Not Far From the Tree

It seems as though this apple did not fall far from the tree. Last night she insisted on having almost every stuffed animal and doll she possesses in bed with her. Like mother, like daughter.

Easter Dress

I'm not sure why I feel so compelled to buy Aven an Easter dress every year. We don't attend church and she has very little reason to ever get dressed up since we're a pretty casual family. I guess it's just fun to dress her up occasionally, which she definitely enjoys.

Today, like last year, we went up to Red Butte Gardens to take pictures of her wearing her Easter dress. We had a lot of fun playing in the garden since it was such a warm, springy day.

That looks like the face of a child who would never, ever disobey her mom or throw a temper tantrum. Looks can be deceiving.

The daffodils were blooming all over the garden. 

Aven and Ian swinging.

This picture captures Aven's reaction to feeling the baby kick. The second before it was taken she had her head laying on my tummy and the baby kicked pretty hard. She was both surprised and delighted.

The Innocence of Youth

My good friend, Amber, asked me to help her decorate the new play room she and her husband were preparing for their son. She wanted paintings on the walls that looked like they were painted by kids. Today I took Aven with me so she could play with Amber's son Payton while Amber and I painted. They got right down to business playing trains and cars and painting with watercolors. Then came the comment from Payton that that made Amber and I laugh despite the complete and total innocence of it: "Aven, will you sleep with me?". While our adult minds wallowed in the gutter Amber said "at least he asked nicely"- very true. Aven continued to play with magnetic letters at the art easel as Payton pleaded and begged for her to sleep with him. Typical man. Aven finally relented and they went and hopped into Payton's bed, got under the covers and pretended to be asleep for approximately 30 seconds before jumping up and reading books to each other. This will be a great embarrassing story to tell to them when they're older. Why is racking up embarrassing stories one of the most enjoyable parts of parenthood?

The little sleepers.

Current progress on the wall painting project. It's turning out cute!