Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day, Lea was kind enough to watch my kiddos so that I could go and have a lunch date with Brian. We ate at Gloria's Little Italy, and got to sit at "Our Table". (Yeah, we've eaten there only twice, sat at the same table by the window both times. It's officially our table. It's next to a window on University Avenue, and I can see the Provo Center temple construction. It's a great table). After lunch, we went to Smith's to get balloons for the kids, and then went back to Brian's office to tie the candy that I bought for them onto the balloons.  When Brian came home after work, the kids were SO excited for their balloons and goodies. Rachel had her first sucker:

We made pink heart-shaped pancakes for dinner.

And spent the rest of the evening just hanging out with our kiddos. 

This year, we felt so much love from grandparents for our kids. My parents sent chocolates for Michael and a little bear for Rachel:

Brian's parents mailed them both cards. Michael loved getting something in the mail. 

We were also blessed with a very special Valentine's Day package from Michael & Rachel's newly adopted grandparents in Kansas, Grammie Bobbie and Papa Joe. They sent letters for Michael and I, a card for the family, a semi-truck for Michael, and a little doll for Rachel. 

Michael was in heaven!

And Rachel loved snuggling her new baby. We felt so loved and remembered. We're so blessed to have so many people loving on our family!

Sickies

On the evening of February 1, we noticed that both Michael and Rachel had rotten little coughs. We decided that we should probably keep them home from church. It was more as a precaution for the other kids. Michael handles his illnesses like a champ, rarely letting anything slow him down. Well, the next day (Sunday), we sadly watched our little boy lying around the house, not moving or saying much. Not complaining, but obviously not his typical Michael self. Rachel was a little cranky, but we gave her medicine to help her. At one point, Brian was cuddling with Michael, reading him books. Then, he passed him over to me. Michael was burning up! We checked his temperature and he was at 103 degrees! No wonder he was just laying around. We gave him some medicine, and by the next day, he was doing much better. 

But, Tuesday morning, Rachel was a lot worse. She was miserable--even though she had medicine in her system. She was completely inconsolable, had a horrible cough, and wouldn't sleep. As soon as the doctor's office opened, I called and made an appointment. As soon as the doctor heard her cough, he said, "Oh, I know what that is. Croup." Croup. Flashbacks to Anne of Green Gables and Anne administering Ipecac to Minnie Mae while everyone was at the Rally. Croup. No wonder my baby was miserable! He gave her a shot to help her breath better and said that cold wet air was the best thing for croup.

So, we went home, and invited Sam and her kids to join us on a walk since her kids were sick too. We bundled them up and headed out into the cold, wet weather.

And it started snowing on us while we were out. Thankfully, we had a plastic shield over the babies, so they stayed dry, and the other two just loved the ride. I'm sure anyone driving by must have thought we were terrible parents, but we were just following doctors' orders. And by the time the kids started feeling better, I'm pretty sure I got sick. Oh well, what do you do? It was the first time Rachel had ever been sick enough to go into the doctor, and he was impressed that she made it that long. Still, it was really sad having my babies sick. 

Rachel's Birthday

Can you believe it? I sure can't. Our baby girl turned into a bonafide one-year-old on January 22. 

 I don't know why, but I thought she'd be into ripping wrapping paper by now. Nope. We all had to help her. This was the only present I wrapped for her. 

 Rachel is our electronics girl. She LOVES them! She has an amazing knack for finding any of the remotes and playing with them like mad, so we bought her her own. I wanted her to have it before Brian left for work since she kept fighting with Michael over his toy smart phone. I've never seen her so upset over someone taking/playing with a toy she wanted. 

 I wanted to do a cute photo shoot with her. It turned out okay. It was hard getting her to stay still for the picture. She kept wanting to play with my camera!

 We did cupcakes and no ice cream, since Rachel has some allergy issues. We're feeling good that she isn't allergic to milk, but just to be safe, we're putting it off for a month or so. She didn't know what to think about the cupcake on her tray with the candle on fire. And even though she's good at blowing, we still couldn't get her to blow out her candle. 

