Happy Easter

After the Easter Bunny's visit yesterday, we tried to separate that part from the true Easter message today.  We spent time talking about Easter and why it's special.  We made a 'special breakfast' of pancakes, meatless sausage we love, and turkey bacon.  Sydney was in heaven with all the meat options!  We talked about the sun rising on us just as it did the morning Jesus lived again.

We went to church where I told Ethan that there would be special Easter music.  He waiting very (un)patiently for that musical number and kept asking when it would happen.  Too bad there were no violin or flute solos.  Bummer--we love those.  :-)

We came home and played a little and I got on the piano to play a few songs about Jesus and got ready for Easter dinner with my family at my parent's house.  I snapped a few photos of them before we got in the car.  I asked them to stand for the photo and hold still and Sydney immediately hugged Ethan from behind.  It was so sweet.  Ethan was laughing and loving it.

Right before we left grandma and grandpa's, Sydney got hurt on the trampoline.  She won't put any weight on her leg, so we're hopeful she was just sore and over-ly tired.  (I know the latter is true.  She was out as soon as we laid her in bed.)  Doug read the Easter morning story of the resurrection in our scripture reader.  When we said family prayer a minute or two later Ethan said, "Bless us that we can be resurrected.  Bless us that our bodies can be strong."  They really do pay attention!  It was so sweet.

The Hunt

We called some friends to join us for an Easter Egg Hunt today and put Ethan and Sydney down for a nap.  They were G-R-U-M-P-Y and hadn't had a nap all week.  This is the start of me phasing out naps.  If they get a nap (of any length) they don't go to bed until 9 or 10 pm.  It wears me out.  We whipped out a bin of clothes I bought for them on clearance last year (score!) and put them in shorts and short-sleeved shirts for the hunt in 65 degree weather.  It was beautiful!

They were off with gusto.

Sydney went right to it and climbed anywhere she saw an egg.  She came up from this tree with lots of pine needles in her hair.  Anything for an egg!

Quentin was so fun to watch as he seemed to be moving slowly, but in the end had a basket chuck full of eggs.

Ethan kept asking where more eggs were.  Notice Sydney's hair in the right side of this photo--she didn't stop much at all.

Showing off the loot.  It was hard to get them to look at the camera because they were so excited about their treasures.

What did they get?  My kids' version of 'treats' is different than most.  They were thrilled (despite Sydney's face in this photo) with their loot:
pretzels
Annie's cheddar bunnies and graham bunnies (favorite of Sydney)
Goldfish
Sunspire dark chocolate drops (like M&Ms)
Gummy snacks from the bulk bin at the health food store
Fabe's chocolate chip cookies (small enough to fit in the eggs and fruit juice sweetened)
Buddy fruits (pouch of fruit puree)
Chocolate milk (they wanted to drink it before finding eggs
Bubbles
Hair brush and clips for Sydney (because she needed them)

Here is Ethan singing "I've got two cookies, I've got two cookies, I've got two cookies, hey, hey...hey, hey!" from Little Rascals.  It was hilarious!

Sydney kept finding eggs that were closed in the afternoon and wanting to see if there were more treats.  So cute.  She was trading Ethan for his cheddar bunnies and goldfish and giving him her sweets.

Brynlee

I kept it a secret from Ethan and Sydney that their friend Brynlee would be coming into town this week for a few days.  I told them when they woke up Wednesday morning that they would see her later that day.  They were thrilled!  

I had a dr appt and the baby is growing well and I have gained 25 lbs so far.  Feeling 'full' while everyone tells me I look tiny.  I am not sure how I can look tiny when I've added 25 pounds to my body, but apparently it's possible!  We still don't know a name for this little girl, but I have my favorites.  Doug isn't sold on any of them yet...bummer.

After the doctor, we met Brynlee at the park in Alpine.  Sydney had an accident at grandma's house so I stopped at the house to get a better pair of pants for her to wear.  The spare fleece ones were a little warm for the weather.  As soon as I changed her, she ran to the play ground and immediately started crying and peed her pants.  I lost it.  In front of several other parents at the park.  Not a shining moment for me, but I was completely stunned and frustrated.  I put back on her fleece pants and proceeded to remind her to go to the potty every hour.  She told me she wanted her "little potty" at our house and it became a little clearer what could be going on.  

Think he loves her much?

I had to do a quick offer on a property for work and so Kayla took Ethan and Sydney to her cousin's high school softball game for a few minutes and I joined about 30 minutes later.  I didn't realize that my cousin, Jessica, was going to be there coaching!  That was a fun surprise.  They played so hard while we sat in the warm sun.

Thursday, Brynlee joined us for some playtime while her mom, Kayla, went to the doctor.  They had a blast.

