Easter Fun

We had such a fun Easter this year and it was mostly due to party planner extraordinaire, Olivia!

We started things out on Thursday morning with her school's annual Easter Hat Parade.

Unfortunately, I picked her up that evening and she was burning up with a fever.  An immediate stop at urgent care confirmed strep!  But after some medicine, popsicles, and apple juice, she was good to go within 24 hours!  Just in time for our baby shower + Easter.

We read an Easter book and left out some carrots & jelly beans for the Easter Bunny.

She woke up bright and early on Eater morning to find that E.B. had eaten the carrots and jelly beans + left a scavenger hunt again this year for her.  She was pretty much able to read all the clues herself this year and I think she had fun running around the house until she found her Easter basket -- in her brother's rocking chair!

And she immediately dug into the candy!

Then we headed outside (note its like 6:15 am at this point, so still dark!) to hunt for eggs!

No sugar high over here.  Nope not at all.

And then she got dressed and patiently waited for the family to arrive.  Because it was 7 am, those 3 hours went by VERY slowly!  But finally everyone arrived and she went into "cruise ship director" mode.  She had a schedule and a plan and made everyone follow her instructions.  

First up, pin the tail on the bunny.  This was all Olivia's idea.  I made it happen by buying a $5 template off Etsy that we took to Office Depot to be printed.  Easiest thing ever that brought her SO MUCH happiness.  We hung it up on Friday night and she "practiced" all day Saturday.  And by "practiced" I obviously mean she figured out how to peek out of the blindfold to see the bunny.  (This was frankly a welcome change from her response to not cheating.  The first time she did it, I covered her eyes and spun her around.  She put the tail on the completely wrong wall from where the bunny even was, took off the blindfold, saw her tail placement and immediately fell on the floor crying.  Competitive much?!).

Most of us got our tails on the board.

 

 Matt got no where near, which obviously Olivia thought was hilarious!

  

BUT....Olivia got hers DIRECTLY ON THE TAIL.  It was a win for the times and she was beaming with joy.

 

 Her prize was a chocolate bunny!

The final score (clearly my mother is a cheater too).

Next up was an Easter egg hunt.  Olivia re-stuffed all the eggs she got from the Easter Bunny and hid them around the house for us to find.

And then it really turned into "The Olivia Show" -- she literally pulled out her guitar and made Yasmin play a song while she invented lyrics on the spot.  As I watched her shine as the center of attention and looked around at her loving and captive audience, I couldn't help but wonder how baby brother will fit into this craziness next year.  I can't wait to see what his little personality is like.

And finally we sat down to brunch.  Given the pregnancy, new house and an array of work obligations - we kept it super simple.  But I think it was still yummy and everyone seemed to enjoy!

Baby Sprinkle

A few of my closest friends + my sweet sisters hosted a little Sprinkle for Baby Dean this weekend.  It was so lovely and sweet.  Most everyone there knows of the struggle we had to get this little guy to this point and I just felt the love in the room.

Besides me, the most excited guest was definitely big sister Olivia.  She had been talking about the shower for MONTHS and there was much hand-wringing, angst and consternation over her hair and her outfit.  At the last minute she finally decided on an adorable little Matilda Jane dress and curly hair.  We went to a little blow-out salon by our house before the shower, and she was loving the pampering.

Once we were all dolled up, we headed over to Benjy's!  The room was so cute and festive.  The food was delicious and we were surrounded by our closest friends and family.

My friends Kate, Katherine and Casey were among the hostesses

Plus my sweet little sisters

Love this pic of all of us

Olivia was thrilled to see the whole "Mehta" gang

And she was a very big helper with the presents

Casey gave us this paci/giraffe and I'm pretty sure there is now no way I can give it to baby.  Olivia completely confiscated it for her/her baby dolls.  I am 90% sure I saw HER sucking on it the other day!

Katherine knows me well - I had been wanting a TX themed book for our little guy!

 And I'm not sure how much "danger" I can handle - but at least there's a book on it!

One of my favorite memories of the day was the appearance that Jennie made.  She drove into town just for me and when she walked into the room was overcome with emotion on all we had been through to get to this point and immediately burst into tears (which obvi caused me to as well!).  It was just this great tangible manifestation of what I felt that day and when I looked around the room.  The women surrounding me really carried us through these past 3 years - they learned about shots, hormones, embryo quality, and incubators; brought me pasta/chocolate/flowers after I miscarried; talked/texted me off the ledge when I was at my lowest; and helped me work through the madness and frustration of infertility.  And even during the pregnancy, I am constantly getting checked on and doted on as we all understand how tentative and delicate this process is.

Ah...this smile as she holds Grady....makes me SO EXCITED for her to hold her own little brother!

