January

And now it is time for the "Random Pictures that Don't Really Merit Their Own Blog Post" post for January

In our typical fashion, we kicked off the new year with a project. Because I'm crazy. I've had this one cooked up for several months, and I finally decided to just jump in and do it. And I let the kids help. Because I'm crazy. 

 Yeah, I'm still working on this project. I decided it would be cool to do a multi-colored chevron pattern on the wall opposite the shower. Because I'm crazy. I'm almost done. Hopefully the finished project will make it's appearance on the random February post. Or March. But hopefully February.

 Not sure what this picture is about, but it's cute, so here it is. Also, I think she is naked:

Rachel kept trying to steal Michael's Jedi robe, so one day, I decided to make one for her as well. Because I'm crazy.

 Michael likes being a photographer too.

 These sillies were pretending to be asleep downstairs in the chair one night while Brian was down there working.

 We also had more swimming lessons: 

 This is how Rachel helps fold laundry: 

 And apparently, January is Idaho Potato Lovers month. Who knew?!

 Right after we got back from Florida, we had plumbers out to break through lots of concrete to make a drain for our future downstairs kitchenette. They also did the rough plumbing of the water lines. This picture may not look like much to most of you, but it was a BIG deal. We've been talking about this and and planning it for over a year.

 Michael disappearing into his Jedi robe after Rachel struck him a fatal blow:

 Cinderella hair, the latest in our Princess Hair repertoire.

 We've had a very wet winter, which is really good. If it's going to be cold, there may as well be snow. The kids have loved playing out there this winter.

 And here's one of many snowmen:  

 Sometimes, you have to have a family movie night--in your pajamas.

 And sometimes, you have to take a random selfie with your dad.

 And a picture after you find your favorite pair of boots that had been missing for weeks and that you were afraid you accidentally left in Florida. And then you have to text the picture to your mom, even though she's in a meeting at church, because you know she'll be the most excited that they were found again.

For the past 4 years, I must admit, I've found myself really hating January. It reminds me of loss and heartache. This year, I tried--sort of--to stop dwelling on how much I hate January. Looking back on these pictures and the fun and exciting things that have happened this January, well, I must admit, it really was a good one, thanks to these wonderful people who I get to share my every days with.

Rachel's 3!

On January 22, Rachel had her third birthday. We can hardly believe that she is already 3! Our primary presidency decided to have all the nursery kids that are turning 3 this year come in during singing time to be sung to and to get a birthday lei that acts as a coupon for a prize/candy in the bishop's office. Rachel was the first one to get to do this. She looked so tiny in primary. I guess it's good that she missed being a Sunbeam by 3 weeks. 

On her birthday, Brian came home early so we could take her out on a special date. First, she opened presents: 

 And she blew out her candle on her cupcakes

 With a little help from Dad.

 And then she got to eat some---before dinner even!

Michael went to go play with a friend for the night so we could take this girl out with just the two of us. Michael had a hard time understanding why we needed to do this. She rarely gets the undivided attention of Brian and I, and she loved having us all to herself. We took her swimming, and she had such a blast. We were going to go out to eat a a place that served Mac  & Cheese, but we were running so late that day (thanks to a very tired mommy), so we grabbed a bite at the rec center. Rachel was happy they had a banana for her. 

 She was so excited about her new Ariel pajamas, and wore them to bed that night (Ignore the mess in the background of all these pictures--like I said, a tired mommy trying to do too many things in a week following a vacation).

 The next day, she wore her cute outfit that Grandpa picked out all by himself:

On Sunday, we invited Lea and Shayne and Nana and Papa over for dinner to celebrate the January birthdays. Rachel really wanted chocolate cake, so I had to invite other chocolate cake lovers over for dinner since Rachel and I would be the only one eating it. 

 And, as per the norm, my decorating style involves props. Good think Shayne was cool with having Little Mermaid characters on his shared cake:

 Shayne had to help her blow out her candles.

She loves her Uncle Shayne

 Lea, Shayne, and Danny had to run to Great to Be Eight, so the ate and ran, but we were so glad they squeezed us into their busy Sunday. Here's the made ice cream and cake dash:

 After they left, Rachel opened her presents from Nana and Papa--Disney Princess figurines. She loved them! And she loved hugs from Nana and Papa.

 And then we enjoyed a quiet evening with Nana, Papa, and Skyler.

On Monday, January 25, Rachel had her well-child appointment. She weighed in at a whopping 24.25 pounds (1.41 percentile) with her clothes on and measured 34.25 inches tall (3.71 percentile). But despite her small size, she has a spunky, yet sweet spirit.

