DWTS

1st Dances
Laila - She got two 10s and a 9. I am really starting to believe she might win this or at least be in the bottom 2, and I gotta say I think she deserves it.

John - He did SO much better this week!! That makes me happy! I really like John. I still think he should go home this week, but he has done a great job. And I love his partner Edyta. She is so sweet and has been one of my favorites since last season when she danced with Joey and they were so cute.

Apolo - Julianne looked gorgeous tonight and so elegant and I like that her hair isn't looking so platinum blonde. I kind of agreed with the judges or the one judge that the dance was a little safe. It was so cute and great, but a little safe in my opinion.

Ian - The judges last week told him he needed to give more like Billy Ray, so Cheryl had Billy Ray come in to their dance rehearsal one day to help him out. It was pretty funny. Although if I was Ian, I wouldn't want my competition helping me, but I don't think these are the ruthless/back stabbing competitor types. So the whole 90210 cast was there to support him. Interesting. It's sweet that they are all still friends.

Billy Ray - I was disappointed by this first dance. Seriously, he did zero in it. He stood there. Very unlike Billy Ray.

Joey - Their fox trot was amazing! Tonight he is way above the other dancers.

2nd Dances
Laila - Seriously, she could win this whole thing. Do you think it's her boxing that gives her such gracefulness? It has to be part of who she is. Her second dance was even better than the first. And they got a PERFECT 10!

John - Okay, when their song started, am I the only one whose heart raced thinking they were dancing to Vanilla Ice? If you have tivo, start the song at the beginning and it has the same exact beat. That would have been awesome. The judges felt like this was the best dance yet for him.

Apolo Oh - Totally on fire! They definitely ended the night with their best dance. That's smart. During the judging, was Julianne having some sort of a wardrobe malfunction? She spent the whole judging time holding the fabric of her dress up to her neck.

Ian - Very entertaining dance! The judges felt like their chemistry was back.

Billy Ray - He actually danced this second dance and it was great!

Joey - Did y'all see that high kick? That alone deserves a 10 to me. No, Lynn did not just say his dance was "nsync". Clever. And they as well got a PERFECT 10!

Definitely sure that John will be the one to go. After that, it's going to tough.

The Flowers are in Full Bloom!

A few weeks ago (I CAN NOT believe I am just now posting these pics) was a day with the playgroup that we had been planning on for a long time. It was the Dallas Blooms festival at the Arboretum! This was my first trip to the arboretum and I was blown away at how gorgeous it is, more than I had imagined. There were tulips everywhere. Fields of them. The amount of adorable pictures were endless.

We stood in line for 1 1/2 hours for this picture (a professional one)! I was so nervous that after that long Ella was going to cry as soon as the camera was on her, but she didn't! She was so excited to be sitting next to that bunny! It was the cutest thing ever.

Ella and Ava eating their picnic lunch.

















































Ella's favorite thing is to be naked, so I thought, she'll love this and I'll get some cute pictures of her on this pretty green grass. Wrong! Apparently she hates grass and was doing everything she could to get the least amount of her body possible to touch the grass while screaming.




After the professional picture, picnic and the pretty pictures in the tulips, we got the babies comfy and strolled around checking out the rest of the place.


















They even had a petting zoo, which the babies are pros at thanks to Ava's birthday party!































They had this huge fountain that Ella loved. I couldn't believe she was okay with the water splashing on her. Maybe it was because it felt good as the day got warmer.































It's a giant flower pot and watering jug! Isn't it so cute?!



























Ella was definitely trying to hold Jackson's hand! And Jackson is not falling for it!















All of the moms and babies
Amanda & Jackson, Me & Ella, Sunni & Ava, Melissa & Joshua, Cassi & Tobey

Laney's 1st Birthday

Monday was Laney's 1st Birthday!!! I am still in awe of how perfectly my life has fit together with my best friends! I am amazed that I get to celebrate one 1st birthday after another! It is such a blessing.

