Carpe'd the heck out of that Diem

So as soon as I saw the weather report for Saturday I immediately began making plans for an epic day of outside adventure. It gets so unbearably hot here in Yuma, and a Saturday in the 70's in April was like a gift. And I wanted to make sure we made the most of it.

So I planned a hike around the Painted Desert Trail. It's about an hour away and it's an "easy" one mile hike. I don't know if those ratings take into consideration a mom, alone with a 6, 4, 2 year old and a newborn... but I wanted to try it. So we start trying to get ready at like 8:30 in the morning. Finally have everything packed, and ready to go.... and I can't find my phone. I use the "Where's my cell phone" website and I can hear it vibrating, and I'm certain it's in the couch. I literally tear apart our sectional trying to find it. I am basically in tears because we were all so excited, but I just don't feel comfortable going without my phone. 

At 10:30... so two hours later.... we decide to go to a park instead. And we had a fantastic time. We found a little trail to explore, and it lead to the Colorado River and a little beach, so we had fun throwing rocks into the water, and climbing up piles of sand, and collecting sticks. I really wish I had remembered my camera, because there were some fantastic photo opportunities. One cute moment was Abigail and Nathan running off to climb up hills and explore, and they kept holding hands. Just standing behind them, holding my baby and watching these two little kids holding hands running ahead of me makes my heart swell. 

Then we came home and cleaned up a bit, took very short naps, and then it was back outside. We played in our backyard and made a fire in the fire pit. We roasted hot dogs for dinner and marshmallows for dessert. I don't recommend making a fire by yourself when your only assistants are under the age of 7. I almost had a heart attack several times, and I'm sure the neighbors heard my screaming and were slightly concerned. But it was fun and worth it for the memories.

Then we got cleaned up, put on a movie and the babysitter came over right around the time Aaron got home. We left for our date, to celebrate our 9 year engagement anniversary. I can't believe all that craziness was 9 years ago! We were babies, and it's really a miracle we love each other as much as we do. I hope that doesn't insult my husband, but seriously there was no way I could have known after 4 weeks how perfect he was for me. But it was right :) 

And that was how we carpe'd the heck out of that Diem. Now to get ready for the heat, because I'm pretty sure it's here to stay until next year.

Eliza @ 3 months

I think recently Eliza knew I've been wondering if we're done having anymore babies, or if I want just one more... and she wants to the baby. She wants me to never even think about having another. She's ensuring this by giving up all her naps and crying with a fierceness she's never before exhibited. It has been exhausting. Hopefully it was just an upset tummy or something, but man it's been a rough 48 hours.

A little about Eliza... she has never been a good napper. She will fall asleep on her own, but only stay asleep for 20-45 minutes, if I'm lucky. There are many days her only naps are the few minutes we are in the car running someone to school or t-ball, or whatever. She does sleep well at night though, so I can't complain too much.

She's around 17lbs, and nurses about every 3-4 hours during the day. I'm slightly afraid this new fussiness is teething, but I think it's too early. She does love to chew on her hands and drools an awful lot. But I don't know.

She's a mostly happy baby. Although she is probably my most high maintenance baby. She always wants someone talking to her. She's completely content, as long as someone is paying her some attention. Fortunately for her she has two older sisters who are happy to sit and talk to her. Yesterday she was "talking" to Abigail and Abigail said, "Eliza, I wish you could just say something real." It was cute, and I thought I've felt that way too... wishing some people would just say something real. But I digress. She also hates to have a wet diaper. Her poor little tear duct is still clogged and so she has a goopy eye that requires constant wiping, massaging, hot compressing.

She tries to crawl already, and she has pushed herself forward, in this weird little almost army crawl type thing. It reminds me a lot of Olivia at this age... which worries me! And the other day she rolled from her back to her tummy.

She got a new play mat and she loves to grab her toys, and talk to them and smile. We really could have saved ourselves some money and just gotten the kid a mirror. She loves to talk to herself.

She goes to bed around 7-8 and sleeps until 7-8 the next morning, waking once to eat. Although we did have one night where she slept 13 solid straight hours. That would have been a great night if I wasn't plagued with a random bout of insomnia, and couldn't fall asleep until 2:00 AM.

Overall she brings our family so much joy, and I just love watching her grow and develop.

Abigail's Smile

Probably the worst fake smile in the history of mankind. And I didn't realize she put on that necklace. Oh well still cute!

Our Easter Traditions...

We have the Easter Bunny visit our house Friday night, so we can do all the egg hunting and chocolate eating on Saturday, and spend Sunday reflecting on our Savior, and going to church, and spending time with family. We still do an Easter egg hunt with Aaron's family on Sunday, but for our little family it just makes sense, especially when you have 9:00am church! Here are some pictures from this morning.

 

I didn't get pictures of their baskets before they tore them apart, but they got bubble bath, tooth brushes, flossers, chocolate rabbits, Lightning McQueen car, tea sets, silly string, and a Kids vs Parents game for everyone. Probably some other random stuff that I'm forgetting, but they were excited. The Silly String was the biggest hit.