 She started out so daintily. 

 And then dived in. We thought it would get messy soon. 

 But then she went back to dainty. 

 More presents!

 The traditional First Birthday present: a box of tissues! By the time Brian got home and we had dinner, this girl was ready for her bed (she usually goes to sleep between 7 and 7:30). She was too tired to pull too many tissues out. We were all a little disappointed. 

 We thought since she likes crawling through small spaces, she would love this tunnel. Nope. We couldn't get her to go in. Like I said, she was done by then. We finally gave her what she wanted: her blanket and her crib.

Then, on Sunday, we had a birthday party with family. Since we never had a family party for Shayne's birthday (also in January), I frosted one of the cupcakes blue instead of purple, and we sang to him too.

 Note: Shayne didn't turn 47. Not this year, and he won't for another decade. I didn't have a "3" candle. We sang "Happy Birthday" Saville style. Rachel didn't know what to think about that. So, we sang it nicely. She cried after that.

 More presents!

 Thankfully, Nana and Papa gave her a box of tissues too, and this time, after a little coaxing, she pulled them all out, like a good little one-year-old. 

And, a few days later, we converted her to the tunnel. She loves it!

As of January 8, Rachel was officially weaned (and we are all amazed that we made it that long). She is now a happy formula baby--but only if that formula has strawberry Nesquik! On January 9, she finally started sleeping through the night. Her favorite things include:

• Her blanket (hot pink fleece on one side, white pink-flowered flannel on the other, and white crotchet along the outside. I made her this one)
• Being chased. If you're on the floor with her, and she thinks you're chasing her, she giggles and giggles
• Laughing. I think she gets this from her brother. I love hearing them giggling together. 
• Climbing over and crawling through things
• Music and dancing. Turn a song on and watch her shake it!
• Singing. Start singing, and she will join you!
• Looking at herself while I comb her hair. She wants to see what it looks like!
• Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Ethan, and Michael, not necessarily in that order. 

At her 12-month check-up, she weighed in at 16lbs, 14 oz (9th percentile, a record for her!), and was 27.5 inches long(4.6th percentile). 

She is the sweetest baby girl. We are so grateful to have her in our lives. Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!

Sweet Hearts

About a month ago, I had a conversation with Michael that went something like this:

Michael: Mom, when I grow up, I'm going to marry Rachel.
Me: Michael, you can't marry Rachel because she's your sister.
Michael: Oh, well who can I marry then?
Me: You'll marry a girl who is not your sister, one who is your friend. A girl like Eva (the girl next door who happens to be one of Michael's best friends).
Michael: Okay, when I grow up, I'm going to marry Eva. 

 I can't remember if he told Eva that he was going to marry her when he grows up, or if Eva had a similar conversation with her mother (maybe both), but Eva is also convinced that when she grows up, she's going to marry Michael.

I guess we'll see. But, in the meantime, they make me smile:

Five Years (and Counting!)

Back in December, I was talking to my mom. I was really feeling worn down that Rachel still wasn't sleeping through the night. And I was hanging by a thread with the whole nursing thing. But we were actually talking about how she's working on revamping her living room. She said I should come up soon and help her figure some things out. I told her I'd come up for my anniversary if she'd watch my kids for the night so Brian and I could get a hotel and have a break. She said she'd do it. "Are you sure mom? Rachel isn't sleeping through the night and she won't take formula." She said she'd be fine; she'd had six kids. So, gratefully and excitedly, we planned our anniversary trip to Idaho. It seemed quite fitting to celebrate our five years back where it all began. 

We drove up to Idaho on our anniversary.  After visiting with my mom for a little bit and getting the kids' beds set up, we headed to Idaho Falls. We stayed in a hotel overlooking the Temple and the falls. We had dinner at the hotel and then headed over to the temple to do sealings. We even got to be in the same room we were married in (even though it has since been remodeled and looks totally different). After the temple, we got dessert to go from Chilis and headed back to the hotel to enjoy a night of uninterrupted sleep. 

