Easter and JoJo is 13 months old

Easter in March landed on our nephew Ben's birthday. We were able to come early Saturday and enjoy time with the Bares and Grandma and Grandpa Hebdon. Our kiddos just love all of the extra attention and love. They never get bored or feel lonely, and hopefully they add fun for the others as well. We arrived just a few minutes to late to make it to the Arimo town Easter egg hunt, but we went to one that a group of us ladies in the ward put together. So they did get to enjoy finding eggs, finding out that they had goodies in them, and enjoying the excitement of Spring.

Easter morning was full of surprises and candy that the Easter bunny left for the kids. Chocolate, candy, toys, games....it's fun to see the expressions of the kids when they see what was specifically chosen for them. Even the older cousins were fun to see. Stephanie did rolls with marshmallows in the center. When they cook the marshmallow rises and then disappears, making them and "empty tomb" to remind us of the miracle of the resurrection of Christ. We are so grateful for all of the hard work that everyone puts in to make such an enjoyable time. We are definitely spoiled!! We were also grateful to be present for Ben's ordination into the Aaronic Priesthood. His blessing was very special and touched our hearts.

Wow, Jojo is just bursting with energy and wants to go go go!! He is loving his ability to get around and doesn't show the slightest interest in walking. I try to hold his hands and help him walk. He lasts for a couple of steps, but gets bored quickly. And that's just fine by me.  The more mobile they get, the more trouble they find....and he is doing enough of that with his big sister. They are always keeping us on our toes. As Joe says, they don't give us any room for error, so we are constantly trying to stop accidents from happening and guessing any possibilities that might come up.

He has all four molars in. He seemed to get them all around his one year birthday just a couple of weeks....his third molar came in on March 2nd with the fourth one poking through, finally!! Poor little guy, and all through being sick too. This winter has been a frustrating one. All four of us get sick for 10-14 days with head colds and sore throats, to get better for a week, just to go through the vicious  cycle again!! According to the pediatrician, there is a virus that is going around that does that....we're done!! No more....We can't wait for warmer weather and less sick times, hopefully!!

Jojo seems to be crawling on his knees more and rarely does the army crawl, which I kind of miss. I got comments occasionally from the sisters in the ward that said their boy crawled the same way, and it made them so happy to watch him. He is full of character and his smile melts many hearts, especially mine. It's fun to see his personality more and more as he gets older.

He is able to now say cracker, cookie, and hi mommy (or daddy). We thought that was a pretty big deal. Those are big words, and putting two words together is pretty exciting. He is a smart little boy and blows us away by what he can do. Once again, I keep thinking he's my little baby and seem to resist believing he's growing up.  I think with Addie, I had a lot of one on one time, so I tried to teach and help her learn. Expecially with walking, I really wanted her to be able to walk around and be independent when I had Joey to make things easier for all of us. And she excelled!! And with Joey, I feel more overwhelmed because of both of them needing so much attention and help, I feel guilty most of the time for the things that I should be doing to help him, both of them really. But despite my lack of teaching, Joey still is amazing and bright. I think he picks up a lot from Addie.

Addie is doing really well in Nursery, and we are able to just drop her off and walk out, without her crying. That has been a huge thing for us. For awhile, she would cry and want to be held by the teacher for the majority of the time. I think that due to us visiting family, missing so much church because we have been sick, it's been hard for her to get used to everyone. But she is a big girl and is so sweet that she seems to get along just fine.

Wearing their Sunday outfits mommy and daddy gave them. They look so nice!!

I gave them both their first haircuts the day before Easter. It's amazing how much it really made Jojo look like a toddler. He's so handsome!! And Addie's hair looks so much fuller and healthy. They both did really well.

They both had a hard time enjoying coloring eggs. They didn't get very good naps in, and it was past their bedtime. But we have to keep tradition, right? Poor kiddos!! After awhile, Addie warmed up to the idea and had fun.