Laney, you are an absolute joy to be around!! Your precious face and adorable smile is captivating! Ella is above and beyond blessed to have you as a bestie! Everytime you and Ella are together I imagine the times the two of you are going to have growing up, running around playing at the park, the first day of school, slumber parties, tea parties, playing with your dollhouses, and then the more future ones as you get older that I can't really think about because I don't want to have a melt down right here at my desk. Even though we have only known you for 3 months, it feels like you have been here this whole year, like we've never missed a single second in your life. We love you!!

Sunday night, Kristin threw Laney a very small, intimate party with family. I guess since The Hartsfields are kind of like honorary family members, we had the honor of being invited. It was a great night, spent outside with perfect weather and the perfect ladybug theme for their perfect Laneybug.



Keegan and Ella!


Todd, Kristin and Laney opening her presents!



Laney loved her ladybug birthday cake!





























Michelle, & Keegan, me & Ella, Melissa & Joshua

Make sure you don't miss the hilariousness in this picture on the right side. My husband is so funny!

AI Top 6

Our first night without Sanjaya!! It was great! With Ella's ER visit last week, I didn't get to write about or celebrate Sanjaya finally getting the boot!! Obviously I was overjoyed! However, I am still seeing him everywhere!! Even his sister was on Regis and Kelly a few mornings ago. I think we will be seeing Sanjaya for a long time.

It's a totally different show now that he is gone. It seemed very serious tonight, like all games are over and the real competition has begun.

Chris - "Change the World" I thought he was good. He definitely didn't wow us last night and I need to hear that from Chris!

Melinda - "There Will Come A Day" Excellent! I love this song and Melinda gave me goosebumps!! She is above and beyond the rest of the group.

Blake - "Imagine" Did y'all like his performance last night? I love Blake. I thought it was great, however I do feel like he is getting a little old. What we liked about him was how unique he was, but I feel like he has sung the same song 5 weeks in a row.

LaKisha - "I Believe" I couldn't peel my eyes away from the TV screen her entire performance. She totally captivated me last night. In fact, I even teared up a little. I felt it was her best performance. The judges however, did not like it because they compared her to Fantasia. Which is true, Fantasia does a great job singing that song, but I think LaKisha held her own and did it justice.

Phil - "Change" Great job. Phil gets more and more appealing to the audience each week. I guess maybe it's as his confidence grows, maybe so will his popularity.

Jordin - "You'll Never Walk Alone" It was amazing of course. She will probably be in the bottom two. I really want Blake to be in the bottom two just to add a little something different in the head to head competition. But Jordin probably deserves to be there more.

I don't know who will go. It's getting really tough now. All the easy ones to kick off are gone and it's just going to continue to get harder each week. LaKisha could possibly go. My prediction is Phil only because he has already been in the bottom three a couple of times.

DWTS

I was pretty shocked this morning when I looked up online who got kicked off DWTS last night. Texas is known for its whopper storms and last night did not disappoint. I think the tornado sirens went off in every city in the DFW area. Heath and I decided we needed to do a little redecorating of our house, so we headed to IKEA and were on our way home when the storms were in full force. It was a little scary at times while we listened to the news on the radio and they were telling us that the storms are headed east as Heath and I were headed west. It was a race to see if we would reach our house before the storm reached our house. Thankfully, we won. The sirens were going off but we were even able to unload our car of all the decorations before the heavy rain hit.

Anyway...Heather Mills was kicked off DWTS. I really thought it would be John. I enjoy Heather's dancing. I didn't expect her to make it past another week or two, but I didn't expect her to go home last night.

Ella Update!

