February Fun

February was filled with some fun adventures at our house. First we found out we are having another little girl, we celebrated Valentine's Day and we played lots of dress-up and made several blanket forts. We all got colds and Brynlee got a bad cough and a fever but luckily they didn't last long. There were a few nice days where we could play outside but it was mostly cold and rainy. Joel would come home from work totally soaked on the wet days; those are his least favorite. He also gets really muddy. Here is a quick recap of what we all did this month.

Joel spent the month working, doing things for church, helping his brother build his house, and  doing several other volunteer projects to help people out. He spent some time at home playing with the girls and helping us out. I even convinced him to spend almost an entire Saturday at home watching the kids. He planned on taking them to go do things but Brynlee ended up getting a fever so they were stuck inside. Joel was really itching to get out of the house by the time I got home so he left to go work on his brother's house as soon as possible.

Brynlee has been pretty helpful for the most part lately. She really loves doing preschool at our house and she has been really interested in writing her name, (she has the B and the r down great) and doing school stuff. She loves playing with Annalyn but they still fight sometimes. She loves her Sunbeam class at church and gets really into the lessons. She likes to spin around during singing time and when she knows the words to a song, she sings (screams) the words as loudly as she can. She still cries every time something doesn't go her way and she can be stubborn and naughty every once in a while, but for the most part she keeps us entertained and she is a lot of fun to be around.

Annalyn also loves to help me. Lately we have had several arguments over who gets to help me mop the floors or do the laundry. She loves to help me cook and she likes to do things all by herself. Annalyn loves to play dress-up but she also likes to take off all of her clothes and run around naked. She loves Brynlee and asks for her all the time. She figured out how to climb out of her crib with ease so we turned her crib into a toddler bed. She can also open all the doors so nap time has been a real challenge. She sure is growing up. She turns 2 in just a few weeks.

I am now 26 weeks pregnant. My third trimester is just about to start. I still feel pretty good for the most part. I have had lots of heartburn lately and I have had a hard time getting to sleep because of it so I have been tired. I still go to Zumba when I can but sometimes when I go I am so tired that I can't do anything else for the rest of the day. Last time I went we made it there on time only to have Annalyn spill her chocolate milk all over in my van. I had some extra clothes for her. I didn't realize until we got there that Brynlee was wearing one pink slipper and one pink snow boot. Apparently she couldn't find a match. Annalyn then spilt my water bottle all over the gym floor. It has been a lot of work to exercise. I have been doing some pregnancy workout videos and going on walks when the weather is nice to make up for my lack of exercise. I have been having fun doing this preschool with Brynlee and her friends. I spent the day Joel watched the kids shopping with my mom and grandma and we even went out to lunch. It was fun to get out of the house. I just need to convince Joel to do it more often.

Brynlee Quotes

Lately Brynlee has been keeping me thoroughly entertained with some of the things she says. She has a great imagination. I have been trying to write down all of the funny things she says but I need to do better. Here are just a few of my favorite quotes from Brynlee.

Brynlee loves to help Annalyn pick out her clothes and get dressed in the morning. The other day Brynlee picked out this little dress for Anna to wear but Annalyn didn't want to wear it. Brynlee was determined to get it on her. She held the dress up to Anna and told her; "Come on Anna. Jump right in. You are going to look Awesome!" Annalyn never would put that dress on.

Brynlee keeps changing her name on me. She will change her clothes or an accessory, like her shoes, or she will come out with a bracelet on and then inform me that Brynlee is gone. Her name is usually something like, Flowers, Rosie, Curly, Bowly, Hearltly, Princess Alora, Belle, or something girly like that. If I try to call her Brynlee I get in trouble and a reminder of her new name. It is hard to keep track of what to call her these days. Most of the time when she has a new identity, she doesn't have a mom or a dad. Sometimes she tries to adopt herself into my family but as long as she is going by a different name, she calls me Melissa and her dad Joel.

