Easter Celebrations

*Warning - Picture Overload*

Easter this year was a typical holiday in the Olafsson household. I started baking treats and desserts days before and got no sleep because I was putting the finishing touches on everything so Easter would be perfect. Like usual, not everything went as planned, which is always disappointing but overall, it still ended up being a fun-filled day.

It all started a few weeks before Easter when the hunt for the perfect Easter dress began. I couldn't find anything that fit my criteria so I settled on a cute (and cheap) dress at TJ Maxx....$12.99! Then the stresses of taking an adorable picture of Claire in her dress came upon me. I don't know why I do this to myself, but I hate falling short of perfection. My Mom and I ventured out to Wheeler Farm and after 30 minutes of terrible lighting, boring backgrounds and a slight meltdown by me, we finally got a cute shot. Thank heavens Claire cooperated with it being way past her bedtime. The picture turned out great.

Then it was off to see the Easter bunny. I thought for sure Claire was going to scream her head off but all she did was stare at it. The mall even let me take my own picture which I was very grateful for. Those pictures are so overpriced!

Easter morning we "opened" our Easter baskets. Erik and I got some candy, Claire got Dora bubbles and Khloe got some dog food and a new ball.

Khloe loves to play with balls that are small enough to fit in her mouth and for a few minutes, she was in heaven! I feel like since Claire was born, Khloe has gotten a little neglected so I wanted to share a picture of Khloe with her new toy so she wouldn't get her feelings hurt. :)

After church and a morning nap, Claire had her first Easter egg hunt. Because I don't give Claire any sweets, I filled the eggs with her spinach and apple air puff treats. Doesn't that sound yummy? :) 

Claire army-crawled around the living room grabbing eggs and somehow even managed to open them and eat her treats.

Then we tried to play with her new Dora bubbles. "Tried" being the operative word here. They were terrible! I seriously want my money back. You had to squeeze the bottle to get the bubble thing to pop up so you could blow through it, which was wierd to begin with. Then we couldn't make a single bubble!

After our unsuccessful bout with the bubbles, Claire and I decorated Easter eggs. Well, she sat there for about two seconds, long enough for Erik to take a couple of pictures. Who came up with this activity for children? You have to be so careful not to brake the eggs and get dye everywhere...it really should not be an activity for kids. What a mess! After about 15 minutes I lost my patience and desire to have bright, vibrant colored eggs and was finished. Oh well! 

Later that afternoon, we had a big family dinner with Erik's family and my parents. Claire gave her Farmor/Farfar and Mormor/Morfar adorable pictures of herself for their Easter present. I'm pretty sure they loved their present. Who wouldn't want to stare at our little Claire Bear? :) 

 

I love it when we all get together and Claire gets to interact with her cousins. The picture below is Claire with her two cousins on the Olafsson side; Soren (2 1/2) and Emma (2 months). The best is when Soren gives Claire "love". He either grabs her like this (see picture on the right), puts his hands on her cheeks or goes for the jugular. This one is hilarious! He puts his hands on her throat (and sometimes chest) and just holds them there. It really is such a cute thing to watch. The older Claire gets the less she puts up with it and she is quickly learning how to push him away. Adorable!
 

We had a delicious turkey and ham dinner with all of the yummy fixings. Claire ate peas for the first time and absolutely loved them. She must have had about five adult-size spoonfuls. After dinner, Soren and Claire had another Easter egg hunt. Soren was running all over the place and Claire's Farmor helped her gather some eggs of her own.

During a great family conversation, Claire's Farmor and Mormor helped her practice crawling by picking up her dress so it wouldn't get stuck on her knees. Oddly enough, it worked! She did her very first "real" crawl. It lasted about three seconds but was very exciting (for me anyway).

  

We always enjoy spending time with our family and Easter was no exception. The tickle monster (Erik) even introduced himself to Soren and chased him around the house for a little bit. Looks like Soren had fun!

All in all, Easter was wonderful. Even though it wasn't a perfect holiday like I always hope they are, we were together, healthy and happy, and that's all that counts.