Our Lovely March

     March was full of all kinds of fun and adventures for our family. Annalyn was so excited for this month since she knew her birthday is in March. She had lots of fun celebrating turning three. We officially put money down on a lot in Kuna and we came up with a house plan. Joel's brother Josh drew it up for us and now we have put it in for some bids to see how much things will cost. Once that is done we can start building. We are all excited for a new house.

     Joel is working hard at work and trying to get all of the projects done around here. Once he starts working on our house there won't be time for any other projects. Right now he is still working on his truck. It was not the project I wanted him to work on but I think he is almost done with it and then he wants to start driving it everyday to work. I have really loved having him work outside at home because I can send the girls out to play and get some things done in the house. Last week Joel let them help paint his four wheeler trailer and then he took everyone, even Kyla on a little ride. Kyla loved it.

     The girls and I did lots of crafts, including making a pinata for Anna's birthday. We had a girl's make-over party one day where we painted nails and put on Jewelry and make-up. We played outside lots and the girls and I went on several bike rides. At least Brynlee would ride her bike while I pushed the girls in the stroller or the wagon. Bryn is getting faster at riding her bike. At first our rides were really slow. I have also been doing a workout in the mornings with the girls as my little workout buddies. Although, they never last very long. I borrowed this program called Insanity from my dad. I haven't done it everyday but at least a few times a week. It probably isn't the best things for them to watch because they always comment on the lack of clothing everyone is exercising with. Annalyn took off her shirt one day so she could be like them while we were exercising.

     We went to my Nephew Jakobee's fourth birthday this year at a place called Kid Planet. Brynlee had a blast and I hardly saw her in there. Little Anna really wanted to go in the ball pit, made it in there twice and freaked out so I had to climb in and save her. We spent most of the time in the toddler area with Kyla and Anna didn't want to leave when the party was over. Kyla wasn't so sure about the ball pit at first but then she warmed up to it.

I did preschool on St. Patrick's day and we made three leaf clover hats that we painted green and I had the kids go on a treasure hunt to find the green cupcakes I made. They loved that. Then we went to the library for a new session. I didn't get signed up in time for the Wednesday class so I wan't sure if I wanted to try to go on Tuesday afternoons but Brynlee really wanted to do it so I figured we would try. The lady who does this class brings real dance shoes for the kids to wear, plays her guitar, and even uses a parachute for one of the songs. Brynlee is convinced this is real ballet and absolutely loves it. She is still convinced that she wants to grow up and be a ballerina. Brynlee also discovered Junie B. Jones books and is obsessed with them. I have several but she has also been checking them out from the library and she will sit still and let me read the whole book to her in one setting. I have really enjoyed that. We tried to go to art class one week at the library. Anna can go now that she is three but she cried when I tried to leave her and whined the whole time about not getting what she wanted. I don't think we will do that again. 

I took Kyla on her first trip to the grocery store by herself while the girls were at preschool and she got to sit in the front seat of the cart. She is the best little shopping buddy. She just stared at everything and was mesmerized during the whole trip. While we were there I bought Brynlee a booster seat. She has been asking for one for a while since some of her friends sit in them. Anna grew out of the convertible seat she had been using I figured I would get them a new one. I have never seen a kid so excited about a new car seat. Annalyn got Brynlee's pink car seat so she was pretty excited too. When we got home from shopping the girls wanted to have a picnic on the trampoline. I took the groceries in and the when I was done the girls were already outside eating their lunch that they packed all by themselves. I had to laugh at the lunch Anna packed and I took a quick picture of it with my phone. She packed a pack of hot dogs, a whole bag of carrots, an apple, a string cheese and a slice of american cheese along with a half of a stick of butter. What a lunch.

     The schools here all had Spring break during the last week of March. We spent Monday at aunt Joanna's house where the girls had a blast playing with their cousins. Joanna fixed Annalyn's hair in some pretty braids that she refused to let me take out for days. She has been begging to go back there so Joanna can fix her hair again. The girls also got to ride a little miniature horse that Tinsley saddled up for them and they had a blast. Brynlee took the reigns all by herself and did a  pretty good job at riding. They already want to go again.

