Today the weather was very rainy and cold, so that didn’t leave much for me and Hadley to do outside. We both felt cooped up, but I think I dealt with it better than Hadley. She had fun tearing apart the house, looking to play with anything that resembled a toy. She was also quite clumsy, and fell down numerous times. I was surprised that we didn’t have to take a trip to the ER for stitches.

After Eric got home, Hadley was pretty excited to play with him and burn off some of that energy. Sadly enough for Hadley, mommy is just too big to do much running around.

Hadley did get the opportunity to play with Dawson, Makai and Lael this evening after supper, so that helped her boredom too. I do have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, so hopefully that will be enough to cure us of our cabin fever. Maybe Zoey will make her grand entrance tonight? I won’t hold my breath.

Hadley was excited for church, like usual, but maybe too excited.

We got there and she was a ball of energy. Church started and she lasted about 10 minutes. I took her out, let her burn off some energy and tried to bring her back in, but that went about as well as it did the first time.

Once church was over, she went to class and behaved quite well, allegedly.

We got home and Lindsey made some lunch for us. By the time Hadley went down for her nap, it was after 1, which was actually nice because she was tired enough not to fight it.

After her nap, she was great. She helped Lindsey do the dishes and clean, then she played with her blocks. Her new favorite game is to stack all the blocks up and then say “hi-yah” while kicking them down. I’ve taught her well.

We played and she went to bed without much of a hitch. She did get up to go to the bathroom, but she went, so we can’t complain. I’m pretty sure that she has potty training figured out. And by that, I mean that she knows if she goes she will get a treat, so she goes a little, gets her treat and then has to go again minutes later. Hopefully we can get her trained in the next couple weeks and she’ll just go on her own.

Lindsey is ready to be done being pregnant, so Zoey, you can feel free to claw your way out any day now.

~ Eric

Normally, our bible class has a “couples-night-out” each month. We ditch the kids and go out to eat or some sort of couple function. This month, though, we got to go up to the Holthus field house and bring the whole family.

The Coppingers set the whole thing up and it was a lot of fun. They had some organized games for the kids, but Hadley was having fun running around, kicking balls and playing with Ethan, Dawson and Makai.

Holthus also worked great because they have the batting cages, which we used as kid cages and kept them contained. It was only when Hadley started practicing throwing the hard baseball’s did I feel it necessary to intervene.

Towards the end of the night, Hadley and Makai found the water fountain. Despite what Garrett may tell you, Makai was the clear instigator in the Hadley amount of water Hadley was covered in by the end of the night.

Before leaving, we took the kids up on the running track and after two laps Hadley was ready to head home. We assumed she’d sleep great, due to the two hours of energy-burning she’d just partaken in, but unfortunately it didn’t work like that. She was up from 2-330 with Lindsey and then I was with her from 330-500. Fun times.

~ Eric

I got home from work, exhausted and of course, Hadley wanted to go outside and play.

Lindsey stayed home, cleaned up and made supper while Hadley and I went for a walk. We headed out to the park by walking the trails. Hadley was in the stroller for awhile, but then decided that she wanted to walk with Daddy.

We got to Harrison Park and immediately went to the slides. After some always dangerous head first sliding and ladder climbing, we moved on to the merry-go-round. Then on to the swings.

Hadley kept asking to go higher and faster, so I felt the need to comply. She loves flying around.

After swinging for awhile, I took her over to the old sledding hill to practice some hiking. She struggled on the steep parts, but overall did great and made it to the top! She was really excited and Daddy was proud of her.

Eventually it was time to go and we headed home for pizza that Mommy had waiting for us.

Hadley got a bubble gun for Easter. Basically, it’s a gun that shoots bubbles.

She thoroughly enjoyed shooting bubbles all over the house yesterday, so I thought I would take her outside and let her go nuts for awhile. The weather was great, but the wind blew the bubbles all over the place, so we went in the garage for awhile.

After the short-term effects of the bubbles wore off, I pushed Hadley in her swing. She loves going fast, high or spinning. So, pretty much anything that’s out of control.

