easter.

I come from a family of three girls, with a mom who was an amazing seamstress. Receiving new, and often matching, dresses for holidays like Christmas and Easter was a given. Unfortunately, I don't sew.... well enough to construct an actual garment. So, instead, I spend way too long online picking out holiday dresses for Eliza. Something that Sam doesn't really understand. A girl needs every excuse to get a new dress. And, I have always loved looking at photos and remembering the year of that particular dress.

I've been trying to be a better mom, lately. A big part of that is not feeling the urge to always say, "No." Eliza has so many very strong opinions about a lot of things- especially when it comes to clothing. These past few months I have successfully let go of my control of her attire. I still buy her clothing, obviously. Which means I don't purchase things that I don't fully support as a parent. But, Eliza has dressed herself every day for quite awhile now, and I stopped trying to fight it. It feels good, actually. It cuts out a lot of the day-to-day stress, and it has really made me realize that this girl is her own being. She comes up with the best outfits, so original and so Eliza. I don't even fight things like wearing a sweater when it's cold, because she will realize that she's cold and ask for one. It's so liberating! That's been my overall goal as I prepare for this second baby. Letting go. Let it go! It really doesn't matter. And, she needs to be a kid.

The only thing is when I buy her clothing that I love, but that she's not into, it just never gets worn. And, the same (weird) dress or shirt that I cringe over gets worn three days in a row. So, I have to then stop buying clothing for myself and start thinking about this little fairy princess. She likes pink. She likes poofy. She swoons for sparkles. And, she is obsessed with graphic tees. If I take her shopping we will spend hours trying on shoes and clothes in the middle of the aisle (no modesty, she just strips down and pulls it in). And, then there might be some tears if I don't get her something ridiculous or expensive. So, I still have to go get things on my own- I just really try and look through her glitter-filled eyes and find something she will love to wear.

So, for Easter I got her this pretty, cupcake of a dress and she was so excited. I was nervous because pink is pink to Eliza- ballet pink is not pink, coral is not pink... only bright, hot pink can receive the highest honor. But, when she woke up Easter morning, and this puffy dress was laid out with her Easter basket she squealed and I felt like a super good mom. Score!

We had a lovely Easter. I can't remember a lot about it, except that we went to church and I was feeling so grateful and blessed to have my beautiful family and this little tiny one in my belly. We had an Easter egg hunt with friends earlier that week, but still had a mini one in our yard on Easter Sunday. We had dinner with friends, and I believe Sam made a roasted chicken- which was amazing. Eliza cracked cascarones in the yard that my dad sent from Texas, and there was confetti all over the garden for weeks.