Spring Has Sprung!

We have had some real nice weather in the last few weeks! I love playing outside with the kids! Grace just crawls and pushes her walker and explores every. little. thing. Ellie LOVES her swing. Addy loves to draw with sidewalk chalk and it getting really good! I am amazed at her artistic abilities at 3 years old! I am so excited for this Summer when we can just live outside. The sunlight does us all good!

In these pictures Grace is wearing my very favorite shoes ever. All my girls have worn them and I just think they're the best. So I had to document it :)

This one just melts me with her sweetness. She's a joy. That quiet, gentle smile and her calm demeanor are wonderful. She loves to swing.

I love this picture of Addy. It shows how grown up and beautiful she is getting. She has learned to "kick and tuck" her legs on the swing and she no longer needs mom to push her. The speed at which she learns things is alarming.

This one has not an ounce of gracefulness. She is all spunk and clutz. She loves to play in the dirt and run, run, run. She doesn't like to pose for pictures because it takes too long, so I have to sneakily catch her smiling!

Also this week, my kids got to wear the bridesmaid dresses my mom made for my sisters and I when our babysitter got married. It was so fun to find them with my mom and discover that they would be the perfect Easter dress for my girls. I seriously love it. Addy and Grace take amazing pictures...and then throw Ellie in there with her wiggles and refusal to pose and it turns interesting...

This is so their personalities. I can't even believe Ellie in this one. I love these girls so darn much.

This poor baby was so ready for a nap! I was selfishly keeping her awake so she would nap closer to church and maybe those 3 hours would be a little less exhausting.

Scott says Addy has my family's fake smile. And it's so true. Luckily I got a real-ish one.

This is perhaps the most real picture we got yesterday. Pouting and tears. I am seriously very surprised we got any with them smiling at all.

And just for fun here's one of my sisters and I in the same dresses. :)

And for another treat, here's a video of my 9 month old cruisin' along :)

Grace Face!

Grace has more personality in her little body than should be allowed! She started making this face and made it nonstop for 3-5 days. Every time she started to crawl she would resume the face. It was like it was subconscious. I thought it was hilarious! After many failed attempt at pictures, we finally snuck some! I am so glad because she quit making the face! We dubbed it the "Grace Face." Look at those luscious lips! 

I mean seriously...look how far out she can pop those things! I love this baby! And she's almost a momma's girl :) Which means that half the time she picks me over dad. ha. But the other girls NEVER did! So I take what I can get! Sometimes I look at Grace and am just overwhelmed by how much she means to us. By kid number 3 you'd think that would have worn off, but I have felt this way about every one. I love my babies!

Friendship

I have been reflecting lately on how to be a good friend. I have some friends going through some really hard things right now and I just ache to help. But what can I do? I feel like any contribution I make is so small. I just don't know what to do to really help. Mostly because they're in situations I can't really help or change. They assure me that listening is enough, but I just ache to be able to help them. I've been praying a lot about it lately. I always read the quote by President Kimball that says that the Lord will meet our needs through other people. Am I meeting other people's needs? Or am I too busy worried about my own?

As I've been pondering and wondering about this lately, I had some amazing friends give me some amazing help over the last couple of weeks. I had a friend organize a girl's night. I don't usually do girl's nights, and to be honest, I'm not really a fan. If my husband is home I would rather hang out with him. Sorry ladies :) But I really like this friend and she was so nervous about how everything was going to go, so I went. And guess what? I loved it. She showed me by example how to step out of my comfort zone and she made me feel wanted and loved. It was so simple. But I really needed that at the time. She also talked to me on the phone for a while the day before and that was so huge. I really just needed to chat for a minute. She also asked me to pick something up for her because I was in town and I loved that because it made me feel needed :) 

Then I had a friend watch my kids so that my husband and I could attend the sealing of another couple that just adopted a baby. We were able to do the sound for their fundraising concert and be a part of the amazing blessings that ensued. We were so grateful to be invited! That was another example to me. Thinking of others. She invited us to something to special and sacred and I was so grateful. And then my other friend who watched my kids who were honestly kind of grumpy that day. Ellie and her little boy are a week apart and they, for whatever reason, do not get along! They are just competing for attention I think. And she loves Ellie anyway, and that means so much to me! She is patient with her and she is able to laugh it off and be understanding. And I so appreciate that.

