Our Easter Holiday

I've said this in previous posts, but Easter is one of my favorite holidays! Now that Ellie is a bit older, I couldn't wait to celebrate it with her. I've been buying Easter treats for her basket for a few weeks, see what was in it here. A week or so ago we also bought her a 4-in-1 Radio Flyer Tricycle. All week long, Matt and I were so excited about the her new tricycle and talked about how much fun it’s going to be for her and our family walks. I knew she was going to love it so much and I couldn’t wait to give it to her. We’ve been talking about getting this for her since just after Christmas and thought it would be a great Easter gift (we already have birthday plans/gifts for her next month).

On Saturday night, Matt started putting it together and there was no hardware with it! We couldn’t put it together! We were so bummed out and upset, but then we remember that Target had it on sale so I called around and a store nearby had it in stock still and was holding it for me at their customer service desk. I am so happy we were able to get one in time for her! I know we could have given it to her any day and she would have loved it just as much, but I wanted to give it to her on Easter and make the moment a little bit more magical with the holiday. Target for the win!

 

We put together her basket and bike and then left an empty basket next to her bedroom door and a trail of eggs leading her to her goodies. It was so cute in the morning! She opened each egg individually to eat the treat inside before moving on to the next one (thank goodness each one only had one jellybean!) and then started to keep each jelly bean in her hand and put the empty egg in her basket.

When she reached her Easter basket and bike downstairs her eyes absolutely lit up and she ran over to the bike! We had to put her in it right away and take a few spins around our first floor. She keeps saying “wheeeee” every time we round the coffee table in our formal living room. After a few laps around the downstairs, she settled in on the basket and took everything out one by one. She was obsessed with all her Frozen stuff and opened her other Easter eggs to find different treats and $2 bills.

After we were done opening her gifts, we had fresh squeezed OJ and started getting ready for the day. We packed everything into our car and headed to Matt’s parents house for some bagels and strawberry cream cheese breakfasts and more Easter activities. Once everyone arrived (we got there super early), we had an Easter egg hunt and Ellie did so much better! She still wanted to open each egg, but soon learned it was better to dump it in her basket and then check out the goods later. She is the youngest of the cousins (for the time being) and has so much fun with them! They teach her so much and she just has a ball playing with them. I’m so happy that she has cousins that she can grow up close with- something I had and always enjoyed.

Then we headed to spend some of the holiday with my side of the family, we’re really lucky that both sides of our families lives near each other. It makes it easy to split holidays if we need to. There we ate and ate and then ate some more. It was the first time seeing some of my family since our Baby #2  announcement and it was fun to catch up with everyone. We hid so many eggs, the kids were finding them still hours later! The egg hunt was so much fun and Ellie really understood it by then, she was looking around and not wanting to go to the easy ones on the lawn that were for her (she’s the youngest on my side too).

I made these sweet coconut macaroon nests for the kiddos and they were a big hit! They're so easy to make too! Just 14 ounces of coconut, 1/2 tsp of salt, and 4 egg whites then mix and place into muffin pans for about 30 minutes and they're done! They were so easy and everyone enjoyed them so much, I think I may make them for my sister's bridal shower, but dip them in chocolate!

Overall, we had a great day! It was so much fun to see both sides of our families and share all the magic of Easter with Eleanor. When I was watching her look for eggs, I kept thinking about how next year I’ll have another little one that may or may not be crawling by then and how they’ll be in matching dresses, then the years after that they’ll both be searching and comparing their finds together. It really made my heart so full knowing that Ellie will have a sibling to share her childhood with and that our little family is growing.

I hope all of you had a great Easter holiday!

Ellie's Easter Basket + Ideas

Easter has long been one of my favorite holidays. It’s a simple holiday, warm, includes great food, and everyone busts out their pastels. It’s kind of like the unofficial start of spring (although, it technical happened last week). There’s not a lot of build up to the holiday like there is for Christmas, it isn’t too commercialized, and it’s a holiday that doesn’t break the bank to celebrate. I’ve already started on Ellie’s basket, but there’s still some items I’m looking to add in the next week or so. 

