Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday Mike woke up before both Mikey and me, which never happens! As Mike began to snuggle with me in bed we heard happy little coos from the crib at the foot of our bed, and there was our little morning sunshine, pulling himself up the side of the crib, ready to start another fun day. We let Mikey practice standing by the bed as we began to get ready for the day.

As Mikey was eating breakfast I noticed that the blues he was wearing really brought out the blue of his eyes, so as the photo-happy, proud mama that I am, I just had to get a picture.

We got dressed in our Sunday best (Grandma Peggy picked out Mikey's outfit)...

...and headed off to our favorite parish, St. Francis de Sales, for solemn high Mass (the Tridentine/extraordinary form). We were so glad we went there for Easter Sunday. It was a glorious Mass! The music was incredible! And Mikey actually took a nap during the blasting of the organ.

After Mass our kind neighbor took a photo shoot of our little family. The weather was not the greatest, but it was warm enough for us to take our jackets off for a couple minutes. Just our own little family for Easter. We missed our extended families, but at least we got to talk with them on the phone and over the computer. (Technology has made living apart from our families so much easier! You don't feel so far away when you can see your parents and siblings talking to you on the computer screen.)

We did not color Easter eggs or even have an Easter basket for Mikey this year, but we did have real live Easter eggs in the bush right outside our front window.

For the past two weeks a little mama duck has been coming to lay her eggs in her nest, which is well hidden by the bush but also very close to the sidewalk. Why she would choose a spot so close to human beings we have no idea. But she likes this spot, because she has been coming back to lay more eggs. I just saw her this morning sitting on her nest; actually she is still there as I write. There were seven eggs yesterday, and there may now be eight today. Mike is very protective of the eggs. He was really perturbed one day when we discovered that two of the eggs were missing. We suspect that some neighbor girls took them home. But the mama duck knows what she is doing, and even though she leaves the eggs for long periods of time, she probably does not need Mike to step in. We are excited to see the little ducklings hatch. They will probably waddle away so fast that unless we are right there to see them come out, we will miss them entirely. There is not a pond within our sight range. Mikey is still too young to appreciate this egg adventure, but Mike and I are really enjoying watching the nest!