That night (the night of the sealing), Scott was working late for a show. Grace had been teething and had been having a hard time of it. Four teeth all coming in at once! She kept having these symptoms and I kept pushing them off as just teething. Diaper rash, diarrhea, drooliness, fever, sleeplessness, smaller appetite, etc. But then she ended up getting a weird rash and throwing up and I kind of panicked lol. I thought, "this poor baby is miserable and I need to help her if it's something that she needs help with." So I called my poor friend up and asked if she wouldn't mind staying with my other two kids while I took Grace to Urgent Care. She was at my house in 5 minutes with her 36 week belly and her own daughter. And then...my car wouldn't start. At that point, I just resigned myself to another miserable night, but my sweet friend handed me the keys to her car and sent me off. And Grace ended up having a bad ear infection so I was gone for a while because I had to get a prescription and Walmart was pretty slow. She was so kind and patient and willing. I was so grateful!

The next day (rough week, huh?) Ellie was having tummy issues. The poor kid has struggled with constipation since she was Grace's age. Nothing I change or do seems to matter. But this time it was seriously the worst it's ever been. She wouldn't move, wouldn't walk, couldn't sleep, was screaming and crying and sweating and trying to push but she was miserable. It was seriously awful. I would be lying if I didn't say that I cried plenty with her that day. My amazing friend had some suppositories (Scott was working late again) and brought them to me in between her busy schedule with catering an event and working on a remodel. She was so willing to help me and interrupt what she was doing to help my baby. I was seriously just so thankful.

And then on Sunday I whined to my amazing friend who directs the ward choir (I accompany). She is like my Rexburg Momma. She listens to me whine, tells me if I'm legitimately right or need to get over it, and gives me ideas on how to solve my problems. She's also so understanding of my less than perfect performance. :) I love her so much!

I have amazing friends. They are such amazing examples to me. I don't want to embarrass them and put their names but maybe I will because, after all, this is my journal and I want to remember! ha! So thank you Mallory, Courtney, Lisa, Marguritte, Nicole and Pam. You guys saved my life that weekend. I am so grateful to each of you and to all my other friends as well. I live in such an amazing area. I feel like anyone is willing to do anything for you. I have been humbled to have to ask, but I have been overwhelmed by the support and love I've felt. I have some work to do in the friend department, but I am working on it, and with these examples, I can't go wrong!

And, as a post script, I pray every day that my girls will have people in their lives, when they are grown up and married and away from home, who will love them and treat them like my friends treat me. I would be so comforted. Because I know how it feels to live far away from mommy (they probably won't be momma's girls like I am) and to be raising a young family. And ya need help. I pray that they will find people in their lives like those I've found in mine. 

There are also so many friends who have done so many things for me that aren't listed. I love and notice you all too :) I just had quite the weekend to record :)

Ellie Belle is 2!!

My Ellie Belle turned two last week! She is one spunky little munchkin! She has a mind of her own and has learned recently how to articulate it VERY well. She is no poser. Her sister's two year old pictures were picture perfect. Addy held very still and was very adamant about details. Ellie...not so much. These are the best of about 200 pictures I took! But that's part of her charm, I suppose. :)

Ellie loves to play. She's very curious and will make anything into a game. She's also very resourceful. She loves to use anything she can find to boost herself onto dressers and counters and anywhere she's not supposed to be. She has a bit of a naughty streak; flooding bathrooms, coloring on walls, unrolling toilet paper, flushing undies and/or rubber duckies, you name it. But she's also the very sweetest. She comforts Grace and races to be the first in her room when she wakes up from naps. She loves to sing and can fill in the blank when I stop singing for about 50 songs. She loves nature. Animals fascinate her. She has this really cute *gasp and open my mouth all surprised* thing going on that I hope she never loses. You'll see it in her birthday video when she blows out the candle on her pizza. She's mine. And she's perfect. Happy birthday Ellie Belle! Mommy loves you!