It's hard to separate Ethan from Bryn after playing so well together.  They do boss each other a bit, but they can "take it" from each other as well.

We went to another park for a few hours that afternoon as well.  They loved the swings.

That evening, Kayla and I went out for a smoothie for some time without kids, and I told her that she was joining in my celebration of making it to 32 weeks!  I delivered Ethan and Sydney at this stage of my pregnancy (at exactly 32 weeks) and was RELIEVED to have this day behind me.  I am still on high alert for pre-term labor symptoms and do NOT want to repeat another NICU stay.  Ever.

We were sad to say goodbye Thursday to Kayla and Bryn, but were happy to hear that they will be back for a visit in June.  Let the countdown begin.

Twenty minutes

My sister, Tiffany, and I have spent a lot of time together and our kids play several times per week.  We have known they would be moving for several months now, and I have been excited for them and sad for me.  The day finally came this weekend.  Her kids spent the day here on Thursday while they did most of the moving and Doug went over at night to help them with the unloading at the new house.  It is just TWENTY minutes away, but I am in mourning.  

I fed them dinner Thursday night and made them something new--Sunflower Burgers.  I asked who liked dinner and they all raised their hands.

They had the weekend to unpack and get settled and Tiffany asked for my help today to clean.  My mom watched E&S with Tiffany's kids while I cleaned.  It ended up taking a good portion of the day, and my mom went over to wrap things up while I hung out with the kids at grandma's house.  We had some trampoline time and played until Tiff and grandma came home.  My kids had a blast.

Wild birthday party time

Doug's birthday today was a little crazy for me.  I had big plans--a nice breakfast, decorations, yummy dinner, and a few surprise gifts.  It ended up being a little stressful when my work got a bit hectic.  We managed to carry out all my plans, but dinner was pretty late.  :-)

Sydney woke up from a nap with some seriously crazy hair--the photo does not do it justice, but it's a start. They helped me decorate with a few streamers before Doug came home.  He got off work a little early so he could celebrate with us.  Doug took them outside to play in the warm sunshine while I finished dinner.  I had made Doug his favorite cookies from his childhood--his grandma's boiled raisin cookies.  They weren't too difficult, so maybe he can have them more than once every 5 years.  

Doug couldn't decide on a dessert and ended up choosing a Marie Calendar pie.  It was a hit and he enjoyed it for several days by himself (with a few nibbles from Ethan and Sydney).

I managed to surprise Doug with a homemade gift.  Those are rare coming from me.  I saw a fun picture frame we've had since our first month of marriage that we'd never used.  It had collected some serious dust and took me a while just to clean it.  There were some 'pretend' photos in it that had been taped to it and I ended up having to scour it with Goo Gone to get it off because it had been sitting for years.  

I laid out several photos of our time in Hawaii last fall.  Doug and I have reminisced MANY times the last several chilly months about how magical our experience was on Oahu.  Ethan and Sydney helped choose the final photo and made sure that Brutus the turtle made the cut in the photos I selected for the frame.  

Doug loved it.  Success.

Sending Heather off in style

Doug's niece, Heather, leaves for an 18-month LDS mission to Nicaragua and gave her farewell talk in church today.  We went over to her house afterward for lunch and to say our goodbyes.  We stayed for several hours and Ethan and Sydney were in heaven with their cousins.  They found a dress up bin with, what else, dresses!  Ethan kept coming up and showing off his latest 80's fashion.

He would twirl for us every time.

We will miss Heather but are so excited for her and the people she will serve!

GOOOOAAL!

We got a funny book from the library that Sydney and Ethan LOVE.  Especially Sydney.  It is about a boy who loses his voice and is so upset because tonight is the "big game".  Later, you find it is a soccer game when Rory screams, "GOOOOAAL!" as his voice returns.  We had passes to exchange for tickets to a professional soccer game today at Real Salt Lake and scream "GOOOOAAL!" which Ethan and Sydney were anxiously anticipating.

After a failed attempt at attending the Real Salt Lake game due to it being sold out, we headed up early to the Utah Gymnastics meet against #2 ranked Florida.  My sister, Sarah, and her family joined us for the fun and it was the best meet we've been to at the U of U in the past several years.  I saw an ice cream stand for a place I thought was closed.  I had purchased a $10 gift card 4-5 years ago and had it in my purse...so we got some ice cream to share with our cousins.

The Utes had the 3rd highest score in their team's history and were stunning to watch.  The stadium was packed with nearly 15,000 fans and it was fantastic.

Walmart serenade

While at Walmart today, both Ethan and Sydney started singing "You Are So Beautiful" from the movie Little Rascals.  Sydney used to sing, "I am so beautiful, to me..." and has finally learned the correct lyrics.  

