Easter and Grandma/Grandpa Hart Visit & TONS of Pics and Videos!

I'm behind, I know. Old news. Easter was weeks ago. I have been cramming in the final papers for my classes and committed to myself that I wouldn't take liesure time to blog until I had turned everything in.

Well, I finished the big paper (on Velasquez's Las Meninas) and just turned in the last paper (on Penderecki's avant-garde techniques in Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima that create a musical portrayal of raw suffering, if you were wondering... which you probably weren't--and if you WERE, I'd LOVE to talk to you about it!), so that means I am FREE to catch up!

My younger sister lives in Boston with her hubby and sweet baby. My parents drove up there to see her and stopped in with us on the way up and back to rest;... okay, who are we kidding? Everyone knows they really stopped to love on Gwen! She was asking for "ba-bah" (Grandpa)and "mama" (the same word as when she asks for me, but context was definitely for Grandma, especially since she was signing Grandma) after only a weekend visit!

We went to the park and played and played and played.

We rode on the train (quite blurry, but see how much Gwen is enjoying herself?) and played and played and played.

We stayed inside (in a pretty Easter dress!) and played and played and played.

We went to Graeter's, ate ice cream, and played and played and played.

We hunted eggs... which was sort of like we played and played and played. (Gwen sort of got into it by the end, though her first instinct was just to squat and point at each egg with an intake of air and a "woah") see the short clip video... there's more where that came from!

We (okay, just Gwen) got a basket of goodies, ate them, and played and played and played. (she thought the idea of the chalk bucket was taking them out and putting them back) check out her latest dance moves!

and enjoyed a luscious Easter dinner of ginger-thyme brined pork loin roast with a light cantaloupe salad drizzled with cantaloupe vinaigrette dressing...so our happy mouths and satisfied stomachs played and played and played!
General Conference was a spiritual feast and we especially enjoyed listening to the testimonies of apostles and prophets speaking of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I can't say we 'played' during this, but it was certainly uplifting and wonderful. I am so grateful for my Savior, OUR Savior.

Curly

My hair is curly. Ish.

(more like it is really curly right around my face like a halo,

but then only mildly wavy in the back.

and it used to be more curly before I got pregnant.)

Eric's hair is stick straight

with just a slight bend to make it 'poofy' without gel.

I think I have a pretty good idea where Gwen gets her touselhead... :)

tub hat and frog love

for those of you who don't recognize it, Gwen is signing "frog"... I didn't even realize she knew that one! But she sure got excited about this stand up frog at the zoo. I couldn't keep her distracted. She kept sneaking over there to see him (he wasn't IN the play area). Gotta love her determination! and, I ADORE her "coy" face bottom left of the collage--she thought she was so sneaky!

Soccer Player--DEFINITELY!!!

Gwen's latest trick thanks to the days of 60 degree weather:

kick the ball while repeating "gigit-gigit" (kick it kick it)--though she doesn't say it in the video.

I'm not going to feign humility:

I'll admit my mom heart swells right up when I see her

already becoming a lil athlete.

I can tell there will be green fields, grass stains,

pony tails, and shinguards in her future...

and I LOVE it! :)

lil miss grumpy pants

We've been privy to a lot of this face lately.

For whatever reason, Gwen has decided to be unhappy of late. Like since Thursday (just 4 days so far--I'm really hoping this is temporary). No temp, no ill symptoms, already has 4 molars, no reason that I can think of for her to be so fussy. Keep in mind she is 16 1/2 months. She is picky with food (only wants to eat crackers and raisins and I'm not exaggerating), hard to put down for bed, selfish with toys, demanding when playing with other kids (even if outside with lots to do), grouchy on errands, tugs on my pantlegs constantly but then struggles to get down when I pick her up, stopped using signs or words to ask for things but has digressed to just an insufferable WHINE and reach...and then throws a fit if you can't read her mind, and has complete meltdowns if you don't let her watch Baby Einstein when she demands it.

Okay.

Isn't she a lil young for being grouchy ALL the time? I thought that came with puberty?