 For her birthday her little friend Gabby came over. I felt bad because Addy threw up while they were here...I hope we didn't share...so far so good. Ellie had lots of help opening her presents, which was great because she doesn't really enjoy it very much. She gets bored quick and wants to play!

 Gabby got Ellie and herself matching "best friend" shirts. You can tell both were thrilled to have to take a picture together...but they really are best friends!

 Ellie with her twin dollies and Minnie Mouse :)

We let her open one present before everyone got here because Addy had fallen asleep on the floor (for literally the first time in her entire life).

 This is the face :)

 I found these sound puzzles. They are pretty expensive, but I really wanted Ellie to have a puzzle she would love playing with because Addy is such a puzzler but we only have 50 and 100 piece ones. This one has been great! And Grace has gotten in on the fun too! She loves it as well!

Now enjoy the cuteness that is Ellie in real life, or in videos. I love this little girl with all my heart!



Sorry about this one...for some reason my camera wouldn't focus on Ellie, try as I might. Watching now I realize it was focusing on Austin's hair! lol

Valentine's Week :)

This year for Valentine's Day my mom convinced us to leave the kids with her for a week. I was a little nervous to be away from Grace that long. The other two have more fun at Mim's anyway. I just knew Grace was going to do something huge while I was gone. And that she would forget me with all the people around! lol. But I decided to go ahead and take it since this is probably the only time that we won't be pregnant and I can actually enjoy some time to myself and some time with Scott! 

In Spokane, Scott took me to a Brazilian grill (It was amazing and delicious) and then forced me to go ice skating. I had so much fun. I did make him hold onto me the whole time though...the idea of trying new things and falling is totally unappealing to me. I'm so cautious it's almost a little sad...

We skated at Riverfront Park so we walked along the river after. It was so cold by all that water! I was grateful to my mom for letting me borrow her headband and scarf! I didn't pack any warm clothes because our date was a surprise!

And then...we left our kids. Gasp. I cried a little...and then I didn't. Because as much as I love them, a week with Scott alone was amazing. We started with a leisurely drive home. We stopped at places we never had before because with 3 kids under 3 you just book it and spend as little time in the car as you can possibly manage! Scott bought me this awesome watch at a little gift shop in Montana :) I love it. It's my new favorite.

Monday night we stayed in a hotel :) A king suite with a jetted tub. It was so nice to just chill and relax and spend some time in a really comfy, private hot tub (barf, right?) We enjoyed it.

The rest of the week Scott had to work, so I cleaned during the day. My entire house got cleaned top to bottom. It was an amazing feeling to start and finish a task! Until about Thursday, and then I got really bored and lonely all day. We saw some amazing sunsets, did some roller blading, camped out in our van (for part of the night until we almost froze), watched some movies, and played some games. Oh, and of course, we did a temple night! It was great! And a big shout out to my bishop who vouched for me when I left my wallet in Spokane (because it just happens to be the same as my mom's...we're besties like that). Here are some pictures I took of the beautiful things we saw and then fun things we did!

Roller blading! I felt like I would have been so cool...except it's not the 90's anymore lol

I made this quick FHE chart too! The pictures are velcro so we can move them around. Addy has really enjoyed FHE since!

And then, these are the pictures I got from my mom. And, of course, just as I knew would happen, grace started pulling herself to standing on the furniture. :( But she's been going like crazy since she got back and I feel like I haven't missed a thing! She's going to walk before a year old, I'm pretty sure.

I am so grateful for my parents who were an amazing support to me growing up and continue to be while I continue to grow up, because, let's face it, I'm not even close to finished. Love you Mimi and Grandpa!