They started singing louder and louder and I would hush them a bit to help me not feel so embarrassed. A few minutes later, I realize that Ethan is singing to Sydney, holding her hands, hugging her.  It was adorable.  He tells her that she's beautiful often.  He loves bows in her hair and cute clothes (mostly dresses) on her and let's her know.  I love my sensitive boy--he gets it from his dad.

Bowling for prizes

Ever since potty training, Sydney has tried several times each night to crawl into our bed with us.  It's been a month and we're tired.  We put her back in her bed, but our sleep is still interrupted and the baby in my belly is usually woken up in the process.  The kicking begins by child #3 and it can take an hour before I can fall asleep.  We've gotten desperate.  We've told them they can pick a prize if they stay in their beds until 7 am and bought a clock that glows green at that exact time.  It's getting better, but we're still woken at least twice each night by Sydney.  Ethan has been scoring some serious prizes in the meantime.  

Today he picked a bowling set that got from a friend a few months back.  We set it up in the kitchen and played for a while this morning.  It was so fun.  We might spend $50 when this is all said and done, but we WILL sleep again.

Toddler photo attempts

We went to the Tracy Aviary in downtown Salt Lake this afternoon and invited my friend, Tiffany, and her kids to join us.  They were enthralled by the flamingos so we wanted to get a photo of our cute kids posing with them.  Too bad we were working with three toddlers...

After watching the movie "Rio" repetitively, Ethan and Sydney were incredibly disappointed that the macaw, "Blue" did not have his own exhibit.  I was disappointed as well, as I was the one who set the expectation that he would be there...oops.

Sunday birthdays are relaxing

I think I've been sick every two weeks since December with some sort of bug.  I caught a bug this morning on my birthday which I was a little annoyed about.  I didn't eat much more than apple sauce all day but was better to eat my enchilada dinner which Doug slaved over as well as a delicious vegan chocolate cake!  We were so glad our friends Tiffany and Blake could join us in our celebration, even though we didn't get any photos with them.

Ethan and Sydney were more excited than I was to have a birthday and loved the cake and presents.  They opened my presents for me and helped me blow out my candles.

Sydney even helped me try on my shoes.  Maybe because I feel pretty pregnant these days, I got footwear for my birthday this year.  Two pair of shoes (Toms) and a pair of slippers that are amazingly warm and comfortable.  I just felt so grateful to be a mom to two cute kids and a wife to an amazing dad and husband.  I don't always have those "grateful" moments, so it was a good night for me.  :-)

Go Utes!

What Marchant get together is complete without a trek to a sporting event at the University of Utah?  None.

We watched the basketball game where we dominated a ranked team.  Sydney kept getting confused calling it a "gymnastics" game because they are held at the same venue.

Our little frogs

Doug's sister, Natalie, and her family came into town today, and we went to Trafalga Friday night.  We had a great time mini golfing, laser tagging, sliding, and the unexpected fun--the Frog ride. Sydney stunned Doug and I when she asked to go.  We were more surprised when she loved it!  

She asked to go on it again and again.  Ethan followed later and they both were in heaven.  It's quite the bumpy ride, but they didn't complain one bit.

Little lady

Sydney is growing up so fast.  She has become increasingly social, and quite the nurturer with her animals and babies.  She loves to feed her animals, take them to the potty, cuddle them, and tuck them in for a nap.  She sings them a song and asks, well, tells me to be quiet so her animal can sleep.  I took her yesterday to get a haircut and she looks even more grown up now.  She is super cuddly with me and loves 'mommy time' that we have every day.  I am realizing more and more how fast these days will be over.

Spring is in the air

When I proposed an outing to the park and a picnic this morning, you'd think I told them we were going to Disneyland.  They threw their hands in the air and jumped up and down.  I called my sister, Tiffany, and they ate lunch and then joined us at the park.  My kids weren't interested in food one bit because they were so excited to FINALLY be outside after a very long winter.

Beckristensen dinner

My best friend growing up moved close this past summer.  We have been starting to get together and Ethan and Sydney love her kids.  Sydney loves her daughter Layla who is 4 years old in part because she is a thumb-sucker just like her.  We've had talks about not pulling Layla's thumb out of her mouth because Layla can suck her thumb too.  Sydney was the thumb-sucking-police the first time she saw her and told her to stop and hit her on the head because she didn't listen.  I was pretty surprised.

Chenae and I thought it would be fun to host a Beckstrand/Christensen dinner because two of her sisters also moved here in the past year or so.  It was so fun!  

My dad showed up in style with his crutches and boot.  He broke his foot 5 weeks ago when he fell on the ice taking out the garbage and had surgery with pins in his foot and all.  He's been pretty immobile, so we were happy to see him up and about!