Happy 6th Birthday!

Alli is 6 years old today. I'm not sure where the last 6 years went. How in the love am I old enough to have a 6 year old? It's crazy. We have a weekend-ful of plans for her, so I'll post some pictures on Sunday when we're all done. I love my girl!

Wahoo! Progress!!

A couple months ago I brought the toddler bed into Brynne's room and started having her make the transition out of the crib. She did great at night. Naps were a different story. She eventually learned how to climb into her crib, and would play during naptime for a little bit until she got tired, then she'd climb into the crib and take a nap. The last couple nights she started doing the same thing, and I was scared of her regressing completely, so today I moved the crib out of her room and into the baby's room. I thought it would take a few days of fighting naptime to get her to sleep in her "big girl bed".

Guess who is asleep in the toddler bed right now?

YES!

Sunday 10

1. I'd have to say this week was pretty productive. Alex laughs at me when I say that word. I love feeling productive. But that's what this week was, and I'm proud of it.
2. On Monday our fence got finished. YAY! They were able to fix their original problem, and Alex managed to fix the pipe that busted as a result of them drilling the post hole before they started in the morning. I love that Brynne can be trapped in the backyard. We spent a lot of time outside this week on the days that were nice. I look forward to a lot more time as Spring decides snow is not okay.
3. Monday afternoon Joy, Chase, and Charlotte came to play. Once upon a time, like probably 3 years ago, Chase hit one of my kids. It took them a long time to forget that. Thankfully they all play together well now so that Joy and I have plenty of time to talk.
4. On Monday night Alex and I were sitting on the couch and I announced that Tuesday would be my 29 week mark. All of a sudden my due date seemed so close. Well actually, it's one of those things where it seems so far away still, but I have a lot to do in those 11 weeks, making it seem soon...if that makes any sense. So I kicked my butt into high gear this week and got to work on the baby's room. I taped it all off, bought the paint, and got the room painted between Thursday and Saturday. I'm not ready to show pictures yet, but I'm completely in love with it. I'm pretty sure it's a little too funky for Alex's liking, but seeing as I'm the one who planned it, prepared it, bought the paint, and did 90% of the work, he's a good sport and lets me have my fun. I'm hoping to get all the wall stuff done in the next 2 or 3 weeks, and then I might be ready to post pictures. Get excited!
5. Once I got the painting supplies cleaned up, I discovered that Alli and Holly could live in bliss with just an empty room and a step ladder. They spent a lot of time playing in there today until they learned that an empty room is not only fun, but loud, and I made them go out so they wouldn't wake up Brynne.
6. Saturday night Alex got us a babysitter and we went out to dinner and a movie. We tried to go to Cafe Rio but the line was insane and we didn't have time. So we tried out a new Mexican restaurant that was super cheap and so amazing. It's 9:30 and I want a burrito. That's how good it was. We'll definitely be going there again. After dinner we saw "Date Night". About 20 minutes into the movie I told Alex I almost wished we had rented it instead, because I was laughing so hard I was afraid it was going to get embarrassingly loud. Hilarious movie.
7. My easy-going child has decided to be a maniac these last few days. I thought we were going to avoid the Terrible Two's with Brynne, but they have hit. Either that or a lack of sleep has made her so cranky. The last 2 nights she's stayed awake in bed until at least 11, most of that time spent crying for us to come in. It doesn't matter how much I try to soothe her, it's not enough. Last night I told her I'd sing one more song. We sang the last song and then I tried leave. She kept asking for more songs, and with each one I told her she could sing it by herself in bed. Then she requested "I am a Child of God", and again I told her to sing it by herself in bed. She broke into sobs and said, "Mom! I can't do it!" So of course I stayed for yet another song. I really hope she gets a little more sleep tonight.
8. We started a new reward system around here. I have never seen Alli and Holly so motivated to help me out. I'm hoping their excitement lasts long after the baby comes, though I'm sure they'll have forgotten it by then. Wish us luck...
9. Two pictures to share: The first is from last Sunday. The Gardners were over, and these two little buddies had so much fun digging in the dirt. I love that they're such cute friends.

