Our 1st Easter with Alex

After breakfast Alex "found" his Easter basket "hidden" behind the dining room curtain. Actually Buddy found it first but don't tell Alex that ;-) The Easter Bunny brought him a few books and a froggie puppet and some eggs to play with. There were even some treats for Mommy and Daddy and Buddy, too! Alex had fun going through his basket and then "swimming" in the basket grass.




After church we went to Aunt Nell's house to celebrate. We had lots of yummy food, including monkey bread and Nana/Papa, Granny and Aunt Dee had some cool gifts for Alex. Alex enjoyed being silly with Nana, Papa and Granny. He also liked Uncle Kevin's guitar playing and tried to join in.

Then the older cousins had an Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard while Alex and Aidan enjoyed a wagon ride. Alex also went in the swing outside for the first time which he LOVED. He didn't enjoy the slide as much though.



Then we went to Grandma Sharon's house to celebrate with that side of the family. Alex enjoyed sitting in the highchair playing with his cousins and singing along with them. Of course, Grandma Sharon got some "Alex time", too!



It was a great day filled with lots of family and fun!

The bitter and the sweet

The bitter -

On Weds I had to travel to Binghamton for work. This was the very 1st time that I've had to be away from Alex for more than a few hours. Jay, with the help of Nana, Papa and Grandma Sharon all did a great job taking care of him while I was gone. But still, I was gone. I missed him so much!

The sweet -

When I came home last night Alex had just finished eating dinner with Nana. As soon as he saw me his face lit up! Now he pretty much always does this when he greets Jay or me. But this was definitely more exagerated. I picked him up and he was literally smiling and gigling for about 15 minutes. How sweet is that! ALMOST makes going away something to look forward to because seeing him again just melted my heart!

After some playing, a bath and a bottle, lil man fell asleep in my arms. This was the 1st time we noticed that he looked like a little "boy", not a "baby. Just how he had his arm wrapped around me, sorta hugging me.

Don't mind how I look - it was a LONG week for me! But how precious is he?!

STAR Easter Egg Hunt

Today was AJ's very 1st Easter Egg Hunt. It was with some of our Adoption STAR families and what a beautiful day for it! I have been looking forward to this party for a long time. Last year I attended it by myself. Jay had to work and we had just finished our homestudy classes. I remember 2 things very clearly from that day. 1st - it was the very 1st time since trying to become parents that being around so many families and lil ones didn't make me sad or jealous or hopeless - instead it filled me with hope and happiness for our future. And 2nd - I remember someone saying to me that next year I could be there with OUR baby. Little did I know that less than 4 months later we would have Alex! So bringing him to the party today and being a part of the STAR family now just feels so wonderful.

The party itself was great. The backyard was covered with plastic eggs filled with goodies for the kids. And the house was filled with STAR families. AJ really enjoyed interacting with the other lil ones and I really enjoyed catching up with the moms/dads and meeting some new ones. I gotta say - there is something so special and wonderful about being in a house full of families who became families through adoption. It's an atmosphere like no other. And I feel honored and blessed to be a part of this group.




After we left the party AJ PASSED OUT in the car. All the playing and fun wore him out! He slept the entire 40 minutes home. And as you can see from the picture below, the nap continued on the couch with Jay and Buddy. I, on the other hand, was busy upstairs uploading, editing and posting all the pictures from the day. No rest for the weary!