Happy Easter 2011

I remember back when we were struggling to have kids that there were times when we thought maybe we would never actually have kids.  Of course everyone would tell us that some day it would be our turn.  Well, this Easter it was definitely “our turn” to experience all the joys that come with having kids.

We had a great time taking the kids to the church Easter Egg hunt.  Because of the rain it had to be moved into the church, but the Primary still made it lots of fun.  Like any dad who’s ever taken their 2 and a half year old to an Easter Egg hunt, it was my turn to encourage my son to actually pick up the Easter eggs and put them in his basket instead of just kicking them around like a soccer ball.  Then, of course, when I convinced him of that, I couldn’t help but laugh as he stuck his whole arm through the handle and dropped the eggs out the other side of the basket instead of dropping them in the basket.  He was amazed that the eggs never seemed to end!  Of course he eventually figured it out and was able to enjoy the fruits of his labors - drooling pink and yellow down his chin as the Easter candy melted in his mouth.

Then of course there was Easter morning.  Thankfully our church starts at 9:30 instead of 9:00 which gave us a little more time to pull things together.  The kids both had their cute new Easter Sunday outfits and we wanted to get some pictures.  We may not be the brightest parents out there, but we’re at least smart enough to realize that we better get them first thing in the morning or who knows what we’ll end up with.  I only had to tuck Tyler’s shirt in about 8 or 9 times from the time he first got dressed until it was time to actually take the pictures (about 45 minutes after he got dressed).  Then we had to wait a few extra minutes for the redness around Reagan’s eyes to go away since she was bawling her head off while Thesha gave her cute little pig-tails.  Luckily we finally got a few good pictures to share.

For any readers out there who are wondering why we only have a few pictures posted, I assure you it was not for lack of trying to get more.  Unfortunately I have a ton of pictures that look like this…

Or this…

Or even this…

(yeah, I have no idea what happened to that one) but the 4 you see above are about the only ones that actually turned out cute.  Of course it didn’t take long for us to realize that those pictures would just have to do. 

As Thesha was getting Reagan ready, Tyler tripped and slammed his head into the wall leaving a huge red mark on his forehead.  Then Reagan took a short nap during Sacrament meeting and when she woke up her hair was all over the place.  As we were walking out of church, Tyler ran over to a water puddle and started jumping in it – splashing muddy water everywhere.  I rushed over to try and save his pants from being destroyed only to have him throw a mini-tantrum on the wet asphalt adding a permanent black hue to the knees of the pants.  Sigh… they were nice while they lasted.  Then…oh, but then… the coup d'état. 

As I’m going through the pictures Sunday afternoon trying to find the decent ones worth Photoshopping out the giant red mark on Tyler’s forehead, I overhear Thesha asking Tyler if he pooped.  “This couldn’t be better for me”, I think to myself.  I’m doing something for the family, so I have an excuse to get out of changing a poopy diaper while still coming across as the good family man.  As she checks him to confirm her suspicion, she sees that no, he didn’t poop.  A few minutes go by and as I eliminate the runny nose in Reagan’s picture I hear Thesha ask if Tyler stepped in poop or something.  I quickly put my head down as though it’s taking all of my concentration to click the auto-fix button.  No, no poop on the shoe.  Hmmm.  So Thesha and Tyler go about watching the Disney movie as Reagan plays on the floor behind the couch. 

For those of you who already know where this story is headed, I salute you.  For those of you who don’t, you may want to stop reading now as what you’re about to read cannot be un-read and will persist in your thoughts to the point of revulsion and dry-heaving. 

I finally figure I’ve doddled around in Photoshop long enough and I start to walk away when I see it.  Playing peacefully behind the couch where Thesha and Tyler are quietly watching a movie, Reagan has pulled her poopy diaper out of the trash and started tearing it apart, playing with the poop, and ….ughhh… putting it in her…. ughhh…. mouth!  She’s eaten some smelly crap before but never actual smelly crap.  We’ve called her a little turd before so I guess they’re right that you are what you eat.  And to borrow one from Adam Sandler…“He called the $#!T ‘poop’”.

Needless to say none of us had much of a stomach for the Reese’s Peanut Butter and Chocolate eggs after that.  I’m just glad we got some good pictures before the onset of the chaos.  Yes, last night it was our turn to climb into bed together after a long day, look at each other and laugh together like only a couple who has pulled poop out of their child’s mouth with their bare hands can.

Tonight Reagan reminded us why we do it, however.  She’s been standing for a while now and walks really well as long as she’s holding on to something.  Tonight, though, she finally started to make an effort to walk.  We’d get her walking and then let go of her hand and she’d make her first toddle as she tried to keep her feet underneath her while falling forward.  That’s the best part about being a parent – you know you’ll eventually get your turn with the good as well as the bad, and yes, sometimes even the stinky.