     Later that night Brynlee ate a really big dinner and then said she didn't feel well. She proceeded to throw up all that night and the next day. Luckily she got it in the toilet or in her bucket every time and she started feeling better once dinnertime rolled around again and she was fine the next day. Joel was home from work that day since it was too wet and rainy to work outside. He made lots of progress on his truck but it still needs some work since he tried to test drive it down the road and it died on him. He didn't have his phone and I had no idea where he was so he had to walk home and we got my brother Josh to help him jump start it.

     During the rest of that week we spent some time with my mom, the girls had a play date with one of their friends and then we went to the mall to get some pictures of Annalyn. My mom and my sister Heather came with us but Heather and I both forgot our strollers. Five little kids at the mall with no stroller is not an easy task but I got some cute pictures of Anna and it hardly cost me anything since I had a $25 off coupon.

      I went to the Women's broadcast at the church with my mom and grandma on Saturday night and when I got home Annalyn started throwing up. Joel and I were asked to help with the fifth Sunday lesson at church the next day so we were debating who would stay home with a sick kid. I was going to go until I woke up feeling terrible in the middle of the night. I never threw up but I had a fever and felt miserable. I told Joel he would have to go and he planned on going until he woke up sick that morning. He threw up all day. Brynlee wanted to go to church so I sent her with my dad, it turns out my mom was sick too. Annalyn seemed to feel fine that day but Joel and I spent most of the day on the couch or in the bathroom. It was not a great day. We both felt better the next day. Joel even made it to work and we were able to enjoy the day. We are just praying that little Kyla doesn't get sick. I made an Easter Egg hunt for the kids that night and we talked about Easter and decorated Easter Eggs. We ended the month with an egg hunt for preschool and with lots of excitement for the future.

Anna's Birthday

     Annalyn really wanted a bear birthday party this year and her only requests were for pink presents, a bear cake, and a bear pinata. That seemed easy enough. I wanted to invite some of her friends but she didn't seem interested so we just invited her cousin Jakobee and some of my family. Annalyn seemed happy with that.

     Annalyn and Brynlee helped me to make the bear cake. I had this pink camouflage cake that I decide to use but after it was cooked, it kind of fell apart on me. It was so crumbly that I decided to start over. Annalyn really wanted to make the cupcakes on the front of another box of cake mix I had but I had already opened one so I just explained that we would make her bear cake pink. She must not have liked that response because when I went to check on her she had cut a piece of wrapping paper off the roll and she was attempting to wrap up that box of cake mix. All week she kept bringing me things to wrap for her birthday. "Here mom, I want you to wrap my care bear for my birthday and then I can open it on my Birthday," she would say. When I asked her what she wanted, she would bring me toys that she already owned and tell me I could wrap them. Silly girl. So here she was wrapping up her own present. She had several problems with the tape so I helped her to finish up the wrapping. Hey, if she wanted to open a box of cake mix on her birthday I couldn't see stopping her. Annalyn then helped me to decorate the bear cake. I think it looked like a bear in the end so I was happy.

     Annalyn was not happy about having to wait all day to open her presents. She wanted to open them without her dad. I made pizzas for dinner and we all ate. Joel came home just as we were done eating and Annalyn wanted to open her presents. We went on a bear hunt so Joel could eat. Annalyn loves that song and so does Brynlee. Jakobee got into it at first but once we pretended to find a bear that we had to run from, he went and sat in his mom's lap. The whole rest of the party he was scared that there was a bear in our house. I hope I didn't scar him for life. He may not ever come over to our house again. As soon as the song was over, Anna started opening her present. I don't think she even cared what was in them. My mom and I picked her out a new outfit for church and Joel and I got her a pink jewelry box with some jewelry, a fancy piggy bank, and the Ice Age movie since she keeps trying to borrow those movies from my aunt Lora. She got some shoes and some bows to go with her outfit as well as an art set thing and the cake mix. She didn't seem to mind that she didn't get any toys. They have so many toys that I couldn't bring myself to buy anymore.

