Annalyn's 13 Month Update

I wasn't going to keep doing these updates every month but it seems like Annalyn has made so much progress this month that I just had to document it. It is amazing to me how much she is learning and growing. She can now walk pretty well but she still prefers to crawl. Most of the time she starts off by walking, then she falls down and walks on her knees for a little while. If she wants to get somewhere quickly, she just crawls. But she can walk all the way across the room and back. Most of the time she has something in each hand that she is trying to carry with her. She loves stuffed animals.

Annalyn now has five teeth. Two on the bottom and three on the top. They are really sharp too. Every time we go outside she tries to eat rocks and she bits me when I have to fish them out of her mouth. She still loves to eat but she is getting pickier about what she consumes. She likes whole milk but it tastes much better from Brynlee's sippy cup. I tell you. Even if she has the same thing in her cup she goes for Brynlee's and tries to take it from her. She was spitting up a lot when I first started giving her whole milk. Which was really weird because she almost never spits up. She can handle it now. I just had to take it slow with her.

Annalyn's favorite word is "Bah." She says it every time she hears the chickens outside, or when she wants to go outside. She loves those chickens. She really wants to catch them. She has been bitten by one twice but it hasn't stopped her from trying to chase them. Annalyn can also make the sound for a pig and a dog. She says "ba" for ball and "mo" for more. She can also sign please and she is starting to do it on demand. She will sometimes sign all done. I was taking her inside one day and she started crying and clearly said "no." She hasn't said it since which is fine. I don't think I want her using that word yet.  I love watching her learn new words. Her smile just lights up the room and makes my day.

Five Years of Marriage

Today Joel and I are going to celebrate our fifth anniversary. Can you believe we have been married that long? Here are some of the things we have accomplished in the last five years.

• We have moved 8 times. 
• We have lived in 2 third floor apartments.
• We made 1 trip to Canada together.
• We went to the Oregon coast together. 
• We have lived with Joel's brother and with his parents.
• We lived with Melissa's grandma and her aunt for seven weeks. 
• We made several trips from Boise to Rexburg and back again. 
• Melissa taught 1 first grade class and substitute taught for another. 
• Joel did 2 internships.
• Joel earned 1 bachelors degree in construction management. 
• Joel has worked on the farm as a mechanic, a welder, and a truck driver.
• We survived 2 pregnancies.
• We became the parents of two beautiful baby girls. 
• We have changed countless diaper, wiped numerous tears, and spent many hours cuddling with our wonderful girls. 
• We have survived lots of arguments and disagreements and we have learned to forgive each other. 
• We have enjoyed many dates and long conversations into the night. 

Joel really is my best friend. I am so grateful for everything that he does. He is a great dad and such a hard worker. I am glad I get to spend eternity with him. I have loved the last five years and I look forward to many more with him by my side. 

The Month of March

The first week of March was pretty calm and quiet at our house. We went swimming at the YMCA to celebrate my Nephew Jakobee's second birthday and we went to the library but other than that we didn't do a whole lot. It was a nice quiet relaxing week. The girls were busy but that is normal. The week ended with Joel randomly getting a phone call from someone in the construction business that was looking for a worker and wondering if Joel would be interested in interviewing with him. An interview time was set up for Monday.

      The second week of March started out with daylight savings time. The girls had both been waking up at 6 every morning so I was looking forward to sleeping in until 7. Annalyn woke up that night crying and when I checked on her I found out that she had thrown up all over the place. I had to change her clothes and her sheet. That was the first time she had ever thrown up. She didn't feel good at all so it was a long night for both of us. Joel's alarm clock went up off at 6 that morning and both of my girls woke up right after that. Joel slept in a lot longer too. Both kids were super grouchy so I tried to put Brynlee back to sleep but it didn't work. Annalyn took a really early nap but she didn't have any appetite all day. I could tell she just didn't feel well but she didn't throw up again until later that night.

      Joel had his job interview that day so he came home early and he even stopped at the grocery store and got all of the food we would need for the week. He thought the interview went well but he wasn't sure if it was a job he wanted to do. Joel graduated from school with a degree in construction management and he really wanted to get a job with a construction company. He was hoping for a comercial construction company and this was just a job working with residential homes. Not to mention, Joel just got a raise and a nice new welding truck on the farm. He was happy with the job welding on the farm. This job would pay less and it came with less benefits. We decided to wait and see what they would offer us before we made a decision.

       The next day Annalyn seemed to feel much better but she still didn't have much of an appetite. Brynlee and I had fun playing outside for several hours that day while Annalyn slept. Brynlee spent hours trying to catch one of our chickens so she could give her a ride in the little wagon. Everytime she would put a chicken in, it would jump right out so she would have to go find a new chicken to torture. I finally put some food in the wagon and we got one of the chickens to stay in there. Brynlee was just thrilled.

     Then that night Brynlee started throwing up. She threw up all day on Wednesday and couldn't eat anything. Poor girl. On Thurday she seemed to be much better. On Friday Joel left for a campout with the YM. I read a book that night and went to bed early only to wake up feeling miserable. Why is it that stuff like this always happens when the husband is gone? Brynlee kept waking up too she she ended up sleeping in Joel's spot. I didn't have the energy to move her. I never threw up but I seriously thought I was going to. Joel came home around 2 the next afternoon. He had lots of fun camping and hiking with the boys. Somehow I managed to take care of the kids until then. I couldn't wait for Joel to get home and help me out but he had other plans. He did take some pity on me and he agreed to take Brynlee with him on his little excursion but he didn't see any reason why I couldn't take care of Annalyn since I had watched both kids all morning while I was sick. Luckily I felt fine the next morning and things got back to normal.

