Happy Birthday to Brynne!!

I can't believe Brynne is already 2. She is such a fun girl to have in our family and I love her to pieces. We had a fun day of celebrating with her today and she had such a fun time. One of the primary presidency members saw us in the bathroom today at church and asked Brynne how she was doing. Brynne responded "It's a birthday!" She's well trained!

Some of my favorite things about Brynne right now are:
-her love of reading, especially this particular box of princess books. She has some of them memorized, since we read all them 5-10 times every day. I get tired of them, but she never does.
-that she loves people. She'll say hi to random strangers, she has no fear of nursery whatsoever, she'll run up and gives hugs and say hi to anyone that comes to our door. She just loves to play and be social.
-She loves to sing. Her favorite songs that we sing are The Night Night Song, Mean Old Witch, How Much is That Doggy in the Window?, Turtle Song, Snowman, and Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam. Even when I tell her to pick one more song before bed, after that song is over she asks for "one more song!"
-The "Do You Like?" game. This is a game I made up while waiting at the doctor's office one time. Brynne was getting impatient and squirmy so I started asking her about food that she liked. The game goes a little something like this:
Me: Do you like ice cream?
Brynne: Yeah! Mmmmmm!
Me: Do you like applesauce?
Brynne: Yeah! Mmmmmm!
Me: Do you like bananas?
Brynne: Yeah! Mmmmmm!
Me: Do you like socks?
Brynne: Ewwww!! Yuck!
And it continues. Another game that I invented at a doctors appointment that seems to have become a favorite of hers is the slide game. We had a draw toy (magnadoodle) with us, so I drew a slide with a ladder. Then we take turns with our fingers climbing up the ladder and sliding down the slide by saying "up up up up up ... weeeeeeeeee!" It's such a simple game and I can't believe she loves it so much.
-She loves giving tight squeezes. She'll give me a hug, I'll ask for a tight squeeze, and she'll wrap her arms around me so tight. I love that.

I just went and checked on the birthday girl and she fell asleep in her big girl bed without even getting out once. That's only happened one other time. We must have sufficently worn her out!

Happy (fake) 2nd birthday to my little leap year girl!

Sunday 10 - A Little Hodge Podge of Life

1. I'm a little behind on a few things we've done lately. A couple weeks ago Alli and Holly participated in the MV Itty Bitty Cheer Camp. Alli loved it. Holly didn't. And to be honest, I didn't either. It was organized way better last year, and I didn't think they taught the kids enough of the dance, because they spent too much time playing duck duck goose and red light, green light. Oh well. Alli loved doing the dance at half time, Holly spent the ENTIRE time turned around watching the other kids. It was pretty funny.

Brooke and Holly getting ready for the game to start.

Alli and her classic pose.

2. On Friday the 12th I spent the morning with Mary and Ashlee making all sorts of Valentine goodies. Afterwards, I went to Alli's kindergarten class to help with their Valentine party. They decorated cookies and had a blast doing it.

3. After school, we came home and packed and once Alex got back we headed off to Las Vegas. We decided to squish all 3 car seats in the back seat so all the kids could see the dvd player. That was the smartest decision. We had the quietest car ride we've ever had, and it was nice having the older girls right there to entertain Brynne.

4. We stayed at a hotel just off the strip, and the girls were so excited to be able to stay at a hotel. We somehow managed to get them to all fall asleep in the same room.
5. We left the next morning to pick up some breakfast, then went to the Hills to spend the day with them. We first went to feed the ducks and fish at Lake Mead. Words can't describe how fabulous it was to be out in the sunshine and wear short sleeves! The weather was perfect that weekend.

After Lake Mead we picked up some lunch and went to a park to eat. The kids played for close to 2 hours while the adults chatted and watched them. Sun is wonderful! We played at the Hills for the rest of the day, then went back to our hotel that night to give the kids baths and get them to bed.

6. After breakfast at the Hills on Sunday morning, we went to church with them, then came back for some homemade Cafe Rio. Yum! After dinner, we snapped this picture of the kids (minus the twins, who are cute as can be!) and started the drive home. The kids did great, and we made it home without a problem.

