Inspired by Kaylee

Surprisingly she doesn't mind the piggy tails at all - and I didn't even have to clip them to her head for her to keep them in.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Ahh, finally a holiday that Alice was actually old enough to enjoy! Before church Alice "hunted" for her basket (a Bathje family tradition) and discovered she loves candy corn. Church was like every other Easter mass I've been to, but Alice made it interesting with her many observations of babies, lights, and the people behind us. Matt hit a curb swerving out of the way of an idiot when we were on our way out and blew a massive hole in the front right tire. It must have been a sight to see Matt, Ann, and I in our Sunday best changing a tire - granted Matt did most of the work despite my pleas to let us help.

At my IL's house we were greeted by a HUGE pink bunny rabbit - a gift to Alice from her Auntie Mary - and the smell of lots of yummy food. The day was short (although that could have been the nap Alice and I took before dinner) but it was definitely a holiday to remember.

Alice in her Easter best - genuine Easter bonnet and all. I was very surprised she kept it on all day!

By far Alice's #1 fav thing the Easter Bunny brought for her is her "Nernie". He hasn't left her side since she pulled him out of the basket. This kid is OBSESSED with "The Street".

Alice is also obsessed with babies these days. Grandma sent her home with this tiny one from the 60's.

Meet Frank. Frank has 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds before I donate him to the Goodwill. Just kidding Auntie. :)

And one of my FIL for good measure. This pic sums him up rather nicely.

Weddings and Funerals

Seems like the only time we see extended family anymore. Such is life I guess. The family and I made a trip to J'ville a few weeks ago for Uncle Joe's funeral. Despite the circumstances it was a nice trip home.

Aunt Ginny and Aunt Rosie adored Alice. I think they are crossing their fingers hoping that we'll be able to make a trip out East this year.
To be honest, so am I.

I don't think Tori enjoyed Alice being home at all. ;)

The Clan, minus a few. It was certainly a full house!

Alice making eyes at Aunt Ginny after she tucked her into her seat.

There is Nothing Cuter Than

A baby and her book.

Dear Cindy

If you're wondering why the shipping for Alice's Easter preset was so much, here's the reason why. Hallmark shipped a 13in x 7in x 2 in lunch box in this ridiculously large box - they could have fit 20 of them in there! It was worth it though, thanks for the adorable butterfly lunch box that is currently being used as a laptop (Alice has her own baby laptop courtesy of my MIL) bag. Thank You!

And As Promised...

Grandpa's House: Part IV

Sunday was the first GORGEOUS day I'd seen in months; so Tori, Alice, and I decided we'd better go out and enjoy it with a trip to the park. It didn't matter that the ground was SOOO muddy, we had fun anyway. In fact I think we had more fun because of it! Alice throughly enjoyed the swings and the slides, but it wasn't until she found a stick that she was in 7th Heaven. The stick was no match for the mud puddle Tori discovered however. She would have splashed in there all day had I let her (Alice, not Tori although she was having fun too), but I decided it was about time to head home once Alice got curious and licked her hands. Man I can't wait for spring to come - it was SOOO nice being outdoors!!

Grandpa's House: Part III

Sunday just happened to be the men cook for the women breakfast at church, so of course we actually made it to church for once. I wasn't going to pass up scrambled eggs with chives, croissants, and sausage for a little extra sleep. Plus Tori was coming and I had to see her. Turns out Fr. Kip's granddaughter, Mia was there too, sans her mother. I've been telling Jessica since we had the girls (Mia is just a few days older than Kaylee) that we need to get them together, but our paths never crossed. Well at least I finally got to meet the little one, and Alice got to make a new friend. Man oh man did these kids take to each other instantly. I didn't get a chance to ask Mrs. Radcliffe how the two girls got along in the nursery though - either they fought or Alice just missed her mommy because when she returned just before communion she was huffy like she's be crying. I'm assuming it was the latter since after church they were hugging and kissing again.

BTW, dad, just thought I'd tell you what a great job you did throwing that together at the last minute. Good thing you're retired!

Grandpa's House: Part II 1/2

Oh, I forgot. Yahtzee is also really damn cute too.

Grandpa's House: Part II

One thing Alice had plenty of was good food while we were at Grandpa's. Personally I liked the taco pizza from Leo's the best, but I think Alice really enjoyed the apples and mixed veggies (the limas are her favorite, ick). We also found out that Alice has mad stealing skills, several times we caught her in the apples taking a bite here and there then going for another. She even tried swiping a potato once - once. I guess she couldn't get past the dirt taste. No wonder Daddy hates them.

Not only did she hone her thieving skills at Grandpa's, but apparently Grandpa's house is a good place for expanding your vocabulary. I have no idea why, but for some reason her already huge vocabulary increased tenfold while we were there. The cutest phrase she added though has got to be "thank you". I'll add a video later and you'll see what I mean. So now not only do we have the smartest baby on the block, but we have the politest too.

Good thing we don't live near the creepy Today Show baby.

Grandpa's House: Part I

So a few weeks ago Alice and I decided we needed to make good on our offer to come and stay with Grandpa for a week in hopes of putting a small dent in the huge task of purging and organizing things in the Rice household. One, to prepare for wedding guests; and two, in preparation for the bringing together of the Rice and Carlson households. Needless to say due to *forces beyond my control we didn't get much done. The china cabinet has never looked better, I will say that though.

So how did we spend our week? Mostly hanging out with Grandpa and Uncle Chuck in the mornings, Cindy and Uncle James got us in the evenings. I honestly don't think anyone minded one bit that not much got done, including me. I know everyone enjoyed getting to spend so much time with Alice - we come as a pair so they just had to put up with me. :)

*A Grandpa does need his beauty rest, don't you know?

So How Did Alice Feel About Leaving Gpa's House??

Angry? Sad? A little bit of both? I'll let you decide.

Sorry about the delay. We've been busy here and we just got a Wii so the time that I normally spend online has been spent "bowling" or "golfing" or playing the mega awesome Star Wars Legos game with Matt. :) Hell I haven't even gone through my photos from that trip yet except to save this one for the web...and that's saying A LOT!

Cindy...

You were right - she did sleep the whole way home.