A while ago I gathered up a whole bunch of baby clothes that I didn't want anymore with the intention of giving them to my sister Heather. She is going to have a little girl in April. Brynlee found the bag of clothes and she kept getting into them and trying them on. A few times the clothes she put on were so tight that she couldn't get them off.
"Stay out of those clothes," I told her. "Those are for Heather's baby."
"It's all right mom," She assured me. "Heather wont know. Plus I don't think Heather has a baby at her house yet."

Me: "Brynlee how come you changed your clothes again?"
Brynlee: "Mom, my hair was not looking fabulous. I tried to fix it in the bathroom and then I got my clothes all wet!"

We went over to my sister Heather's house the other day and Brynlee somehow convinced my sister to cut her bangs for her and she even had Heather put her hair up in a cute ponytail. When Heather was done Brynlee spent a long time admiring herself in the mirror.
"What do you think?" Heather asked.
"I look, FANTASTICALLY PERFECT!" Brynlee shouted"

Brynlee was fixing my hair for me the other day and she was commenting about how long it it.
Me: "Do you think I should cut it?"
Brynlee: "Mom, I don't want you to look like dad."
Me: "No, I wouldn't cut it that short."
Brynlee: "Ok, I can cut it for you. Let me go get my scissors."
Me: "No, No, No, No No. You have to go to hair school and learn how to cut hair if you want to give someone a haircut."
Brynlee: "Awwww, Mom, Come On!"

Trying to use the bathroom by myself at this house has been a real challenge these last few years. We really need to fix the lock. I have been trying to teach Brynlee that I need privacy in there. A lot of the times she will walk in the door and beg for a hug and a kiss. The other day I tried to take a shower while Joel was watching the kids. All of a sudden Brynlee walked in completely naked and tried to sneak in the bathtub. I told her to go away and she said...
B: "It's ok mom. I am not going to look at you. And I wont laugh."
M: "You still need to get out of here."
B: "Don't worry mom. I am naked too, see."
Joel had to come and get Brynlee out for me. Brynlee was very sad that she couldn't take a shower with me. Another time as I was walking to go to the bathroom Brynlee ran up and tried to help me pull down my pants. The joys of parenting.

Brynlee has been pretending to be pregnant like me all the time lately. She just stuffs a baby in her shirt. It is almost always a girl baby and she walks around like that until she decides it is time for her baby to come out. The other day we had this conversation when Brynlee walked into the living room with something stuffed in her shirt.
Brynlee: "Look mom. I am going to have a baby. It has been in there for a long time. It was in there for five day. My baby is going to come out tomorrow. Do you want to know what kind of a baby I am going to have?"
Me: "What kind of baby is it?"
This is when Brynlee pulled her baby out and said...
Brynlee: "It's a Horse Baby! Do you want to see it? She is so cute."

Joel had to give a talk at church yesterday. Brynlee was sitting by me when she turned around and starting staring at an older couple that was sitting a few rows behind us. Then she turned to me and said, not all that quietly.
Brynlee: "Look mom, I see a bad Lady."
Me: "Shhh, What do you mean."
Brynlee: "Yeah. look mom, it Is a bad lady."
Me: "Brynlee don't say that."
Brynlee: "Yeah, and she is sitting by the bad man."
I think Brynlee has seen too many disney movies where the villain has long black hair. My mom was sitting next to me and she just started laughing.

Brynlee has been doing a great job at keeping her room clean. She makes sure to pick up all her toys before bed each night. Lately she has been playing a lot in Annalyn's room and making big messes in there that she wont pick up. The other day I asked her why she made such a big mess in her sister's room and she was quick to tell me, "mom, I don't want My room to be messy."

I sure do love this girl.

Valentine's Day

Brynlee was super excited for Valentine's day this year. As soon as I mentioned that the holiday was coming up; Brynlee decorated a whole bunch of paper that she cut out and covered with glue and water. She planned on giving one to each of her friends. I took her to the store and I let her help me pick some candy out and that is what we gave her friends in the end. We had a little party during our preschool and both of the girls loved it. Annalyn refused to nap so that she could stay up and party with us. She loved getting all of that candy. We decorated and ate cookies, made a Valentine's craft, read a Valentines' story, and then we passed out cards. We never got to play the games I had planned but it was fun. Even after the party Brynlee couldn't wait for the real Valentine's Day.

