Fishing

So while figuring out what to do this weekend, my brother asks if I have any manly activities planned. "How about fishing. I can guarantee that we will catch some fish up at Detroit" I shouldn't have said that.

Now might be a good time to explain the foot. I like showing pics for my blogs but it's hard to show a picture of a fish if you didn't catch any.

It was a nice day at the lake though a bit cold. I was extremely excited to get my boat out on the water and show someone what I learned last year and how good I was at fishing at Detroit. So much for that.

That being said, it was fun to get out on the lake. A saying that is probably overquoted but true "A bad day fishing is better than a good day working".

Easter Egg Hunt

We decided to do the hunt Saturday after my brother and I got back from fishing and it was a good thing we did cuz it rained pretty hard Sunday.

A few days ago Miss E went with Wifey to an activity at church with a bunch of other kids and they did a little Easter egg hunt. Miss E caught on quickly and then started stealing Easter eggs from unsuspecting and innocent children. Naughty Miss E.

When we did our hunt Miss E took a second to catch on to what we were doing but then she was off and running(or waddling). As you can see, she is a two fisted egg hunter. Obviously though, her favorite part is the payoff "Candy"

Easter Weekend

My brother, Sister-in-Law, and their daughter came to visit for Easter weekend this year. It was fun to have them visit and sobering to remember how hard it is to take care of a newborn baby. Baby J was cute while she was awake and I even got her to smile at me a couple times. Miss E was really warming up to people and it was fun seeing her interact with Baby J. Wifey was holding Baby J and Miss E didn't even seem to mind so we shouldn't have any problems when Bonesteele arrives.

Michele cooked a wonderful Easter Meal with a delicious honey baked ham. My parents called last night and they were also able to come over for Easter dinner. Michele and I agreed that it was one of the best Easters we can remember having. It's nice to have family for the holidays.

I also really enjoyed seeing Miss E warming up to everyone else. It has been wierd going home for holidays and not being able to show off how cute she really is. She was showing off for my mom and dad this afternoon.

M-F

"Hop on back soon"

cousins

What a couple of cuties. What else can I say. It's cute to see them together even though Baby E didn't exactly know how to treat Baby J, she was pretty friendly except when she was pushing her away. She finally learned how to gently pat her on the head.

Little friend

On the way to M-F, I stopped off at some old friends house and met one of my high school friends kid. It was funny watching the different personalities that the two kids have. They didn't really play together but it was still pretty cute to watch them both.

Wedding

My little bro got married over the weekend. Baby E and I went to visit for a few days while wifey stayed home as she was not feeling very well. This was the first time that baby E has been away from momma overnight. I was a little nervous but overall it went pretty well. Baby E missed mommy but she still had a good time. She seems to be warming up more and more to my family and even let some of them hold her when I was around. I learned a few things about taking care of a kid while there. The first was that I would not make it as a single parent. I have a great deal of respect for mothers (particularly the stay at home variety). I have told wifey in the past that I would be the stay at home and she could go to work cuz she could make more money but the truth is, I could not stick it out. According to wifey, I don't have a nurturing bone in my body. I just don't have as much patience. I love to play with Baby E but I get tired and can only play a little bit at a time. It is easier for me when we go out and do something. While in M-F, I felt like I didn't do anything other than take care of her. I do love to take care of her though. When I come home, she almost always comes to greet me at the door and I can often hear her saying "daddy" before I even open the door. You can't really beat that. Anyway, I also learned that it is very difficult to take a toddler to an all you can eat buffet. I got her food ready and helped get her started and then got her some seconds while trying to get a bite or two for myself. When she was finished she demanded that I pick her up and when I refused, she became agitated. Fortunately my sister stepped up and helped clean Baby E off and held her while I ate. Otherwise it would have been a sad state of affairs and I would not have been able to eat more food than I really needed to eat. I also learned that I need to give Baby E more rest breaks on trips. I stopped a couple times on the way home but I really tried to push through and made pretty good time. When I was less than five minutes from the house I heard a noise and looked in the rear view and saw vomit gushing out of her mouth once, twice, three times-all over her. She started crying and kind of held her hands to her side in a helpless manner as though she didn't know what to do. It was so sad. I wanted to stop right then but I would have been able to help her so I grabbed the cell and told wifey to get water and lots of towels ready. I started to clean it up but Baby E also needed to get out of her clothes and into the bathtub so I stripped her down and took her in the bathroom. I took off all my clothes and put her in the tub. While I was getting ready to get in, I looked over and saw her standing in the water peeing. The tub was already nearly full and she had puke all over her and was still crying and upset. She doesn't like bathing and it is nearly impossible to do unless you are in there with her. I decided that I would just have to take a puke and pee bath with her. I jumped in and cleaned her up, rinsed off, cleaned the car and seat, and then finally took a shower. Ahhh, the fun of being a parent.

Isn't she cute

Earning Baby E's trust

Baby E has always been shy and doesn't really like other people to hold her especially when mom or dad are in sight. My older brother spent a fair amount of time at the temple trying to play with her and get her to let him hold her. As you can see, he did a pretty good job of earning her trust

Growing so fast

Baby E has really started to love being outside. If I go outside she starts saying "side, side, side, side" until I take her out. She is also starting to be able to move up and down stairs and practiced this a lot over the weekend at my parents house and when we went to the temple. In the pics where she is in the purple coat, she is bouncing on her first trampoline and she seemed to really like it. In the other pic, I brought her under this tree with me and then she later went back to it and tried to get underneath but wasn't able to do it all by herself. I got to see my brother's baby for the first time and it was wierd seeing how small she was compared to Baby E. I guess I have forgotten how tiny they are. It felt a little awkward holding her. I guess I better get used to it again though.