On her birthday, I wrote this on Facebook:
"A few days ago, I read about "Rainbow Babies". Apparently, they're the babies born after a loss--miscarriage, stillborn, neonatal loss, or infant death. They give hope--like rainbows with after the worst of a storm has blown over--that out of sadness and grief, brightness and light can still happen. Well, this girl is my rainbow baby--she came after two miscarriages, and it took all of my fragile heart to hope that she would arrive safely. She has truly been a light in our lives, a beacon of hope. She keeps us laughing, she kills us with her cuteness and sweetness, and after three years, she still has the most kissable cheeks around. Random strangers still stop us to tell us how adorable she is. She loves to dance and sing. She adores her brother. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. She's obsessed with her grandparents. And she reminds me everyday that all the pain and frustration surrounding pregnancy and the infant years are all worth it. How grateful I am the the Lord, in His great goodness and grace, sent her to us 3 years ago today. Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!"

Orlando Vacation Part 2: On Our Own

After leaving the Sweet Escape late Thursday morning, we headed for our new hotel--a 2 bedroom condo in the Summer Bay Resort. We scored a sweet deal on the place on Priceline. They tried to get us to go to a time-share pitch breakfast the next morning, but we declined. We wished that we had a few more days to spend there because it was awesome! They weren't quite ready for us when we arrived, so we headed back out to find a Steak n Shake for lunch. Naturally, we had to try their shakes after eating our main course. Rachel and I shared since we both have a small appetite for ice cream (me because it hasn't been sounding good and her because of her small belly). 

The kids were excited about our condo. They each got their own bed, but in the same room, and they also had their own bathroom. It was amazing, especially since we paid less than $100 a night for the whole place.

Across the street from the resort, there was a place advertising a $15 helicopter ride, and, upon discovering it really was a legit thing, we thought, "Why not?" It was a super short ride--we basically went up, did a really small loop, and then came back down. There were only 4 seats in the helicopter, so we had to go in shifts (they needed one seat for the pilot). The guy running the operation was kind enough to let the kids go up twice while only making them pay for one trip up.

Michael got to ride next to the pilot.

Rachel refused to wear the headphones, but still loved the whole thing, even though it was really loud.

After the helicopter ride, we went back to the resort and rented a paddle boat to go for a ride on the lake. It was a beautiful night. Michael and Brian provided the man power while Rachel and I enjoyed the views. 

 

Although, Rachel did try to paddle towards the end.

After our boat ride, we headed to Chuy's, a restaurant that Ben and Jenny introduced us to in Tennessee, and then took us to again in Austin. We saw one on our way back from lunch and decided that's where we'd go for dinner.

It felt wrong being their without Ben and Jenny though.

On the way home from dinner, we stopped at Target to buy ponchos, since the weather predicted lots of rain for the next day--which is when we planned to go to DisneyWorld. Somewhere in the store, Michael found a Darth Vader mask and had to model it.

Back when Lara and Greg first decided to head to Orlando for this trip, I was kind of disappointed because we would be so close to all these theme parks that I'd been dreaming of visiting my whole life (and heard even more about from Brian), but I would be unable to take advantage of them because we knew that I would most likely be pregnant in January. I was worried that the families would all want to head to theme parks during our week there, and I didn't want to be stuck watching all the little kids by myself while everyone who was tall enough and not pregnant got to go on the fun rides. It wasn't until we decided to do DisneyWorld instead of the Universal Parks that I finally started getting excited about this trip. Brian assured me that we would go back, and eventually our kids would be old enough (and tall enough) to enjoy Universal too. I was so grateful no one took off for theme parks during our five night stay at the Sweet Escape. We were a little sad that no one wanted to do Magic Kingdom with us, but we also really enjoyed being able to do our own thing. 

The weatherman was right, and it was pouring buckets when we arrived. Thank goodness for our ponchos.

After taking shuttles and the monorail, we finally got through the gates of the Magic Kingdom. We decided that we would take each area of the park one at a time, hitting all the rides before moving on to the next area. It always seems that we spend so much time running back and forth between the areas--mostly due to fast passes. I knew I couldn't handle that much walking back and forth, and with one exception, we stuck to the plan. DisneyWorld let us pick 3 fast passes each the night before, as well as times that we could go, so I signed up for fast passes to see the princesses with Rachel while Brian signed himself and Michael up for the taller, popular rides. They did some running back and forth between areas, but Rachel and I didn't.

Because it was raining buckets, the park was pretty empty. The first ride of the day--Aladdin's Flying Carpets (or something like that)--had no line. Brian and the kids rode it 3 times in a row.

