End of September

Mornings with Mattie-

Mattie runs down the sidewalk following the bus as long as she can every morning then tells me with a frown "I miss my sister!"  But she's also definitely enjoying our one-on-one time and having free reign over all the toys and dress-up.  Also, she's gotten pretty smart and often says "Mom, let's cuddle on the couch and watch a movie"- an offer I can't resist these days.

Kindergarten Girl-
We're still struggling with lots of meltdowns but it's fun to see how much Jillian is learning and growing.  I've started occasionally picking her up from school because the bus takes SO long to get to our house.  One day Mattie fell asleep in the car so Jilly and I went through the McDonald's drive-thru to get a treat then still had time to play a game at home before Mattie woke up.  Jilly and I both loved the time together so, so much.  Jillian has started drawing pictures for me in the morning while she waits for me to wake up.  I love the one she drew of the baby and me- it seems appropriate that we're both crying

Mother of Five-

Some friends of ours went out of town for a couple days so we watched their kids.  It was quite a houseful but the kids were all so sweet and helpful.  The perler beads were a big hit with everyone, and I felt especially proud that I got all the kids up, fed, dressed, and to two different schools on time.

Baby Sprinkle-

My friend Janice threw a perfect Harry Potter themed Sprinkle for me.  We made these cute wands and ate yummy treats.  It was so fun to have a girls' night.

BYU vs. WVU

For a long time we've been looking forward to BYU coming out east to play WVU.  When I realized I'd be 37 weeks pregnant at the game I was a little worried but we couldn't miss a chance to see the Cougars.  The game was at Fedex Field, where the Redskins play, so it was only an hour away from us and it ended up being so much fun.  The weather was perfect, some wonderful friends agreed to watch the girls for us, and we had fun being with my family.  There were some bleacher seats lower than us but we were pretty much on the front row which meant I didn't have to stand up very often which I greatly appreciated.  And, we got to see a few touchdowns up close and personal.  Sadly, it was a loss for the Cougars but still a great day.

Primary Program

Our primary program was the day after the game so my parents and Ty spent the night (and Jenn who had been in New Jersey for a work trip and came down to spend the rest of the weekend with us.)  Katie, Neal, and Joe also came up for church.  The program went well, Jillian did a great job, and I was relieved to have it done since it was my last big responsibility before the baby.  The best part of that Sunday was that everyone came home from church a bit early but we had some responsibilities to stay for.  When we got home my mom had our entire lunch out and ready to go- it was the best way ever to come home from church.  We had a fun afternoon with everyone.

Possibly our last picture as a family of four?!

Jenn's Visit

We were lucky to have Jenn for an extra day after everyone else left.  On Monday we went to Miss Shirley's Cafe for brunch.  I'd heard a lot about it but hadn't made it there and it was excellent.  Then we took Jenn to the aquarium.  As we were leaving Mattie suddenly said she wanted a picture in the shark's teeth.  We've been to the aquarium many times in the past year and never ever stopped at the shark but this was our first time coming without Jillian and so finally Mattie could take a picture without Jilly being scared, haha!

Since Jenn left the rest of the week has been a blur.  I caught a nasty cold and it really wiped me out.  Mattie has watched WAY more tv than usual and we've been getting by on the bare minimum.  But I'm feeling much better and grateful that I was sick now rather than in a couple weeks when I have a newborn to take care of.  We're all excited to move on to October!!