Easter Time

He's 16 months, my baby is growing up!

Spring is BEAUTIFUL here, but you can't forget your Zyrtec!

Adelynn, all ready for the Primary Easter Egg Hunt

We don't really know what our traditions for Easter are yet, but the Easter Bunny is always a fun tradition. So we went with one big gift from the Easter Bunny and an Easter basket, along with a three hour long church session and many stories about Jesus throughout the week. Regardless, we have been telling Addy for about a year now that the Easter Bunny would bring her a bike because we had to leave all her cool bikes in Utah when we left. We thought that spring time would be a good time for a bike, but come to find out anytime of the year is a good time for a bike in Raleigh! So, every time we walk into a store she goes straight for the small princess bikes. She rides around on them at the back of the store, you get the idea. So, since the gift was coming from the Easter Bunny we couldn't buy it until the day before. It was Saturday afternoon and I was on the phone calling bike stores about what they had for inventory. It was a lot of work to find the perfect bike that would last her a few years. Corey had to stop studying and drive a great distance to pick up the bike, and not to mention it cost $$. So, here is Addy's reaction on Easter morning:

Needless to say, the "Easter Bunny" was about ready to beat her over the head after that reaction, but as the day progressed she became more and more grateful.

This is Addy a little more excited?!? (Excuse the crazy zebra pj's)

Corey got the fourth book from the Eragon series,
 and I got the second Hunger Games book!

Now we sit in bed at night and read until all hours of the night, he says it makes him feel old.

She finally broke down and sat on the BIG bike.

Jack is going to be our little ball player.

Jack's bike, he didn't complain. :)

Perfect Ending:  By the end of the day Addy was riding her bike outside and all around the house!

Panic

Corey started feeling like this everyday, it started in December and progressively got worse:

(I found this picture on his phone, so shhhh) 

In fact, one day in March he started talking to me about having panic attacks about the thought of a panic attack. Basically, his schooling is intense because they are in class, studying, taking tests and quizzes, along with clinicals three days a week. So, when we got a call one morning from the school secretary saying that Corey's temporary NC Nursing License had expired, we panicked. Without his license he wasn't allowed to go to clinicals, even though  he has a Utah Nursing License. It's a long story...but, I didn't know it expired and we thought we had a couple more months to get the paperwork in for the permanent license. So, Corey got all the paperwork to the Board of Nursing that same day and they said it usually takes four to eight weeks. We were stressed, and let them know the situation. They said, they could maybe get it done in seven days. So, Corey got an unexpected break from school, and to be honest I think it was a tender mercy from the Lord. He actually got to breathe for a few days and think about life, and spend time with his family! It was stressful not knowing when he would get to return to clinicals, but he only had to wait two weeks.  He's back at it, learning all the anesthesia tricks, but he seems to be doing much better now that he had a break.  

Fun with our Dad!

These are a few of the fun things we did with our Dad while he had time off from clinicals:

Playing Outside

Ice Cream at Baskin Robbins! 

We tried to eat it outside and soon discovered Adelynn was covered in pollen that had fallen onto the table.

Breakfast with the Easter Bunny

My little "rabbits" with their rabbit ears. 

Dyed Easter Eggs

NC State University's Farm Days with free ice cream!

Yeah for sheep!

Jack was in LOVE with this cow!

 

Our first experience at Steak 'n Shake

Falls Lake for the first time with our Dad! 

P.S. To any of you far away friends and family, I hope I have promoted Raleigh enough that you just can't wait to come visit!!

Hermit Crab Heaven!

As of right now I hate hermit crabs and mostly I'm upset that I can't keep anything alive! Sometimes I wonder how I have managed to keep two kids alive. So, in January we got Addy two hermit crabs. I should let you know that I went to the pet store a bunch of times to get the right supplies and researched everything I could about them, so that they would stay alive. I soon realized that crabs might be a bad idea because they smell and we are in a small apartment. But, I tried to have a good attitude. About three weeks ago Addy's favorite hermit crab, Gabrella, died. Well, it was all scrunched up in its shell and wouldn't move and did nothing for two days, so I decided it was dead. We had a little burial by our front door, and put a rock on its grave. Everyday Addy would put a new flower on the grave, and talk to me all about what Gabrella was doing in heaven. She was really starting to understand that the body was staying in the ground, but that Gabrella's spirit was in heaven. So, I thought it was a great lesson for her to learn right before Easter. 

Anyway, we still had the other hermit crab named Hermie. Just this morning I noticed he wasn't moving and was hanging out of his shell. I thought it was weird, and immediately googled: "Is my crab dead, or molting". After reading for awhile I realized that nobody really knows if this thing is shedding its skin and trying to get into a new shell. You just have to wait and see what happens. Then, I found a wonderful video that said, "How to tell if your crab is dead?" I thought this is going to be awesome!!! As I watched the video I was in shock. The guy picked up his hermit crab and explained that if the crab is scrunched up in its shell and not moving than it is alive because it has the strength to stay in there and if it doesn't smell like a dead cow than it is alive. Basically, I was so sad to realize that Gabrella was never dead, and we probably buried her alive. :(

And, now I am just stuck with this other crab that looks and acts dead, but who knows, it might be molting...I'm going to wait and see if it starts smelling like a dead cow and then I will be okay to bury it.

Adelynn giving her buried hermit crab a balloon!