Gettin' Our Easter Swag On

As a kid, one of my favorite things about Easter was getting a new Easter outfit. Now as a mom, it's getting the kids new outfits. Here's Alex rockin' his straight up supermodel status. Can you tell this kid has been forced to pose for a lot of photos over the years?

Steph found a really cute dress at Down East. It's not often that she can find a dress that both of us can agree on, so we were pretty excited about this one.

It wasn't the warmest day today, but at least it didn't rain so that we could have an Easter egg hunt. The nice thing about 3 year olds is that all you have to do is scatter a dozen eggs in obvious places and they think it's the greatest!

Alex's First Soccer Game

Alex had his first soccer game last Saturday. Unfortunately, I had to work so I missed it, I was so bummed. It sounds like he had a lot of fun. He was a little apprehensive about getting real close to the action, but he participated and even sat with his team on the sidelines so we were pretty happy about that.

At home after the game as Steve was taking off Alex's uniform, Alex said, "Ok, you can take it back now!" Hopefully he'll still be excited when he realizes that he has to play again tomorrow!

In other sporting news, Stephenie has been coaching the sophomore softball team at West High. She seems to be enjoying it ok, I think it's a good experience for her. She is a busy girl between softball, school and work, but that's ok because busy is good!

A Few Odds and Ends

Last month we got to meet my new great nephew, who Alex calls "Baby Abram". Alex sure thought he was cute and wanted to hold him. He sure is a sweet little guy.

I just had to snap this picture. Often people ask me how in the world I manage working a 12 hour night shift only to come home and take care of a 3 year old, then some days go back to work again all night. Obviously, on some days I don't do it very well. This is Alex after I had been "dozing" off and on throughout the day after a night shift. Tissues shredded on the floor, crazy man hair, no shirt and pants two inches too short. Some days it's all about survival!

Another one of my favorites, Alex often puts his undies on backwards, leaving two cute little cheeks peeking out.

We just signed Alex up for soccer for the first time. At first, he was pretty adamant that he wanted nothing to do with it, but after getting his uniform and meeting the team last night he seems a lot more excited about it now. His uniform drowns him, I'm afraid his shorts may fall down as he's running down the field! His first game was supposed to be tomorrow, but due to this blankety-blankin' Utah weather, it's been snowed out. I'm about to lose my mind if spring doesn't buck up and tell winter to hit the road real quick!

"Unbe-WEAVE-able"

Steph was missing her long hair and decided to get extensions. I thought it was kind of strange, it's like one day you have shoulder length hair and the next it's midway down your back... slightly obvious you had a little help. But I guess it's a generational thing, apparently lots of girls get them so no one really thinks twice about it. I tried to discourage her from doing it mainly because of the price. You would croak if you knew how much she paid, but in the end it does look nice.

One day one of her extensions fell out and she wanted to see how Alex looks with long hair...

Cute rat's tail, huh? His dad didn't think so!

Missionary #2

Our family has just sent off our second missionary in the past four months. My nephew Erik will be serving in Indonesia....wow! I think about 80% of the country is Muslim, I'm sure it will be fascinating to learn about the culture. The average height of Indonesians is 5'3", so Erik's 6'5" frame won't stand out or anything!! Erik with my 2 beautiful nieces, Katherine and Elizabeth.

Erik has 4 younger brothers, so he's always been really good with Alex.

Steph and Erik are pretty good buds, so she's going to miss him a lot. We went to Erik's farewell at church and it was amazing, the spirit was so strong. I'm so grateful Steph has cousins who are such a great example to her.

The same day as his farewell, Erik's new nephew Abram (the first great-grandchild of the Eide family) decided to make his entrance in the world. Lots of exciting things in our family this past year.

And yes, being a "Great Aunt Lana" makes me sound so very old, but little Abram is so cute that I don't mind a bit!

Alex is a Sunbeam!

This is my handsome little ham modeling his new church outfit that he wore for his first day of Primary. Can't believe my baby is now a "Sunbeam". Apparently he was ready to move on from the nursery, as he has been refusing to go for the past couple months.

And who is the poor sap, er... I mean the blessed person who gets to be Alex's Sunbeam teacher? Why, that would be Yours Truly! I started teaching Sunbeams a few months ago and loved it, I had some of the cutest little ones in my class. But, I was hoping to be moved to another class in January because I did not want to be Alex's teacher, I just imagine having a tough time with him. We'll see how it goes... last Sunday he did ok, but it's still all new to him.
Wish us luck!

I'm Fa-La-La-lala-lala-Late

Christmas seems so long ago, but I figured I still need to post about it. For Christmas Eve, we went to my sister's house for dinner and got to participate in their annual nativity re-enactment. Poor Mary must have had a rough labor, as she is looking rather haggard and old for her age, don't you think?

The cutest shepherds.

This was a fun year with Alex, he's old enough to "get it", yet still young enough that he is so believing, with no doubts at all.

What would Christmas with a 3 year old boy be without lots of noisy toys? Steph got "Just Dance 2" for the Wii which has been a ton of fun. I've been playing it a lot as part of my resolution to start exercising again. Let's hope 2011 finds me a few pounds lighter by summer!