I really, really tried not to spoil Ellie rotten this Easter, it's so hard not to buy everything and give it to her. I love shopping for kids and get so excited to see the look on their faces when they see something they love. Here is what I have so far for her basket:

Swimsuit // Sandals 

 

Pajamas

Shirt // Placemat

Coloring Books/Bambi/Bracelets all from the Target $1 Spot

Crayons // CD (from Target, can't find online) // Dr Seuss Book

Here are some great ideas to fill your little one’s basket:

Coloring books

Crayons

Markers

Stickers

Fubbles

Swimsuit

Cover up

Sandals

Sunglasses

Pajamas

Hats

Bows

Necklace/Bracelet

Fairy Wings

Nail Polish

Play Doh

Matt and I are candy fiends and always have a bag or two of candy around for us to enjoy. This is not a trait I want to pass down to Ellie, we really strive to have her eat better than we do and the longer I can push off sweets and sugar for her the better. Here are some ideas I’ve thought of to fill her Easter eggs with, although some of them can still have sugar, I figured it’s better than actual candy. I may also fill her eggs with small trinkets or stickers as well.

Candy Alternatives:

Cheerios

Sugar Free Jelly Beans

Dried Fruit

Yogurt Covered Raisins

Fruit Pouches

Yogurt Melts

What's one of your favorite Easter traditions? What do you like to put in your kids baskets?

Our Easter Holiday

Since childhood, Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. It's a great spring holiday that celebrates the resurrection of our Savior so we can start again and again. Easter has always been special to me, you don't need to have been "good" all year long, or have a significant other, or shower everyone with gifts. It's a day to rejoice in the greatest love and sacrifice that has been given to us.

We had Matt's parents stay with us Saturday night so we could spend the morning together before the family party for Ellie's first Easter. Matt's mom and I bought the guys some candy and BBQ sauces and marinades- I can't wait to test them out! Sweet Chili Pineapple chicken sounds delicious and perfect for summer. I made some simple garlands using poms and plastic eggs. It took me made 30 minutes to make both. I love how they add color to the fireplace (ignore the wires at the bottom, we are changing out all the face plates and still need to mount our tv).

We woke up pretty early and Ellie was so excited to see all the eggs and goodies. She was just all smiles and giggles as she went through her basket. She's been playing with eggs all week and we've been practicing her egg hunt and filling them with Cheerios and puffs for her.

After breakfast we got ready and went to Matt's sister's for an awesome egg hunt for the children and adults, good food, and a great time with our family. Then after a few hours we went to share the day with my side of the family at my aunt's home. It's so great that our families live (relatively) close to each other so we can share it with everyone.

When we bought this house I knew we would have to get a swing for the deck. My grandparents had one and I remember swinging off the back porch and pushing my younger cousins in it. Ellie loves being in the swing and I was so excited to get this hung up for her (thanks Matt and Grandpa!) it's going to get so much use this summer and in the next years.

 

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday with your loved ones!

Easter Basket Goodies

Easter has always been of my favorite holidays. I am so excited to celebrate this year with Ellie and see her face when she sees her basket the bunny left for her this year. I've already started looking for and buying some goodies for her. I thought it would make for a fun post to share and get some ideas from you guys too! Shopping for little ones can be so much fun, but when they're too young to really understand the holiday or the gifts it can be hard to see what would be good options for them. 

Outfit (here) // Towel (here) // Animal Eggs (here) //  Stuffed Animals (here and here) // Hat (here)

Books (here and here) // Blocks (here) //  Bath toys (here)  //  Swimsuit (here)

Sippy Cup (here) // Socks (here) // Sandals (here) //  Puffs (here)

Some other fun goodies would be bubbles, pool toys, a name puzzle (here), a teepee, or a porch swing. I plan on filling Ellie's eggs with puffs, Cheerios, and yogurt melts. I've gone back and forth with what type of a basket to get here. I'd love to get her a nicer basket to use year after year, but I don't have any Easter decoration and don't want to store just a basket by itself. I may wait until we're done having children and get them all the same type personalized. For now, I just got her a really cute throw away one. Growing up we had a variety of baskets; throw away ones, large wicker baskets, ones my grandmother made us, and it was kind of fun seeing what type of a basket you would get each year. Then, I also love the nostalgia of having the same one year to year like you do with a Christmas stocking.

What are some of your favorite Easter traditions? We always got our swimsuits every Easter and I look forward to continuing that with Ellie.

What goodies do you give your little ones?