     As soon as Anna's presents were unwrapped we ate some cake and ice cream and then we headed outside for the pinata. Annalyn got to go first and after a few half hearted attempts to hit the pinata she ran off crying because she didn't want to break it. We did spend a long time working on that pinata. I let the girl's paint it all on their own pretty much. I don't think it really looked like a bear but Annalyn loved it and didn't want it to break. I found out later she was afraid that the balloon inside it would pop. She thought the balloon was still in there. She is afraid of balloons popping. Brynlee and Jakobee took a few swings and then Joel let Jakobee finish it off. My brother Josh got the candy for Anna since she didn't want to get close. She ate all kinds of candy that night and then had a blast playing outside for a few hours until it was time for bed.

     The next morning Annalyn put on her new clothes right away, turned on her movie, and sat on the couch eating candy while she watched her birthday party on the video camera. She watched the part with the pinata over and over again and then she told me how sad that part was. "I don't like to watch Jakobee pop my balloon. That was so sad," she sniffled. I didn't know this would be such a tramatic party. At least she had a blast. Joel took the girls to McDonald's and to run a few errands that day and Annalyn loved that.

We love you Annalyn! Happy Birthday!

Annalyn is THREE

     Little Annalyn has officially turned three this month. She sure is getting big. Her hair is getting long and it is starting to lose some of its curl. Anna loves to let me fix her hair and to get dressed up all fancy. She loves when I put braids or buns in her hair. She loves wearing make-up and painting her toes. She dresses herself and wants to buckle her car seat without any help. She has these rubber polka dot boot that she loves to wear with every outfit, even dresses or skirts. Those shoes are getting a hole in them and she is really concerned about that. Anna still loves to eat candy and all things sweet. She loves to be babied and cuddled. She loves animals and has been playing lots of pretend with Brynlee lately. She has been super demanding and bossy lately but is is also very compassionate and helpful. She plays really well by herself. She sure is a sweet girl and we all love her.

I asked Anna a few questions about some of her favorite things and this is what she told me.

Facts About Annalyn:
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Movie: The Pink Dinosaur Movie
Best Friends: Josie, Snow White, and Anna (from Frozen)
Favorite Thing to do: Play with mom and Kyla and Aunt Joanna
Favorite Thing to do Outside: Play on the Trampoline
Favorite Food: Eggs
Favorite Song: Jesus Walked Away From None
Favorite Toy: Bear Toy
Favorite Game: Going on a Bear Hunt (the song)
Favorite Book: The Baby Bear book
Favorite Animal: Elephant
Favorite thing to do with Family: Play Hide and Seek
What she want to be when she grows up: An Elephant
Height: 37.8 in. (58%)
Weight: 34 lbs (75%)

      Lately her favorite toys are all of the cupcakes, the fake ice cream, and the other fake cookies and stuff from her kitchen set. She would carry them in her purse everywhere we went for a while. She had a hamburger patty she called a brownie and a fake apple pie turnover that she called licorice. She really loves to play with pretend animals. She has several plastic animals that she loves to line up and then she makes them have pretend conversations. There is a baby and a momma of each one and she likes the babies the best. She still loves babies. She likes the dinosaurs, bears, hippos and the elephants the best of all the animals. She likes to play with her stuffed animals as well, especially the care bears. She loves watching movies about animals too. She still loves the Land Before Time as well and Ice Age, and Dumbo. She really likes to color and could sit and color or paint for a long time. She always lasts much longer than Brynlee.

     Anna has been going through this weird phase where she is terrified of all kinds of things. It first started when we were playing outside and an airplane flew overhead. She started screaming and would not come back outside. She was convinced there were monsters in the plane and that they would jump down on her. Then the next day a tractor drove by and she freaked out and would not go outside. She saw a fly and grandma Hirtle's house and she could not be calmed down until Grandpa squished it. She has stayed really close to me when we are outside for fear of an airplane flying overhead or a fly landing on her. She is also scared of bumblebees. Then she went to preschool at Katianna's house and she found a crack on their ceiling and it terrified her. I had to go and pick her up and she kept talking about the scary crack all week. She did go to preschool next week after we examined the crack and decided it was safe. Hopefully this is just a phase and she will grow out of it soon.