7. Monday afternoon Liz, Becca, Betsy, and I took our kids to eat at Archibald's in Gardner Village. We survived the chaos and had a good time.

8. This week has been full of excitement with finding out we're having a boy and hearing everyone's reactions. I spend a lot of time now trying to figure out how to decorate the room and how weird it is that I have nothing for a boy. I went to Target to look at boy clothes, and learned that my brain is trained to look at girl clothes. I found myself looking at sundresses only to realize that I'm not having a girl this time. It's a little strange!

9. Friday night I got a babysitter and went to the Varsity game without kids! After a close game and double overtime, Mountain View pulled off the win! A bunch of us went to Chili's afterwards.

10. I had to give a talk in church today. Thank goodness that is over. All day I kept thinking Brynne looked so grown up. She's almost 2 now and hilarious and frustrating, all in one. She can be pretty anal and stubborn if she wants to be. But she's adorable, and we love her to pieces. Here's my cute girl after church today.

Here's to a New Goal!

After a slight amount of begging on my part, Alex agreed to let me buy a treadmill with some of our tax refund. I did a little research and just bought one online! Here's hoping I gain less than 50 pounds with this pregnancy . . . which I have with all my other ones. (Okay, maybe with Alli it was only 45, but Brynne and Holly both helped me gain a solid 50 pounds. Yikes.) I have great plans of spending some quality time with me, my ipod, some movies, and my treadmill. Good times.

A Brand New Experience!

We had our 20 week ultrasound this morning. Everything looked HEALTHY, which I am so very grateful for. I always get really anxious before my ultrasounds, and I had a restless night of sleep last night, just hoping and praying that everything with our sweet baby would look normal and healthy. It's amazing how much that little bump on my belly has already become such a precious part of our lives. The baby is measuring exactly at 20 weeks, which I am today, keeping my due date at July 6.

Brynne and I were a few steps ahead of Alex, Alli and Holly when we walked into the sonogram room. The technician asked me how many kids I had, and I told her we had 3 girls. She said "uh oh, am I going to be held responsible for telling you this is a boy?" I laughed and told her I'd be fine with either one.

She said she would take care of the medical stuff first, and then we'd find the gender. But about 5 minutes into it she stopped and wrote "Oh Boy!" on the screen. It took me by surprise, so I had her show me what she was looking at. It wasn't a traditional gender shot, and one leg was tucked up to the side so I couldn't tell what she was seeing. But once she pointed it out, you could definitely tell it was a boy! He was tucked into a ball really tight, so it took the technician a lot of coaxing to get a good gender shot, but we ended up seeing plenty of BOY up on that screen. The technician told us there was definitely no chance this kid was a girl.

I think it's still a little surreal for Alex and I to think about having anything but pink and dressups and dollies and princesses around here, but we're ready for the adventure! Here are a few pictures of our LITTLE MAN!

His cute little profile. I think he has my nose!

One of the many boy shots we got.

A cute little wave!

Sunday One?

I'm not posting a Sunday 10 today because we're in Vegas for a quick trip and I have to wait until I get home to download pictures. We came for 3 reasons: to visit the Hills, we had 2 free hotel nights, I really wanted to be able to wear a short sleeved shirt. We just got in late Friday night, spent Saturday with the Hills, and today we're going to church with them, eating an early dinner, then heading back home. I'll post more when we get back home!

Sunday 10

1. I contemplated making this a special edition of Sunday 10 entitled: Reasons Alli Had Outbursts This Week", but she's redeemed herself SIGNIFICANTLY yesterday and today. Thank goodness for that.

2. Yesterday Alli and I had a little afternoon date to get our hair cut. I just did a little trim and cleaning up on mine, but we changed things a lot with Alli. Excuse the juice mustache!

3. A couple weeks ago, Holly and I went on a haircut date, too. We cut about 5+ inches off of her hair. I wish I had taken a picture before church today, when it was all cute and curly. But, alas, 9:00 doesn't allow for things like taking pictures and all the curls have fallen out since then.