And when we got home, Olivia was thrilled to show Matt all the stuff brother got and explain to him how it all works.  One of her favorites was the matching baby carriers that Tutu gave us!

This is one lucky little guy for sure to be coming into the world surrounded by so much love and wanting!  We are feeling very lucky right now for our village!

Busy Busy

To say things have been hectic at Casa Dean for the past few months would certainly be an understatement.  We have been traveling, working, planning for baby and...oh....buying a new house!  All very exciting but all very time-consuming.  Here's a quick photo update of what life has looked like lately!

Ryan came into town for a visit and the 3 Musketeers were reunited!

Daddy & Uncle Lloyd played and won a tennis tournament in Dallas

We celebrated my birthday with a special dinner out!

We enjoyed lots of time with the McGuires in Dallas and Houston (where they helped us with a bit of house hunting)!  My favorite part was when Harris asked me - in all honesty and sincerity - which room he and Olivia would live in once they got married.

We went to the Rodeo!

 

We celebrated Miss O's 5.5 year old birthday.  I won't devote an entire post to her but I do want to pause for a moment to remember what 5.5 looks like.  It is smart and silly and big and little.  In one moment she will be reading and doing multiplication, in the next she is throwing herself on the floor sobbing because she doesn't like her hair/dress/shoes/outfit.  She is fiercely mamma's girl and has recently informed me that she will never spend the night away from me - "even in college" and she also has come up with a list of "approved babysitters" that can watch her but the time must be limited to a few hours and under no circumstances will she sleep (nap or nighttime) with anyone but me.  So....as you can see I've got my work cut out for me.  With baby brother coming, we know there will be some nights away from mamma, but for now, I'm planning on keeping her close and enjoying these moments when she wants to be with me....because I fear that those tween/teen years may be different.

From a play perspective, the babies and kitchen reign supreme.  She has even gotten better about playing by herself.  In fact, I think she would rather sometimes.  She has a very specific idea about how the babies needs to be tended to and when my play doesn't match her ideas, it is a sticky situation!  She's a good little mamma and all the babies get cared to daily.

As far as the real little baby coming soon to our family, I think the reality is starting to set in a bit for her.  We recently had the most lovely, heart-wrenching conversation in which she sweetly and sheepishly in her own shy and kind way told me that she was worried about my relationship with her being affected by the new baby.  In her 5 year old way, she said she wanted me to just be pregnant and not for the baby to come out.  When I dug a little deeper she had very specific concerns and examples, all of which were some variation of her needing something and asking me to help her and me telling her that Matt/grandparent/aunt would help her.  All of the examples ended with her saying "but that's not very nice for me."  So, we talked about change and how its hard but can be wonderful, how she will always be my girl, and how I was actually nervous about it too.  We thought of some ways to spend time just she & I.  And we came up with the idea of a mommy/daughter journal.  At times when she is feeling sad or left out,  I told her she could write about it or draw a picture in her journal and leave it on my bed.  That way I would know how she was feeling and we could fix it.  We've already used it a few times and it seems to be an effective tool.  This girl of mine has my whole heart and I worry about her settling into a new normal with baby.  I know in my heart that we will be fine and all adjust, but the thought of her feeling sad or left out makes me feel pretty unnerved.

She is still liking school, though most Mondays are pretty tough.  She would obviously rather be at home with mamma and daddy than go to school, so usually she wakes up on Sundays already sad and is furious by the time Monday morning rolls around.  Right now, our Fridays together make the week go by easier but I worry about next year when she goes 5 days a week.  Another adjustment we will have to figure out.

For her 1/2 birthday, all she wanted to do was wear her new bathing suit and wash my car.  Ummm..no problem!

We headed back to Dallas for The Blast to raise money for neuroblastoma in memory of sweet little Arden.  These 3 turkeys were happy to be reunited so quickly.  Before Olivia was old enough to even remember, we would always plan our next Dean/McGuire visit so we knew when we would see each other again and have something to look forward to.  Now, she clings tightly to these trips and after each visit is quick to ask when she will see Harris again.

 

She celebrated Go Western Day at school!

Olivia got into Kinkaid for school next year.  Its a great little private school close to our house, so we were thrilled for her.  Of course, the celebration called for frozen yogurt!

And...here she is at the new house!  The day all the inspections went well, I had an interior designer and painter come over.  Olivia has gotten pretty into the whole real estate experience.  She now uses phrases like "this floor layout is weird" and when Matt told her to go look at mommy/daddy's room, she responded "You mean the Master?".  Her memory has really served us well because she can keep track of all the different houses and remind us with things like "Remember it had the orange walls by the garage?"

We did a playdate with the Williams girls to see Annie.

She had some "cousin" time with Crosby

So that is what the past few weeks have looked like.  We have an exciting few months ahead of us with moving and preparing for baby!