Man's Best Friend... FINALLY!

Collin and Tucker got off to a pretty rocky start. Okay, it was totally my fault. When we finally made it home from the airport the day Collin came home, it was after 1:00 in the morning. We'd been traveling most of the day and we were both exhausted. I put Collin down on the family room floor without checking to see where Tucker was. Did I mention that dogs in Haiti are not the cleanliest animals and therefore the children are taught to stay as far away from them as possible? Did I also mention that it's been just Tucker and I in my house for the last four years and he was therefore REALLY excited to see me after I'd been gone for 3 days? You can guess what happened next. Yep, Tucker leaped for me, landed right in front of Collin's face and scared the daylights out of him. (On the slightly humorous side, 'cuz it was pretty funny, I've never seen Collin jump and run that fast before or since!) For the next 17 (okay I might be rounding up, but it was pretty close to that) days, Collin would start to cry if Tucker was in the same room. Slowly, things started to improve. First, Tucker was allowed in the room as long as he didn't make eye contact or any sudden movement and didn't come within 10 feet of Collin. Then, it was 5 feet and he was allowed on Collin's couch, but still no eye contact and no sudden movements. Our first break through followed a whole lot of encouragement by me, when Collin would touch Tucker for half a second and then run squealing (not crying, just excited) from the room. Of course, Tucker had to be asleep on the floor before he would do it. And then FINALLY...

Not only is Tucker allowed to roam freely, but Collin is even allowing him to give "kisses".

Of course, now that he knows there is nothing to be afraid of, he's taken to running over him with his new Diego bike and pinning him in the corner as a target for his big bouncy ball. I think Tucker liked it better when he was afraid of him. Sorry boy...but thanks for being a good sport!

Easter Morning

Okay, maybe the Easter Bunny got a little carried away...

But this smile makes it TOTALLY worth it!

The boy likes Peeps! Who knew? His uncles will be so proud...

And of course, he loves all things cars...

Let The Hunt Begin!

Every year, Grandma and Grandpa host a big Easter egg hunt for the grand kids. And by big, I mean 500 plastic Easter eggs and 3 dozen banana's (it's a family tradition, they go well with the hard boiled eggs for breakfast) for 17 grand kids; and one honorary grand kid to find. That's one ambitious Easter Bunny! There are rules to this annual event: each child is allowed 33 eggs (we never do seem to make the numbers add up); the older you are, the higher you have to look (no easy scooping for the bigger kids); and finally, the little ones get help from a parent.

It took Collin and Nathan a few minutes to catch on,

but once they did, they had a ball.

There were eggs EVERYWHERE

The "bigger" little kids were so excited to help Collin and Nathan.

Then it was off to the garage (it's been semi-finished to be a dining room for 30 something people for all major holidays) for a fabulous Easter dinner.

What a great day! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

You Oughta Be In Easter Pictures

Okay, really, you just oughta sit still long enough to TAKE an Easter picture.... I was all excited to put Collin in his first Easter outfit. I had grand illusions of a sweet little angel sitting on the couch, ready to capture our first official "big" holiday together on film. My plan was simple. Dress Collin in his Easter outfit. Sit him on the couch. Ask him to smile. Take the picture. It should have taken all of about 3 minutes. Stop laughing, I'm still learning. After getting his pants and shirt on, I turned around to grab the sweater vest and Collin, seeing the perfect opportunity for escape, scampered away. I spent the next 5 minutes chasing him around the house, pinning him down and FINALLY getting the sweater on over his head. It didn't taken me much longer than that to realize that Collin had plans of his own about this whole picture taking thing, so I tried to distract him by singing songs while he was on the couch, he's a VERY animated singer when it's just the two of us, and snapping the picture when he got the most animated.

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

Attempt #3

That's as good as it's gonna get. Good thing too. Two minutes later, he fell off the chair and put his bottom teeth through his lip... Poor baby.

How To Color An Easter Egg

There are many things about raising Collin that I haven't really had time to think about. One of them? Easter traditions. Now I'm not talking about the resurrection of the Savior, that part I have covered. I'm talking about the non-spiritual stuff, like coloring Easter eggs. Ever tried to explain the concept to a two year old? How 'bout a two year old who is just learning English? I have...for about 30 seconds... Then we (and by "we" I mean me and my sister's who were laughing at me) decided the best way to learn is to "do".

Step 1: Put the egg in the dye.

Trust me...

Step 2: Leave it in there for awhile...

Step 3: Carefully take it out and give it to Mommy

Step 4: Really?? (Don't look at me, step 4 he came up with on his own, and no, it did not taste good)

Step 5: Turn him loose (Well, sort of...)

Mission accomplished!