April

Apparently monthly updates are all I can muster these days.  So, here is April.

We had a nice General Conference weekend.  Bryan had to work all day Saturday so I took the girls to Five Below to each choose a craft.  When they got bored of crafts I got out all our bows and let the girls do my hair then we went on a walk.  That night my parents, Tyler, and Bethany came to visit.  The guys went to Priesthood session but Tyler forgot to pack church clothes, haha.  In the morning Bryan made us delicious cinnamon rolls and between sessions we went to my favorite garden in the city that was full of budding tulips.

Jilly found this "flute" at the park and has performed many, many concerts for us.

The girls have benefitted from my constant need for food with MUCH more frequent than usual trips through drive-thrus. 

A fun Friday swimming at the Y and a warm bubbly bath afterward.

All food smelled gross to me but my fridge especially smelled terrible and it was driving me nuts so I emptied and cleaned it out one day.  It still smelled bad to me but at least I knew it was clean.  (Pregnancy makes me just a bit crazy...)

Saturday morning breakfasts are something to look forward to thanks to Bryan.

Baby Joe's blessing, we love this little boy so much! 

I can't remember the occasion, but the girls look so cozy here.

I planted tulip bulbs in the fall (with an ice cream scoop, haha!) and it's been so fun to watch them pop up.  This wasn't even the peak, I wish I had taken another picture a week later.  

The girls were playing outside and found a worm; I was pretty impressed that my girly girls were brave enough to hold it.

I couldn't find these girls then I heard giggles coming from behind the glass door.  

Getting every last drop of their ice cream

A beautiful day at the temple with Katie and Joey.  

More fast food...

Jillian got strep throat and was sicker than she's ever been.  She never complained about her throat hurting but she had a high fever and a horrible rash all over her body.  The doctor said it was a classic example of the scarlet fever rash.  Poor girl did nothing but lay on the couch for a few days.  Mattie miraculously never got sick but was so sweet and loved to help take care of Jilly.

Mattie spent the month planning her birthday in May; she wants a "puh-ple" party where she will dress up as a purple fairy, Jilly a pink fairy, I'll be a green fairy, and Bryan will dress up like a blue chameleon.  I have no clue where she comes up with these funny ideas.

I took Jillian to Kindergarten registration and got a little teary-eyed talking to her new principal (embarrassing!)  Jilly went into the school apprehensively but by the time we left she was skipping through the halls and admiring all the fun art projects on the walls.  It's not going to be easy for me to send her off every morning but she is going to love it.  After registration we got lunch together at Subway, Jilly's favorite place. 

One Sunday morning Mattie wanted me to curl her hair but I just didn't have time (and I'd already braided her hair like she'd asked!) Bryan offered to curl it and after a little training session he did a pretty good job.  All day long he kept telling her how pretty her hair looked and asking who did it.  This is also the last picture of Mattie with her pacifier.  I told her she could choose any toy or stuffed animal to trade and she wanted a $3 stuffed piggy from Ikea.  Done.  It was very surprisingly an easy transition, mostly because she rarely naps these days so she's always so tired at night.

A lovely Sunday evening walk around the lake.

Jilly's friend had a birthday party and I asked her to make a card for him.  She knew her friend loved Star Wars so she drew Kylo Ren, BB-8, and Chewbacca.  I was pretty impressed, I had no clue she even knew who these characters were!

Doing our civic duty to not vote for Donald Trump ;)

Welcome May!

A New Baby!

We are so excited and grateful for a new baby to join our family in October!  

I have been much, much sicker than I ever was when pregnant before and my waistline is disappearing at an alarming rate so Baby #3 is already giving me a run for my money but he/she is nonetheless very loved and looked forward to.  It has been so fun to see how excited the girls are.  Mattie asks me every morning if the baby is still in my tummy and I assure her that A. yes it is and B. she will definitely be aware when the baby is no longer on the inside.  And Jilly loves checking the weekly update on my phone to see how big the baby is.  Jilly is really hoping for a brother but Mattie is insistent that it is a GRIL! (not a typo, how she says it.)  