Then, about 1:30 a.m., we were awakened by the obnoxious sound of our hotel phone going off. When Brian answered it, the front desk guy told him that our car alarm was going off. Brian got up, turned the alarm off, and went back to bed. And in my sleepy mind I laughed. So much for uninterrupted sleep! It's like we had a kid with us! About the time we fell asleep again, the phone rang again. Car alarm was going off. Brian went to turn it off. We went back to sleep. Then, about the time we fell asleep... yup, phone again. This time I answered it. I told the guy to just come get our keys. And I'd like to say I was really congenial about it, but I wasn't. Long story short, Brian and the front desk guy decided that the wind was probably shaking the car and setting it off, so the hotel let us park it right in front of the building so it was out of the wind. Apparently, it was just fine after that. Before we left the next morning, we took a picture of our little troublemaker:

And a few pictures of ourselves:

 And a few pictures to try to capture the coldness of the night: 

 And some more pictures of us:

 And then we headed back to my parents' house. I was worried that my mom would be grumpy that we were getting back so late (it was almost noon). But, when we walked through the door, she simply said, "We've decided to keep your children." Rachel, who had just started sleeping through the night the day before our trip and stopped nursing two days before our trip, slept soundly through the whole night. Michael did too. They were both sweet and wonderful. A few minutes later, Michael and my dad walked through the door. Michael was on top of the world. He'd been out helping Grandpa with something. (And they had a whole acre of undisturbed snow to play in).  Turns out the restful house was the one my kids were in!

 Oh well, we still had a great night, despite our attention-crazed car. Thank you so much, Mom and Dad, for taking such great care of our kiddos so we could have a night out. It was fantastic!

And, because I'm sappy like this, here's a video/slideshow to catalog our last five years of marriage (and our almost one year of dating.)



I'm so grateful for Brian. I couldn't have picked a better partner-in-crime or a better co-captain for the rest of my life. I'm looking forward to the next five years...and the infinite years to come after that!

Children's Museum

On January 3, we went to the Children's Museum with our preschool group. Brian was still off, so it was a very nicely discounted family outing. Michael's favorite part was the construction area. He was so cute in his hardhat and vest. 

Michael got to go to a class on nutrition while we were there. 

 We explored quite a few areas of the museum. Towards the end of the visit, I told Michael we would be leaving soon and asked if there was an area he wanted to visit before we left. He asked to go back to the construction area. Surprise, surprise!

We had a lot of fun. We're really looking forward to the Children's Museum at Thanksgiving Point's opening this spring since it is much closer than this one in Salt Lake.

Semi-trivial Pursuits

I'm learning more and more that as selfless as I want to be with the whole stay-at-home mom thing, I need to have something for me. I still need to progress; I need pursuits, goals, aspirations, and dreams that are separate from being a mom. I think the great moms know this.  My mom always made sure she had time for volleyball. Even when she was working full time and taking classes half-time, she still made time for volleyball. I'm trying to figure it out still, but here's what I'm up to these days.

Back in November, I started taking a Jazz class with some other ladies in my neighborhood. I love the workout part, and I love getting to hang out with these amazing women. I was also really excited to fulfill a lifelong dream of learning how to dance. Lately though, I've been a little discouraged about it, mostly because the other women have danced when they were younger--and it is easy for them to jump back into the swing of things. But, I feel like I'm a beginner who accidentally signed up for a senior level course. I've been frustrated, and I still go back and forth about whether or not I want to do this. My stubborn and determined high school self has resurfaced and keeps telling me not to quit just because it is too hard. She tells me about how I ran cross country and kept at it even when I came in last almost every race. After all, she argues, isn't this about proving something to yourself? And then my yearbook quote comes back to haunt me, "There is nothing I can't do once I decide I can." Way to be sentimental and profound in high school Dev. It'd be so much less pressure if you had just done one of those joke quotes. *Sigh*. We'll see what happens. I may just find a dance class that is more at my level. That is probably what I'll do. That's not giving up, right?

