An Exceptional Easter Weekend

I have always liked Easter. It's a sign of spring, warm weather, bright colors. But most importantly, because of the true meaning behind it. However, this year I loved Easter. Jack seems to make every holiday just a little more wonderful. What did we ever do without him? We had a exceptional weekend celebrating with a packed agenda.

It all started on Saturday early afternoon when we attended Sophia's First Birthday party. It was great fun with bunny decor everywhere. The birthday girl was dressed to the nines in a beautiful dress and a giant smile. It is easy to see why Jack is so smitten with her. I think these two will be friends for a long while. Sophia even let Jack try on her pink bunny ears, which he wasn't so sure about. Regardless, we had a great time with bunny cupcakes, bunny goody baskets, and lots of playing. Jack was dressed to match the theme in his green gingham bunny suit...he was quite dashing, if I must say. Saturday didn't stop there though.

On the agenda for the late afternoon...the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt. Assuming Jack would do very little hunting, Clay stated that it was just going to be a photo opportunity. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was wrong. Jack got right in the mix of the festivities, crawling around and grabbing eggs. They weren't too hard for the little ones to find, seeing as how they were laying on the top of the grass. Jack even put a couple in his new Easter basket and then received some assistance from a 4 year old boy...how neighborly! Once Jack reached his 12 egg capacity, he spent the rest of the hunt shaking eggs, then putting them in and out of his basket, pulling out Easter grass, and watching his fellow hunters run around. We stepped back and watched his curiosity go. He didn't even mind that we weren't by his side--he had all he needed right there. Of course, being his Mommy, I thought he was the cutest bunny there, I always do. But as I looked to my right, I saw another Mom video taping his Easter basket exploration. She told me, and I quote "he is the most adorable baby, look at him so content and curious with his basket and eggs, I couldn't help myself, I had to record him". She then told me how she and her mother in law loved babies and she was going to take the video to share with her. She even asked me if she could send the video into a cute baby contest. It is so fun to hear other admirers talk about Jack....it seems there is just something about a baby that makes everyone smile. After lots of Easter fun, we walked home in glorious 70 degree weather. Once arriving home, Jack played with his eggs a little longer, found a jelly bean in one and ate it...his first sweet mind you, I wasn't too thrilled about that and then he headed off to his nightly bedtime routine. Mommy and Daddy didn't follow too far behind him because another busy day awaited us. Sunday was just as exceptional as the day before. When Jack woke from his morning nap, we showed him what the Easter Bunny had brought him. His basket filled with goodies was enough to make his day. He pulled out the stuffed rabbit and squealed with glee. That was followed with a yellow duck, an Easter book, and bath toys. He didn't want to separate from his new loot so we packed it up and took it to afternoon Easter mass with us. With Jack's nap schedule the 12:15 mass seems to suit us best. It always feels that we get a late start to our day on Sundays, but Jack is well worth it. With a packed church Jack was in awe of all the smiling faces around him. He continually shared his bunny and duck with a young girl in front of us. Luckily, she amused him for the majority of the service. Mass was followed by a late afternoon lunch at a local French cafe. Jack really enjoyed having two lunches...one before mass and one after mass. With a full tummy we returned home for an afternoon Easter nap. All of that bunny business must have worn Jack out because he slept until 5:00! Upon waking he headed straight for his Easter basket and played the evening away.

What an exceptional weekend! We hope yours was just as special. Happy Easter to all!
(More pictures of Jack's Easter weekend in his 11 month album)