Annalyn loves band-aids and tries to put one on every cut or sore. She is really concerned when others have owies too and is quick to give them kisses and band-aids. Lately Anna cries whenever she doesn't get her way and she is super persistent and stubborn. She is also a really great helper. She likes to put her shirts on the hangers after I do laundry and then she lines all of her shirts along the living room. She also likes to help me change my laundry from the washer to the dryer and her favorite part is to push the button to make it start. She is getting better at cleaning up her messes but most of the time she avoids doing them and she seems to somehow convince Brynlee to help her. As soon as Brynlee starts helping, Anna heads off and lets Brynlee do all the work. Brynlee hasn't fallen for that tactic lately.

On some days Annalyn loves playing with Kyla but on other days she gets really annoyed with her. For the most part she loves both of her sisters. She plays well with Brynlee's friends but mainly she likes to have them baby her and take care of her. She copies Brynlee a lot and likes to do whatever Brynlee does. She doesn't seem to get along with kids her own age. Mainly because she doesn't like to share.

Anna talks a lot and most of the time I can understand her perfectly but other people have a hard time understanding her. She likes to sing and has a pretty good memory for songs. She can count to 19 but she still skips a few numbers every time she counts. She can sing her ABC and she knows that her birthday is in March. Just don't ask her how old she is. Her response is usually "Old. Old and Old." She will sometimes hold up three fingers when I ask her that question but most of the time she will tell me she is ten or seven or five. She never says three. Annalyn know the full name of everyone in our family and she likes to call us by them all the time. Lately she has been going by my name. She tells everyone to call her "A-lit-uh."

Annalyn is really just my little buddy and I couldn't imagine life without her. She loves to sit on my lap and cuddle with me. She is calm and usually happy. We all love her to pieces. Annalyn really has changed so much in the last three years. I am going to leave you with a few pictures so you can compare how much she has grown.

Kyla - 9 Months

     My little baby is not really a little baby anymore. She weighs 19 lbs. (65%) and she is 28 in. (65%) with a head circumference of 17.5 in. (68%). She is crawling all over the place, getting into things, and she is even starting to eat real big people food. She already has two little teeth in her mouth. Her left bottom tooth popped up first and the right one followed three weeks behind so for a while she only had one tooth down there. 

     Kyla seemed to just start crawling one day right after she turned eight months and as soon as she figured it out she was off. There is no stopping her now and she is quite fast. She loves to follow her sisters and me all around the house. She really loves that she can be involved in playing with her sisters. Now that she can crawl Brynlee keeps picking her up and moving her around which makes Kyla really mad. Right after Kyla learned to crawl she also learned to pull herself up to stand. Brynlee was in the bathroom with her the first time she did it and Brynlee started calling us to come and see since we wouldn't believe it. Kyla was standing against the bathtub. As soon as Joel got there to witness it Kyla fell and hit her head on the door. She got herself a nice little bruise. 

     I finally decided I had to sleep train little Kyla. She got sick and had a fever for about a week last month. I took her to the doctor thinking maybe she had an ear infection but it must have just been some kind of virus. She woke up so much during the night and even when she got better she kept waking up. I was so tired. She was still in our room but I still decided to do the sleep training with her one night. I don't think Joel was ver thrilled since he was up half of the night listening to her cry and he had to work the next day. It took a while but eventually she went to sleep. It took about two more nights of her waking up but then we had over a week where she didn't wake up at all. She did wake up last night though. Mostly because Brynlee came into our room after having a bad dream and she woke Kyla up. Then Kyla figure out how to pull herself up to stand on the side of her porta crib and she just stared at me and cried. I held firm and didn't pick her up. I just had to lay her back down several times. Hopefully that doesn't happen again. 

