Happy Easter!

Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays! It's such a special day for so many reasons. From a religious standpoint, it's the day when the Alleluia returns! After the journey of Lent and the darkness of Good Friday, today we rejoice for Christ is risen! Alleluia!

In an email a few days ago, a very wise friend of mine wrote, "For some time now, I've seen Easter as the marking of our victory, as people, as sons and daughters of God, brothers and sister of Christ. We win." His quote has been going through my head all day. I love thinking of this feast as a victory. We do win! Jesus is risen, and thus we have the opportunity for eternal life. I also love Easter because it's a day to renew your Baptismal promises. Since this is Grace's first Easter, I got choked up as Martin and I renewed our own Baptismal promises and Grace's too. What a wonderful day!

We started our morning with Grace playing in between us in bed. I love weekend mornings. Having time to enjoy the morning as a family is the best! Grace was her usual cheerful self this morning, complete with lots of her signature happy screams. We're watching my parents cat for the week, and Grace gets seriously excited every time she sees the kitty. This morning was no exception.

We got Grace dressed in her beautiful Easter dress, and she looks like a little angel! I've already posted lots of pictures from today. Be sure to check out our photo site. Before we left for Mass, Grace scoped out what the Easter Bunny brought to our house! The Easter Bunny put her basket with all of the other Easter presents she's gotten from family and friends. It was quite a spread!

Grace was a good girl at Mass once again. She even worked on her singing during a few of the songs. She likes making noise when everyone sings. Adorable!

After Mass, Martin, Billy, Grace and I went for lunch at Plucker's. Billy gave up Pluckers for Lent, and Martin and I gave up going out to eat, so it was a fun lunchtime place for all of us, especially with March Madness in full swing.

On the way home, a song came on the radio that made me all teary. Ever since Grace's first tooth came through, I've been feeling very emotional about how quickly she's growing up. I know this is a normal Mom reaction; it's just crazy how fast time is flying! The country song called "Stealing Cinderella" is about a little girl growing up and finding the man of her dreams. The young man realizes he's "stealing Cinderella" and that in the eyes of the girl's Dad, she will always be his little girl. It's a great song, and I imagine I'm not the only one who's gotten a bit teary listening to it.

Now we're back home, and Grace is playing. We'll be having a nice family dinner later. I'm looking forward to the rest of the day with my incredible family! Happy Easter one and all!