UPDATED: The Fun Just Never Stops

Yesterday, Alex tripped and fell on the sidewalk outside our apartment, busted his lip and chipped one of his top front teeth. This morning, he had a fat lip, but the tooth seems (to my untrained eye/finger) to be fine. I guess now I really need to make that first dental appointment -- just to be sure. I know that's going to be so much fun!

This evening, the cold that I thought he was getting over seems to be making a come-back. It looks like I'm in for a long (and probably sleep-deprived) weekend. Maybe even a trip to the doctor to make sure he doesn't have another ear infection.

So much for my To Do List.

Updated to add this picture, which I did not realize Rusty had taken until the morning after I posted:

Easter Weekend

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Our weekend was packed full of lots of activities. On Friday, Alex and I decorated Easter eggs. I decided he was old enough to help this year, and I was surprised by how well he did.

He was so surprised when the egg came out a different color!

Dipping the egg by himself

For the right price, I might let you hold my purple egg.

Our collection of rainbow-colored eggs

Friday evening, Rusty and I went to a Passover Seder dinner at our church. Alex stayed at his friend Mackenzie's house for the evening. It was our first time to participate in a church sponsored one. The other two we have experienced have been as guests of our friends, the Chans. The food was yummy -- they even served roast lamb! I was impressed. I always appreciate how celebrating Passover gives new and deeper meaning, not only to Easter, but also to the communion service we have each Sunday, because that's where it originated.

On Saturday morning, Alex hunted for Easter Eggs here on campus with the group from the Highland Church. He had such a great time!

Picking up Easter eggs

I snapped this pic about 5 seconds after he realized there was candy inside the eggs.

Alex and Mackenzie counting their spoils

This was about as close as Alex would get to the Easter bunny -- and only because there was a big basket of candy on the bench and he wanted some!

Saturday evening, it was our turn to keep Mackenzie so Sean and Laurel could go out. The kids had a great time, but Alex was sure tired after two late nights in a row!

Sunday morning, Rusty had to work, but Alex and I went to church and then had lunch with our friends and next-door neighbors, the Mullins. After Alex woke up from his nap, we put stickers on our dyed eggs. He only dropped one, which I thought was pretty good! The next morning, I made deviled eggs and egg salad -- yummy!

Hope your Easter was egg-stra special, too!

Big Boy Bed

First, there was the cradle. Then, for several months while we were in transition, the pack-n-play. Eventually, some friends from church gave us an old crib, and we all slept a little better. But, the time has now come for the crib to go to storage. We put it off as long as possible, but when your "baby" starts climbing out of the crib, it's past time to make the transition!

Alex has been sleeping in his big boy bed for over a week now. So far, it seems to have gone fairly well. He figured out very quickly that he could get out of it on his own, but we decided it was a battle worth fighting, so we have been pretty strict with him about staying in his bed at night-time or nap-time. The biggest disruption has actually been to our morning routine. Gone are the days of letting him lay in his crib and talk to himself while I take a shower, get dressed, put the dishes away, and start breakfast. Now, he wakes up bright and early and comes straight into our room, stands by the bed and says "Hi, Mommy. Hi, Daddy."

I suppose it does make for a better wake-up call than a blaring clock radio.

Next rung on the big boy ladder -- potty-training! But we have decided to wait until after our trip to Angola to begin that adventure.

Alex in his big boy bed (the quilt was made by his Nyanya)

Fundraising Begins

I have mentioned before that our family will be traveling to Angola this summer with the rest of our team on a survey trip. It goes without saying that a trip of this nature is not cheap; and so we begin the fundraising process. This week, Rusty and I finally got our first batch of fundraising letters (over 100 of them) mailed off. And more should follow next week.

It occured to me as I was folding letters and stuffing envelopes this afternoon, that I don't have mailing addresses for all of our blogging buddies. And we certainly don't want to overlook anyone who might be interested in contributing to our survey trip expenses! :) So, have a look at the letter (just click the link below), and if the Spirit so moves you, please... give generously!

http://rustyandlaura.googlepages.com/fundraisingletter1.pdf

Updates

I finally updated "Alex' Corner" (it's been about 6 months). Just scroll down the page -- it is at the bottom of the sidebar on the right.

Also, be sure to read the recent posts about our snow day fun and Alex' birthday party.

Snow Day!

This Memphis weather is somethin' else! The first weekend in March, we had highs in the 70's. Last Saturday, this is what we woke up to:

That's snow, ya'll! At least six inches of it. In Memphis. In March. We just don't get snow like that very often 'round these here parts. I don't ever remember snow like this in our previous Mid-South winters, and Memphians tell me it has been a very long time since this area has seen a snowfall this big. It started snowing about noon on Friday; by 4:00, it was really coming down thick and starting to stick; and it finally tapered off around midnight. Of course, two days later, it was gone (highs in the 70's again this week), but not before we got the chance to romp and play in it:

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Making tracks

Alex and Mommy (love those rosy cheeks!)

How to make a snow angel (clockwise from top left):

1) The stance

2) The fall

3) The "swish swish"

4) The finished product

We went sledding on a cardboard box on the hill by the soccer field.

Even Daddy got in on the action.

Alex went by himself several times on his own small piece of cardboard. Every time he got to the bottom, he would cry. He hated that he had to get up and walk back up the hill to go again!

Brooks let Alex ride with him on his real sled a few times. It went much faster and farther than our pathetic box!

What a fun way to spend a Saturday morning!

Party Time

Last Tuesday, we had Alex' birthday party. We invited three of his little friends -- Mackenzie and Esther who live here on campus with us, and Joshua from church -- and their parents, and the Reeses, and Miss Rachel. The original plan was to meet at the park near our house and let the kids play for an hour, then go back to our apartment for dinner, birthday cake, and presents. I was hoping for some nice spring weather, especially seeing as the previous weekend had brought some lovely temps in the 70's. However, as Murphy would have it, the party happened to fall on a very cold and yucky day (I think the high that day was in the low 40's). It's a good thing we live about a 5-minute drive from one of the only Taco Bell's in the entire country with a play area! So, we started the party out there instead.

Alex and Gina going down the slide

Esther and Joshua

Mackenzie managed to have a great time, despite having hurt her arm the day before. X-rays later revealed her arm was BROKEN! Poor baby!

After about an hour, we went back to our apartment for dinner. I made chicken and white bean chili, a fruit tray, a veggie tray, and pigs-in-blankets. Considering our son's love for all manner of balls, we went with a sports ball theme for the decor and table ware.

The kids ate in the kitchen.

We sure crammed a lot of people into our tiny apartment!

After everyone had eaten their fill, I brought out the birthday cake and ice-cream. In keeping with the sports ball theme, I did a basketball birthday cake. This was my first attempt at decorating anything more complicated than cupcakes, and I must say, I was quite pleased with the results (although I did have to use an entire tube of yellow food coloring gel to achieve the desired bright orange for the frosting).

Alex blows out his candles with a little help from Mommy.

After eating cake, Alex opened his presents. He got some really fun new toys, but the favorite so far seems to be the toy lawn-mower from Mommy and Daddy. He pushes it around the house all day, running over our feet and making a lot of noise. It may be relegated to an "outside toy" before too much longer!

Thanks to everyone who came and helped us celebrate Alex' 2nd birthday!