Easter, Kite Flying, Videos, Yard Work, My Belly, Oh My!!

I've been slacking with uploading pictures from our digital camera lately..so this blog is full of lots of goodies!!
First up: Easter Morning! Jim's parents (Francine & Joe a.k.a. "Nana & Papa Joe"), Mom & Auntie Carole came over for breakfast. Fortunately Jim was the only one who knew how sick I was that morning! I was very nauseous & had not one, but two dizzy spells prior to everyone coming over, but I was determined to cook breakfast for everyone! Before everyone arrived I had dumped out TWO fresh pots of coffee because it smelled weird to me. Then I was having major issues making the pancakes - for some reason, nothing smelled or looked good to me. My stubborness was not about to let me admit that I was having a couple of bad "pregnancy" moments! In any event, when the family arrived everyone ate their breakfast & drank their coffee without any complaints so I guess everything turned out okay! Kyle really enjoyed having both of his "Nana's" visit at the same time & talked about them long after they left! And of course, one of Kyle's most favorite persons in the world right now is Papa Joe. I now know where Jim gets his patience from! Not only is his mom incredibly kind & patient but his dad is as well. Papa Joe always gets down on the floor to play with Kyle - who can be quite demanding at times (no surprise there..)! And even though "a couple of minutes" always stretches out to be worth about an hours worth of minutes Papa Joe never gives up playing until Kyle is good & ready to quit! I've been noticing lately just how much Kyle enjoys being around his grandparents. He asks for them quite a bit when we're home & has even taken to shedding some tears when our visits with them come to an end!!
Moving on to some pictures. The "Easter Bunny" put Kyle's Easter Goodies at the bottom of his bed when he was sleeping. When Kyle woke up, he spotted his treasures & came running in to our room. He turned on our light & said "Mama? Do you see this big smile on my face?! It's because the Easter Bunny came!!"
And here's the "big smile" he gave me when he took me into his room to show me the stuff he got..

He was so excited over the basket that he didnt even see the life size Batman puzzle the Bunny had gotten for him until I pointed it out! And here's a picture of his expression once he DID see the puzzle..!!

So needless to say, we had a wonderful Easter. Kyle enjoyed hunting for eggs outside in the yard. Although Jim told me that the Easter Bunny needs to get more creative in hiding the eggs. I told Jim he will have to help the Bunny next year to get the job done right!! We also enjoyed visiting with our lovely neighbors Mike, Joan & "Nana" Jennie. As usual they went out of their way to make the day even MORE special for Kyle. The Easter Bunny left Kyle some goodies at their house too - some awesome bubbles supplies (including "the coolest ever" bubble "sword", a lifetime supply of sidewalk chalk (one of Kyle's favorite outdoor activities!) and of course...more candy! I must take the opportunity here to spend a few moments letting everyone know just how lucky & grateful Jim & I feel to have such wonderful neighbors. Before we purchased this house an eldery woman lived here. She was a quiet lady who kept to herself. She generally stayed indoors & kept the shades shut tight. Then came 'The Vargas Family' - Two adults, One Crazy, Active, LOUD child, One dog who feels the need to bark at shadows & two cats who like to "talk" while looking out the window. With one of the adults also comes a super loud car & an even louder motorcycle - not to mention a tractor (even though we have no grass...) & numerous power tools. With the child comes TWO Powerwheels vehicles which are actually pretty quiet. Except for that the child feels the need to make the sounds of "vehicle noises" while driving them. This child also feels the need to chase down bad guys - making all sorts of loud sounds as he gets lost in his "imaginary world". At 8:30am. Whatever peace & quiet Mike, Joan & Jennie once had was diminished pretty much the minute we signed the closing papers on the house! And yet they never complain! They allow Kyle to play in their yard (as well as in their house for that matter!) - they kindly move their cars out of the driveway so Kyle can have even MORE room to run around & draw pictures on the asphalt with his chalk. Mike, who has a great fear of dogs due to a bad experience with one, tries his very best to be friends with Delila. And I swear she only barks at him because she knows he has this fear. Joan can walk outside & Delila barely acknowledges her. Mike walks outside & you'd think the mailman was trying to break into the house with her constant barking. But slowly, as each day passes, both neighbor & dog are getting used to each other. It's a wonderful thing! So Mike, Joan & Jennie: If you guys are reading this, thank you from the bottom of our heart for allowing us to bring life into what was once just a house but has since become a home.
On Sunday the weather was absolutely spectacular - 60 degree's, blue sunny skies! We took full advantage of the day. I decided to plant some flowers in the flower garden out front. Kyle helped by transporting the mulch from the Jeep to the garden...(yes, his trailer has seen better days...I think Jim needs to reinforce this one..)

Here's a picture of Kyle helping to spread mulch under the bushes

Jim also helped out a lot. Bending down has become a sore point for me..you'll see why later!

And here's part of our flower garden!! Already things are starting to blossom!

After working in the flower garden we decided to take a break & have some lunch. Jim cooked up some delicious burgers!!

It took Kyle a little while to get over the fact that only the 3 of us were attending our cookout! He is so used to have TONS of people come over whenever we fire up the grill that he was actually disappointed when we told him that it was only going to be the 3 of us! He got over it though!

After lunch it was time for the boys to get back to work. A couple of weeks ago Jim & Papa Joe cut down some branches. Jim cut up all the wood while Kyle transported it to the pile under the car port.

After all that hard work it was time to go have some more fun. Jim took us to the Barrington Beach where Kyle tried his hand at flying a kite. He did an awesome job!! Within minutes he had the kite flying high up in the sky! At the bottom of this blog there are some videos..just click Play to watch them!

Here's Jim taking a little rest on the rocks at the beach..

And to wrap things up: At 6 months pregnant I am carrying VERY big. For some odd reason, LOTS of people feel the need to point this out to me. As if I don't already know, right?! It's bad enough my face, hands & feet are already swollen, nevermind my stomach! Kyle tells me I look like a penguin when I walk. I have trouble bending down. Or rather, I can bend down but can't gracefully stand back up! I'm all off balance & truly feel like I'm 9 months pregnant already! However, that being said, I really am enjoying this pregnancy - especially now that I'm not QUITE as sick as I was in the beginning! When all is said & done, getting fat seems like such a small price to pay for what we'll have in our arms in 3 more months! It's really such an amazing feeling - to know that I've got a baby growing within me!! And for those who continue to tease me about my big ole belly all I have to say is: "I'm making a human, what did YOU DO today??"