*For DWTS and The Bachelor recaps, scroll down*

Thank you guys so much for your concern, thoughts and prayers! Ella is doing much better. She has almost made a full recovery! Friday was another pretty rough day. But Saturday she woke up a little better, Sunday even better, and Monday she was back to her old self. It was so great to finally see a smile on Sunday. I had missed that more than anything! I was telling some friends, it's really hard being a parent. When I was pregnant and trying to imagine the trials of a parent I was thinking more future, like when she's a hormonal teenager and one day she likes everybody and the next day she hates them, mainly her mom and dad. I never imagined how much it would affect me when the slightest thing was wrong with her. How my main focus in life would be to protect her no matter want, to make her feel happiness everyday, to comfort the heck out of her when she feels pain. Those are the overwhelming emotions unimaginable until you have a child of your own. So I definitely suffered from some post traumatic stress Thursday after seeing my tiny, precious baby suffer. She's over it, but it may take me a while to be over it. I am so thankful that she is all better!

And for a developmental milestone: Ella said her first real word yesterday!!! Kristin, Melissa and I took our babies to this great field of thousands of bluebonnets to take pictures (pictures to come) and there was another group of ladies there, 3 of them taking pictures with their babies (a cat and two dogs!). Ella pointed to their dogs and said "dog!" We all heard it and were cheering her on! It was SO precious!

The Bachelor!

Chris stars out the night by announcing to all the girls they are traveling on a private jet with Andy to Lake Tahoe! Starting out the show with a bang! I have never been to Lake Tahoe but it's definitely a place that I would love to go to.

Skiing stirs up such great memories in me. Heath and I both have been skiing 3 times in our life and all 3 times it was together. We have made some of the funniest memories skiing, all from hitting a tree, to falling off a ski lift, to extreme altitude sickness, to literally somersaulting down an entire black. I'll let you guess who is attached to each memory. There's never a dull moment when Heath and I are skiing together.

Back to The Bachelor, the first date box arrived and we are told that Bevin, Nicole, Stephanie (Kansas), and Danielle got the first group date, a nice dinner all dressed up.

First scoop of drama is Bevin having a total melt down about her ankle. The girls think she is milking the injury. I think she might actually be upset. They are on a ski vacation and she has a sprained ankle, how much fun can that be? How sweet that all the girls helped her get ready by steaming her dress and doing her hair. I'm surprised her dress didn't have a hole burnt in it and her hair with a 1000 tangles. Andy is making it so obvious that his favorite could possibly be Bevin. He has kissed her several times and begged her to stay in the game, like she would drop out.

Back at the hotel, the girls get a card delivered and we are told that Tessa, Kate, Tina, and Stephanie T. are going on the 2nd group date, which means Amber, my favorite, has scored the one-on-one date. I'm so nervous. There's a lot of pressure on those one-on-one dates and what if he doesn't give her a rose. I haven't even thought about who my 2nd favorite is.

Back to the first group date, Stephanie (Kansas) also has a melt down with Andy. She explains she's a planner, blah, blah, blah. He tells her he wants to meet her family, which means she is probably going home because in true Bachelor form, when a direct statement like that is made, that person usually to our shock goes home.

The time has come for Andy to pick the girl to spend special alone time with him. He picks Bevin. No surprise there. He has made his feelings very clear towards her. Much jealousy and drama. Andy carrying Bevin to his hotel suite was a little much for my stomach. I kind of wanted to throw up a little bit.

So Andy wants to be an astronaut! Very interesting. Did he just say he wants her to win, that he wants her in Hawaii with him in a year? I don't know how I feel about that. What about Amber?

The second group of girls meets Andy at the bottom of the ski slope. Kate was very funny on this date. I actually found myself liking her for the first time.

Back off crazy Stephanie T., stop bashing Amber! Yes, I am jumping up and down, not really, but I could because Stephanie could have just doomed herself. Bachelors always kick off the girl that talks about the other girls to him. Hopefully she just sealed her fate. Now Kate is doing the same thing. Amber's chances are increasing by the minute. However, back at the hotel Amber is obsessing way too much over her alone date. Stop acting crazy.

Amber and Andy's date - So far their date seems to be going great!! Yay! And the kissing begins, followed by the hot tub and more kissing. And she scores the rose. Duh?