4. Lest you think I don't love Brynne as much, here is her latest picture. Such a little showoff.

5. We went to a game at Timpview on Tuesday. I'll probably get in trouble for saying this, but I'm happy that there are only 4 games left, and one of those is in Lehi. That is good news.
6. On Thursday after school, Lindsay and I met up at IKEA. The older kids had fun playing at the kid area while we took the babies around the store. And I didn't buy anything. Go me.
7. They came over later that evening and we had dinner together. Alli concocted a sleepver plan without talking to me, but she won, so Brooke had a sleepover here, which the girls loved.
8. Friday morning I had a parent/teacher conference with Alli's teacher. That went well. Then we headed down to Orem for roommate breakfast at Chelsea's. I broke my old record and ate close to 10 cuties in about 90 minutes.
9. Yesterday we went to the Marshalls for some BYU basketball game. They got creamed. You can tell I care a lot about these things.
10. Alex is sitting next to me drooling right now, just waiting for the superbowl party that he gets to go to tonight. Notice I didn't say WE get to go to. This happens every year. I'm not jealous in the slightest about him watching the game. It's just that this guys house that he goes to makes the BEST food, and me and my pregnant self hate getting left out of pure deliciousness.

Blahdy Blah Blah

Today is one of those days where motherhood tasks seem boring. There is so much to do around the house. Always. And starting a new "me-time" project seems selfish, what with the laundry and the cleaning and the playing with children, and the body too tired to do it all, all the time. It doesn't help that one of my kids (who shall remain nameless, but it might be the oldest child) has been giving me total attitude for the last 4 days. And another one of the kids (who also will remain nameless, but might be the youngest) has seemed to be just a tad under the weather, and a little bit on the sensitive side. Everything makes her cry. And it makes me sad to know she's not feeling perfect. It also makes me feel guilty when after hours of tending to a baby on edge, I want a break. It has worn my patience thin and made me long for bedtime everyday.

Today I counted down the minutes until naptime. And I sent the older girls downstairs for quiet time. And then when they came up, I still wanted a little more quiet time, so I bribed them with a movie and popcorn if they would clean up the toys in the family room. When all the kids were done, we played together and sang songs, and everyone had fun, except that I kept checking the clock to see how much longer until Alex came home. The knight in shining armor. The man who walked in the door, took the kids attention away from me for at least a half-second, then went and vacuumed the popcorn-covered family room and did the dishes that have sat in the sink all day.

Between the time that I started this post and the time Alex walked in the door (approximately 90 seconds), Brynne got into my bathroom drawer and broke eyeshadow on my bathroom floor. It's only makeup. But it's one more thing to add to an already long day.

I don't usually blog as an emotional outlet. But this was just what I needed today. I got a good cry as I typed, Brynne piling Sesame Street books on my lap as I went, and I realized that I'm doing the best I can do right now. I can't do everything I want to do everyday, but I can still be a good mom even if I need an hour of peace and quiet sometimes.

Kleenex away. Reporting to duty.

Stupid pregnancy hormones.

Today's Funnies

We went to Timpview for a basketball game tonight. During halftime of the sophomore game, one of the cheerleaders did a flip on the court. Seeing as it was the sophomore game and there weren't too many people watching, only one person cheered for the girl. She looked at them, at the other end of bleachers from us, and said "Thank you!" to which Brynne responded "Ya welcome!"

At the Varsity game, Alli pointed to Timpview's student section and asked why that area was only for "the kids that were crazy but not really crazy". It took me a second to figure out what she was saying, then I realized she was refering to Mountain View, where the student fans are called the "Bruin Crazies". For the record, Timpview's student section pales in comparison to MV's.

In between the sophomore and Varsity games, the girls and I went to the concessions stand to grab hot dogs and water for dinner. My total came to $9, and I gave the kid a $20. This kid, a student at Timpview, turned to the other kids running concessions and asked how much change I should get. Please don't let him graduate.

In other news, I had a Braxton Hicks contraction while I was typing this. They start earlier with every pregnancy. I'm 18 weeks today, and this is my 3rd or 4th one. Sheesh.

A Couple Quick Kid Things

Brynne and I were in the car last week, and out of nowhere she counted to 13. All the coaxing and prompting in the world can't get her to repeat it, but I know it's in there somewhere.

I've been feeling the baby move a lot lately. Alex doesn't believe me, but it's definitely the baby. I feel it on and off all throughout the day, but especially at night. I love that.