Hippety, Hoppety, Hot Diggety Doggety

Happy Easter from the Nation clan!

We had a great weekend chock full of Easter fun. Southeast was offering several Easter service times, so we decided to go to the 3:00 on Saturday in hopes that it wouldn't be crazy packed and we could avoid a lot of traffic waiting for dinner afterwards.

Amelia was really good for the first part of the service. She tried to share some of her puffs with the lady in the pew behind us. Then when the music started, and she started rocking back and forth dancing and swaying side to side. Girlfriend was feeling it.

Then they had some baptisms and Amelia clapped her hands with the rest of the congregation - it was the cutest.

But then of course, the sermon started and it wasn't quite as entertaining as all the music and hand clapping festivities had been so she started getting squirmy and whiny and it was time for mama to take her to the "cry room".

At Southeast, they have special rooms for moms and babies to continue watching the service from a soundproof room up in the balcony. I for one am extremely appreciative of this accommodation.

However, we didn't get to stay in the cry room for long because Amelia displayed some socially awkward behavior that made me pick her up and leave from embarrassment.

So, there was this other little girl in the room, maybe just a few months older than Amelia. And Amelia was completely fascinated with her. I mean captivated. Poor girl is so sheltered that she doesn't know what to do when another baby is present.

So it was okay for a little while when Amelia walked over and stood in front of the little girl (and her mother) and stared at her in admiration. A little awkward? Sure. But the mom was very polite and said she didn't mind at all. I kept trying to coax Amelia back to me with some Puffs, but even the mighty power of the Puff could not sway her away from this other baby.

So I sat beside her while she stared at the baby, and then Amelia got down on her knees to stare at her. I guess all that standing was taking up too much energy that could be used for concentration on her new friend. So that was pretty awkward.... But THEN...Amelia noticed the little girl's shoes. They were cute little white sandals with big flowers on the top.

Amelia's fascination with the little girl reached a whole new level when she saw those shoes, so before I could stop her, SHE REACHED OUT AND GRABBED THE LITTLE GIRLS SHOES. The shoes that were on her feet. Which means she touched this stranger's toes. And I could not stop her!

I pulled her away and realized that we were about 3 seconds away from a complete toddler meltdown because I was taking her away from her new found BFF so we had to skedaddle ASAP! I was completely mortified. Needless to say, Amelia is in dire need of some socialization lessons.

So we spent the rest of the service walking around the halls and staring at other strangers from an appropriate distance until Chris and his parents came out of the sanctuary. After church, we went to Easter dinner at this new Italian restaurant in Norton Commons. It was deliciouso!

After dinner, we walked from the restaurant over to the local gelato shop for dessert. It was super yummy too! And it was nice to go for a stroll in the lovely evening weather.

On Sunday, the Easter bunny made a delivery to one sweet (albeit socially awkward) little girl. She discovered her love for Reese's peanut butter eggs, and I don't think her life will ever be the same.

Since the weather yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, we loaded up the car with Amelia and Lucy and headed out to the park for a stroll. The park that we go to is a good 20 minute drive from our apartment, and Amelia likes to watch videos on my phone anytime she is riding in the carseat. She is very particular about what video she wants to watch and yesterday she was dead set on watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse's Hot Dog Song. Thankfully, some genius (and I mean that non-sarcastically) made a video looping the song over and over again for a solid hour, so she was able to just watch the video quietly and happily for the entire drive. On a side note, Mama here may need some medication to get that song out of my head.

"Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog...."

We had a lovely stroll around the park and it was a wonderful way to spend Easter afternoon with my favorite peeps.

Oh and then I came home and made a new little food concoction that I found on Pinterest and I am OBSESSED. So I thought I would share. It is a white cheddar rice cake topped with guacamole and then topped with ranch flavored tuna. It may sound a little weird, but trust me it is AMAZING. It is super healthy and so good, and you can have two of them for only 215 calories. Can't beat that. It makes me slap my knee, and say "hot diggety dog"!

Happy Easter, peeps.