I am constantly amazed by Stephanie T.'s "confidence"! She announces she is 90% sure she will be getting a rose. Last week she announced she was 95% sure. Really?

So I'm back to not liking Kate. She really just flat out lied and started a rumor saying that Tina, definitely the sweetest girl in the house, is telling the other girls that Andy and Amber did some really bad things on their date. Who does that?

The Rose Ceremony - First rose goes to Tessa, then Danielle, Bevin (it would have been really sweet if he walked the rose to her instead if him making her walk to him and up 3 steps-you missed a great chivalrous act Andy), Tina (I don't really get this), and Stephanie (Kansas)!! WHOA Stephanie T. is GONE!! I knew it. It always happens that way. You bash the other girls you get the boot. Has she watched previous bachelors? Kate and Nicole are also going home. I liked Nicole. I thought she was entertaining.

So until more drama next week...

DWTS

Joey - Great job! They did such a good job tonight. I love them. I've never been able to say anything bad about their performances. He definitely has natural ability.

John - Poor thing! He obviously is now the worst one and surely the next to go. If he had a dynamic personality maybe he would stay around longer, but he's pretty boring. He is very sweet though.

Heather - Wow...oh my gosh. The thing she did when she leaned back really far and he caught her and pushed her back up, was incredible. I have no idea how she was able to do that with one real leg. Amazing.

Laila - Totally rocked the butterfly! Loved it!! She's amazing. She is so graceful. I love that she gets better each week and makes her partner make the dancers harder.

Billy Ray - "Who's Your Daddy" Hilarious that they named one of his moves that. Every week he is the most entertaining. He has natural charisma which makes me love him and want him to stick around. Karina's polka dress was adorable! Are her and Mario a couple? The judges said it just right, "The focus he puts into his dances is what makes him addictive."

Apolo - Do they really have a brother/sister relationship? They say that every week, but I don't know how much I believe it. I liked how they used the chair. It added something a little different. "Choreagraphed poem" I like how they phrased that. It was another amazing performance. They got one ten!!

Ian - Is it just me or has he gotten really serious? He's not as funny as he used to be. Poor Ian. I feel bad for him. Every week the judges are so hard on him. Maybe he deserves it, maybe he doesn't, but I think the harder they are on him the more self-concious he is and the worst he does. He did so great the first couple of weeks.

Group swing dance - Highlight of the dance was when Laila picked up Apolo and swung him around!!

It did my heart good that Norm was there to see Cliff! (Cheers)

Ella's sickness

What an awful day this has been. I just wanted to update y'all really quickly on what we have been through today. Ella's stomach bug took a huge turn for the worse last night. She woke up several times vomiting and with diarrhea. This morning I knew we had to head to the doctor right away because she had not had a wet diaper in 12 hours, so she had to have been dehydrated. Sure enough, our doctor sent up immediately to Las Colinas Medical for an iv. While there she threw up so much that the doctors did not feel comfortable sending us home with her not being able to keep anything down for longer than a second. Medical City Dallas sent an ambulance and transported her to them where they are better equipped for itty bitty babies.

When we arrived there, they gave her more fluids through her iv and this miracle medicine for her stomach. After that she totally perked up and was sitting up and actually smiling. This is a total miracle if you could have seen how she was at Las Colinas. She was extremely lethargic, hardly responding to anything, staring into space. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen! I was gripped with fear not seeing her move on the hospital bed for hours. She would only move to scream when they poked her for the 100th time. Seriously, she had 6 needles poked into her precious little skin. It took them four times to get the iv in and then they had to draw blood from two other spots. As a mother, it took everything out of me to not kick those nurses out the door and throw their needles after them. But I knew that it had to be done! And throughout this week, she lost a whole pound, which is a lot when you already only weigh 18 1/2 pounds at 14 months.

