Lydia's First Easter Egg Hunt

Well, technically, Lydia did attend last year's Easter Egg Hunt at church, but this was her first year actually finding the eggs for herself! She has such a good time even though she felt that it was necessary to analyze each egg (color and contents) before she would go on to the next one, instead of just throwing them into the basket and reaching for more like most of the other children! :) With a little help from an older friend, she also found the prize egg for her age group! She really enjoyed petting the rabbits, as well! What a fun day!

Waiting for the fun to begin!
I found one!

Making sure to get each one into the basket safely...

Another one!

the PRIZE egg!

carefully placing each egg...

petting the bunny

wondering why the bunny is hiding in the corner of its cage...

eggs are nice to find, but so are flowers!

Blessings this Easter

We trust that you will have a blessed Easter weekend, thoughtfully considering the price our dear Savior paid to redeem us and celebrating our risen Lord!

Just for Daddy...

Since Daddy's team won the NCAA tournament ... I will concede to sharing this one pic of a cute little girl who is far too young to make good choices about these types of things ... :)

Lydia ~ 17 Months

It seems like our little girl is learning something new every day! Lydia has really enjoyed exploring outside on her own for the first time this month, and now asks frequently to go outside. We are hoping that it warms up again, so that we can stop rehearsing the "It's too cold to go outside today, Honey" speech! :) She continues to enjoy pointing out "ABCs" to us (although she does not differentiate the letters, she recognizes them) and now has a vocabulary of over 30 words! Some of her favorites (besides Mama and Daddy) are Pep (her new nickname for our dog, Pepper), dog, outside, church and "peas" (which is her version of "please" and is much preferred to whining when asking for something). It is amazing to hear her begin to string words and phrases together, too, and even ask questions, complete with inflection. She also enjoys playing "Peek-A-Boo" - either by putting her hands over her eyes or hiding under a blanket and saying "BOO"! She has started saying "cheese" as soon as she sees a camera, which explains the big grins in most of these pictures.

This has definitely been a very eventful month, starting out with a visit to see family - which ended up with the devastating loss of Lydia's grandfather (Mel's Dad). This also meant her first night away from Daddy and Mommy, but she was well cared for by her aunt and cousin. Lydia also contracted a serious virus this month which led to a not so fantastic night in the Emergency Room and lots of medicine. :( We are so thankful, though, that she seems to be well again and we are hoping that God will continue to bless her with good health! She is definitely a blessing and a daily source of joy to us, and we are praying for guidance as we diligently seek to teach her lessons about obedience and love.

"Peek-A-Boo"!

I often wonder what is going through her little mind...

Enjoying a Taste of Spring!

After being sick for over a week with some type of flu-like virus (with cold and stomach virus symptoms), a not-so-wonderful trip to the Emergency Room and more medicine than she has probably ever had, our little girl is finally feeling better! We are thankful that the Lord sent us a beautiful weekend and allowed Lydia to feel good enough to enjoy it! It was a good reminder for us, too, that spring always follows a long winter (both literally and metaphorically). Lydia enjoyed trying out her tricycle someplace other than the living room! She liked it almost as much as exploring our yard! :)

Lydia ~ Hanging Out with Her Grandparents while Daddy and Mommy went to the Game (See Next Post)...

She obviously missed us terribly... :)
Lydia and PawPaw dressing up the baby with Lydia's shoes


I guess she did pretty well considering she had only had a "babysitter" two other times in her life and never at night!

Guess who picked out this great outfit?
She was NOT cheering for the Heels! :)

NCSU vs. UNC Game!

Thanks to one of our wonderful friends, Mel and I were able to go see UNC and N.C. State play in Chapel Hill a couple of weeks ago. (Both of our favorite teams!) It was a fun game and didn't turn out nearly as bad as I had imagined! Mel was just excited that he got to see Tyler Hansbrough play in person ... and Zeller, who (for all you UNC fans) had more fouls than points! :) We also got to see some old friends while we were there and had a great date night. Lydia also had a fun time hanging out with PawPaw and Nana Anthony!