10. Brynne, who rarely leaves a hat on for more than 5 seconds, was begging us to get a hat down for her after church today. She put this one on and announced, "I'm ready for go now!" She then declared "I'm a cutie!", which is her new phrase this week. She is so cute and sweet and loves to give tight squeezes. I am so lucky to have my kids.

Sunday 10

1. Our fence started getting installed bright and early Monday morning. When I went out to inspect the posts, I realized they were too tall. We ordered 4' picket fence all the way around, and what we got were 5' posts. I talked to someone at the company who said there was a size request mistake at the shop, but they would be able to cut it down to the right size and the rest of the installment should be finished on time. I'm a bit skeptical, but hoping it will work out. They're supposed to be here at 8 tomorrow morning. I can't wait to have a fenced yard!
2. I had my 28 week appointment on Wednesday. Everything looks good. For the second month in a row, we had a hard time getting the heartbeat to register because this little guy was moving too much. Everytime we'd catch the heartbeat, he'd wiggle away and we'd have to find it again.
3. Brynne perfected the heartbeat/doppler sound. It made my doctor laugh.
4. Alex left Thursday for a trip to Baltimore. He got back late last night. I'm hoping he'll write a little about his experience, because it sounds like it was awesome.
5. As is customary when Alex is gone, we had awesome meals of grilled cheese, pancakes, and even one mini splurge on my part: Kneaders. I haven't had a sandwich there in a long time. It was so very tasty.
6. By Friday, Alli had changed her mind back to the original birthday party, and my fantastic mother in law saved the day and picked Holly up to take her to Salt Lake for Kate's birthday party. Alli had a lot of fun at her friend's party, while Brynne and I went to the grocery store because I realized I forgot to bring diapers with me. Oops.
7. After Alli's party we went to Salt Lake and played with cousins and had dinner. It was such a nice night to sit outside and chat.
8. Saturday we just hung out and spent a lot of time outside. I learned that Brynne hates baby moniters. Alli had a friend come over and we all just soaked up the sun and played.
9. Alex wrote up a new baby name list at church today. I don't think we're any closer to deciding.
10. I am loving Spring so far. It's so fun to see what flowers the previous owners planted that are all popping up right now. It's been so nice to play outside with the girls. Spring is so refreshing.

A Couple Thoughts on Baby Things

I've been watching some baby shows on Discovery Health, but I think I should stop because I get really angry at the women on there who scream and yell the whole time they are pushing the baby out. Not only do they sound completely ridiculous, but do they not realize that every ounce of energy coming out of their mouth is energy not going towards getting the baby out? It's a good thing I'm not the type of person who throws things at the t.v., because that would do it.

I'm a little scared of my baby coming out looking like an old man. I've learned that girl babies tend to come out a little cuter, and boy babies have a bigger chance of looking like little old men. If, by chance, my baby does look like an old man, please lie to me. And then assure me that you're not lying to me.

Birthday Party Madness

Several weeks ago, Alli came home from school with a paper announcing the Daddy-Daughter dance that's this weekend. She showed Alex, they talked about going, and day by day she got more excited about it, asking how many more days until the big event. We counted down for a couple weeks and she couldn't believe how close it was getting.

About a week and a half ago, Alex was presented with an awesome opportunity to go to Baltimore with his dad, uncle, and Grams. The only problem? It's this weekend. The same weekend as the much-anticipated Daddy-Daughter dance. Alex had a talk with Alli about going, and she said she would be sad, but it would be okay if he went on his trip. He promised a fun daddy-daughter date when he got back. She's fine with missing the dance, but she still talks about how fun it would be. So the timing was perfect when her "best friend" (she has like 10 of them) from kindergarten invited her to her birthday party at My Gym. It's the same day as the dance. She's completely stoked about it and can't stop talking about it. It's the perfect distraction from the dance. Phew.