Medical City was prepared to keep us over night, but after they saw her incredible recovery they sent us home!! Praise Him because we had many people praying for us all day!!

Ella is now fast asleep with her daddy. We will continue to pray that she has a great couple of days and continues to make a speedy recovery.

I am so grateful for my friends and family and stood by our side all day today. It was the longest day of my life totaling 14 hours at the hospital. Ella is so happy to be home and we are too!

For Heather

http://boomama.net/, on her blog today is having a day of raising money for a very talented young lady named Heather. Her story has been circling the blogging world for quite a while. She is blog designer for Swank Web Style, who designed the LPM blog and BooMama's blog. She has a husband and 3 daughters and has just been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, everybody's worst nightmare. This fundraiser is to help with the many financial burdens they are about to enter. To read more about her story go to http://www.especiallyheather.com/.

DWTS/AI Top 7

I am at work right now, which I love to be at, but I cannot stop wondering how my faves did last night on AI! That's right, I again missed one of my favorite shows.

My sweet girl was still really sick yesterday. She wasn't throwing up anymore, she was just very clingy and sad which makes me want to be clingy and sad! However, this morning she looked much better. Hopefully she will be feeling back to her normal, happy, giggly self again today.

So I missed AI, I did however speed through DWTS the Monday night dances and the results show and I am so happy I did because APOLO got all 10's!!!!!! Go Apolo! My favorites are finally on top!

Clyde was the one to leave and rightfully so. I don't think there's anyone that truly thinks he should not have been the one to go home last night. Even the judges said, "you are the worst one in the competition." But he was very sweet and kind and his pre-dancing videos never failed to entertain me.

Okay, I must finish listening to Kidd Kraddick's reflection on last night's Idol.
To get a great recap of last night's show, check out BooMama.

No Recaps

Last night at about 7:00 p.m. my sweet precious daughter began throwing up and didn't stop much for the next 2 hours. She was up on and off through out the night with gagging and diarrhea. There are not much worse things than seeing your baby sick and know there isn't much you can do about it but love on them and try to be their comfort. So I did not get to see even a smidge of DWTS or The Bachelor last night.

Really though, I'm not sure how I would have written about those things today with the horrific tragedy from yesterday still so fresh in all of our minds! I'm not really sure what to even say about it. I think I'm still in shock. My friend Michelle wrote the perfect verse on her blog in her post on yesterday's tragedy.

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13

If we can't remember this, than how do we even make it another day. Without hope of the goodness of the Lord, how do we continue to function.

However, if you need your Bachelor Recap fix, visit Lincee's blog. She has been doing a Bachelor Recap for the last several seasons and it is absolutely hilarious! I laugh out loud every week when I read it.

Sweetest Post Ever

A few days ago, Beth Moore wrote a post on her Living Proof Ministries blog about her friend Johnnie. Beth and Johnnie had babies at the same time and were each other's support group as their children were babies and all through growing up. In her post, she talked so sweetly about her friend. She explained the importance of having a mommy support group to get through the tough times of motherhood and celebrate the good times. She mentioned how thankful she is that Amanda has that same kind of mommy support group. This post will definitely bless you! I've read it a few times and each time I get teary eyed and get goosebumps all over.

One reason why I loved this post so much is because it reminded me of how thankful I need to be for my support group of mommies. I am in constant awe of how God planned out my life and each of my mommy friends' lives to have babies so closely together and pulled us together in the perfect way to form such perfect bonds. Sunni said it best when she said God must have been "giddy" as He planned our lives knowing how over and beyond blessed we would be by the best group of mommy friends ever that He put together! It must be kind of like when we are planning for a really long time a big suprise for someone that we love, a surprise that we know they are going to love so much. You know that feeling of pure joy and excitement and anticipation of how their life is going to be changed forever because of this surprise you are planning. God must feel that way except a thousand times more when He has surprise blessings stored up for us! He knew from the beginning of time that He would knit this group of mommies and their babies together forever. I love you girls!