Kyla is seriously so observant and she is completely content when I just hold her. She will still fall asleep in my arms during church and during the day but most of the time she falls asleep and naps in her bed. Her naps are very unpredictable. She will get tired and fall asleep while I feed her only to wake up a few minutes later and refuse to sleep again. She likes to hold onto my fingers and walk around the house and is starting to get some good balance. She is getting so grown up and we sure do love watching her learn and discover new things. (I took some pictures of her in one of my old dresses that I wore when I was her age.) 

February Love

     The weather was nice again this month so we enjoyed playing outside. We celebrated Valentine's Day, had fun with Preschool and we spent lots of time looking at places to build a house and trying to figure out all of the money stuff that comes with it. We found a place where we want to build and we have a house plan drawn up that we like. There are still several more details to work out but hopefully we can buy a lot and start building a house soon.

     The girls and I made heart and butterfly shaped sugar cookies for Valentines day this year. Then we hid them in our tent and sent Joel on a treasure hunt to find them. Bryn and Anna were seriously so excited about it. Joel bought balloons and a heart rose for the girls to find in the morning and they were super thrilled about that. For me Joel had a beautiful plant and there was a piece of paper attached to it. It was a cell phone contract. I looked at it for a long time and finally had to wake Joel up and ask him, "what does this mean?" We talked about getting new phones for a long time but we never did and now that we are wanting to build a house I thought it would be a few more years until we got new phones. It took a few weeks for us to set up the phones but we now have the ability to send and receive text message and we don't have to watch and be careful that we don't go over our minutes. It was a huge surprise. So if you text me now I can actually respond. I am really excited about being able to take picture on my phone too. Joel and I never did go on a date that night but we took the girls out to a chinese buffet place the weekend before and we enjoyed that.

     It was kind of a simple low key month. Kyla is becoming a fast little crawler and she loves to follow her big sisters and me around the house. Although she likes to be with her sisters the most. Brynlee keeps picking her up and walking around the house with her and Kyla does not appreciate that.

     Annalyn loves to get her hair fixed and to get dressed up. She can't wait for her birthday that is coming up in March. She is almost three. She loves to play and is so much fun. She loves to sing songs and she keeps our life entertaining.

     Brynlee loves playing with her friends and had lots of fun play dates this month. Her hair seems to be getting much darker and thicker and her head has been really sensitive. She cries when I try to brush it no matter how gentle I am and she hates getting it washed. She only wants me to fix her hair "straight down." She also only wants to wear short sleeved shirts and pants lately.

Some Funny Stuff

     Here is another post of all the things that have made me laugh lately. I hope you enjoy.

     For a while our girls kept waking up in the middle of the night and sneaking into our room. There were a few nights when we would wake up with all three girls in our bed. That was during the week when Kyla was sick and the girls had colds. There was one night that week that Brynlee came into our room late at night and Joel was obviously dreaming about flying trusses at work. They had been flying trusses that day. Brynlee tried to snuggle up to her dad and Joel yelled at her, "Get out of here Brynlee! It isn't safe. We are flying these trusses and I don't want them to fall on you. Get out of here Now, before you get hurt!" Brynlee didn't get out right away, she just started crying which only made Joel worry more about her safety. He yelled some more incoherent sentences about how dangerous it was for Brynlee to be in our bed. I just started laughing. I carried her back to bed and Joel could only vaguely remember what had happened the next day.

    After church a few Sundays ago Brynlee and I were asking Annalyn about what she did in Nursery. I was asking her if she played with one of the new little girls that just moved in. Brynlee didn't know her so she asked Anna,
Bryn: "Anna, what color dress was she wearing?"
Anna: "White"
Bryn: "What color was her hair?"
Anna: "Brown."
Bryn: What color were her eyes?
Anna: Pink.
Bryn: What color was her skin?
Anna: Orange!

