Happy Easter!

Yes, the Easter Bunny came to our house, and No, he didn’t bring any candy (aka poor food choices). He brought Ella a very cute bunny basket filled with 2 new toys, new socks and 2 new bottles (Washington Nationals). Ella showed her enthusiasm the best way she knows how at 9 months, and tried to grab everything. Just about the time she would get her hands on one thing, she would see something else that she wanted to check out, so object 1 was dropped and object 2 would be picked up. The 4 balls that go with one of her toys really send her over the edge. She can’t decide which color she likes best.

To church Ella wore a beautiful blue and white dress and hat, hand-made with love by GiGi. You will find pictures in the March folder. When we got her dressed it was almost like she knew that she looked cute. She got a big smile on her face and just sat in the chair waiting to have her picture taken.

For lunch we went to the Chart House, right on the Potomac. Aunt Beck and her sister, Laura, and niece, Cayton, joined us. This was where Cayton taught us about healthy food choices and poor food choices. We asked her how she got so big and can she teach Ella how to grow big and strong too. Apparently the key is healthy food choices. While lunch was full of healthy food choices, after lunch we made a VERY poor food choice and had the chocolate lava cake.

Last week Ella got a very special invitation to attend the White House Easter Egg Roll. Joe and I figured this would be a great photo op, and knowing what we know about politics and the upcoming election, we figured we had better go now since we probably won’t have connections next year. Little did we know exactly how big of a deal this really is. When Joe went to pick up the tickets on Friday, there were hundreds of people waiting in line to get tickets. Some of them even had tents in preparation to sleep overnight. I’m glad Joe has friends in high places.

This morning we put Ella in her Easter dress, wrapped her in a blanket and headed to the White House. It was a great experience. Kids were running around everywhere and they had several characters meeting kids. There were a lot of activities including face painting, and they even had the Jonas Brothers. I have to admit, I have no clue who they are, but this band started singing and I heard a crowd of girls scream. Then these 2 girls pushed past us and yelled “Oh my gosh, it’s them.” Apparently they are a very popular group…and apparently I’m completely out of touch with pop culture.

We got a family photo with the 4 presidents from the Washington Nationals, and Screech, of course. When we went up to get our picture taken one of the guys said “We can’t get our picture with them, she has a Mets hat on.” I quickly pulled the Mets hat off of Ella and apologized. After the picture I said “Sorry, we’re a family with divided loyalty. If it makes things any better we do have season tickets.” Oh well, at least we have a picture with the Nats guys.

We only stayed for about 40 minutes. It was very cold and 9 month olds don’t really get into all the games and face painting. Ella did great! She loved looking at all the people and kids and she didn’t even cry with the people in costume. When we left it took about 2 minutes before she was sound asleep in her stroller. In the afternoon she took a 2 hour nap. It was a busy day for such a little girl. Heck, it was a busy day for her mom and dad!