This was the first, last and only smile from Max all day on Easter Sunday. We got up early to do our egg hunt before church. Blake, as usual, came bouncing down the stairs completely dressed, but not in the clothes I wanted him to wear. Sydney had to be coaxed from a very deep sleep. We didn't bother to wake Brady because he'd been up quite a bit the night before (for no apparent reason). Max happily ate Cheerios in his high chair.
Then Andy left to get to band rehearsal and it all went downhill from there...
Max cried (and cried and cried and cried). I got all the ironing done (regretting all the time that I hadn't done it the night before), got all the kids' hair done, got both babies dressed, got myself dressed and somewhat made up. Max is still crying. At this point, I'm a bit frazzled. I hadn't had much sleep the night before, and my tolerance for screaming babies was a bit low. We managed to get to church sometime during the second song or so. Max was sweet for about two minutes, and then he made it infinitely clear that he was FINISHED with church! I haven't begun leaving him in the nursery regularly yet, but after last Sunday, I think the time is soon approaching.
After church, we had the church egg hunt, in which the three oldest children were, of course, in three separate categories. One of our beloved elders, Mike Ruby, offered to take Max from me (Praise God!) while I helped Brady with his hunt. Mike later commented to his wife that he figured it was a good time to get a baby cheap, because I looked like I was about to sell Max. (Am I really that transparent?)
Brady was more interested in the playground than the eggs. One 3 year old kid was cleaning up because all the other kids were happily tripping over eggs to get to the slide. Every now and then, Brady would slide down the slide, pick up an egg at the bottom, and turn to me with the proudest look and yell "I found one, Mommy!" (like they weren't lying in plain sight everywhere).
The big kids had fun. I think Sydney is approaching the age to outgrow this Easter bunny thing. I'm okay with that because I think the whole Easter bunny tradition is ridiculous. Hiding eggs is one thing, but pretending that a bunny actually hid them for us is kinda goofy. At least Santa Claus is a human being.
When we got home, I announced that I had no intention of cooking anything. Nor did I plan to take Max anywhere. He pretty much went straight to bed. Andy went to the grocery store and picked up a rotisserie chicken, Country Crock mac-n-cheese (because neither of us even wanted to boil water), a can of green beans and a pumpkin pie. Happy Easter. By the way, Sara, my kids call Country Crock sides "Aunt Sara's favorite potatoes" (even when they're not potatoes). After lunch, I put Brady to bed, went straight to my room, closed the door, turned on the ocean sounds feature on the alarm clock and went to sleep.
The evening was much happier because we'd rested. We played outside for quite a while with the neighbors and then watched Enchanted as our family farewell (and good riddance:) to Spring Break. Even the little boys enjoyed being in the living room all together.
Actually, as I look back on it, it wasn't so bad.:)
