Easter Sunday

Living in town with both sides of family has its pros and cons. A definite pro is that we get to see our families all the time and our kids will grow up around their grandparents. A con is that you run around like a crazy person on holidays because since both are in town you feel like there is no reason why you shouldn't spend time with both. Easter Sunday was no different. It was amazingly full though and we felt very blessed to spend the entire day with those we love the most (We missed you Uncle B, Aunt Tessa, D and Sissy!!!!). We ate way too much food, played with cousins, hunted for eggs, ate more food, played with more cousins, and hunted for more eggs. It was a blast...I was just EXHAUSTED by the time we got home at 7:15 last night. We had been going strong since 6am and Will had only managed about a 45 minute nap in the car in route to Round 2. He was a major trooper and looked absolutely adorable in his Easter attire!

I cannot get over how much bigger he looks this year in his Easter get up. I still got away with the knee socks and John even approved his outfit (for the most part...). A little boy in knee socks completely melts my heart!

Of course we are ALL boy and our Easter outfit could not be complete without a boo boo which required a Handy Manny band-aid on our FACE. He just had a band-aid on his forehead and literally it had just healed as of Thursday so he didn't have to wear a giant band-aid on his face anymore. Then Friday, John was off and Will's school was closed so they took advantage and headed to the park bright and early. I get a call about 8:30 that Will had busted his chin open on the slide. Very little tears, but a gash the size of a staple that required liquid suture and a lovely band-aid...oh well, he is still as cute as can be!The Easter Egg hunt on my side of the family is BIG. There are lots of kids and money/gift cards are involved. John and I were laughing because we said next year we don't think Will will need any help. We were pointing some eggs out to him this year, but I think he would have done fine on his own!This egg was hidden under some pine straw and Will started digging for it...he looked just like Bentley!My two favorite boys...Will and Pops...By the time we got to Round 2, Will was tuckered out and was able to catch a second wind by a 45 minute cat nap.Emma's bubble machine was a huge hit!

Papou likes to tell Will secrets3 Generations of Vakakes Men

Happy Easter!

What a difference a year makes....

Easter 2010

Easter 2011

We have just gotten an exhausted little boy to bed, and I too am exhausted. I wanted to get my big Easter post of pictures done tonight but I just don't have it in me. For now, I couldn't help but smile at what a difference a year makes. Last year Will was toddling around looking for eggs...he had only been walking about 2 months at that point. Today he was running!

Happy Easter...Christos Anesti (He is risen!)

Will's Easter Party

Will's school loves to party!! I feel like every time I turn around we are signing up to send things in....which is fine with me because Will loves a good party :) His Easter party was this past Friday since they are closed this Friday for Good Friday. I took a half day so I could enjoy the festivities. Thankfully the weather held off and they were still able to have their egg hunt, though they did move it to the upper small playground because it looked like the bottom might fall out of the sky at any moment. These pictures make me realize that Will is really starting to lose that baby look....such a big boy!
Typical boy....he went for the blue ones first! After finding his first egg, I told him to show mommy so he held it up and yelled "OOOhhhh Mommy blue egg!" He then proceeded to hold up every other egg he found and announce what color it was :)
This is the infamous Mrs. Tor Tor (Victoria) and Ms. Mek Mek (Tamika). These two ladies are responsible for Will being so happy at school. They love on him like he was their own and he loves them too! He talks about them all the time!!
And this was the face he made when we told him it was over....there were no more eggs to find. He loved hunting eggs and we kept having to take eggs out of his bucket and ration them out to the other kids because he was so quick in finding them :) Thank you to Kiki for treating him to a Cars Easter basket for his school hunt!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Will was super excited to show off his craft he made at school today....

Will Who???

Today, Bentley pooped in the nursery AND in my closet and then peed all over the kitchen floor WHILE we were eating dinner....

They say children can sense change and start acting out before a new baby arrives....I think its Bentley we need to worry about!

Big Hueys!

Since the weather has warmed up, we have been spending the majority of our afternoons and evenings out and about in the neighborhood on Will's choice mode of transportation (between several of our neighbors, we have LOTS of ride on toys). He is talking up a storm lately and the things that come out of his mouth keep us in a constant state of laughter. A few weeks ago he noticed all the hills in our neighborhood. He started calling them "big hueys (hills)." He now creates big hueys for his trains, trucks, and cars to go over and anytime we are in the car he gets super excited to go up or down a big huey!

Fast forward to last Sunday in church. Will has never been fond of the church nursery and so most of the time he sits in church with us. We bring plenty for him to do and each week it seems to get better and better. The sermon had started and Will was playing with a car driving it up and down his leg. He proceeded to start to drive his car on my stomach and then up over my chest... All of a sudden, with delight in his eyes, he exclaimed "ooooohhhhh Mama, two big hueys!!!!"

PRICELESS!

A Day Out With Thomas!

Thomas the Train made his way to Birmingham to spend a few days at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera. This is the same place that we took Will for a train ride with Santa. We have been hearing the commercials on the radio and seeing the ad for months. I had no less than 10 people email/call/text to make sure we knew about it because I guess it is no secret that Will is obsessed with trains. Funny thing is he has never really gotten into Thomas. We had a few Thomas the Train toys, but the majority of his choo choos are Chuggington Engines and he has never seen any Thomas movies, etc. Friday changed all of that. A few weeks ago my parents asked if they could buy tickets to take Will to ride on Thomas the Train. Regardless of if he knew who Thomas was, I knew he would love it due to the fact that he would be surrounded by all things trains. I can now for certain say that Will knows who Thomas is!
On Thursday night we told Will that he wouldn't be going to school on Friday because Kiki and Pops were taking him to ride Thomas the Train. His eyes filled with excitement and he said "OH BOY! Hat!" He wanted his conductor hat. We asked him what he was going to say when he got there and he said "All aboard!!!!" The kid is passionate about trains. He had slept the entire week until about 6:15 or 6:30 but on Friday morning he was up at 5:15 and there was no going back to sleep. When I went in there he said "Out please! Kiki Pops Thomas Train All Aboard." He proceeded to repeat this phrase until we could get in the car at 7:00. He was dressed, complete with conductor hat by 6 am and did not want his hat off for any reason!
I received texts throughout the day...I couldn't tell who was having more fun...Will or Kiki and Pops!I had to include this last picture because doesn't my mom look like such a grandmother...carrying a gigantic balloon that cost who knows what but I am sure it was completely worth it :)

Will was napping when I got home from work and didn't wake up until after John got home. Boy did we get an ear full as soon as he was up. He told us all about Thomas the Train, petting the pigs and feeding the goats, playing at the train table, his sticker on his shirt, the gigantic balloon, his new t-shirt.....I could go on and on. There was no doubt he enjoyed the day!!
My mom and dad told us that the only thing we should have gotten Will for Christmas was a train table. They said he cried when they had to leave the train tables to go get on the actual train ride. As soon as it was over, he wanted to go right back. We are thinking this may be our gift to Will right around the time Alex arrives. Maybe we could tell him Alex bought it for him-he'd be sure to love his brother then :)
Thank you Kiki and Pops for such an amazing day! I think Will is going to be talking about it for a long time.

Weekend in Pictures

I am tired tonight so I am just going to let the pictures tell about a perfect weekend-lots of family time in the beautiful sunshine!!!