Thankfully, the rain had subsided to a sprinkle while they rode it. I loved seeing their big grins as they flew by.

After 3 times on Aladdin, we headed to the Tiki room. I grew up listening to the main song and have wanted to go see it, but up until this trip, I hadn't. It was a good time to go since it was raining buckets again by the time we headed in to wait for the show. The kids got a kick out of it.

After the Tiki room, we rode Pirates--no line, and then went on a jungle cruise in the rain--no line.  Once we saw and did everything we wanted to in Adventureland, we headed to Fantasyland. We went on Smallworld, got lunch, hit up Peter Pan's flight, which was closed in California when we went last February. That was the only ride that had a long wait, but I think it was more because it kept running into problems. They had really cool things to entertain while we waited though--like Tinkerbell playing around in the room and shadow bells that you could ring with your shadow. Really cool stuff.

Okay, I'll stop giving you a step by step, play by play of our day. Rachel was in heaven in Fantasyland. We went on Ariel's ride, and she was so excited to see all things Little Mermaid. Then, we took her into meet Ariel. The look on her face was priceless. To her, this was really Ariel, and she was so excited to meet her.

Michael acted like he was too cool to meet these Princesses, but he was also excited to meet them as well.

Each princess left Rachel with a souvenir on the cheek:

After meeting Ariel, the boys headed to space mountain and Rachel and I rode Ariel again. And as soon as we got off, she asked to go again. There wasn't really a line, so I asked the attendants if we could get right back on to save me from having to walk all the way around and back through the long, empty track where the lines usually go. They were kind enough to oblige.

The boys went on other rides in Tomorrowland, and Rachel and I went to see stories with Belle. She didn't want to participate, but she loved holding her hand and hugging Belle.

Michael tried to be King by pulling out the Sword in the Stone, but he didn't quite get it out. Some performers arrived while he was messing with the sword and had a little fun with him before Michael ran off.

Michael and Brian joined us again to meet Elsa and Anna.

Rachel was in HEAVEN!

Later she got to meet Cinderella. Cinderella was so sweet with Rachel. They had this quiet little conversation together, and Rachel even kissed Cinderella on the cheek. It was adorable!

And we ended with Rapunzel. Here's Michael pretending that he's not thrilled to be meeting princesses.

By afternoon, it had stopped raining and was actually quite a pleasant day. We heard so many oohs and ahhs over Rachel in her Anna dress. So many people thought she was just adorable.

Rachel and I saw "The Country Bears" while Brian and Michael rode Big Thunder Railroad. We filmed them going down Splash Mountain.

There was one roller coaster that Rachel was tall enough to ride on, but I couldn't go on it, so Brian had to do a rider swap. He took Michael first. When he came to get Rachel for her turn, he said, "I'm not sure how much she'll like this one. It's a little intense." I told him to take her anyway, because you never know. She loved it. Michael and I took this selfie while we waited.

There were more rides that Brian took kids on that I watched from the sidelines, but I wasn't bothered. I love watching those grins as they sailed by. 

Finally, it was time to pick souvenirs and head back to the car. Michael was so excited to spend his own money on something. He didn't ask for everything all day because he knew how much money he had to spend. By the 8, the kids were basically begging to leave. They were so tired! 

We made it back to the car, back to the resort. We got the kids in bed and packed up. It took longer than it should have because we were so exhausted. We had another 7:50 a.m. flight the next morning, which meant getting up at 5 a.m. again. Rachel was kind of a mess on the way home. She was so tired, but couldn't find a good position to fall asleep. We had a really tight layover in Phoenix, barely having time to grab lunch before hopping on our next plane. I took the last shift with the kids so Brian could have a break. 

Our friend Brian Watson was there to pick us up, and the kids both fell asleep in our car on the way home. We stopped for food in Saratoga Springs, and the kids woke up. We made it home, unloaded the car, ate some food, and put a movie on. By then, it was around 4 our time (6 p.m. Eastern Time). I couldn't get comfortable on the couch, so I apologized and headed to our room. I told Brian I didn't want to sleep on through the night, so he promised to wake me up after the movie. After the movie, he sent Rachel in to wake me up. She gave me a kiss and then left. I fell back asleep. He sent her in again. This time, after the kiss, she curled up next to me and fell asleep. Brian ended up putting both kids in bed, and I got up long enough to brush my teeth before heading back to bed and sleeping until 6:30 a.m. Yeah, I basically slept for 14 hours, and it was pretty awesome.

It was a little sad to come back to snowy Utah after beautiful Florida. It was nice to have a break from the cold, and it was the perfect amount of time away because even the cold was welcome since it meant we were home.