     Another Sunday at church we were walking through the halls when Annalyn stopped, bent down low, and then she went up to a lady and pulled on her dress. When the lady acknowledged her Anna bent down on the ground again and started petting this ladies shoes telling her how much she liked them. "I lub your shoes. I don't have shoes like that."

      Annalyn: "I can't drive. I is just a liddle gurl. I am going to drive when I grow up and get big Big BIG!"

     We were at my grandma's house and my cousin Ryder took his shoe and flung it off of his foot. His mom and grandma both got onto him and told him not to throw his shoe. Brynlee looked at Ryder and told him, " I can throw my shoes at my house. My mom doesn't see me."I guess I need to start watching her more.

     Another day at church on our way out the door Brynlee noticed that one of the primary teacher had the same keychain on her bag that Brynlee has at home.
Brynlee: Hey, I used to have one of those when I was a little girl.
Teacher: Oh, you had one when you were a little girl huh.
Annalyn: Yeah, I am going to get one when I get Big Big Big.
Brynlee: Did you know that you are old and someday you are going to die?
Oh kids. Sometimes they are so embarrassing.

     At grandma's house one day Annalyn came up to my grandma and asked her if she wanted to see her panties. "No Anna" I said "we shouldn't show people our panties."
Anna: Yeah, I just want to show you.
Grandma: How about if you just tell me what kind you have?
Anna: Just watch.
Grandma: I know are they Cinderella?
Anna: No
Grandma: How about Frozen? A princess? Green ones? Batman?
Anna: No no no. Let me show you.
Me: Anna don't pull your pants down.
Anna: Look
Me: Annalyn! Where are you panties?
Anna: See, I didn't want to wear panties today.
Yeah, We would not have guessed that.

     My dad had a birthday earlier this month and Brynlee decided she wanted to give him a present. She wrapped up one of her singing stuffed animals in a gift bag and was all ready to bring it to him. Then Annalyn got two of her most favorite swimming suits and her "dinosaur movie" and put them in a gift bag for my dad. I tried to convince Annalyn to keep those at home and instead we made a card for my dad and we put the picture in a gift bag. I put the movies away but then Anna got really mad and insisted that she was going to give those presents to her grandpa. We were meeting my dad for lunch at Idaho Pizza but I told the girl to leave the presents in the van and we would give the presents to him later. We were running kind of late so when they started to throw a fit I just let it slide and they ran in the restaurant and had given my dad those presents before I was even done paying for our food. I think my dad was just thrilled to get two Annalyn sized swimming suits, Anna's favorite movies, and one of Brynlee's toys. At least we all had a good laugh. A few days later Annalyn realized what a mistake she had made when she wanted to watch her movies. "I don't want to give those movies to grandpa!" She cried over and over again. Every time she brought the movie up and I would tell her that the movie was at grandpa's house she would yell at me. She did not want those movies to be at grandpa's house. I tried to talk to her about what a nice gesture it was but she just wanted it back. My dad ended up giving those things back to Annalyn and he told her to keep them at her house. She was pretty excited to get them back.

     Annalyn asked me to make her a "Cinderella dun" in her hair the other day. She wanted a bun so I made her one. As soon as it was done she had to go potty. I came to check on her and make she she wasn't destroying the bathroom and she told me, "I is just pooping like Cinderella with my dun."

     We were eating hamburgers at my mom's house when Annalyn started crying. Their dog Gunner ate her hamburger. When my mom heard what happened she asked Annalyn how Gunner got ahold of her hamburger. This is what Anna told her, "I was just trying to feed him my lettuce, but then, he ate the whole thing. Even the meat!"

     My girls decided they wanted some banana bread one night. I told them we could make some later that day. I was trying to finish dinner when I discovered that they had already started to make banana bread. They had about seven or eight bananas mashed up and They were getting out the other ingredients and all of the utensils they would need. They ended up mixing up a bath of banana bread right in the middle of our kitchen floor. I helped them a little by telling them how much of everthing they would need but they did it all on their own and I am pleased to report that they made some pretty tasty banana bread. I sure do love my three crazy girls.