You must read this post.

The Day Is Saved!

Guess what ladies?! My doctor's office called me earlier today and they were able to get a result from my messed up pap after all(who knows how accurate the results are really going to be though)! So I do not have to go in tomorrow for #2! I was so excited when I got the news that I ran around my church office telling all the ladies! Probably a little over dramatic, but I felt justified for the drama considering how dreadful those appointments are. Thank you for your shared concern and distress for me! I knew you guys could relate, therefore I felt better about having to go through it again, but thankfully I don't have too!

The Dreaded P**

There is one thing in this world that I am confident ALL women hate! I know without a doubt I am right about this one. Heath always lectures me about general statements. I always say things like, "All women hate...." or "No women likes to..." And Heath always says, "No, not all women hate... You can't make general statements like that." Which makes me want to say, "All women hate their husbands." Not really! However, there is no argument about this general statement I am about to make. All women hate getting a p*p sm**r. They do! All of us! If there is a women out there that doesn't hate it, please let me know and I will totally retract this entire post and delete it from my blog.

I had my yearly pap last Thursday afternoon. It took me all week to get pumped up to get there and get it over with. My mom told me a long time ago that it is still dreaded, but it's not as bad after you have a baby because during your pregnancy/labor/birthing you get very used to having everyone and their dog down there. Not the case with me. It really didn't help me dread it any less. So Thursday came and went and I was relieved.

Monday morning I get a call from my doctor's office, which is never good. The lab messed up my pap and "you're going to need to come in this week and do it again"! WHAT?!! NO!! Is this a joke? "We won't charge you for it." Really, really! Because I wanted to give you another 25 bucks for this so unpleasant event! Seriously? In fact, shouldn't you be paying ME something this time!

It's not that I don't like my doctor or his staff! In fact, I love my doctor! There is not a women out there that doesn't hold a soft spot in their heart for the doctor that delivered their baby. (Sorry, more general statements.) This doctor practically becomes part of your family during your pregnancy. You see them more than most family and friends. Once a month, then every two weeks, then once a week and then they are there for the big moment! I was actually very excited about seeing Dr. Clark and bringing Ella to brag about how cute she is and see how much she's grown in the last year. Regardless of how excited I was to see him, when I left his office last Thursday I was more than thrilled about not seeing him for another year.

So you can all think of me tomorrow morning at 8:45 as I go in for #2!

AI Results

And then there were 7...

The only way I could be happier about tonight's results was if Sanjaya would have been kicked out. But we all know that is not going to happen until the final 3. So Haley finally got the boot. It was a long time coming. If her voice wasn't enough proof that she should be gone, than the fact that she forgot her words during their group performance tonight should be. I pushed my 8 seconds replay button on my Tivo remote 15 times to make sure I really was hearing her forget the words. The funny thing is they partnered Sanjaya and Haley together to sing during the group performance and I couldn't figure out which one was worse. The AI producers are genious! That had to have been on purpose.

...until next week.

AI Top 8

Jennifer Lopez was this week's special guest and mentor to the Idols. Can I just say that she is beautiful? Like Gwen, there is something about these guest stars that makes me totally love them by the time the show is over. She was really good with them and funny.

I've been reading a lot of reviews of last night's show and most were very disappointed and bored by last night's performances. I definitely was not bored. Everybody, except for Phil and Sanjaya, sang fun upbeat songs. I did however feel that they were all lacking in their musical talent a bit except for one, but I'll get to that later.

Melinda - "Sway" Simon did not like it because he felt like a song like that needs more personality, more than she has. She needs the "wow factor performance." Melinda is my favorite so it is hard for me to imagine her less than perfect, but I did agree with him that she does lack a bit of personality. She's as funny as can be, but she's not very dynamic. Still her song was amazing.

LaKisha - "Conga" Randy loved it. Paula and Simon actually agreed and did not like it. It wasn't spectacular. She definitely did step out of her comfort zone, which I appreciate.

