Easter

I tried to make Easter magical. I feel like Easter should be just as a big of a deal as Christmas, but for some reason it always just falls flat. We don't do the Easter Bunny, Mama and Daddy give the kids an Easter basket, but I like to do a good mix of festive things and making Easter about our Savior. The kids really liked their Easter baskets. 

Easter Sunday pictures. Our Sunday Sacrament meeting was actually pathetic. The Primary Children sang and that was it. The talks weren't even about the Savior, but these pictures turned out great!

We did an little egg hunt and the kids had color coded eggs. I really liked how this worked out, I told each kid to find their own color and leave the other kids. It was perfect, they each got 12 eggs, and I loved that they din't race and fight over how many eggs/it isn't fair/she won't share ect. 

We had naps, and then we colored some eggs. 

The kids loved this!

We had a super yummy Ham dinner. I was feeling very grown up. the kids ate pretty well too!

We ending the evening by doing our little Easter eggs about Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. It was a simple and quiet Easter and while we missed having family with us, it was nice to just do our own thing too.

Easter Eggs & Kites

I threw together a VERY casual egg hunt at a play ground near us. The kids had a great time racing around hunting for eggs! It didn't take Sprout long to figure out what was up.

Some of the children from our ward.

I love these little bunnies.

We went home, had naps and then we headed out to celebrate Lucas's birthday at the kite festival. It was so gosh darn magical!

Val even had these AWESOME octopus kites for the kids to fly. They were really user friendly and it ade the afternoon so much more fun!

We laid out on a blanket, shared snacks and chatted and watched the kites fly.

There were some pretty amazing kites!

Couldn't help but thin of our niece Millie and her love of Oct-poo's.

This is Val and I sure do love her!!

It was a wonderful day spent outside in the sunshine with friends! I wish it could be Saturday forever!

Baby #4

Here is our official baby announcement photo. I really love the shirt I got to take these in. Super comfortable and I always laugh when people ask if Sprout is my oldest at the store. 

Sprout wanted to be in some of the pictures too and it was a very real life picture. I mean who doesn't want a two year old photo bombing while you hold his chex mix for him? 

I am 12 weeks and feeling great! I'm still super suck-the-life-from-you tired and I get evening sickness, not to the point where I puke, but I just want to curl up and cry :). this too shall pass, I am really looking forward to the burst of energy in a few weeks and I can hardly wait to meet this little one in the beginning of November! It will be here so soon!

Sprouts Birthday

Sprouts birthday was easy and low key since it was on a Sunday. We invited Papa and Gram Hensley over for pizza and dessert and we got Sprout a cake at the silent auction YW fundraiser the day before. He was so excited to blow out his candles. 

I can't believe he's two! 

Then we had an ice cream bar with alllllll the toppings! 

And if you're looking for Sprout you will ind him sitting under his basketball hoop that Daddy got him. Happy as can be! Happy Birthday sweet boy, we will have a bigger gathering in a few weeks!

2 Years

 Height: 36" 80th percentile

Weight: 34lbs 7oz 84th percentile
Head: 21 in 100th percentile

Nicknames: Sprout, which is still more of his name than Leif. The kids call him Leify which is sooooo much better than Goo Goo!

•  Sprout is still a busy kid.  He is less "troublesome" but he is always on the go. He only stops for nap time and bed and when he's not sleeping he is RUNNING! I feel like his little brain is going a mile a minute always working on five things at once. High energy for SURE!
• This kid is so dang smart. He knows our routine, he knows how to get home from school, he knows how to operate electronic devices and he knows how to cook. He is constantly amazing me with how fast he picks things up!
• Boy is less into food and starting to become fussy. Typical 2 year old. I was hoping that I'd have at least one good eater, but as lucky wold have it he is just like all the rest. He likes chicken nuggets, french fries, yogurt, noodles, pizza and hotdogs. He eats other things too but those are his go too's. He will not touch most bread products like sandwiches, muffins, cake, or pancakes. He is also ALL about milk!

•  Sprout is still a pretty happy kid, but he has a cranky streak. He is very particular and wants things just "so". He is still pretty go with the flow and loves to go run errands and gets toted along but he's not a big fan of sharing or doing things he deems "below him" like eating the rest of his lunch. If he says no, he means no and its been a fun time. He's so two!
• Sprout knows his routine and he is a big fan! We switched back to one nap he is up around 7:00 a.m. sometimes earlier. We have breakfast and I try to run errands in the morning if we need to. If not we play toys and putter around the house. We have lunch around 11:00 and he goes down around 12:00. He generally sleeps for 2 hours but sometimes we can get 3 out of him. Once he's up we play and clean and then we have dinner. Tub time is around 6:15- 6:30 and then he watches a show before bed at 7:00/7:30 depending on how nice Daddy is feeling. Things adjust as we accommodate things like school pick-up and when we have Millie here. Baby number three just has to follow the crowd.

• This kid is still 100% a Daddy's boy! He is his little shower. The second he gets home he races to the door and he doesn't leave his side until he is put down for bed. He always wants his attention.
• Sprout loves music. I think I've created a country boy. He loves Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown, but he is also really into the Baby Shark song. He is often ask me to "d-ncccce" (Dance)
• He LOVES tub time. He will ask for tub time and when he hears the water go he is stripping off his clothes faster than I can. He loves the water.  
• Elephant his best buddy and he takes him everywhere. 
• Sprout LOVES to cook. All he wants to do is make hotdogs and bake and stir things. If I am in the kitchen he is right there beside me helping me "esure" (measure) and "MIX IT!!!" There are a lot of MINE TURN MAMA's thrown around as he wants to do everything himself. He does love his toy kitchen and will make all sorts of creations in there but it's not quite the same as the real deal!

•  Sprout's language is continuing to explode. He still rambles in baby talk, but he is really good at communicating what he wants and needs. He is stinging together sentences and his favorite is "Hi! What doin?" and "Where you go?"  He knows all of his colors and can count to 10. He knows how to pray and he will repeat after you as you say the prayer and it melts my heart every single time. His accuracy with his speech is impressive and I am so so so thankful!
• He loves to play rock paper scissors and will pound his fist in his palm and everything. He chooses scissors every single time.
• Sprout LOVES sports. All sports. His favorites are basketball and football thus far. Daddy got his a hoop for his birthday and he hasn't stopped playing with it. He is a really good shot too! He also loves to watch sports and would sit and watch hockey with me and he has been knows to watch basketball too. Whenever someone scores he shouts "he did it!" I believe we have a future athlete in our lives and I am so excited to cheer hi on!
• He loves to read!!!! It's part of our bedtime routine but he will just sit and read sometimes too. His favorites are "Red Hat, Blue Hat" and "Moo Ba La La" by Sandra Boyton and "Good Night Gorilla"

In summation this boy is wild, busy. knows his mind and he is so easy to love. He is happy and loves to have fun. He loves his sibling with his whole heart and he adores his Daddy more than anything. Happy Birthday Sprout! You are so loved!!