So, the discouragement from dance actually led to a good thing. I was reflecting on the whole situation one night before bed. I was thinking about how far behind I was, and how jealous I was of those women who hadn't dance for a decade or two, but still managed to pull off the grace, flexibility, and skill of a dancer. I was thinking about how I used to be really good at piano, and how those skills have been slowly deteriorating. Just as I was about to get really depressed, I had an inspired thought that went something like this, "You know Dev, I bet if you took piano lessons again, it would come back really quickly like it did with those girls in dance. You just need a jump start." So, I told Brian I wanted to take piano lessons again.

On January 8, I had my first piano lesson in over ten years. I felt a little foolish, and I was more than a little apologetic. But, I feel great! It feels so nice to practice again and to have someone that I am accountable to.I told my new teacher that I wanted to learn how to play the organ (since it is only a matter of time before they ask me to do that), and I want to do some fun stuff--aka classics. Right now, I am working on my relationship with Bach and Haydn, and I feel like I'm back with old friends. My teacher and I are kind to me about how much practicing I can get in. I get accolades if I sit down for only ten minutes! Much different than when I was a kid ;) (But Mom, now that I'm paying for my own lessons, I totally get it.)

Now a funny story. A few years ago, I heard of a website called Zazzle.com where you can upload your designs and sell them on T-shirts, mugs, stationary, or pretty much whatever you can think of. I uploaded a few designs that I had made for my sister's bridal shower and wedding. Nothing came of it, and I forgot about it...until about two weeks ago when I got an email from Zazzle saying that someone had purchased one of my products. I laughed and laughed. I earned $0.45, but I don't even care! Someone liked something that I made, and that feels pretty darn good. So I spent last Saturday putting a few more things on my store. Maybe in another two years, I'll earn another $0.45.

Oh, and I also dream and drool over photography studio lights.

So in case you wondered what else I think about and do besides the joy that is motherhood and the not-so-wonderful housewifery things, these are my semi-trivial pursuits.

Last of December

Christmas Break was great this year. Brian basically took two weeks off, and it was so nice having him home. We also got a visit from one of our favorite families in the whole world--Michael, Kristina, and Lydia. They came to our house, and we had lunch and talked. And it was wonderful. 

And we HAD to take the traditional Michaels picture

We also got to hang out a lot with Lea's family. One night, Shayne invited Brian over for games, so I invited Lea over to our house. We took Michael, Rachel, and Danny with us. We knew it was going to be a late night--we didn't even start this affair until after 7--so I got a sleeping bag for Danny to sleep in. Michael wanted one too, so I got one for him.  The sleeping bags formed an upside down T when I laid them out, with the foot of Danny's sleeping bag touching the middle of Michael's. Well, when we went to check on them after they had both fallen asleep, this is how we found them:

I guess they just couldn't stand to not be close. We decided to just keep Danny for the night. 

And for New Year's Eve, we went to Lea and Shayne's house to celebrate. Michael and Danny watched Despicable Me 2, and then they danced to the closing credits song. 

Love little footed jammies. Love this boy!

Lea humored me and let me do an early count down for Michael (and the other little guys) so I could lay him down. Michael doesn't sleep in, and I didn't want a super cranky boy the next day. But, I also didn't want him to miss the funness of New Year's Eve. We looked up the recording of the Dubai fireworks, did a count down, toasted in the "New Year", and watched the fireworks on Lea's laptop.

Ethan came with us. He wanted to ring in the new year by killing Zombies in Halo, and he knew that's what the big boys would be doing. 

And I got to enjoy some sparkling grape juice. 

Happy (late) New Year everybody!