Silly String fight!

Then Saturday night we read in the book of John the story of the resurrection, and made resurrection rolls. This is becoming my favorite tradition, I think ever, that we have started as a family.

Basically we take a marshmallow, which represents Christ's body. Then we roll it in butter, and then a cinnamon-sugar mixture, representing how Mary prepared Christs body after he died. Then you put the oiled, spiced "Jesus" in a roll, which obviously represents the tomb. We just use Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. Put the marshmallow in, and seal the roll around it. Then bake... and when you open them up they look like the ones in the picture... hollow. Like an empty tomb. We did not open them up yet tonight... before they went to bed we talked a bit about how Mary must have been feeling. She loved Jesus so much and they were such good friends, and it was probably a very hard thing to do. Then when we open the rolls in the morning and they are empty, we will remember the empty tomb and the hope Mary felt, and the hope we can all feel because of that miraculous moment.

And I don't do this often, but I hope anyone reading this today will take a minute to think about their Savior. Think about who Jesus Christ is, think about the Atonement and what it really means in your life. For me, my relationship with Jesus Christ is very real. And personal. I have this picture on a wall in my house. It is simply titled, "Hope".  And I just love to look at it and think of Peter and John and the emotions they must have felt when they heard the tomb was open. It says in John 20, they ran, one faster than the other, just running towards the tomb... and they get there and it's empty, except for the linens Jesus was wrapped in. And tonight as I was reading my scriptures this verse pierced my heart..."Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed."

What did he see? He didn't see Jesus... but it says he believed. I probably won't see Jesus Christ in my lifetime, but I believe. I believe he was resurrected, and I believe that because of that truth I will live with Heavenly Father again. That my sins are forgiven, that my pains have been felt and understood by an older Brother, who is always there for me. This knowledge brings my life so much joy, and can be hard to share this part of me... but here it is. 

Happy Easter!

Have I really not written that long??

I could have sworn I wrote about our trip to NJ, but I guess I didn't.

And now all the details are gone from my mind.

But here are some highlights...

Seeing my brother be himself with my kids. He has had a rough few years, and I don't know, just didn't seem like the brother I knew, and the uncle I thought he was going to be... until this trip. He was wrestling and laughing and playing with my kids, and it was great. It also made me wish we didn't live so far away.

My Nanny came over every single day to hold Eliza. And tell her how pretty she was. And tell my mom to look at her because she was doing something. It cracked me up. She would smile, or eat her hands, or close her eyes, or blink, and Nanny would say, "Look! Look Michele! How cute." And my poor Mom who trying to do a million other things would look and agree, how cute. I loved seeing my sweet little baby so fussed over, and again made me wish we didn't live so far.

We went to the Liberty Science Center with my parents and sister and had a lot of fun. Olivia got to go through the Touch Tunnel, which is really a notable milestone for any kid who grew up in NJ, so I'm glad she got that experience. There were lots of other cute things, and it was great to have enough adults to outnumber the kids for a change. Again made me wish we didn't live so far!

The kids got to spend time with my aunts, going to all sorts of fun places.

We also did a "Thanksgiving" dinner which was great. I got to see all of my cousins and aunts and uncles and spend time together like a holiday, even though it wasn't at all. I miss them all so much, and yes again I wished we lived closer so times like that weren't so rare.

Oh yeah and Nathan was sick like the entire time. And not just sick, but absolutely miserable. Crying, and whining, and just no pleasing him. He wasn't really himself until the end of the trip, so that kind of sucked.

Oh and speaking of sucked... I was soo sick right before we left. Poor Aaron had to do all the pack and last minute remembering of stuff to bring because I was in bed shivering with a high fever, and coughing my lungs up. Yeah that sucked. Going through security at the airport sucks in general. Going through with four kids really sucks. Going through with four kids AND having a body temperature over 102 reeaally, really sucks. But we made it, and actually the flight itself wasn't bad at all. Going home was a breeze as well. My tips for traveling with lots of little kids... don't make the mistake we made a few years ago and bring a bunch of sugary snacks to bribe them with. It makes them act like lunatics. Bring some healthy snacks, and lots of electronics. A crummy night's sleep helps too, because 5 hours on a plane, someone is bound to fall asleep.

The kids are still asking to go back to Nanny's house. Especially Nathan. Olivia and Abigail seem to realize it's not very realistic to think we could hop on a plane willy nilly and go visit, but Nathan doesn't see why not. Every time we drive past the airport, or even see a plane he asks if we can "fly in the sky" to Nanny's house.

Other fun news... the girls started t-ball. They are cute, but it is getting so hot already. I think they need to sign up for gymnastics or hockey or any other indoor activity! It's still in the 90's so that's good, but the end of the beautiful weather is in sight and I'm dreading it. I'll try to update more and get some pictures up soon.