The day before Valentine's Day, the girls helped me decorate a whole bunch of hearts for Joel. We wrote down 50 different things that we love about Joel. I had Joel get some balloons and some candy to give the girls and I hid them so we could go on a treasure hunt in the morning. The girls were so excited to get their balloons and they loved the treasure hunt. Brynlee was beyond excited for Valentine's day to be here. Joel stayed in bed while we did the treasure hunt, it is impossible to get him up before his alarm clock goes off. Brynlee was determined to put up his Valentines' hearts right away. I figured we had plenty of time before Joel had to leave for work so we went ahead and put them up on the wall. Brynlee kept trying to hide them in places so a few of them were hidden around our house. I think Joel was pleasantly surprised when he saw them that morning. Joel had time to eat breakfast with us and then he left for work.

The girls ate most of their candy right away, although, Joel bought the cheap kind so there is still one bag of candy that no one liked. Joel usually gets me something for Valentines' day but we had decided not to spend a lot of money this year. I still thought he would get me some candy or something. He informed me the night before that I got a balloon and some candy to share with the girls. Chocolate has been giving me really bad heart burn so he thought he was doing me a favor by not tempting me with it. I guess he could tell I was a little disappointed because he came home early from work on Valentine's Day with an entire bag of candy for me and he told me he was going to make dinner so I was very happy with him. 

It was really muddy at work so Joel decided to go and get some kind of a tool that he needed from his dad's house. Brynlee wanted to go along for the ride and then Anna wanted to go with him too so I suggested that we all go. We piled in the mini van and were off.  The only problem was that the tool was at the edge of his dad's property and we had to drive along this really muddy canal road to get to it. We made it there fine but while we were backing up our van got stuck really badly in that mud. Brynlee was super concerned that we were going to miss Valentine's Day. Joel called his brother Jake and we played Eye Spy in the van to pass the time. Brynlee was super relieve when Jake came and rescued us. We were able to back up the rest of the way without any more incidents. Unfortunately, Jake wasn't so lucky. He ended up getting just as stuck as we were. He had to call someone else to come rescue him. What an adventure.

When we got home Joel made us dinner and we watched a movie with the kids. Once we put the kids to bed Joel and I go to have a little simple date alone. Brynlee got a bad cough sometime during the day and she ended up waking up with a fever that night but overall it was a fun, simple, and relaxing day where we got to celebrate the people we love. I am very blessed to have these three little Valentines and another one on the way. Happy Valentines Day!

Gender Reveal

Yesterday I took Joel and the girls with me to my doctor visit and together we were able to find out the gender of this little baby that will be joining our family soon. Joel was still convinced it was a girl, Brynlee desperately wanted it to be a girl, I was leaning towards a boy, and Annalyn really had no idea what was going on. We did the ultrasound as soon as we got there. The baby was once again moving around so much that we had a hard time figuring out what we were having. We would catch a quick glance, and then the baby would move again. Eventually we were able to get the view we wanted. It looks like Brynlee is going to get her wish. We are having another little girl! We are all really excited. We will just to have a little boy later.

It took Brynlee a few minutes to figure out that we are really having a girl but once she realized it, she started jumping up and down exclaiming how cool this was and how much she loved her new baby sister. At the end of the doctor's appointment when my midwife asked me if I had any questions, Brynlee piped up that she had a question. Then Brynlee told her that she wanted to hug the baby. The midwife told her she would have to settle for hugging her mom's belly for now. Brynlee ran up and gave me and the baby a huge hug. It was a great moment. I really do love both of my girls so I am excited to have another one. 

When we got home from our visit, we didn't tell anyone what we were having. Instead the girls helped me to make some cupcakes and we put pink frosting in the middle so that when our family came over that night, they would discover what we were having once they bit into their cupcake. I tested one cupcake and decided I had put way to much frosting in the middle because it made a huge mess and oozed everywhere. In the end, I don't think I put enough frosting in the middle because everyone had a hard time figuring it out at first. Oh well. It was still fun. I frosted the tops of the cupcakes with pink and blue icing so it would be a surprise. I didn't think to take any pictures.

