Christmas @ my parents' house

My family had a mini-Christmas party 2 weeks prior to the actual holiday. Mostly just to get the grandkids together so my parents can have a photo for their card.

Trying to get 6 kids under the age of 5 to look and smile at the camera is... well, not possible.

My sister and her family got into the holiday spirit! 

Merry late Christmas!

Halloween

Frozen mania hit our house back in late Spring. So guess who Meili wanted to be for Halloween? 

ELSA. 

And specifically she wanted Elsa's blue dress that touched the ground. I found a dress online in August but it didn't touch the ground. I wasn't going to pay $150 for the one that actually did. So we went with the inexpensive dress. And you know what? It was beautiful on her. Much better than many of the other Elsa dresses that I saw during Halloween.

Her school held a carnival for the kids and community. I invited my sister's kids to accompany us since this was a safe environment for trick or treating. 

We got ready at my house. Piper and Paige were dressed as My Little Ponies. The babies didn't have costumes.

The school had games and crafts for the kids.

And face painting. Except Meili didn't want her face painted. She wanted her 'tattoo' to be on her left forearm. Almost exactly where mine is located.

Had to include these 2. They make my life more colorful. Actually without them, I'm not quite sure what I would do. As a fun fact, they are less than a month apart in age -- both 29!

Happy Halloween!

Mother's Day

Happy belated Mother's Day!

We celebrated Mother's Day at a local Italian restaurant. It has a Sunday brunch that I've wanted to attend since I moved here. I <3 brunch! And my daughter! So it was the perfect combination.

I'm roughly 18 weeks pregnant and feel every bit of it. My mom says that I look 'matronly'. I have other words to describe how I look right now. Ugh!

My silly Meili. The one that made me a mommy. Words cannot express how much I love you!

Easter

Easter was a big celebration at our house. It was the first time that Meili saw the Easter bunny.

She told the Easter bunny that she wanted a Mulan doll and candy for Easter. Amazingly, that's exactly what the Easter bunny brought her.

We participated in 4 Easter egg hunts over the Easter weekend. I say we because it really is a group effort to get Meili to hunt eggs. She'd rather pick dandelions.

We went to church on Saturday night -- to avoid the Sunday morning rush. It was a fantastic idea because we were able to sleep in until almost 11:00 am. Yes, Meili is a late sleeper just like her momma. I'm very lucky! Easter afternoon was spent at a family friendly event about 1 hour from our house. There were crafts, snacks, and a relaxed egg hunt. The perfect way to end a busy Easter weekend.

 Of course, we can't forget to pick a few dandelions on our way out.