DeLappenings: 4.3.21

Well, peeps.

I finally forced a few moments to sift through some of my pics from this past weekend, and what a lovely one it was.

Our drive up to Oklahoma served many purposes:

Getting out of our crazy construction-riddled casa.

Seeing Nanna, whose visit to us was foiled in February because of the winter storm disaster.

Seeing allllll the rest of the family—grandparents, aunts/uncles/great aunts/cousins, who were all gathered for the holiday.

And, most notably...witnessing the baptism of this ridiculously adorable little nugget:

Yup. That’s my insanely cutie-pie little niece (little bro’s kiddo), and we’re wildly obsessed with her. :)

So obsessed that I’ll basically just give you a flip book of a bunch of images where she could not be cuter if she tried (and, yup, I asked parental permission before posting).

She is So. Stinking. Cute. And so petite. And at 11 months, she’s crawling but not walking, which is just the best age for adorable, little baby fun and play.

I’m so grateful we got to see her and witness this special event, because our next opportunity for a visit will likely be end of summer, and what a difference so many months can make in the aging of a baby.

I don’t want to miss it!

Also of note: this little nugget is accumulating the most amazing milestone dates.

She was born on 5.10.20.

And baptized on 4.3.21.

So coolio!

So grateful to have been there to witness this wonderful event. And I’m equally as grateful for the opportunity to gather at little bro’s wife’s parents’ house (follow that?) for a celebratory brunch after the baptism.

Little bro and his wife actually held their wedding reception in the backyard of her parents’ house, and it’s just so very lovely and spacious. That evening (nearly nine years ago!) was such a wonderful event, and I’m happy to add another memory to that same backyard.

It was a small gathering, and thankfully, many within the group have begun or completed their vaccination rounds. Masks were utilized until we dug into the food, set up camp outdoors, and set the kiddos free for the most picturesque egg hunt. I mean, seriously the best environment for it, on a beautiful, beautiful day.

And I had this lovely moment while we were out there, watching little bro completely grown up and with a small handful of his very close friends—from high school, even—who joined for the occasion, and it was such a trip to recognize the generational turnover.

Once upon a time, what felt like yesterday, they (we) were all the kids in the backyard with the parents milling around. And now, we’ve all moved up the ranks and assumed our places within these precious family-rearing years. It’s a beautiful and nostalgic circle of life, for sure.

And now...a slew of pics’

Let the hunt begin! (Also of note: it was fun to get the parents in on the hiding of the eggs.)

Chica found the golden egg this year. Woohoo! And it was hidden in a pretty concealed spot, so good for her!

Another thing to note: aside from their school and extracurricular interactions, my kiddos have had zero play dates with little friends in this past year. Luckily, we rectified that TODAY with our first playground outing with neighborhood friends (comfort levels are getting slightly better with vaccination rollout). But the net/net is that any outside-of-school kiddo interaction just seems SO special. And it’s so lovely to see.