When I found out my due date I laughed so hard because I'm due the same weekend as our church's Primary Program.  I lead the music in primary and I basically spend all year teaching the kids the songs and getting them ready for the program so it's kind of a big deal to not be there.  I sheepishly told our primary presidency the predicament and we decided to move the program to September which gives us three fewer weeks to get ready but should be fine as long as the baby doesn't surprise us and come early.  This conversation on facebook cracked me up- my friend Lauren was our previous Primary President who moved, Jana is the current Primary President.  

Day in the Life: March 2016

I've done a "Day in the Life" post every March for the past four years and it almost didn't happen this year (and obviously didn't get posted til April.)  But, this is a Wednesday at the end of March when I thankfully took good notes because here I am weeks later typing it up.

7:40am- I wake up to Jilly tickling my face (not my favorite way to wake up.)  Bryan has already left for work, and I can hear Mattie talking in her room.  We go down to eat breakfast and watch a bit of the news.  Jilly works on an art project and Mattie tries on her sunnies.

8:30am- We cuddle on couch and watch an episode of Curious George together.

9am- I let the girls watch while Daniel Tiger while I shower and get ready, then the girls come upstairs to get dressed.

10am- Off to Ikea (we go in for 2 things and come out with 6) then to Costco where we shop then eat pizza for lunch.

12:30pm- I drop Jilly off at school, talk to her teacher for a bit, and decide to stop by the library on the way home to pick up a few holds.  There's construction on the freeway and the traffic turns it into a long, frustrating drive during which I eventually give up on the library.

1:20pm- I get home and Mattie is asleep in the backseat.  I put away the Costco stuff, do the breakfast dishes, and sit down to read for a bit.

2:20pm- Mattie wakes up just as a friend drops off her kids for me to watch for a while.

2:40pm-  I load everyone up in the car and pick up Jillian.  When we get home all the kids play together in the playroom.

3:45pm- My friend picks up her kids, I talk to my sister while the girls play in the backyard until...

4:20pm- Tragedy strikes when Jilly cuts her knee.  It bleeds quite a bit and I call Bryan for advice because I'm the biggest baby ever when it comes to blood.   I get up the courage to take a peek at the cut and it's not nearly as big as I thought; I get Jilly settled with a bandaid.

5:04 Bryan arrives home as I'm making sweet potato fries to have with dinner.  He checks out the injury.

5:40 - We eat dinner- a rotisserie chicken from Costco which is the girls' very favorite meal.

6:10 - A game of Old Maid (I lose) then Bryan starts the dishes while I clean up the playroom with the girls.

6:50 - Bryan leaves for a youth activity at church.  I put the girls in the bath and learn how to make bunny napkins thanks to youtube.

7:20 - Girls have pajamas on (or not pajamas in Mattie's case) and hair brushed, we read books and I learn that Jilly has Pinkalicious memorized.

7:50 - Say my last goodnight to girls, come down to finish cleaning the kitchen, make more bunny napkins, iron a few shirts, organize some papers, and watch tv.  Bryan comes home at 9 and we go to bed somewhere around 10:30.


2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

First Quarter Reading

This is not a most impressive list number-wise, but I read some really fantastic books these past 3 months so... I'm going to call it a win.

Excellent-
1. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown - I loved this so much, I had just finished it in November but I re-read in January before our Book Club meeting.  I think the story is so inspiring and well-written.

2. The Lake House by Kate Morton - This was a hide-in-the-bathroom-so-I-can-read-more-instead-of-making-dinner kind of book.  I flew through it and loved it.  My only complaint is how quickly and neatly everything tied up in the end.  As soon as I finished I went back about 30 pages to read it again slowly.  I'm a big fan of Kate Morton.

3. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi - This is a memoir of a neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer during his last year of residency and it is incredible.  I finished the book with lots of tears, but it's so much more than a sad story- it was so beautifully written and so inspiring.  Seriously, go read this book.

4. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis - A friend mentioned that she really liked this book and with only that information I grabbed it for our Christmas trip to California.  I didn't finish until we got home in January (it's quite hefty) but I really loved it.  The story takes place in a future time when historians can go back in time for first-hand study.  A young historian is sent back to the Middle Ages and nothing really goes as planned- in the present day or the past.  I thought the writing and characters were fantastic.

Great-
5. The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty- Not my favorite of Liane Moriarty's, but still a really fun read.  The mystery of the Munro baby has been bringing visitors to Scribbly Gum Island for 75 years.  Sophie Honeywell unexpectedly inherits a house on the island and is flung into the mystery and the family that has been hiding the truth.

6. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - This was a book club read and it took me a quarter of the book to realize there was basically no plot.  When I got over trying to decipher the story line I was able to enjoy the beautiful writing.  Not my favorite, but definitely a good book.

7. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline - I really loved the idea of this book, I hadn't ever heard of the orphan trains and was very interested in the stories of the survivors.  That being said, it wasn't the most well-written; there were two narrators and I MUCH preferred one of them which was kind of frustrating as the book went on.  But, it was a good story about two women (one very old and one a teenager) who meet by chance and realize their difficult pasts have many similarities.

Meh
8. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert - I read a lot of great reviews for this so I had high hopes but I just thought it was so kooky.  I finished the book, so it wasn't terribly awful, just not my favorite at all and I didn't feel inspired like so many others did after reading.

Easter 2016

A few days before Easter we dyed our eggs.  It was a beautiful night and I was thrilled that we could go outside and keep the mess there.  We ended up with some great eggs and pink fingers.

On Easter morning the girls got new matching church shoes and a bubble machine from the Easter bunny.  We had a yummy breakfast then headed off to church.  Chad and Kylie came home early from church to make sure the Easter bunny came back to hide eggs in the backyard while we were gone.  Jillian was very worried that Chad and Kylie would get excited and start finding the eggs so she rushed us out the door as soon as church ended.  The girls were pretty great egg finders; it was the first time in many years we didn't have anyone stop midway through to start inhaling chocolate.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and making dinner.  We all laughed pretty hard when Jillian unintentionally leaned on and smashed the rising rolls.  It was fun to have our first big holiday dinner in our own home and use our fancy china and eat in the dining room.  That night we did our Resurrection Eggs together and it was nice to end our day focusing on the Savior.

A couple days later we tried out our bubble machine and it was a big win for the Easter Bunny.  

Spring Break

We were so lucky to have Bryan's brother Chad and his wife Kylie come visit us for Spring Break.  They reminded us how many great places there are around us to explore.

Day 1 - Washington D.C.

We had a picnic, saw the highlights of the Natural History Museum, walked down the National Mall to see all the monuments, then walked along the Tidal Basin to see the magnificent cherry blossoms.  By the end of the day the crowds were insane and we waited in line for the restroom for over an hour, but we ended with yummy ice cream cones.  On the way home Chad introduced us to real Japanese Ramen at Sakuramen.  We ate in the car because it was already 8:30pm and the girls were toast.  It was such a fun day in the Capital City.

 

Kylie took these next two pictures; I love how they capture the girls' personalities this day - crazy Mattie and sweet Jilly

 

^ Mattie carried this stick around for a while then decided it was a flute that she played for the rest of the day

Day 2 - Easter (more on that to come!)

Day 3 - Inner Harbor

If you come to B-More, there's a 99% chance we'll take you to our two favorite places- the Aquarium and Shake Shack.

 

^ Of all the animals at the aquarium I only got one picture- of the ugliest fish!

Day 3 - Chad and Kylie explored D.C. again on their own while the girls and I chilled at home and got caught up on laundry

Day 4 - Harper's Ferry

Bryan took Wednesday off so after the boys went for a bike ride in the morning we headed out to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.  It was a beautiful day to walk around this fun historical town and have another picnic.

Day 5 - Cylburn Arboretum

We had another picnic (I got pretty good at packing up a lunch for all of us!) and enjoyed the blooming daffodils and mansion.  I love when there are free parks like this in the middle of a city.  That afternoon I took the girls home for naps and Chad and Kylie explored a few more museums in Baltimore.  After the kids were in bed that night Kylie and I went to Sofi's Crepes to pick up a treat.

Day 6 - Dutch Market

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures, but we ate a yummy lunch and then brought our favorite donuts home.  It was supposed to be a rainy day, but the storm held off til the evening and we had a really fun afternoon relaxing in the backyard.  Jillian played with Piper, their dog, and even ran through the sprinkler!  That night Chad and Kylie were so nice to let Jilly plan a fancy night.  We found accessories for everyone (Bryan is the best dad ever and came down with a tie on all on his own!) and played the Cupcake game, ate parfaits, and then watched the Frozen short movie.  It was a great way to end their fun visit.  

Come back soon Chad and Kylie!