The Grandest Pictures of the Easter Parade

Dear Em,

"In your Easter Bonnet, 

with all the frills upon it,

You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade."

- Easter Parade by Irving Berlin

Ok, so you've never worn an Easter Bonnet & we haven't been in any parades, but that doesn't stop me from taking pictures like you were a cast member in the 1948 musical.

I bought your first Easter dress before you were even born, & I couldn't wait to sit you on the Easter Bunny's lap. You did really well. No real smiles, but no tears either. You were less than four months old & sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap probably thinking, "what is my crazy mom taking pictures of me doing now?"

As a reward for a job well done (or a job that was to come), I took you for a ride on the mall carousel. You were kind of nonchalant about that too, but I enjoyed it. It was your first carousel ride. Afterwards, we took you home, & then the real photo shoot began.

By the time the next year rolled around, I had learned that you can get pictures taken with a real bunny. How freaking precious, right? I couldn't wait to sign you up. Since we were taking professional pictures this time, I decided not to torture you with sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap & home photo shoots.

The pictures were precious, but the photographer was not the greatest at getting you to smile...or stay in the room where we were taking your pictures...or getting you to interact with the bunny without crying or hitting it. And the pictures were really expensive. Like, really expensive. I'm pretty sure we could have bought 5 bunnies for the price we paid. So, I may have tortured you with one home photo shoot. Just a quick family one.

I'm not sure what we're doing this year. Can you believe I haven't planned it out yet? I think I'm just going to take your pictures on my own again. Maybe we'll take a trip to the Easter Bunny's lap, maybe we'll just do a walk by.

Last night one of the bunnies we often find hopping through our yard was standing next to our back deck. Daddy called you over to the back door to look. "If only there was a way to get Em's pictures with that bunny," I thoughtfully thought out loud. "Julie, that's a wild animal. Not a good idea," your Daddy said looking at me like I was deranged. I know it's not a good idea. It is possible the bunny has rabies or some kind of other bunny disease. I may torture you for prime photo moments, but I wouldn't go that far. 

Maybe we can dress up the cats. Stay tuned for this year's pictures.

I love you so,

Mommy