Easter

We started our Easter preparations on Friday. When Dustin got home from work on Friday we decided to sit down and dye our eggs. Boy, oh boy. That was a new experience for Lauren and she's lucky I'm not the kind of mother who is scared by a little permanent dye.





Josh had fun mixing the colors and seeing what different shades we could create. It's always fun to see his mind working and learning.

Then Saturday I went into work for awhile and then we met up with our friends from Omaha for an Easter egg hunt. Man did the kids have a blast!






The had three legged races, egg tosses and the traditional "Egg on a spoon" race. It was such a great afternoon activity and the weather was absolutely perfect. Then we had a nice lunch on the other side of town and came home for a nice nap. It was the perfect day!

Then Sunday morning we got up for church. You know me and dressing my kids for special holidays - I go all out. So I got the girls matching dresses, a new suit for Josh and a tie that matched the girls. Of course I love to document my achievements so I was hoping to get a nice picture of them all together.

Yeah...I'm not going to tell you who didn't cooperate. I let you see for yourself.

Take #1



Take #2



Take #3



So I finally said, "FORGET IT!" and settled for two out of three.



Church was absolutely wonderful. Can I tell you how much I love our new church!?!?! The music is always beautiful, the message is always applicable to our daily lives and it all contributes to this feeling of being spiritually fed. And that's something we had been missing for some time.

Then of course we joined everyone over at Larry & Toni's for Easter dinner. Yum-o!!!

After dinner we had the Annual Bricker Easter Egg Hunt and of course the kids had fun!






Of course we had to grab some photos of the kids and guess who wouldn't cooperate. I know...you're shocked, right?




We hope everyone had a blessed Easter because we certainly did!

I do want to put in a quick prayer request. Our little Joshie will be having his adenoids out and his nose cauterized on April 23rd. I know it is completely routine and I'm not really nervous about the procedure...I'm just worried about him. He will have to be put under general anesthetic but it will only be outpatient surgery. So if you could think of him in the next few weeks I'd really appreciate it. He's pretty excited at the thought of not having nose bleeds all the time...and so are we.

All about Ella

Sorry it's been two weeks since I've posted any pictures but as you can imagine...life is pretty hectic around here. I've been working part-time down at the office on top of everything else so that just adds to the chaos.

Anyway, excuses, excuses, right? I know what you're thinking....."GIVE ME SOME BABY PICTURES!!!!"

All right, all right! Calm down!!






Ella is doing great!! She is still the sweetest, little thing EVER! However, I do have an appointment with the pediatrician on Wednesday because I'm afraid she has the same reflux issues that we had with Miss Lauren. She's been more cranky than usual, the spit up is really getting worse and she doesn't like laying flat. Those were all the same signs I had when I figured something was up with Lauren, too. So hopefully we'll be able to get some medicine for her so it won't hurt anymore.

Other than that, she is so very patient. And can you believe that at exactly four weeks old she's mastered the art of raising her hand when she wants something?!?!?



HA! It would be nice if that were true, though!

The kids are still enamored with her and Josh has not gotten tired of holding her either.




And neither have I. There is nothing more rewarding for me right now than sitting in the recliner and holding her. This is what I look at for hours a day...



And it's the happiest I've been.

Back to normal life

Well...kind of.

Reagan came to visit us last weekend so Ella and her got some one on one time.



Then of course Josh thought he'd put all of his "baby holding" experience to good use. But I'm not sure Reagan was too thrilled.



We tried to enjoy all of our extra time with Daddy since he had two weeks off from UPS. I can't even begin to tell you how much I miss him. Tonight is his first night back and getting three kids bathed, ready for bed and taking care of Ella has been a little much on my body. Last night Dustin and I were pretty much a mess because the thought of him being gone was too much.

We like being a family. He likes being home. We like having him home. We miss him. He misses us. And since we've almost been doing this for two years...we're ready to have him back. And two weeks vacation ends up feeling more like a tease sometimes than something to be enjoyed. If that makes sense.

Nonetheless...we tried to make the most of our time together.

The World's Best Big Brother

I can't tell you the joy these pictures bring me. He begs to hold and feed Ella every chance he gets. And tonight at swimming I had to hold her up because he wanted her to watch him swim. Talk about pure joy.

More hospital photos

We took some photos with the kids and my belly that morning. And then of course I had to take one last belly shot.





I had been having contractions for a day or so (but nothing regular) so when they finally hooked me up to the monitor it was pretty interesting to watch the read-out. Dustin kept running over and letting me know how strong they were...like I couldn't tell.



So it seems that Miss Ella would have been coming soon anyway!!!

Things didn't go as smoothly in the operating room as they have in the past. The spinal block was what I expected...several pokes and 20 minutes. I don't know why it is so hard for them to find the right spot on me but I'm telling you...I HATE that part!!! Then they had some difficulties towards the end. I started to panic and then I got nauseous. Really nauseous. Then the panic overtook me and pretty soon they were pumping Versed in me to calm me down. I kept praying for it all to end and all I wanted was for them to bring Dustin back in. But soon enough it was all behind me and I was reunited with Dustin and Ella in recovery.







I look at these photos and cannot believe that was two weeks ago already!!! I'm not quite sure how two sleep deprived weeks don't feel like a month but honestly it just feels like it was yesterday.

The kids had a blast in my room's jetted bathtub. Who knew a little Johnson & Johnson's Baby Wash would create so many bubbles?!?!? I had to have Dustin close the bathroom door because the sight of those two kids hidden in all of those bubbles caused to many painful laughs.



I still can't believe that we are a family of five! I'm sure the utter chaos will fall into some sort of routine soon enough...but I'm not going to lie...it has been a little more overwhelming than I anticipated. Each day there is improvement and each day I feel better than the day before. So I'm hoping that pretty soon I'll feel like myself again and by that time everything will be old hat. Until then...I'll remind myself of how blessed we are and how truly happy I am.

Making the Introductions

Tonight the kids came by and got their first opportunity to check out their new little sister. What a joy it was to watch them react to her, watch them beam with pride and watch them fall in love with her just as we have.







The the kids got to "chill out" in mommy's cool bed with all the buttons and eat snacks and watch Madagascar 2. And Ella got to "chill out" with Daddy.




Ella also got her first bath last night and she barely made a peep through the entire thing.




Mommy also got to take a bath today...and now we both feel like new women!