Next, we played in the grass for awhile and then chased each other around the yard. Hadley decided to try and run up to the neighbors house, but when I explained that she had to stay in “her” backyard, she was more than happy to comply. She’s definitely going through a “me/mine” phase, so I usually just give her ownership in something if I want her to do what I want. Whatever works, right?

Lindsey was out getting groceries, so Hadley hid on the little garage roof and kept peeking around the corner waiting for Mommy to get home. When Lindsey did arrive, Hadley showed her how she will jump to Daddy off the roof.

This kid is pretty crazy and fearless right now. I love it.

After tacos, a bath and some COPS, we attempted to put Hadley down for bed. I can’t figure out what her deal is lately. She acts totally fine about going to bed, but then just plays with her toys or books for at least an hour. Once we make the attempt to get her to stay in bed, she throws massive fits. Hopefully this problem self-corrects itself in the next week before Zoey decides to come.

Today Hadley had a great Easter! She got new jewelry from the Easter Bunny and got to wear a new dress. She looked beautiful!

Papa and Grandma came over and spent the day with Hadley. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, cheesy broccoli, jello eggs, homemade bread and cake for lunch. Hadley didn’t want to eat, until she realized that she wasn’t going to get any treats.

Papa brought Hadley’s mattress for her new bed. Hadley wasn’t really in the mood to take a nap, she just wanted to jump on her new bed. Big surprise there. After cuddling with Grandma on the couch for awhile, she finally passed out and slept for a couple of hours.

We all decided to go to Subway for supper, but once we got there and realized that it was closed for Easter, decided on the classic McDonalds. Hadley wolfed down an entire cheeseburger, some fries and a chicken nugget. She was quite sad to see Grandma and Papa leave, but we reassured her that they would be back as soon as Zoey came. That didn’t help and she cried most of the way home.

We moved the crib out of Hadley’s room and into Zoey’s tonight. Everything is ready for her arrival, so we are all eagerly anticipating meeting her.

Today we celebrated Easter with our best buddies the Schwarz’s. Hadley and the kids had a blast with a very balmy Easter egg hunt. She got a cool umbrella with Elmo on it, and lots of yummy candy! (Which mommy and daddy ate most of!) Makai and Hadley had a little trouble focusing on the fact that they were supposed to be getting eggs and not just running around, but since it was so cold, Lindsey just picked up the rest of the eggs and shuffled everybody inside.

After that it was off to dye Easter Eggs. Hadley did much better than last year, and really seemed to enjoy herself. She liked throwing the eggs into the cups. Dawson had a good time and Makai could’ve cared less. Lael spent most of the time crawling around the floor and enjoying the opportunity to play with toys without having to battle the older kids for them.

We had a wonderful meal of ham and cheesy potatoes, and it was great to spend time with friends. After eating, we sat downstairs and let the kids play. Garrett and I talked about how we really missed the times we used to have with them when Dawson was a baby. We used to spend 3-4 nights a week hanging out, watching movies or playing games. That’s had to settle down with the kids and Garrett’s work schedule, but hopefully in the future, we will be able to pick it up again.

Today Hadley had fun dancing, doing dishes, baking lemon scones and watching Baby Einstein.

Finally, the wind died down and we decided to go outside to play. It was the first day she was able to ride her new tricycle outside! She did great, but still needs some practice.

We also had a nice surprise when Emily stopped by to spend some time with us this afternoon.

Later into the evening Hadley got an invitation from Emma and her mom to go to the park to play. Hadley was gone for over an hour with her friend, and was well behaved. Mom and dad missed her, but enjoyed the quiet.

Hopefully all the fresh air will help Hadley sleep well tonight!

- Lindsey

Finally the weather was really nice and we were able to get outside and play.

Hadley played on the swing for a long time, but then wanted to lay on the blanket in the grass. We wrestled around for awhile and had a great time.

Next, Lindsey was cleaning the cars and Hadley wanted to help, but by help, she wanted to wear sunglasses and pretend to drive. She figured out how to honk the horn, so that is fun.

