Another month down for 2022. This year just keeps marching on and I am being left in the dust.

We celebrated Hina’s 9th birthday on the 1st. How is she 9?!

Then we got Little Man’s Easter photos done.

We spent the rest of the day at the park with Indie, enjoying the nice day after going to one of our favorite pubs for brunch.

We took a couple of weeks of leave to go to Nebraska, just in time for Easter and my 34th birthday. We didn’t do much to celebrate, but we had quite a few excursions and the break was much needed. We loaded up the whole menagerie in the Dart and made the drive home.

We started off our whirlwind trip with an afternoon at the lake. It wasn’t quite warm enough to be there, but splashing around is always a good time.

This was followed by some frustrating shopping for family photos (which we haven’t had in about 10 years). With 3 girls with very different tastes in the family, we couldn’t make up our minds.

We finally (literally the day before) decided on black, grey, and red. I thought we looked pretty cute!

We had a big meal on Easter with my mom’s side of the family. It was one of the biggest turn outs in recent years. I loved seeing everyone and catching up, so much so that I barely took any photos.

The Easter Bunny even found us in Nebraska. We put off the egg hunt until the tail end of our trip.

The weather was all over the place in true Midwest form. One day was a beautiful 65°, the next was windy and 45°, followed by rain, followed by almost 90°. On the chilly days we filled our time with visits and local food.

My aunt and uncle came to visit for a day from Iowa and they brought along (my) Grandad’s wife Bernadine. Can’t describe how wonderful it was to visit and for everyone to finally meet Little Man in person.

We got some health news for my Gramps last month (but I wasn’t allowed to mention it then), so I am so thankful we were able to spend some much needed time with him and Grammys during our leave over Easter.

My cousin Scott took Little Man on his first tractor ride.

We had a nice visit on the farm. Though the years keep going by, it’s nice to have a place that always feels like home.

We wrapped up our visit with a trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. Despite all the construction going on, it felt like we’d come full circle since the Mister and I had our first date there and now we’re able to bring our first born.

As always, it was really difficult to leave for Tennessee. It really didn’t feel like we were back home for 2 weeks.

We spent the final week of the month trying to settle back into our home routine. Lots of yard work, laundry, and a more regular bedtime.

Poor Indie got very sick for a day (we think it was from the pest company spraying). She couldn’t keep anything down and was generally miserable. Thankfully, it seems to have been a 24 hour bug and she is back to her normal, Velcro self.

Little Man and I did a really fun Mommy and Me photoshoot on the very last day of the month. Can’t wait to share the photos once we get them back. We’ve never done just the two of us and I’m usually the one taking them, so it will be extra special.

I have a feeling May will either fly by or drag on. We have several things that could happen then, including a possible visit from the in-laws and Gramps’s big surgery (we are keeping our thoughts and prayers positive for an easy, uneventful recovery).

There’s also Mother’s Day, Free Comic Book Day, our 9th anniversary, and Memorial Day, as well as potlucks and hail and farewells. We’ll likely keep ourselves fairly busy as always.

Until then,

Cheers!

– A. xoxo