake, and checking out the exhibits.

  (note the incredibly scenic backdrop....for some reason they moved the location this year to right next to an industrial plant, which made for some sweet photo-ops)

 Jamming out to the music.

 Hanging with daddy.

Happy after a fun afternoon.

Sunday morning my wonderful husband let me sleep in (heaven!) and then surprised me with beautiful flowers and sweet cards from the girls (i.e. EJ and Beyla).  Then we headed over to Stephanie's for a lovely and delish brunch with the Nadi clan.

Hanging with Cousin Noah.

Helping Cousin Dom put a puzzle together.  

 Daddy's lap is always the best place to be!

The girls!

As per usual, no Nadi get-together would be complete without some sort of competitive event. These people take their badminton seriously. 

Good thing EJ has cousins to watch out for her!

 I'm pretty sure she won the MVP award.

The absolutely beautiful flowers I got. 

Overall it was a fantastic weekend and I feel so blessed & so loved. To all the other mothers out there: Carry on warrior! And happy mother's day!  =)

Birthday Fun

Last weekend my dad and step-mother came to visit and help celebrate my birthday.  We had a lovely time with them and Everett got to spend lots of quality time with her Pop-E and Mama-J!

On Friday we went out to a nice dinner at South City Kitchen (note: they are great with kids!).  Then Saturday morning, the whole family went to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather.

EJ loves to slide and would sit down and slide all by herself, then run around and climb up the stairs to the top and do it all again!  She was not pleased when we had to leave.  =)

The two Everetts.  They had a great time together!

Easter!

Easter weekend we went to a park near our house where they put on a great egg hunt & celebration for the kids. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun with family & friends!

Daddy helps EJ get ready for the egg hunt with some last minute pointers. There were a LOT of kids there so the extra coaching was important.

EJ took it pretty seriously and immediately picked up an egg. We applaud her color choice (Go Jackets!)

This was the *only* egg she got, but she was pretty proud of herself.

She may or may not have been the cutest kid there.

I may or may not be biased.

EJ & daddy spent some time picking daisies.

Pretty girl in her Easter best. =)

This park has a great playground so the kids had a blast playing together on it.

Dominik loves to swing and Mimi & Everett had a great time on the slide!

Papa helped EJ climb up the rock wall. VICTORY!

Unle Erik and Cousins Alina & Mimi had some fun on the balance beam, and everyone enjoyed the swings!

There was also pony rides and a petting zoo. EJ was - of course - a natural.

This kid LOOOOVES animals.

Prepping for her trip to Missouri in June.

Uncle Erik and Aunt Steph get some good baby-practice in. ;)

EJ with her cousins Alina & Mimi. How cute are they?!

The Nadi Clan.

The Wilcox Ladies.

Overall it was a rousing success and we can't wait to do it again next year!

Growing up so fast

It seems like on almost a daily basis either Omar or I mention how fast EJ is growing up. I know, I know.....what a cliche. But seriously, people. Every time we turn around she seems more and more like a little lady and less like our little baby. To the point where Omar gets upset when I dress her like a "person" instead of a "baby". But she was just so cute on this fine spring day in her seersucker dress that I had to make a post about it. =)

Omar has worked really hard on our yard. Basically it looks like Augusta National. Thanks, honey!

Omar really appreciates how helpful EJ is in the yard.

(they are picking weeds here, in case you were unsure)

Also, in the background you can see Beyla guarding our veggie garden. It seems the squirrels are under the impression we have planted an all-you-can-eat buffet just for them. That is NOT the case.