She was really well behaved and had a good time at bible class. She got to play with Emma and Makai, which almost always turn out well. Now that Lindsey is home, Hadley is going to have to get used to not seeing Dawson, Makai and Lael for about 25 hours a week.

Hadley went to bed fairly well and we’ll see her in the morning!

- Eric

Lindsey had her last night of class tonight, but that didn’t stop her from getting some quality time in with Hadley this morning. After helping with the dishes, Hadley read books and watched Monsters Inc, again.

Lloyd and I took Hadley and Emma to the park tonight. They both seemed to have a really good time. Hadley was her usual adventurous self, climbing up and jumping off of everything. She also really enjoys going down the slides face first.

She loves playing with other kids as she sought out random kids on the playground and even rode the seesaw with some little girl for awhile. Lloyd and I tried to get the girls to go down the slide together, but they ended up just rolling down it.

After the park, we went back, made some pizzas and the girls played in Hadley’s room. 900 hit and Lloyd left, so it was bed time for Hadley. She was ready to go, what with the number of tired tantrums she’d been throwing in the previous 2 hours. Hopefully going to bed later will get her to sleep in a little and give Lindsey some extra rest.

I’ll leave for work by 7, so I guess we’ll see if she wakes me up or not.

Hadley had a night together since Lindsey had to go to Lincoln tonight. It was her second to last time that she’ll ever have to meet for her masters class. After tomorrow night, she’s done and she will be stuck at home with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

Hadley and I started our night by going for a walk and stopping at Thatcher’s house. Hadley loved seeing Bear (the dog). After hanging out for awhile, we made the cold trip home.

She decided that we should have pizza for supper, so we put one in the oven and played in her room till it was done. Hadley ate two slices and half a pear.

Next was bath time and then cuddling on the couch until Linds got home. I really cherish these times that Hadley and I get to spend together. I know that once the baby comes it will be more difficult and we will need to make sure and give Hadley her own time with us. She was really good tonight and went to bed without a hitch.

- Eric

Sunday’s are usually pretty good. Hadley is up early, as usual, but at least that gets us motivated to go to early service. She loves church and class, but we do have trouble getting her to sit through church.

It’s not that she’s bad, she just starts to have a lot of energy build up and most of the time, needs to go out and let off some steam. Hadley wore her new dress that she got from Nana and she was pretty excited about it.

After church came our family nap time, but Hadley decided an hour and a half was enough, so Lindsey decided to bake some cookies. Hadley helped out as best as she could in the kitchen.

She loves being involved with everything that Lindsey does. I love seeing them do things together.

Overall, not too bad of a day. Lindsey collapses about once an hour due to the fact that Zoey is tearing her pelvis apart from the inside, but I don’t feel a thing.

It’s 815 and Hadley sounds like she’s asleep. Let’s see how long that lasts.

- Eric

*note: it’s 825 and Hadley’s talking loudly to her stuffed animals, so I guess the answer is 10 minutes.

Hadley had a pretty good day today. She’s been throwing fits when she doesn’t get her way, but it doesn’t take much to get her redirected. We had spaghetti and peas for supper and Hadley ate like a horse. Her appetite has picked up lately and she’s been sleeping better, so that’s been nice.

Lindsey is working hard to get everything ready for Zoey’s arrival. The nursery is almost complete, so hopefully Grandpa Eckert brings Hadley’s bed next week and then we can move the crib into Zoey’s room.

Right now Linds is putting together the girls’ double stroller. I would do it, but I tend to become violent when trying to put things like that together. When asked how it’s going, her response, “There isn’t really a way to do this.”

- Eric

Hadley had her two year appointment today and we did one last ultrasound for Zoey. Hadley is in the 100-110% for height and weight, so basically, she’s ginormous.

In the Zoey department, everything looked great! She’s right around 6 lbs 6 ounces and they say she already has long legs. Hopefully we will see her soon!

Lindsey is doing pretty good, but is having a lot of pain in her hips. Hopefully that will all go away once Zoey arrives.

- Eric