Borrowed photos from Allan visit

My MIL is an amazing photographer with a fancy camera to go with her quick reflexes and great eye. She managed to capture some great pictures of Gwen (despite her unpredictable toddler movements) and some of the fam during their weekend visit with us last week during Eric's siblings' spring break. We sure loved having them here, Gwen sure misses all the eager attention, and hopefully you enjoy these glimpses as much as we enjoyed making the memories!

above: night one arrival and Gwen is already excited for guests

went to Graeters, enjoyed the icecream, loved the slide...about a hundred times, in fact

hanging out at home since the weather was yucky. notice the ever-present balls

Grandma and Gwen enjoying If You Give a Mouse a Cookie before bed

also went to the zoo, ate dinner out twice, and let Gwen play with this cute basset hound at the petstore. See how she holds out her arms with her elbows nearly together and her hands splayed out? that means she wants to hold him. So cute. (we won't talk about how he got a lil excited and nipped her arm. Gwen was NOT interested in giving loves to anything but the turtle after that)

new catchup

as in "catch up" not "ketchup". Though I am a big fan of the latter on eggs and fries. :)

Gwen is WALKING for REAL this time! No more 'well, I guess 8 steps in succession counts' but the legit 'go everywhere standing up' phase has begun. And brought with it lots of fun and bonks. The fun is seeing her explore, eager to go EVERYWHERE now that she thinks she is AWESOME. I loved seeing her curiosity leading her through the Franklin Park Conservatory (the above photos with the train and the blue sculptures below from the Chihuly exhibit are from our excursion. if you look really closely, the buildings and castle with the train are ENTIRELY made out of plants!) going down all the 'jungle' paths and exploring every turn and cove. My camera ran out of batteries after only 5 photos, so you'll have to take my word for how cute she was. The bonks are not as fun, but definitely still visible. She's got a nice scab right next to her eye from a tumble on Thursday that kind of gives me the willies if I think about it too much and had 2 incidents at church today with musical instruments. Apparently pianos and organs have it out for Gwen.
On a cute note: she has become enamored of my earrings. Eric put some on for her, I think she was weirded out having it on her ear. My favorite is that in these photos, I managed to capture Eric sporting a flashing dangly earring! Check out the bottom right pic! You can also catch a glimpse of Gwen's 'touselhead' look with sweet lil semi-curls peeking out behind those ears... Also, she signs and says "Dank-doo"! It is precious! She had never signed or vocalized it until this week when suddenly she did both! Halfway down the stairs she realized she had forgotten her giraffe at the top. So she waved frantically and whined and luckily mom guessed correctly what was ailing her. I tossed the giraffe down to her, she laughed and grabbed him for a big hug, then promptly brought her hand up her chin and brought it down while saying "dank-doo" in this sweet sing-song voice. I was tickled to death! I love it! She also says "shoes" (and, yes, it really sounds like shoes), "kiki" (kitty), and "boo" (book), added signs for 'friend', 'fish', and 'kitty', and will bring me my winter accessories to put on when she is ready to go somewhere. I am so enamored with this gal, I can't even tell ya!

I sold 3 paintings this week, all to the same family. What a neat experience! It was really humbling, actually, that they would like my artwork enought to spend 70 dollars on it. That is not cheap. A good deal for 3, sure, but still a pretty penny. Very cool!

We had friends over for Korean food last night. So tasty! and FUN! We have such wonderful friends here in Ohio! Gwen's absolute favorite part was getting to hug the baby!...again, and again, and again... luckily her mom and dad didn't mind!

I think the pattern of posting on weekends might continue. Or maybe even every other weekend. This week I was miraculously empowered to finish 2 papers before Friday. With Eric on OB/GYN and having early, EARLY hours, it was challenging to fly solo to stay up really late at night in order to finish my work. Seriously, the Lord must be watching out for me. Everything just came together. It was beautiful. And hopefully I got good grades too. :) This week I've got another paper to mail off by Friday, then my In-Laws will be coming for a weekend visit! How exciting! I doubt I'll post during their stay, so this might be it until the weekend after that. Stay tuned.