Fast forward to yesterday. I get a phone call from Alex's sister Becca, informing me of her daughter's 5th birthday party which will be held at roughly the same time as the My Gym party, but 20 minutes further away. I try to convince Alli that she would rather go to her cousin's party, but she's determined to not miss a second of the other party. In fact, her words were, "I'm not willing to go to Kate's party." Already feeling bad that she's missing the Daddy-Daughter dance, I give up on changing her mind and start figuring out how I can get Holly to one party, Alli to the other party, and not have to drive back and forth 4 times. It wasn't looking easy, but I was willing to sacrifice. I didn't have any other option, anyway, since Alli wasn't about to budge. She'd already given me "3, I mean 4 . . . actually 5 reasons" why she wanted to go to the first party. So we're set. Crazy day, here we come.

At dinner tonight, I told Holly that Kate's party was going to be an art party. Across the table, Alli's eyes lit up and she said "Okay, I seriously want to go to Kate's party." After all my tricks to get her to change her mind, in the end all it took was a mention of art and she was happy.

One more quick Alli story: We decided to drive back from California on Friday. Alli really didn't want to leave until Saturday, so she told me she'd give me half of the money in her piggy bank if we could stay one more day. Roughly 15 cents was almost worth it, but not quite.

Catching Up

It's been a couple weeks since I posted. We've been in California visiting my family and just got back late Friday night. I have a million pictures from the trip and had a hard time narrowing down which ones to post.

We started the drive Friday, spent most of the trip driving in bad weather, and were thrilled to finally get to Reno late that night where we had booked a hotel. Saturday morning we enjoyed an awesome free hotel breakfast then got back in the car to finish the drive. We decided to stop by my aunt and uncles house in Fairfield and say hello. We got to my parents house Saturday afternoon. My parents were in Virginia until Tuesday at my sister's baby's blessing, so for the first few days we just hung out with my brother Steven and sister Cami.

Sunday was conference and Easter. My girls were excited to get their Easter baskets!

My grandma, Aunt Suzi, and cousin Lizzy came over for Easter dinner. Lizzy put together an Easter egg hunt for my kids, which they loved. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain the whole day, so we had to do it inside.

Brynne and Lizzy

Brynne showing Bedstemor her treats.

Bedstemor (grandma) brought my girls a music box. Brynne watched it like this on the couch for at least 10 minutes. It was precious.

The kids watched Aladdin one morning, and it was so funny to see Brynne's face at the scary parts. She is so animated sometimes!

On Tuesday afternoon we went to downtown Santa Rosa to the Luther Burbank gardens. I haven't been there since I was a kid, and it was much smaller than I remember it being! But it was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed just walking around.

Wednesday afternoon we loaded up the car and went down to San Francisco. We drove around Golden Gate park for awhile, and then headed to Pier 39 to go to the Aquarium of the Bay. My kids were so excited to go see the fish!

Holly and Alli with my mom and Steven.

After the aquarium, my parents took the kids home with them while Alex and I got dinner at some hole-in-the-wall Mexican place that was really good, and then we went to see Wicked! That was our second time seeing it, and I decided I could never see it too much. I love the show! It was so fun to have a little time for just the two of us in San Francisco.

On Thursday we met up with our neighbors here, who were also on a trip to the Bay Area, and we all went to Armstrong Grove. I always picture Armstrong Grove as such a peaceful place, because that's what it's always been to me. Well, things change when you bring kids, especially a curious 2 year old. She kept us on our toes! But we had a great afternoon there, eating lunch and going on a little hike to the ampitheater.

Brynne with my dad.

You know how they say the camera adds 10 pounds? Well, I think in this case the camera added about 10 inches to my belly. I couldn't believe how huge I looked when I saw this picture. And to think I still have 3 months to go . . . I'm afraid of what I'll look like come July!

Steven and Holly jumping the benches at the ampitheater.

Brynne helping my dad dig in the yard. Don't you envy how green their grass is? That is one of the things I definitely miss about living in California!

Overall it was an awesome trip, and I'm so glad we planned a lot of fun things to do. We had a pretty smooth trip home, with the exception of a broken dvd player and a quick stop at Walmart in Sacramento to get a new one. My kids keeping saying they want to go back there again. Even as we were pulling onto our street after 13 hours in the car, they were saying they wanted to turn around and go back. I'm glad we all had a great time!