Chris - "Smooth" Great! He gets more and more adorable to me each week. Loved part of the band being on stage with him. And the judges liked it. He got great comments.

Haley - "Turn the Beat Around" Where to start? Judges did not like it, duh! Simon said "You have a smart tactic, wear as less clothes as possible"! Harsh, but true. I think her shorts were even shorter this week and her lipstick even brighter. Who is coaching her in this direction? She's a gorgeous girl, she doesn't need to do all of that.

Phil - "Maria, Maria" Worst performance yet from him! I'm afraid this could send him home. His poor voice is so tired, he cracked twice during the song. I did love his honest pre singing video when he said he would be singing and then look over and think, that girl looks like Jennifer Lopez, oh wait THAT IS JENNIFER LOPEZ and that would make him lose all concentration and he would forget what he was singing. I would be so star struck by all these guest stars, I don't think a word would come out of my mouth when it was my turn to be coached by them.

Jordin - "The Rhythm is Gonna Get You" I thought it was really good. Her cheesyness wasn't as bad this week.

Blake - "I Need To Know" A lot of people are probably not going to agree with me, but I liked him the best last night! So did Simon and since I mostly agree with Simon I know I can't be completely off with my opinion. I love love love his voice! He could never look ackward on stage because of his dancing ability. I think that's what I like about him best.

Sanjaya - "I'm going to hate myself for this, it wasn't horrible." I think what Simon said is what everyone is thinking right now. STILL...he should go home. This is what bothers me about this whole situation. The other amazing performers can be a little off one week, and will be totally ripped apart by the judges. Our worst performer can have one decent performance and be complimented and praised by each judge. Where is the logic in that?

Bottom Three: Phil, Haley, Sanjaya (probably not but I'm still going to put him in the bottom three) If it's not those 3, I am scared to think who could go home.

Proof of the Bunny Snuggle Show

Sorry for 4 posts in one day, but Amanda just emailed me this picture she took of Ella at the Easter Egg Hunt when she won the big purple bunny. It's her snuggling with her prize upon receiving it! So CUTE and perfect!

Easter Weekend!

It was a fun easter weekend! Much different from last year when Ella was still an all the time sleeping "lay down baby" as my little friend Grant would say.
Our church fully embraced this Easter and planned many services for us to fully remember the death and resurrection of our Savior.

Saturday morning was the annual Easter Egg Hunt! I was so excited that Ella and the other babies were old enough this year to participate.


I love this picture of the 9 of us just hanging out.

Ella's first craft ever!

Ella and Ava having fun sharing some cheerios.





























Sunni, Xavier and Ava

Curtis, Amanda and Jackson

The daddies helping their babies find the eggs.











Dada showing Ella how to find the chocolate treasures inside the eggs. Big mistake!














































Easter morning was filled with a wonderful service of celebration and then on to my parents for Easter lunch with my family.




Amanda and I worked really hard to get this picture of the two of them. Jackson was very interested in the flowers and Ella was very interested in the crying.

Saturday at the Easter Egg Hunt, Ella won the grand prize...this gigantic easter bunny! She was so excited and put on a snuggling show when it was given to her.

The Bachelor

So much to cover!

We'll start with the 1st Group Date. They are doing things a little differently this season. No longer will the Bachelor be forced to give one of the ladies in the group a rose at the end of the date. Instead, he must choose one girl to have an extended amount of alone time with at the end of the date. This 1st group consisted of Nicole, Tiffany, Alexis, Stephanie (Kansas), Bevin, Amanda and Tessa. If you're like me, you still don't have a name to all the faces, so you might have to look back on abc.com to see who is being talked about.
The date started with a trip to a mechanical bull. Of course they each got their turn to see who would catch the eye of Andy. After some very embarrassing moments for me watching these girls on this bull, Stephanie (Kansas)beat the bull without falling off.