The girls had a lot of fun helping me to make the cupcakes. Annalyn helped me stir the cake batter and she kept dipping her spoon in and eating it. I told her not to do that and she looked up at me with a mouth covered in cake batter and excitedly exclaimed, "ummmmm, I LOVE it."She kept trying to eat the cupcakes once they were made so I had to hide them on top of the fridge. 

My family and Joel's parents came over that night for family night and we sang a song and had a short thought before we got to eat a cupcake. Most of my family was convinced we were having a boy. My dad was really shocked when we saw that pink frosting. It would have worked better if there was more frosting in the middle but it was still fun. Afterwards we played an animal charades game per Brynlee's request. It was a fun night and we are all excited for this new little spirit that will soon come into our home. 

January 2014

2014 is now upon us and we are sure looking forward to what this new year will bring. Joel and I have never been that into celebrating the new year. We did get together on New Year's Eve and talk about our goals and resolutions for the year but other than that, I wasn't feeling that well so we just went to bed early and called it a night. I didn't even think about it until days later but we should have done something to celebrate that fact that we got engaged six years ago on New Year's Eve. Oh well, there is always next year. Our biggest goal for the year is to better manage and budget our money. We would really like to build a house so we are hoping we can find some land to buy and have enough money to build a home.

At the beginning of the month, I took the girls on their first trip to the expensive theater and we watched the movie Frozen. Joel didn't want to come so we convinced my sister Alesha to come with us. I had a free ticket and Annalyn was free so we got a good deal. The popcorn kept Annalyn busy for a long time so it was well worth the money. Annalyn was really busy and she had some minor melt downs when her popcorn spilt and when she dropped her cup of water and we couldn't find it, but I didn't have to take her out once so I would call it a success. Brynlee loved the movie and cried when it was over. She has been begging to see it again ever since. Annalyn requests watching clips of the "noman" (snowman) from the movie every time she sees my ipad. Brynlee want to go again but next time she wants her dad to take her.

Speaking of Brynlee and her dad, she has been completely attached to him lately. She cries when he leaves for work and she has to get at least 4 or 5 hugs and kissses from him before he leaves. If she doesn't get enough, she will run out the door crying and sit in the middle of the driveway in the freezing cold crying for her dad. She loves her dad. She wants him to read to her and tuck her in bed every night.

Brynlee got to start going to the sunbeam class at church this month. She was not so sure about it at first. I think she misses nursery but she is happy to go and she seems to enjoy it. It has been fun for me to sit in the primary room with her since I teach the 5 year old class. Brynlee is pretty good in there but she cannot sit still. She likes to hug the kids sitting next to her, move all around in her chair, and get up in the middle of class to tell me things. She is not afraid to make comments in there at all. Most of the time the comments are not related to the lesson but they make us all laugh. She sure is growing up. I can't believe she will turn four this year.

I have been thinking about doing a preschool with Brynlee and some of her friends for a while and I finally went ahead and started it up this month. There are five other kids that come and we do it once a week during Anna's nap time. Brynlee has loved it. We do several school things, I read a book, we do a craft, eat a snack, and we play. It has been lots of fun so far. I have missed teaching so this has been fun for me. I just have to lower my expectations and remember that most of these kids are only three. Brynlee has already started to show more of an interest in school things so I think this will be really good for her.

Joel is still busy with work and his new calling. He has done lots of service projects lately and he did one job for some money with my dad and my brother Brian at the end of the month. It ended up being a lot more trouble than is was worth so I don't think he will get himself involved in more of those jobs. The main problem was that he had to do a lot more work than he thought he would have to do. I have been busy taking care of my kids, cleaning the house, and planning fun projects to do with the preschool kids. Life is pretty good right now.

