Extra Special Visitor

On Friday, I had the funnest visitor! Kirsten - all the way from Ohio!!!!

Kirsten had been in California earlier in the week for her grandma's funeral and then had flown to Utah for her burial. She had such a short amount of time, but was able to stop by for a few minutes and it was great! I could have talked with her all day! It was fun to visit face to face, rather than over the phone.

Becky came over so that Kirsten could see Brooklyn too!

Kirsten, thank you sooooo much for taking the time to come over! That was so sweet of you and both Becky & I are so grateful!

Kirsten & Brooklyn

What a great friend!

Hannah's Happenings

Hannah is one funny little kid! She has been cracking us up lately, so this post is about living with this fabulous 2 year old:


Hannah seems to have a sense of our new baby coming. She asks me every day if "the baby is going to come any second." I have to remind her that it's still (hopefully!) several weeks away. Every time I put her on my lap to read her a story, she says "Too little." This means my lap is getting too little. Yes! I know!

She has loved having a new cousin around and thinks that she's perfectly capable of caring for Brooklyn all by herself. The other night when Brooklyn got a little fussy, Hannah lifted up her dress, unsnapped her onesie and thought that she could nurse her to make her feel better.

Hannah's favorite thing to do is look at and read books. She is constantly carrying around a stack of books and loves it when anyone is willing to read it to her. She gets this trait from my dad and Jon's mom.

Hannah's favorite friend is Heidi. Hannah & Heidi go to nursery together and have a dance class together. They get into little mischief together (like making faces at each other during prayers or lessons). They are so cute together and it's fun to see Hannah have her very own friend.

Coloring with Heidi

Hannah also loves her dance class! She loves to run, do actions and participate and it's been fun to see her come out of her shell and enjoy it.

Doing the "princess walk" with Heidi

First attempts at skipping

Oh, Hannah! We sure love you! You love to talk and it's fun to understand what you're thinking. You sure love your big sisters and think that Jack's pretty great too. Thanks for always making us laugh!

Sewing

Last summer, I heard of a really great place called "The Finishing School." They teach children & adults cooking & sewing classes. Emily & Lindsey took a cooking & sewing class with Lindsey's friend, Abi, and they both loved it. They especially loved the sewing class, so they have continued to take a sewing class one day a week. They have made some really cute things - blankets, pillows, ornaments, hot pads, pj bottoms, a skirt, etc. One of Lindsey's recent projects was making a dress for Brooklyn. The example at the school said "Bitty Baby dress." Well, Lindsey thought that meant a little baby dress, but I think it was actually a dress for a Bitty Baby doll.

Anyway, she made it and gave it to Brooklyn. Becky was able to squeeze her in it when she was about 2 1/2 weeks old. Lindsey did a great job and it made her feel good to see the baby in it. It's now waiting for our baby, to wear it once or twice, and then likely be put on an actual Bitty Baby.

Croup

Our 3 oldest kids never, ever got croup! Then, Kate & Hannah came along and for some reason, those 2 ALWAYS get croup. Usually it's accompanied by a cold, cough, etc., but last night, Hannah woke up at 3:00 a.m. with it. She hadn't had a runny nose, cough, grumpiness....nothing!

Jon had been at work and was supposed to get off around 1:00 a.m., so I called him to see if he was headed home. Thankfully, he was literally 30 seconds from being home, so he was able to figure out how much steroids to give her and was also willing to walk around outside with her. When they came back in, Hannah told me she was hungry. I asked if she wanted a cracker or bowl of cereal. Her response was: Ding Dong!

Well, who can blame a girl??!! Ding Dongs always make me feel better too and anyone that visits our house knows that there's usually a Ding Dong to be found!

Potty Training - Attempt #1

I've never really been a mom to push my kids to be potty trained. I usually wait until they are ready and close to turning 3 and then it's been really easy to do it and they have done really well. Kate potty trained herself at 2 1/2 and so I figured that maybe Hannah would be ready. She just turned 2 1/2 at the end of January and I'm planning on sending her to preschool in the fall and want her to be ready. So, I figured we'd give it a try.

She was a really good sport about putting on underwear and sitting on her "froggy potty." The first day, she had 3 accidents, but peed in the potty 4 times. Sounds pretty good, except that the poor little thing would sit on that potty for 1 1/2 hours before anything. The next day, we tried again. Again, she was able to keep dry, but would sit & sit before any action. In adding up the hours, I think she literally sat on that potty for 5-6 hours each day!

No one, obviously, has the time for that, and before she started hating the potty, I decided to stop for now and try again in a couple of months. Between ages 2 & 3 are big ones for our kids - get potty trained, move out of the crib & give up the binkie. It's a big year for this girl!!

Special Visitor from Russia!

Two weeks ago, we had a special treat of having my mom come back to Utah for 10 days! Usually mission president's wives don't get to come home, but my mom was able to get special permission to come home for Brooklyn being born. It has seemed like my parents have been gone F-O-R-E-V-E-R, and they still have 2 1/2 years left! But, we loved every single minute we got to have my mom back! What a treat to have her come and spoil us for several days!

All of my siblings & I drove out to the airport to pick her up. We waited and waited and finally saw this crazy lady coming down the escalator wearing a huge Russian hat. We knew that was our mom and couldn't decide whether to welcome her with huge hugs or turn and walk away! Just kidding!!! We hugged her and loved her! She looked sooooo good and it was wonderful to have her back. We got her luggage and then drove to 3 different Maverick gas stations to find her some frozen yogurt!

She & I were able to visit her mom (who is now in an Alzheimer's facility) and sister the next day and then spent the day and night at the hospital with Becky while she was having Brooklyn. How fun to just hang out with her again!

She spent most of her nights at Becky's house, but we were able to shop, go to lunch, having a birthday dinner for Mike & Kate and even have an extra day with her (due to snow in New York!).

The time went way too fast, but it's a time we'll always remember! We missed our dad tremendously and wished he could have come too! But, how grateful we were to have her with us for a few short days! We love you mom! Thank you again!

The crazy lady coming down the escalator!

Peter & my mom

My mom & grandma

My aunt Camille, Grandma & Mom

Mike & Kate's birthday cake

How sweet is this little angel? We can't get enough of her!

Saying goodbye - Lindsey

Kate

Hannah (with a mouth full of Cheetos)

Emily

and Jack!