The group then headed to a hotel room where they each got to pick out a formal evening gown to wear to dinner. Nicole and Andy danced. Apparently that is going to be their "thing" and what keeps her coming back each week. We learned that Alexis was home schooled and is from Southlake. Does anybody know her? Bevin's jealousy came out and she complained several times about how she was the only girl not getting one on one time with Andy. Well, she got her one on one time when the girls traded their gowns for bikinis and the two of them got close in the pool. But like true Bachelor style, their time was quickly interrupted by the other girls that saw them getting a little too close.

Tiffany was chosen for the special alone time. This is the scene that every season is hilarious to me. There is always one girl that is so intimidated and quiet that it creates an incredibly awkward moment. Andy was asking her question after question and she was giving him one word answers. She was not contributing much to the conversation, which meant right then and there that she was going home.

The 2nd group date:
This date was all about athletic ability. They had to race in a mini triathlon which would have kicked my booty. Do you think they picked the prissiest girls on purpose for this date or was it a coincidence? It consisted of Kate, Susan, Erin, Tina, Amber, Danielle, and Peyton.

Kate brought out the claws early when she called Tina a hussy. First, Tina is a little weird with her National Anthem solo last week, but she is so incredibly sweet and smart. I was very annoyed at Kate's rudeness.

The triathlon competition started and Susan and Erin decided they would walk the laps in the pool because they didn't want to get their hair wet. They were so far behind because of that, they decided to take their time through the rest of the race as well and strolled on the bikes and walked the laps. Erin was sure Andy thought they were cute. Did he? Amber my favorite won and her prize was alone time with Andy on the beach. It made me smile that they looked so cute and comfortable with each other.

And then there was Stephanie who was rewarded the first one on one date because she was given the first impression rose. Stephanie went into the date saying she was 95% sure she was getting a rose and returning to the house. I thought she was a goner when she asked Andy "What is your ideal wedding?" Who asks a guy that? Past Bachelor's would have said good bye at the end of that date because of a question like that freaking them out. But not Andy, he is so infatuated with her, sure enough she got her rose.

The Rose Ceremony: There was definitely less drama this week! Andy said goodbye to Alexis from Southlake, Tiffany and Susan.

Best part of the night: Nicole, Susan, Erin and Alexis trying to figure out what 15-11 is. I am not joking. They could not figure it out. Nicole actually said 2!!

DWTS

The dances tonight were great and not so great.

Laila - Her dance was the same as all the other dances she has done. The judges said she is going backwards, but I think she is just staying the same. She's not really any better, but she's still great.

Apolo - Are they not the cutest couple this season? Such cuties! They did an excellent job!

Leeza - She looked incredible in her black leather costume! The dance was so stiff it was a little hard to watch. This could have been her last dance.

Ian - He has been my favorite the last 2 weeks, but tonight was not as great. He was very off balance and almost tripped a couple of times. I think he is letting the competition get to him. He got one bad comment last week and it has totally messed him up.

John - He is so sweet and kind, but he just is not one of the best. The judges thought it was a disaster. I wouldn't go that far. Definitely if they don't go tomorrow night they will in the next couple of weeks.

Clyde - He gets my vote to go home. He is so fun, but needs to go. Bruno had the funniest quote of the night. "There's more romance between Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell than their dance."

Billy Ray - Very, very entertaining! This is one of my favorite couples. He has to work the hardest to keep up with those that are naturally good. And he does. He is so dedicated each week. He is very endearing.

Heather - Very graceful Waltz! The judges liked it. She seems very natural and is always very graceful.

Joey - Best of the night! I thought my crush Apolo was going to get my best of the night vote, and then Joey danced. His dance was amazing. His posture was great. His booty wasn't sticking out. Everything about it was perfect. Even his perfect 10 from Carrie Ann, the first perfect 10 of the season.

Who's going home: It really has to be Clyde. If not Clyde, than Leeza.

Happy Easter from Ella

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!" John 16:33









































































































"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Philippians 3:10-12