My girls have played together so well lately. They are great at helping each other out and at keeping each other entertained. It has been so much fun for me to watch. Annalyn got a little scratch on her head the other day and the next thing I knew, Brynlee was doctoring her little sister up with a band-aid. Brynlee is once again convinced that she is going to have another baby sister and she told us if the baby is a boy, she is going to cry. Annalyn has been super stubborn lately. She started boycotting jeans lately by throwing a major tantrum and refusing to put them on. Her favorite thing to wear is dresses. Especially the fancy church dresses that she owns. It is a struggle to take them off of her at night and she will get them out of the laundry basket and try to wear them several days in a row. I sure do love both of my crazy little girls.

Baby Update

I am officially half way done with this pregnancy and for the most part I am feeling pretty good. I have had lots of back aches and some heart burn, plus the smells still really get to me but other than that, I am doing good. This is a picture of me (the only one I have taken so far) at 19 weeks and three days. Today I am 20 weeks and five days. 

I mainly wrote this post because I wanted to write about the experience that I had at my last doctor's appointment a few weeks ago. I dropped the girls off at Brynlee's friend's house to play and then I left. I made sure to leave 15 minutes earlier than before since I was 15 minutes late for my other appointment. This time I was 25 minutes early. Go figure, I hit every green light and just sailed right there. I had to wait forever to see the midwife and then she talked forever. She finally went to listen to the babies heartbeat and she couldn't find it. They had a hard time finding the heartbeat last time so I wasn't really worried. The midwife told me the baby was probably just moving a lot, or maybe I had a tilted uterus. She was determined to find a heartbeat. We probably spent about 15 minutes trying to find a heartbeat without any luck. At this point I was starting to get worried; But then all of a sudden, I had this calm reassurance that everything was fine. It was amazing to be in a situation where I would normally be really worried but I felt totally calm. I just had this strong feeling that everything was okay. I know it was the Holy Ghost. 

My midwife went to see if she could get an ultrasound done for me so we could try to find the heartbeat on there. Someone was using the room so it ended up being a really long wait. I am so glad that I felt calm the whole time while I had to wait. As soon as the ultrasound was done, we could see the heartbeat right away. It turns out we just couldn't find the baby because baby was moving all over the place. I almost asked her to check the gender for me but I decided I wanted to wait until our next appointment when Joel would be with me. They printed a picture of a profile of the face and then they got out their doppler thing. Once they know where the baby was, we could find the heartbeat right away. When I got home, Joel told me I just should have found out the gender without him so that we didn't have to wait four more weeks to know what we are having. We should find out the gender on February 3. Joel is still convinced it is another girls, but Brynlee decided it is a boy for some reason. She said she already has a little sister so now she needs a little brother. Either way, we will be excited. We are all just really thankful that this baby is healthy. I can tell this baby is a mover. I don't remember my first two babies moving this much. This is going to be an adventure. 

Pictures in the Rocking Chair

When Joel and I first got married we we given this old rocking chair that would rock and spin. It was pretty dirty when we got it but we cleaned it up and it was nice and comfortable. It was the nicest chair we had at first. The main problem is that when you rocked in the chair, it would move and when it hit the wall it would leave some really bad marks. It caused us to have to repair many walls.

Eventually we got a new rocking chair and Joel has wanted to get rid of that old one ever since. I am not sure why I wouldn't let him get rid of it. The kids loved playing in that chair and it has so many memories for us. I would set the girls in that chair all the time and attempt to take their picture.

During the week when Joel was home during the Christmas break, I finally let Joel get rid of it. He didn't hesitate. As soon as I said the word, Joel had that chair our of here. He actually cleaned up the whole room, organized several things and vacuumed for me after he hauled it out so it was totally worth it to get rid of it.

I still kind of miss that chair. I was looking though all of my pictures the other day and I just had to share some of my favorites from that chair; starting with the one when Annalyn was just two days old and Brynlee was 21 months. It isn't easy getting two little girls to sit and look pretty for a picture. There are a few with both girls looking at the camera and smiling, but only a few. Oh how my girls have grown over the past few months. Now I need to find a new place to take pictures.

March 2012

  April 2012

  May 2012

  July 2012

August 2012

  September 2012

  October 2012

  December 2012

 March and May 2013

June 2013

July and August 2013

  September and December (the last three) 2013