      The Third Week of March started out with Sunday being St. Patrick's day. Brynlee wouldn't let me take a good picture of her but we all wore green to church that day. This is the week where we celebrated Annalyn's first birthday. We went shopping for her presents, cleaned the house, and I had to help set up for a relief society activity they had on Tuesday night. Wednesday was Anna's birthday and we had fun celebrating it with her. We went to the library and to Zumba but other than that, we just took it easy. This week Joel went to another Job interview with the same company and they offered him a job. Joel had two days to think about it. After much thought and prayer he decided not to take the job. Joel is happy where he is and I fully support his decision. It was not an easy decision because he was presented with two great options. Both jobs had different pros and cons but in the end I think he made the best choice. I am proud of him and I think it was a good morale booster to know that he was wanted at the job and that his boss where he is working now wanted him to stay. He felt bad having to decline the job offer but we had to do what was best for us.

      During the Fourth Week of March we started to prepare for Easter by doing lots of Easter things. We decorated eggs and went to an Easter egg hunt. The weather was gorgeous so we spent lots of time outside. Annalyn loves to be outside. She could stay out there all day. Brynlee got invited to her first birthday party. It was a Tinkerbell party so Brynlee got to dress up like a fairy. She wanted to be a Cinderella fairy so she wore her beloved Cinderella dress with some pink fairy wings. She had so much fun at that party. Now she can't wait until June so she can have her birthday party. It was also Spring break so my siblings were out of school and my parents didn't have to work. They sold their house a week before this so they spent most of the week packing, looking for a new house, and preparing to move. They still don't know where they are going yet. We spent one day over there helping out as much as we could. It is always hard for me to help because it takes a lot of work just to keep Brynlee out of trouble. March was overall a fun month full of many great adventures.

Easter

      This year we started out our Easter celebrations with a Family night all about the true meaning of Easter. I had Brynlee watch a movie about when Jesus was crucified and then resurrected. I didn't think Brynlee would sit through all of the movie but she really liked it. At the end when Jesus was resurrected, there was a bright light and some really inspirational music. Brynlee jumped up and yelled "They're married. Jesus is married." We tried to explain that he was just resurrected but she was still convinced that it was a marriage taking place. I think she has watched too many princess shows lately. When the show was over she asked to watch it again. She wanted to see Jesus get an owie. I am glad that she watched the movie and seemed to understand a little of what Easter is really all about.

(I got out all of my Easter stuff earlier that day and Brynlee and Annalyn had fun playing with all of the  Easter grass. They made a huge mess but they had so much fun.)

       After we talked about the true meaning of Easter we decorated some Easter eggs. We used some of our brown chicken eggs and they colored just fine. I was a little worried they wouldn't look as nice. We had several different egg decorating kits that we bought last year so we dyed them and we put glitter and stickers on some. Joel's looked the coolest. He spent a long time decorating his. Brynlee kept sticking her hand in the dye so by the end of the night, her hand was green. Annalyn really wanted to help but I didn't let her get close enough to touch anything.

      I really wanted to take Brynlee to an Easter egg hunt this year but I couldn't find a good one to take her to. My sister Heather was doing one with her in-laws and then invited us to come to the park and do it with them. They only had boys there so Brynlee got spoiled with lots of jewelry and a pink bucket. Neither of my girls found a lot of eggs but they sure had fun. They especially loved the candy. Then we played on the playground equipment and had a great time.

      Brynlee and I set up an Easter egg hunt for Joel to do when he got home from work on Friday. We hid an Easter egg in the bag of chicken food with a note and a little rhyme I made up telling him that there were 22 eggs hidden all around our house. Joel somehow fed the chickens and missed the note but he found an egg as soon as he walked in the house. Eventually he found the note and he had to stop so he could find all of the eggs before dinner. Him and Brynlee were so funny running around the house looking for eggs. Brynlee found almost all of the ones she hid. It was a lot of fun.

      On Easter morning we woke up and the girls got to get their Easter baskets. Joel didn't even want to do Easter baskets at all. I am not sure why. I tried to keep it simple. We just got a little bit of candy and the girls got one small toy. Annalyn got a stuffed animal that she fell in love with at the store and Brynlee got some bubbles. We don't have church until 1 so we had some time to walk outside and take some pictures before church started. My mom bought Annalyn a cute Easter dress for her birthday and then she found a matching one for Brynlee and just had to buy it. The looked pretty adorable in their matching little dresses. Brynlee tried to wear her fairy wings and she even put on some of my lipstick but I made her take it off. We had fun playing with the beautiful flowers, the pine cones, and looking at all of the blossoms on the apricot tree. Brynlee is still convinced there is popcorn on that tree.

      When we came in the house Brynlee started to get a rash on her face and it was there for the rest of the day. Something she touched outside must have irritated her skin. We went to church and they had a wonderful service and some beautiful Easter songs. In the middle of sacrament meeting Brynlee found the extra pair of pink panties that I had in the bag and she took her white ones off so she could put the pink ones on. I almost didn't even realize what she was doing except when she tried to put on the new pair, she put them on the wrong way and was having some problems. Both of her legs were in the same hole. I had to carry Brynlee and her panties out to the bathroom so she could put them back on the proper way. Good thing she was wearing a nice long puffy dress.

     After church we went to my grandma's house for some dinner and for another little Easter egg hunt. Brynlee really got into finding the eggs this time. It was a fun day. I am so thankful that our Savior was resurrected. He made it possible for me to live with my family forever and for that I am so grateful. I loved spending the day with my family. I am glad we had this day to stop and think about all that our Savior has done for us. I had a fun day and I am so glad I got to spend it with my family.